Category: Amos

Has Christ Been Divided Up?

1 Corinthians 10

10 My dear friends, as a follower of our Lord Jesus Christ, I beg you to get along with each other. Don’t take sides. Always try to agree in what you think. 11 Several people from Chloe’s family[a] have already reported to me that you keep arguing with each other. 12 They have said that some of you claim to follow me, while others claim to follow Apollos or Peter[b] or Christ.

13 Has Christ been divided up? Was I nailed to a cross for you? Were you baptized in my name? 14 I thank God[c] that I didn’t baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius. 15 Not one of you can say that you were baptized in my name. 16 I did baptize the family[d] of Stephanas, but I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else. 17 Christ did not send me to baptize. He sent me to tell the good news without using big words that would make the cross of Christ lose its power.

Richard: People of good will should focus on the commonality of the message of Christ at the Second Advent: follow your conscience centered on the Eight Sacred Textbooks and promote and spread the good news about the message of absolutely good sexual ethics and the Holy Wedding Blessing Ceremony.

Amos 9

If they escape to the peaks
of Mount Carmel,
    I’ll search and find them.
And if they hide from me
    at the bottom of the ocean,
I’ll command a sea monster
    to bite them.
4 I’ll send a sword to kill them,
wherever their enemies
    drag them off as captives.
I’m determined to hurt them,
    not to help them.”

Exposition of the Divine Principle
3 Color Edition-The Red part

Chapter 3

Eschatology and Human History

We dwell in ignorance of history, uncertain about its origin, the
direction in which it is heading, and its final destination. To address this issue, we should first understand such fundamental matters as the purpose of God’s creation, the meaning of the human Fall, and the goal of the providence of restoration.
THE COMPLETION OF GOD’S PURPOSE OF CREATION AND THE HUMAN FALL

1.1 THE COMPLETION OF GOD’S PURPOSE OF CREATION
Human beings are endowed with emotional sensitivity to the Heart of God, intuition and reason to comprehend
His Will, and the requisite abilities to practice it. A person who relates
with God in this manner will attain perfection of his individual character. Had Adam and Eve reached perfection, being thereafter insusceptible to sin, they would have borne good children and founded a sin less family and society in complete concordance with God’s blessings. They would have founded the Kingdom of Heaven, which consists of one great family with the same parents. God gave us the mandate to have dominion over all things. Hence, to realize the ideal of creation, people of perfected character
should advance science, harness the natural world, and create an
extremely pleasant social and living environment. This will be the
Kingdom of Heaven on earth. God’s primary purpose of
creation is to build the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.
1.2 CONSEQUENCES OF THE HUMAN FALL
Due to the Fall, human beings could not
become temples of God; instead, they united with Satan and became
his dwelling places. They failed to cultivate the divine nature; instead,
they acquired an evil nature. People with evil nature have propagated
evil through their children, constituting evil families, evil societies and
an evil world. This is the hell on earth in which we have been living. We have not built the Kingdom of God, but instead established the sovereignty of Satan.

GOD’S WORK OF SALVATION

2.1 GOD’S WORK OF SALVATION IS THE PROVIDENCE OF RESTORATION
God intended to create a world of goodness and experience from it the
utmost joy; yet due to the human Fall, the world came to be filled with
sin and sorrow. If this sinful world were to continue forever in its pres-
ent state, then God would be an impotent and ineffectual God who
failed in His creation. Therefore, God will save this sinful world, by all
means. to save a person suffering under the yoke of sin means to restore him to his original, sinless state. In other words, God’s work of salvation is the providence of restoration.
2.2 THE GOAL OF THE PROVIDENCE OF RESTORATION
What is the goal of the providence of restoration? It is the estab-
lishment of the Kingdom of Heaven, which in its totality is God’s good
object partner and the fulfillment of His purpose of creation.
2.3 HUMAN HISTORY IS THE HISTORY
OF THE PROVIDENCE OF RESTORATION
Human history can be seen as the history of the providence
through which God has been trying to save fallen people and work
through them to restore the original, good world.

View slides 1 to 20 below for an illustrated presentation of the above content:

2007p1-CHAPT-3-Escatology_revised-4-28-2014

We Are to Center on God’s Heart

Urban Life Training Monthly Newsletter:

In this issue:
Urban Family Life Success Training Report
Update on forced vaccination in Washington DC and West Virginia
President Trump Comments on Big Pharma Price Gouging

Deuteronomy 6

4 Listen, Israel! The Lord our God is the only true God![b]5 So love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength. 6 Memorize his laws 7 and tell them to your children over and over again. Talk about them all the time, whether you’re at home or walking along the road or going to bed at night, or getting up in the morning. 8 Write down copies and tie them to your wrists and foreheads to help you obey them. 9 Write these laws on the door frames of your homes and on your town gates.

Amos 6

Do you rulers in Jerusalem
and in the city of Samaria
    feel safe and at ease?
Everyone bows down to you,
and you think you are better
    than any other nation.
But you are in for trouble!
2 Look what happened
    to the cities of Calneh,
    powerful Hamath,
    and Gath[a] in Philistia.
Are you greater than any
    of those kingdoms?
3 You are cruel, and you forget
    the coming day of judgment.

4 You rich people lounge around
    on beds with ivory posts,
while dining on the meat
    of your lambs and calves.
5 You sing foolish songs
    to the music of harps,
and you make up new tunes,
    just as David used to do.
6 You drink all the wine you want
    and wear expensive perfume,
but you don’t care about
    the ruin of your nation.[b]
7 So you will be the first
to be dragged off as captives;
    your good times will end.

Rev Sun Myung Moon
July 26, 1959

Romans 8: 12-27

What should we do in this time which everyone says is the Last Days? This is the crucial question. Ladies and gentlemen. Please examine yourselves. What position do you stand in? Do you truly have a relationship of heart with Heaven, such that when the Father acts, you act together with Him? When the Father stops, do you stop? When the Father mourns, do you mourn with Him? When the Father rejoices, do you rejoice together? Even if you do not share the same body, do you have the inner content through which you can connect with the world of the heart? Do you have such a relationship?

No matter how grandiose your external environment may be, if you do not have the right heart, they are all ephemeral things which will one day disappear. This is true in this world. No matter how priceless the possessions of your beloved sons and daughters may be, if they die, their belongings have no value.

We have learned that becoming true sons and daughters through the relationship of the heart is the highest purpose that Heaven and humanity can pursue. Given this, please examine yourselves critically as to which stage you have progressed to. Our lives revolve around the work of liberation, through which we must become true sons and daughters. It is undeniable that our heavenly fate compels us to walk this path.

How can we explain our course on this path? There is only one way to go around it. We are to center on God’s heart. For this reason, you should objectively criticize the state of your heart. This is a time when you should do this.

Given that this is the direction Heaven is heading in and that such is the day the Father desires, what state have you reached? If you have reached the state of true sons and daughters where your hearts are connected, you have no need for prayers. You just have to call out “Father,” and you will be overwhelmed with such a shock that will shake your flesh and blood. The heart of the Father will pierce through your heart. Had we attained this state, we would have been able to resolve all grief stemming from the Fall, and we would not be able to commit any of the wrong doings of the sinful world.

When I think about how, after understanding history and the sorrowful heart of God, I have struggled so hard to sever all ties of sin which have brought God so much pain, I feel dreadful. What kind of feeling have you felt? Please criticize yourselves. How close have you come to qualifying as the ideal son before God, who has been searching for children with this relationship of heart? If you do not know whether or not you have a relationship of heart, you certainly are not worthy of being a son. Someone who is qualified to be an adopted son should at least understand the suffering of his father superficially, even if he does not understand the whole story. Even if he cannot feel it as his own experience, even if he cannot assert it in his heart, he should at least be able to empathize. Have you reached that state at least?

