Category: Old Testament

Jesus’ Word is the Word of the Father

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Ezekiel 20

In my anger, I decided to punish the Israelites in Egypt. 9 But that would have made me look like a liar, because I had already promised in front of everyone that I would lead them out of Egypt. 10 So I brought them out and led them into the desert. 11 I gave them my laws and teachings, so they would know how to live right. 12 And I commanded them to respect the Sabbath as a way of showing that they were holy and belonged to me. 13 But the Israelites rebelled against me in the desert. They refused to obey my laws and teachings, and they treated the Sabbath like any other day.

Psalm 145

Each generation will announce
to the next
    your wonderful
    and powerful deeds.
5 I will keep thinking about
your marvelous glory
    and your mighty miracles.[a]
6 Everyone will talk about
    your fearsome deeds,
    and I will tell all nations
    how great you are.
7 They will celebrate and sing
    about your matchless mercy
    and your power to save.

Richard: When you know God’s Word, you want to share it. This will be the legacy through the generations of your family. Join us July 5th to July 7th for the Urban Family Life Success Formula Training:
https://www.urbanlifetraining.org/index.php/richard-s-blog/310-register-by-june-28th-2019-for-the-urban-family-life-training-seminar .

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
July 12, 1959

John 14: 1-19

From this perspective of heart, Jesus was an eternally sorrowful person. Nobody knew that his tears were shed representing mankind’s tears; his grief represented Heavenly Father’s grief. No one understood that the tribulations of his three years of public life were suffered for mankind and for Heaven. No one knew that he died in humanity’s stead to erase the bloody stain left in the heart of Heavenly Father.

When Jesus made his final prayer to God, he said, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.” (Matthew 26:39) This was a prayer that transcended all circumstances. This was a prayer that overcame the world. Jesus thought that since he belonged to Heavenly Father and Heavenly Father belonged to him, his sorrow was the Father’s sorrow. Thus, he did not feel wronged by his own death. Instead, he felt oneness of heart with God who had striven even more than he had, who was more pained than he, and whose wrongs were even greater. Jesus could overcome his difficult path so confidently because he knew that God maintained the will of saving all people in spite of such pain. Jesus united in heart with God, centering on the will of saving humanity in spite of his imminent death on the cross. He died trying to fulfill that will.

It is easy to say we believe. The question is can we fathom the essence of and reach the position where we can relate through heart? If God does not search for someone to connect with in heart, there would be no such thing as true love.

The voice of Jesus calling on the Father, and his words toward the miserable children, all originated from the heart of God. They were spoken through Jesus. Have you felt a desire to call on him as the Lord and cling to him as if he were in front of you as you read the Bible? Have you experienced a heart of wanting to say, “Father, I belong to you; my body is Yours, my mind is Yours. Even my longing heart is Yours. There is absolutely nothing that belongs to me except that which belongs to You”? If not, you have not yet stood in the position of children.

When Jesus prayed through the nights, forgetting about sleep, he prayed with a heart of gratitude, knowing that the Father was with him. Throughout his thirty years of life, he lived with a heart which could overcome everything in spite of persecution and the difficult course of the cross which lay before him. That is why Satan could not invade him.

The world of the heart cannot remain divided. The world of reality has room for many exceptions, but the world of the heart cannot become two. In the heart of the four thousand years of history, there cannot be anything other than the relationship of father and children. There cannot be any other argument. We should realize that Jesus’ word is the word of the Father and his desires are the Father’s desires.

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Even if God Did Not Send Him, That Person Should be Acknowledged as the Messiah

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Luke 11

37 When Jesus finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him home for a meal. Jesus went and sat down to eat.[e] 38 The Pharisee was surprised that he did not wash his hands[f] before eating. 39 So the Lord said to him:

You Pharisees clean the outside of cups and dishes, but on the inside you are greedy and evil. 40 You fools! Didn’t God make both the outside and the inside?[g] 41 If you would only give what you have to the poor, everything you do would please God.

Ezekiel 45

45 When the land of Israel is divided among the twelve tribes, you must set aside an area that will belong to me. This sacred area will be eight miles long and six[a] miles wide. 2 The temple will be on a piece of land eight hundred forty feet square, and the temple will be completely surrounded by an open space eighty-four feet wide.

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
July 12, 1959

John 14: 1-19

God does not will that humanity perish. Instead, He has gone forward with the will of the providence to show us the way to live. Thus, a figure who can restore the relationship of father and son, which both God and humanity desire, absolutely must appear. In looking back through history, this is undeniable.

We should criticize our sinful, struggling selves. We have to be indignant over this reality as well indignant over the Fall. Then what should we long for? We should long for our original parents who were lost. A lonely path of sacrifice will open up for those who are sincerely longing to find the original father who was lost. If such an individual, such a group, and such a movement exists in this world, then Heavenly Father, who is searching for His children, will work with such people. Wanting to regain the father and son relationship, He will hold on to such people.

If we have not heard of this from people throughout the thousands of years of history, they are to be blamed. If holy sages throughout the course of history have not introduced such facts, they also should be blamed. If such contents could not be found in the words of the sages who have lived to fulfill the will of God, it would be permissible to deny that God exists.

God, who works the providence to restore mankind, wants to live within us and wants us to reside within Him. Thus, Jesus told his disciples, “I am God’s begotten son and you are my brethren.” He also said, “Where I am going is not of my own will but of the will of the Father. The nation that I want is not my nation but the nation of the Father. The people I am looking for are not my people but the people of the Father. The place I want to live in is not with my family but with the family of the Father. The nation that I can be proud of is not my nation but the nation of the Father.” He also said, “God is the Father and earth is the Mother.” Toward mankind, he said, “I am the bridegroom and you are the bride.”

We can acknowledge God’s existence if these valuable propositions remain within heavenly law. Religions have been established to usher mankind in the right direction. From this perspective, the religion that can reveal the proper relationship between father and son, husband and wife, and between siblings would be the final religion. We cannot deny that Christianity possesses these qualities. We have to be grateful for this.

Although numerous sages have come and gone throughout history, they have only revealed God conceptually and vaguely. They did not bring the answers as to how to substantially experience God. Jesus called the invisible God “Father” in spite of the mockery of the Jews. He overcame hardships and showed concern for God in spite of heavy persecution. This shows that Jesus had experience and knowledge like no one had ever had before. He stood in a position to clarify the universal frame of mind and the frame of mind for life, which no one had ever known.

Jesus illuminated this through his heart rather than through his circumstances. Since he illuminated it with his substantial self, he was the Messiah. If someone like that appears, even if God did not send him, that person should be acknowledged as the Messiah. Heavenly law works in such a way.

Jesus was sent by Heavenly Father. Jesus did not come to this world to work beneath sin and evil. He came as the central person who could liberate all the sorrows and resentments of history caused by the Fall and sin. He came to solve all problems, starting from where God’s heart could still abide to where it could no longer flow. