Category: Isaiah

The Entire World Will Oppose Him and Protest

Hebrews 13

13 Keep being concerned about each other as the Lord’s followers should.

2 Be sure to welcome strangers into your home. By doing this, some people have welcomed angels as guests, without even knowing it.

3 Remember the Lord’s people who are in jail and be concerned for them. Don’t forget those who are suffering, but imagine that you are there with them.

Isaiah 2

Our Lord, you have deserted
    your people, Israel,
because they follow customs
    of nations from the east.
They worship Philistine gods
and are close friends
    of foreigners.[b]
7 They have endless treasures
    of silver and gold;
they have countless horses
    and war chariots.
8 Everywhere in the country
they worship the idols
    they have made.
9 And so, all of them
will be ashamed and disgraced.
    Don’t help them!

I Am Relating with Two Worlds

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
September 20, 1959

Romans 7: 15-25

Because Heaven has been working the providence to fulfill His great purpose, His ultimate goal, we should also long for and prepare for the one day when the greatest goal is accomplished. For this reason it is said that the Last Days are coming. What kind of time is the Last Days? It is the time when Heaven and earth meet as mind and body, when the world ideology and all thought come together and when our minds and bodies unite. When they come together, what will they sing of? They will sing of the life of the mind and a world which can connect through the heart. You are to sing with the universe. However, such a day and such a world have not emerged on the earth.

Heaven has been working toward that world. That world is the ultimate goal of Heaven. It is the ultimate goal of humanity. To become someone who will prevail until that day, you have to engage in unspeakable conflict with your body. You should keep to your pledges without a change of heart and never waver from your determination.

If there is someone who goes forth with such a determination, his body will protest, his family will oppose him, his society, nation, and the world will protest in order to break his determination. You have to understand that the whole world is attacking such a person. This demonstrates that the greater the truth you come to understand, the greater the opposition you will face.

Christians say that they are heading toward Heaven. They claim that they are walking toward the Kingdom of Heaven. Yet they forgot that great enemies are waiting for them on the path toward the great ideology. You have to keep in mind that there are great enemies.

What is the ultimate goal of these enemies? It is the body. The target of our enemies is our body. Threats to life, threats on the levels of society and the nation and of Heaven and earth are posed against our bodies. St. Paul experienced this in his life. When he appeared before his people, he was considered an enemy. When he went to foreign lands, he was the foreign enemy. When he stood before the church, he was the enemy of the church.

No matter what religions there may be in this world, Christianity and so forth, they will certainly be judged. They will not overcome it so easily. To do so, they need to explain themselves completely. Because there is this providential relationship on the world level, in the course of seeking our true selves centering on our minds, we are confronted with suffering on the world level.

The closer we come to the Last Days, world level fear comes from all directions. Hence, the closer we come to the Last Days, the more conscientious people are overwhelmed with fear. You have witnessed this around you already. Thus, there will come a time when conscientious and artistic people, particularly those who are in academia, will be swayed by waves of fear which will restrict them from living freely. This is how it is right now. This has been manifested through panic and widespread fear.

We who are living in the Last Days today are different from people in the past. Because this is the era of a world ideology, someone should appear who can put everything on the line, strike the external spheres into harmony with the heavenly heart and say, “Father! I have won the victory.” Isn’t this so? Heaven hopes to create such a person, and Satan has opposed this attempt on the part of Heaven.

This world is not a heavenly world; it is under the sovereignty of evil. If such a person appears in this world of evil sovereignty, then the entire world will oppose him and protest. Those who strike him, however, will perish. Individuals who strike will submit; families who oppose will submit; and the society which opposes him will submit. Moreover, when nations and the world submit after putting up opposition, the final decision will be made. From this we should learn that the flow of history is the external manifestation of a small individual on the world level.

We Cannot Understand Your Situation Without the Words of Truth

Luke 16

19 There was once a rich man who wore expensive clothes and every day ate the best food. 20 But a poor beggar named Lazarus was brought to the gate of the rich man’s house. 21 He was happy just to eat the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. His body was covered with sores, and dogs kept coming up to lick them. 22 The poor man died, and angels took him to the place of honor next to Abraham.[d]

The rich man also died and was buried. 23 He went to hell[e] and was suffering terribly. When he looked up and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side, 24 he said to Abraham, “Have pity on me! Send Lazarus to dip his finger in water and touch my tongue. I’m suffering terribly in this fire.”

25 Abraham answered, “My friend, remember that while you lived, you had everything good, and Lazarus had everything bad. Now he is happy, and you are in pain. 26 And besides, there is a deep ditch between us, and no one from either side can cross over.”

27 But the rich man said, “Abraham, then please send Lazarus to my father’s home. 28 Let him warn my five brothers, so they won’t come to this horrible place.”

29 Abraham answered, “Your brothers can read what Moses and the prophets[f] wrote. They should pay attention to that.”

30 Then the rich man said, “No, that’s not enough! If only someone from the dead would go to them, they would listen and turn to God.”

31 So Abraham said, “If they won’t pay attention to Moses and the prophets, they won’t listen even to someone who comes back from the dead.”

Richard: This story is playing out again today in the Completed Testament Age. Many hear the New Truth, but do not listen and change their life track accordingly.

Isaiah 50

My protector is nearby;
no one can stand here
    to accuse me of wrong.
9 The Lord God will help me
    and prove I am innocent.
My accusers will wear out
    like moth-eaten clothes.

10 None of you respect the Lord
    or obey his servant.
You walk in the dark
    instead of the light;
you don’t trust the name
    of the Lord your God.[a]
11 Go ahead and walk in the light
    of the fires you have set.[b]
But with his own hand,
the Lord will punish you
    and make you suffer.

I Am Relating with Two Worlds

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
September 20, 1959

Romans 7: 15-25

15 In fact, I don’t understand why I act the way I do. I don’t do what I know is right. I do the things I hate. 16 Although I don’t do what I know is right, I agree that the Law is good. 17 So I am not the one doing these evil things. The sin that lives in me is what does them.

18 I know that my selfish desires won’t let me do anything that is good. Even when I want to do right, I cannot. 19 Instead of doing what I know is right, I do wrong. 20 And so, if I don’t do what I know is right, I am no longer the one doing these evil things. The sin that lives in me is what does them.

21 The Law has shown me that something in me keeps me from doing what I know is right. 22 With my whole heart I agree with the Law of God. 23 But in every part of me I discover something fighting against my mind, and it makes me a prisoner of sin that controls everything I do. 24 What a miserable person I am. Who will rescue me from this body that is doomed to die? 25 Thank God! Jesus Christ will rescue me.

So with my mind I serve the Law of God, although my selfish desires make me serve the law of sin.

Prayer

Father! Please help us realize in this hour that we are not walking the path we should walk in our lives, even though we know we must.

There are those who live centering on their bodies, those who live centering on their minds, and those who live centering on Heaven. Please help those of us who have come to participate in this occasion to understand which category we belong in.

We feel deep in our hearts that we must become the central figures who can bring joy and alleviate sorrow in all crucial affairs. Father, we long in our hearts for the self we can be truly proud of; the self who can critique all affairs accurately. Even if our bodies must be brought into submission, please help us recover that self. Please help us understand that although we have been struggling and fighting to restore that self, the battle still is not over, and we face the fate to put our lives on the line and continue our struggles.

Father! Please come to us in tranquility. Father, please command us. Please let us understand that the central purpose of our lives is to seek the moment when we are captured by Your voice, the moment when we move in unison with You, and the moment when we can rejoice with You. As we reflect how in the course of history our ancestors never had a moment when You could share joy with them and with other faithful believers, we cannot help but deeply lament.

Father, we lie prostrated before You on our knees with our hands clasped. Please allow us to penetrate into Your subtle heart. Please let this be an hour when You can hold our hands and say, “My beloved sons and daughters.”

All that we believe in and experience in the world is transient. That which we believe and fight for in our minds, that which we sing of in our minds, and the world where we connect with You in our minds is infinite and eternal. When we are asked how and when we are going to become people who can be proud of themselves, if we show no confidence, how sad will God be?

We are miserable ones who cannot show ourselves before Heaven and earth. Please let this be the moment when we sever ourselves from our purposeless, unfeeling past; when our minds can become one with the Father’s mind, and when our hearts become connected to the heart of the Father.

Although we have experienced everything in the world, we have never lived centering on the Father. This is what we desire, so please take us into Your hands and perform the works of re-creation. Beloved Father, this is what we desire from the bottom of our hearts.

We know that we cannot understand Your situation without the words of truth. Before understanding this situation, we cannot fathom Your heart. Please give us the one truth which will allow us to connect to Your situation and heart. Please allow us to become one based on the truth.

We pray with utmost sincerity that this hour will be a moment when we can hear Your tranquil words in peace and offer bows to You in joy. Let it be an hour when we can feel our hearts surge as we listen to the words of truth.

Please be with everyone who honors You with sincerity. Extend Your grace equally to the lonely members who are bowing before You in the countryside.

We entrust this entire occasion from the beginning to the end to You. Please govern it. Allow the hearts of the listeners to be one with the heart of the speaker. Praying that this will be a moment when we can be in complete harmony with Heaven, we pray in the name of the Lord. Amen.

Jesus Was the Prince Who Came to Liberate Humanity

Watch the latest Richard Urban Show:  OMG!  Impeach the Media and Reelect President Trump:  https://youtu.be/zcU9j5d_3ZA.

Numbers 9 

15-16 As soon as the sacred tent was set up,[d] a thick cloud appeared and covered it. The cloud was there each day, and during the night, a fire could be seen in it. 17-19 The Lord used this cloud to tell the Israelites when to move their camp and where to set it up again. As long as the cloud covered the tent, the Israelites did not break camp. But when the cloud moved, they followed it, and wherever it stopped, they camped and stayed there, 20-22 whether it was only one night, a few days, a month, or even a year. As long as the cloud remained over the tent, the Israelites stayed where they were. But when the cloud moved, so did the Israelites. 23 They obeyed the Lord’s commands and went wherever he directed Moses.

Isaiah 40

23 God brings down rulers
    and turns them into nothing.
24 They are like flowers
freshly sprung up
    and starting to grow.
But when God blows on them,
they wilt
and are carried off
    like straw in a storm.

We Who Are Walking a Life Course

Sun Myung Moon
September 6, 1959

1 Peter 1: 21-25

If the Messiah, the Savior, were to appear on this earth, he should have a purpose and the ability to put it into practice. He should connect people to God. He should be able to demonstrate this through his life. Otherwise, he cannot be a Messiah or Savior.

From the beginning of human history until now, religions have provided us some paths either directly or indirectly, from new angles and directions. Among the religions, Christianity has made great contributions to the formation of the world culture.

What is at the core of Christianity? It is Jesus. Those who believe say that Jesus is the Savior. What kind of person should a Savior be? He should be the origin of truth, mind, life and love. If he cannot be the origin of mind, he must at least have a reciprocal relationship with the absolute being.

When we reflect on the divine providence from this perspective, we find that there is no one in history who spoke words as great as those of Jesus. We can see how great and admirable the words he spoke were just from his saying, “I am the only begotten son of God.” He is admirable even if we do not consider him the Savior. Has history ever seen a person who gave such great and satisfying expressions? Even if it were all his imagination and empty of content, has history ever heard such great words?

Jesus also said, “Love me more than you love anyone else.” No matter how passionate a person may be, has he ever heard such fine words? Jesus was the most passionate man. Isn’t this so? He also said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one can go to the Father except by me.” Based on this logic, Jesus’ words can be explained and come into agreement with all conditions. Hence, I want to call him the Messiah. What do you think?

Jesus was the prince who came to liberate humanity from the bridle of sin. He was the vanguard who came to pioneer our course of life. Do you understand what this means? He alone was the prince of flight in Heaven and earth. All of humanity for generations must escape from the bridle of sin, and Jesus came to the earth as their prince. If you feel this is who Jesus is, you should have the truth explained to you. When you cling to this Jesus, the original standard of conscience should be set clearly. When you see Jesus you should develop the eternal quality of life within. When you see this Jesus you should feel the emotion of absolute love. Otherwise, you cannot become a perfect bride.

Ladies and gentlemen; Jesus is the only begotten son of the God who created all things. The only begotten son is the royal prince of God. He is the royal prince who will live eternally in the heavenly kingdom. Because God raised him for this purpose, the day we await is the day of the Second Advent when we can meet him.

Because of this situation, human beings could not build a relationship of absolute and eternal life. No matter how faithful you may be to Jesus, you may one day fall away. Even if you honor him as the bridegroom, you may betray him. There are Christian churches which advocate truths, but they cannot set the direction of our mind correctly. For this reason Jesus must return.

What must we pioneer today? More than having faith in Jesus we should find the truth that lies hidden in the Bible. In order to understand how the historical facts which caused misfortune in human life are connected to the world of the present and future, we have to penetrate through the dark walls. In order to penetrate through them, we should fight and win. Only when people of this capacity appear will we be able to pioneer the world of truth.

Where did the vanguards in the past who stood close to goodness and truth search? They did not search for the new morning of glory. Although they felt the glory in their hearts, in their lives they were searching the dark alleys of hell.

