Category: Ezekiel

Have Hope that can Sever our Attachment to Sinful Reality

Romans 6

5 If we shared in Jesus’ death by being baptized, we will be raised to life with him. 6 We know that the persons we used to be were nailed to the cross with Jesus. This was done, so that our sinful bodies would no longer be the slaves of sin. 7 We know that sin doesn’t have power over dead people.

8 As surely as we died with Christ, we believe we will also live with him. 9 We know that death no longer has any power over Christ. He died and was raised to life, never again to die. 10 When Christ died, he died for sin once and for all. But now he is alive, and he lives only for God. 11 In the same way, you must think of yourselves as dead to the power of sin. But Christ Jesus has given life to you, and you live for God.

12 Don’t let sin rule your body. After all, your body is bound to die, so don’t obey its desires 13 or let any part of it become a slave of evil. Give yourselves to God, as people who have been raised from death to life. Make every part of your body a slave that pleases God. 14 Don’t let sin keep ruling your lives. You are ruled by God’s kindness and not by the Law.

Ezekiel 36

37 I will once again answer your prayers, and I will let your nation grow until you are like a large flock of sheep. 38 The towns that now lie in ruins will be filled with people, just as Jerusalem was once filled with sheep to be offered as sacrifices during a festival. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

 

The Path of Faith Which Should be Examined Carefully

Sun Myung Moon
April 12, 1959

Matthew 11: 1-30

Today and again tomorrow, we should have hope toward Heaven and receive a heartistic shock with which we can sever our attachment to sinful reality and the disorderly world and move forward. You should know that whether this shock continues for one day, one year, or for our whole lifetime determines whether you will arrive at the destination for which you long.

Without such a shock, you will be highly anxious. In this age, one can recognize how anxious and fearful one is without knowing quite why. If one has even a small conscience, he will feel driven into anxiety and insecurity. Although many young people feel this, if something that can remove it sprouts forth, the fear and anxiety that have been occupying a person’s ground of hope will retreat, and the world of things that square with conscience will appear. Thus, if the heart that carefully searches for this is quickening your walk and your body beyond anxiety and fear, it is not too late. The final point of unity is an earnest Shim Jung that explodes in my heart and is unaffected by materialistic or humanistic ideologies. It is the Shim Jung that makes me move to the one place of ideology that remains in the end. In other words, Shim Jung determines the final me. Continue reading “Have Hope that can Sever our Attachment to Sinful Reality”

Lose Your Life to Gain Your Life

The latest Richard Urban Show:
Are the Proclamations of Rev. Sun Myung Moon Valid, or Are They Null and Void?  https://youtu.be/yGSVxL2Uy8A

Numbers 3

39 So Moses and Aaron obeyed the Lord and counted the Levites by their clans. The total number of Levites at least one month old was twenty-two thousand.

Ezekiel 12

12 The Lord said:

2 Ezekiel, son of man, you are living among rebellious people. They have eyes, but refuse to see; they have ears, but refuse to listen. 3 So before it gets dark, here is what I want you to do. Pack a few things as though you were going to be taken away as a prisoner. Then go outside where everyone can see you and walk around from place to place. Maybe as they watch, they will realize what rebels they are. 4 After you have done this, return to your house.

Later that evening leave your house as if you were going into exile. 5 Dig through the wall of your house[a] and crawl out, carrying the bag with you. Make sure everyone is watching. 6 Lift the bag to your shoulders, and with your face covered, take it into the darkness, so that you cannot see the land you are leaving. All of this will be a warning for the people of Israel.

The Path of Life We Must Go, Entertaining Hope

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
March 22, 1959

Romans 8: 18-21

After Jesus came and left, his twelve disciples walked the same path. They went into Rome and endured the severity of persecution. They were crucified and put to death. They were left for dead. In spite of such, they still did not give up their hope. The joy that they received from having hope was stronger than the fear they felt of death, stronger than any pain they received from tribulation; stronger than any armament. It was stronger than any influence and anything that was boasted of in the world. We have learned that Christianity was established on the grounds which prophets and sages walked, embracing hope more strongly than anything else.

Today we are placed in a situation where we too must entertain a new hope and set up and affect an object on the worldwide level. This being the reality, you will have to understand that the hope you cherish should exert stronger influence than any other power. Even if death comes upon you, even if all this universe is to disappear, hope should be the source of power with which you can overcome. Only if you become such unchanging central figures of hope will you be able to stand in front of Heaven.

There have been many people until now who boasted of themselves as having good faith. However, we have often seen people who boast of themselves fading away. No matter how much one boasts of his good faith, unless he can stand as one central being of hope who has won victory over the last hill of death, we must realize that he will end up being a loser in life. Continue reading “Lose Your Life to Gain Your Life”

Find the Collective Hope

The latest Richard Urban Show:
Are the Proclamations of Rev. Sun Myung Moon Valid, or Are They Null and Void?  https://youtu.be/yGSVxL2Uy8A

Leveticus 23

The Lord said:

15 Seven weeks after you offer this bundle of grain, each family must bring another offering of new grain. 16 Do this exactly fifty days later, which is the day following the seventh Sabbath. 17 Bring two loaves of bread to be lifted up[d] in dedication to me. Each loaf is to be made with yeast and with four pounds of the finest flour from the first part of your harvest.

Ezekiel 18

8 The Lord said:

2 Ezekiel, I hear the people of Israel using the old saying,

“Sour grapes eaten by parents
leave a sour taste
in the mouths
    of their children.”