Jesus came as the true father of humanity and the true son of God, yet he died on the cross. He probably came with the one determination which God had toward human beings for four thousand years. Every limb and organ of Jesus’ body represented the ideal which Heaven had tried to realize through human beings for four thousand years. He was the true son God searched for with yearning. Therefore, Jesus’ eyes represented the eyes of God for four thousand years. His ears represented the ears of God for four thousand years. His mouth represented the mouth of God for four thousand years. The same must have been true of Jesus’ feelings and body. He was the culmination of history and an historical incarnation. Hence, Jesus said, “I came to complete the law.” The law’s purpose was the same as his.

We are the Descendants Propagated from the point of Origin with different desires

1 Peter 3

8 Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. 9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. 10 For,

“Whoever would love life
    and see good days
must keep their tongue from evil
    and their lips from deceitful speech.
11 They must turn from evil and do good;
    they must seek peace and pursue it.
12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
    and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”[a]

13 Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14 But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats[b]; do not be frightened.”[c] 15 But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 17 For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. 19 After being made alive,[d] he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— 20 to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all,were saved through water, 21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God.[e] It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.

Amos 7

12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Get out, you seer! Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there. 13 Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel, because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom.”

14 Amos answered Amaziah, “I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. 15 But the Lord took me from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ 16 Now then, hear the word of the Lord. You say,

“‘Do not prophesy against Israel,
    and stop preaching against the descendants of Isaac.’

17 “Therefore this is what the Lord says:

“‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city,
    and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword.
Your land will be measured and divided up,
    and you yourself will die in a pagan[c] country.
And Israel will surely go into exile,
    away from their native land.’”

Sun Myung Moon
September 13, 1959

Matthew 10:24-39

To understand ourselves, we have to understand the value of those we are in relationship with. Our minds do not create the truths and ideologies that our actions are based upon. First, we have to put ourselves in a position where we can feel that we are in a relationship with someone or something.

When God comes to us, He always comes in front of us. That which is good will not come from the side, but from the front.

Then where are we going to set the standard of knowledge? If what comes in front of us can connect everything, all knowledge, and can move the world of the conscience, then we have to understand that this is the one standard which can explain us. When you understand this, you will see people in a different light.

Many believers today boast of their faith: “I understand God, I believe in God, I rely on God.” Yet if we were to ask what the origin of their knowledge is, in what environment they uphold their faith, and what situation their life of faith in God is in, we find that unless they are in an eternal relationship with their minds, none of them will be recognized by God, trusted by God or blessed with God’s intervention.

God chose the Israelites as His chosen people. God raised them up out of many peoples to love only Him. How do you think God raised them up? He related to them head on. God shortens the distance of the relationship and drives history into an environment where He can have an intimate relationship with people.

Jesus said when he came to the earth, “I am in you, you are in me, the Father is in me and I am in the Father, so the Father is also in you.” For what purpose did God choose the Israelites and guide them? It was to bring them into a straight linear line and make the condition upon which He could say, “You are Me and I am you.” We have to understand that this is the relationship of knowledge God has sought.

Due to the Fall, human beings deviated from the position where God can relate with them head on. Human beings who relate with God head on with respect to their desires, situations and hearts are people of original value.

Due to the Fall, human beings’ desires, situations and hearts went awry, so they were chased out of Heaven. All the countless people who ever lived, from the first human ancestors to now, did not have the right desires, situations and hearts. In other words there was no one in history who said, “I can move Heaven and earth.” Your desires are twisted, your situations are wrong, and your hearts are facing the wrong direction.

What kind of descendants are we? Fundamentally, we are the descendants propagated from the point of origin with different desires, different situations and different hearts. In other words we have not become people who can stand in front of God with the desires, situations and hearts that God wants to see. If we do not know what state our desires, situations and hearts are in, then we do not understand ourselves.

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?

We Have to Totally Change Today’s Understanding of Faith

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Amos 9

I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said:

“Strike the tops of the pillars
    so that the thresholds shake.
Bring them down on the heads of all the people;
    those who are left I will kill with the sword.
Not one will get away,
    none will escape.

Jeremiah 50

As I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah
    along with their neighboring towns,”
declares the Lord,
“so no one will live there;
    no people will dwell in it.

Richard:  God has declared a war on lewd ungodly, immoral behavior.  Hopefully this war wil be carried out by propagating the Word of God.  As more and more people realize God’s family ideal, that will bring a world of peace.  There is no other way.

The Father and I

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
July 12, 1959

John 14: 1-19

What kind of person is a true Christian? It is not someone who dances with joy. It would be someone who prays with concern for God. He or she would not pray for themselves but would pray for the sake of God. That person would not worry whether he or she would become the bride or not, but would worry about whether Jesus, the bridegroom, is happy or not. The person would not pray asking God to send him or her to Heaven, but instead would pray, asking to free God of His sorrow. The person would not ask for his or her value to be acknowledged in Heaven, but would hope that God’s value may be acknowledged in this world, even through his or her own death.

We have to totally change today’s understanding of faith. It has to be changed fundamentally. Do people want to go to Heaven by believing? What are they going to do in Heaven? Are they going to steal from God again when they are there? That is like being joyful after losing the heavenly essence. The essence is the heart of giving. Even fallen minds can perceive such a nature of love. The pit of death awaits those who are striving to receive. The realm of resurrection of life awaits those who are struggling to give. Jesus was someone who struggled for thirty years of his life to give. Jesus endeavored to give during his three years of public ministry. In the end he even gave himself. You have to realize that the Messiah was the prince who strove to give and give again.

Those who are following such an example must repent and see how much of an offering you have made yourself in order to liberate God’s sorrow in your lives. Such a person has no concept of Heaven or hell. Such a person would say, “Who cares if I go to Heaven or if I go to hell?” When God wants to resurrect such a person, even Satan has to agree. Here the historic standard of life gets established.

Today’s Unificationists need the words of the Bible in order to console the Father who is filled with sadness. You also need a teacher. But I do not want you to go forth just looking at the teacher. I hope that you yourselves will establish the bond of relationship with Heavenly Father’s heart, with the teacher as the center. God will never desert you when you pray for this nation with heartfelt pleas, when you strive to introduce God’s heart to it, and when you become the offering. God will not give up on us.

When we think about God, we know that He is the master of all things. But have you seen His deeds? As the subject of love, was He ever able to say “I love you” to mankind? Never. Although He was in a position to own everything, He was never able to claim mankind as His own. And although there are numerous people in this world, and although there were the Israelites who were prepared for four thousand years, Heavenly Father was never able to raise them up as His own sons and daughters or as warriors who could defeat Satan.

There are many Christians in the democratic camp today, but God has not been able to place them as generals in command of an offensive attack against Satan. He also wanted to have Jesus command the angelic world to establish a relationship with this world, but that could not be achieved. God gave mankind the ideal of the bride, and He sought to find such brides. But He could not find one person who could stand as the proud bride in front of Satan. We are truly sorry in front of Heavenly Father.

The world calls the leader of the Unification Church the ringleader of a cult. That’s fine. I just want them to receive all the blessing. I don’t want to give excuses or explanations. This is not the time to fight over such things. Our lives are busy, and what is more urgent is how we are to be recognized by Heavenly Father.

We are all miserable, we are all the same. There were times when we called on the Father and all pledged to die together if we had to. There were times when we called on our Father with tears. We had to stand in such a position representing this nation. Although there may have been times of sorrow, we have to go this path as the Father has led us. We should be grateful and feel unworthy if we can’t feel this historical sorrow. We should be grateful that we can feel the traces of our ancestors’ tears and blood, to tread together down this sorrowful valley. Even if this body may be ripped to pieces or fall down, we have nothing to feel sad about. We have to realize we are the Christians of the last days who have to find and walk this path of heart again.

It is fine to be called a cult or to be misunderstood. None of that can be an obstacle for me. I am here to clarify the heavenly concept. I am telling you now that God will by all means pull us forward along with history if I can share that heart, kneel down in understanding of such a heart, and speak with the heart to raise up the people who will cry with that heart.