We Hope to Become the True Children of His Direct Lineage

Today, August 20, 1985, Rev. Sun Myung Moon was released from unjust imprisonment for trumped up charges of tax evasion and was welcomed by 1700 religious leaders and prominent laypeople at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC. I was also present at the celebration: Read a report here.

2 Samuel 21

5 They replied, “Saul tried to kill all our people so that none of us would be left in the land of Israel. 6 Give us seven of his descendants. We will hang[d] these men near the place where the Lord is worshiped in Gibeah, the hometown of Saul, the Lord’s chosen king.”

“I’ll give them to you,” David said.

7 David had made a promise to Jonathan with the Lord as his witness, so he spared Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth, the grandson of Saul. 8 But Saul and Rizpah the daughter of Aiah had two sons named Armoni and Mephibosheth. Saul’s daughter Merab[e] had five sons whose father was Adriel the son of Barzillai from Meholah.[f] David took Rizpah’s two sons and Merab’s five sons and 9 turned them over to the Gibeonites, who hanged[g] all seven of them on the mountain near the place where the Lord was worshiped. This happened right at the beginning of the barley harvest.[h]

Richard: Here the Israelites were punished for the crime of murder committed by Saul. We may have murder in our own ancestry, and could be liable for those sins. For instance, the crime of abortion is murder. The real solution to the problem of abortion is the teaching of abstinence before marriage and faithfulness within marriage promoted by Urban Life Training, and explained in the teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon, and specifically, Peace Message 10.

Isaiah 64

Rip the heavens apart!
Come down, Lord;
    make the mountains tremble.
2 Be a spark that starts a fire
    causing water to boil.[a]
Then your enemies will know
    who you are;
all nations will tremble
    because you are nearby.

3 Your fearsome deeds
    have completely amazed us;
even the mountains shake
    when you come down.
4 You are the only God
    ever seen or heard of
who works miracles
    for his followers.

5 You help all who gladly obey
and do what you want,
    but sin makes you angry.

Rev Sun Myung Moon
July 26, 1959

Romans 8: 12-27

What does humanity hope for? It is to do away with this notion of being an adopted son before God and become the true children of His direct lineage. This is the ultimate purpose which humanity wants and history pursues; this is the central purpose of God, who has been fulfilling the providential will. Only then can we say that the purpose of salvation has been achieved and the providence of salvation brought to a conclusion.

If the almighty God, the origin and center of love, loves us as adopted sons, we do not want that kind of love. We seek to become sons and daughters who can penetrate deep into the core of His heart.

No matter how religious one’s life may be, and even if one calls God his father, there are many different kinds of fathers. Some will call Him “Father” from a position of not being His son. Some may call Him “Father” from the position of an adopted son. However, what is the ultimate purpose which Heaven demands, which will not disappear until the end? It is not to have an adopted son but to have true sons and daughters of the direct lineage. This stands above and beyond the position of an adopted son.

In the Bible, it is written that Jesus restores the relationship of an adopted son. Even if the world is satisfied with achieving only that, this salvation cannot be complete. Many Christians have passed away to the next world, but the Paradise they went to is only a waiting room before entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, the reason Jesus said that he would return was not to make us adopted sons but to forge direct relationships.

God longs for sons and daughters who are one with Him in heart, who do not act based on lessons or commands but who act and build relationships based on the manifestation.

For this reason, even the saints and sages of the past did not attain their ideal if they were not worthy of calling God their father and if God could not call them His own son or daughter. You have to understand this clearly.

This is what is unique about Christianity. Jesus called God his own father and proclaimed himself God’s only son. Jesus was the incarnation. He established the one standard to pierce through the core of Heaven and the foundation of the universe, and to conquer the world of the heart. From this we can understand that Jesus was the Messiah for all people.

What is the Messiah or savior? He is someone who can be the standard to save people who dwell in the realm of death. Therefore, if there is something unique and worthy of pride that Christianity possesses it is this. When the relationship of parent-child is forged with God, no matter how lofty God is, even if He is the absolute subject partner of goodness, He is our Father. Then what belongs to God belongs to us, and we will belong to God. This is the highest hope of humanity. Even if God has been relating to people with the highest standard of love, if He cannot guide humanity to the destination of that love, He must be false. If He cannot do this, then we can only conclude that God has guided the providence only to satisfy His own desires and greed, not for the sake of establishing the ideal of human beings and for everyone’s sake. For this reason, God seeks true sons and daughters.