3 Now tell them that I am the Lord God, and as surely as I live, that saying will no longer be used in Israel. 4 The lives of all people belong to me—parents as well as children. Only those who sin will be put to death.

The Path of Life We Must Go, Entertaining Hope

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
March 22, 1959

Romans 8: 18-21

The Path of Life We Must Go, Entertaining Hope

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
March 22, 1959

Romans 8: 18-21

The topic I want to speak about is “The Path of Life We Must Go, Entertaining Hope.” I will speak briefly upon this topic.

We know very well that humanity has lived until the present time unable to realize Heaven’s true hope because humans fell and are in a state of having lost the granted hope of Heaven. Therefore, we cannot deny that we are inevitably destined to seek and go the path of true hope, from the day of our birth to the day of our death.

Before the fall, God said to Adam and Eve, “Fill the earth and rule over all creation.” This meant that God had granted Adam and Eve a standard of hope. However, because they fell, they lost that Heaven-granted standard of hope. Moreover, they also lost the garden of happiness, the world of the comprehensive ideology in which they could live forever, receiving God’s love in the perfection stage.

Humans, who lost the path of true hope in this manner, have walked a course of all kinds of vicissitudes, a path of battle, to recover the lost path of hope from the time of birth. We keenly experience this fact now. Continue reading “Find the Collective Hope”

The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth Will be God’s Nation

Leviticus 23

Beginning on the fifteenth day of the seventh month,[m] and continuing for seven days, everyone must celebrate the Festival of Shelters in honor of me. 35 No one is to do any work on the first day of the festival—it is a time when everyone must come together for worship. 36 For seven days, sacrifices must be offered on the altar. The eighth day is also to be a day of complete rest, as well as a time of offering sacrifices on the altar and of coming together for worship.

Richard: “Worship” and “altar” are the words that jump out at me.  The modern day altar is the Blessed union of husband and wife in absolutely good sex.  Visonroot Ministries will be offering STAR Leadership training to empower youth and young adults to lead the way in sexual abstinence and successful family formation: https://www.urbanlifetraining.org/index.php/star-interfaith-leadership-training.

Ezekiel 32

32 Twelve years after King Jehoiachin and the rest of us had been led away as prisoners to Babylonia, the Lord spoke to me on the first day of the twelfth month.[a] He said:

2 Ezekiel, son of man, condemn the king of Egypt and tell him I am saying:

You act like a lion
    roaming the earth;
but you are nothing more than
    a crocodile in a river,
churning up muddy water
    with your feet.

3 King of Egypt, listen to me. I, the Lord God, will catch you in my net and let a crowd of foreigners drag you to shore. 4 I will throw you into an open field, where birds and animals will come to feed on your body.

Let Us Love Heaven and Become Patriots

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
March 1, 1959

Matthew 5: 33-48

If we can find an ideal nation on the earth, which nation would that be? We will call that nation “the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.” Only when that nation is realized can we realize the will of God’s blessing to Adam and Eve, “Govern all things when you have grown to perfection.” Only then can human beings emerge as the true masters of this earth. Only then can humanity become true brothers and sisters to each other and the true sons and daughters of God. Before God, we must become true sons and daughters of filial piety and loyal subjects. We must stand before the world as the true masters. When we accomplish this, God will pass to us all our rightful powers, not just external powers, but also the internal center of the heart. We will become sons and daughters in whom God can entrust everything and be at peace.

Such sons and daughters are greater than any patriot, woman of chastity, or son or daughter of filial piety. The day must come when we can be proud of these people before the world. Continue reading “The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth Will be God’s Nation”

The Course of Religious Martyrs and Patriots

Ezekiel 47

13-14 The Lord God said to the people of Israel:

When the land is divided among the twelve tribes of Israel, the Joseph tribe[a] will receive two shares. Divide the land equally, because I promised your ancestors that this land would someday belong to their descendants. These are the borders of the land:

Psalm 48

Our God, here in your temple
    we think about your love.
10 You are famous and praised
    everywhere on earth,
    as you win victories
    with your powerful arm.
11 Mount Zion will celebrate,
and all Judah will be glad,
    because you bring justice.

Let Us Love Heaven and Become Patriots

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
March 1, 1959

Matthew 5: 33-48

The patriots fought against all conditions of oppression because they loved their nation and land. They had hope for the one victorious day and had an unshakable belief that such a day would surely come. This is how they were able to not submit to the oppression, and carry on their struggle. We should understand this.

These principles hold true in winning a nation. To establish a heavenly ideology, we must have a stronger sense of unchanging camaraderie. Hoping for the holy land, we must act on behalf of Heaven. Although there have been many religious people who upheld God’s providence in step with the flow of history, among them all, Christians were offered as miserable sacrifices in fierce battles with Satan. We should understand this.

Even when we look at the 4,000 years of Old Testament history and the 2,000 years of Christian history since Jesus, we find that numerous people have followed the teachings of Heaven, while other people have not even dreamed of such an ideology. As they pursued Heaven’s ideals, many people were sacrificed.

In history, many people were sacrificed to establish Heaven’s ideology. Where will these two groups of people come together, those who have been sacrificed for the sake of God’s will and those who have been sacrificing themselves in the fight for their nations? This is the very question of this age which raises our curiosity. People say that a world government will emerge in the future. History is flowing toward one government and the world of one ideology. These two are approaching each other today. What must we do when these two do not seem to be coming together in a harmonious way? Continue reading “The Course of Religious Martyrs and Patriots”