Exalt the Father

Leviticus 22

22 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell Aaron and his sons to treat with respect the sacred offerings the Israelites consecrate to me, so they will not profane my holy name. I am the Lord.

3 “Say to them: ‘For the generations to come, if any of your descendants is ceremonially unclean and yet comes near the sacred offerings that the Israelites consecrate to the Lord, that person must be cut off from my presence. I am the Lord.

4 “‘If a descendant of Aaron has a defiling skin disease[a] or a bodily discharge, he may not eat the sacred offerings until he is cleansed. He will also be unclean if he touches something defiled by a corpse or by anyone who has an emission of semen, 5 or if he touches any crawling thing that makes him unclean, or any person who makes him unclean, whatever the uncleanness may be. 6 The one who touches any such thing will be unclean till evening. He must not eat any of the sacred offerings unless he has bathed himself with water. 7 When the sun goes down, he will be clean, and after that he may eat the sacred offerings, for they are his food. 8 He must not eat anything found dead or torn by wild animals, and so become unclean through it. I am the Lord.

9 “‘The priests are to perform my service in such a way that they do not become guilty and die for treating it with contempt. I am the Lord, who makes them holy.

Richard:  God does not deal with an offering that is tainted, i.e., we have to make a clean break with Satan for God to work, not have one foot in Satan’s camp and one foot in God’s camp.

Isaiah 56

“The Redeemer will come to Zion,
    to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,”
declares the Lord.

21 “As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit,who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says the Lord.

Richard:  God wants to bless us, but we have to be responsible for and repent for our sins.

The Father and I

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
July 12, 1959

John 14: 1-19

It is fine to follow the path of a teacher, but that will all pass. One thing that I want to convey to you, even if I die or disappear, is that you should transcend race, humanity, and the world to cry with the heart of God. I want to die seeing such a sight. You should realize that only then do you have the authority to oversee the cosmos and the realm of hell.

From now on, we should be proud of our Father. What kind of Father is He? We have to introduce the Father who has labored in historic endeavors. We have to boast of our Father. We have to introduce the Father who has fought, holding onto this age. We are to introduce the Father who has longed for us and who had to fight for us. But if the heart is not laid as a foundation in conveying this, everything is just wild fancy and rash acts.

We should exalt the Father. We have to exalt the historic Father, the Father of the age, and the future- oriented Father with our heart connected to His. Thus, you should be able to exclaim, “Father, is this not Your will? Your will is my will. Oh, Father, You who have found us like a parent who could not forget his own blood, You are my Father!”

Heavenly Father longed to live with us for six thousand years, but Satan came in front of Him. Heavenly Father longs for the brides, the figures who will understand His heart, and speak out, “Hey, you Satan, you have no place to rest your foot in this world. Hey, you and all the forces of evil, just look at my Father,” and get recognition from him. He would have to say, “You are right. What you are saying is true for eternity.” Wouldn’t that be so?

Jesus’ body was killed, but his heart was never killed. His body was invaded by Satan, yet the world of heart was not invaded. That is why Heavenly Father brought forth the ideal of the bride, and He is looking for the bride who possesses the loyalty of the world of the heart. Thus, you should be able to call on the Father and the Lord with the heart of the bride.

We should be grateful that the saints of the past strove and that Heavenly Father and the world have endeavored to find the sons and daughters of the direct lineage to create the relationship of father and children. Furthermore, you should say a word of apology to the ancestors, to numerous spirits, and even to Satan, and become figures who can protect this land. Only then will you become God’s sons and daughters. God wants to hear such sons and daughters call Him “Father.” Aren’t you also like that? When there are sons and daughters whom God truly loves, He does not want to hear the physical father say to such children, “Hey, So and So, you are my sons and daughters.” Wouldn’t that be true? He doesn’t even want to hear that they belong to a certain nation. “They are My own sons and daughters and they belong to My nation.” He doesn’t want them to be called the people of Korea or America. Such a thing is ridiculous to Heavenly Father, who has the ideal of the heavenly world. God is searching for us from such a standpoint.

God was unable to live with the individual, with the family, with society, with the nation, and with the world. How much must He have endeavored to work backwards from finding the world to finding us today? Not only does He have to find us, He has to take us along with Him. It is difficult enough to find us, but it is more difficult to drag us along. The Lord comes in order to take even the historic last days along with him.

I urge you to clearly understand this and become God’s proud sons and daughters, the brides and bridegrooms who will stand heart to heart with Jesus. He professed that we are not of this nation, the heavenly family is not of this nation. His society, nation, and the created world are not of this fallen world.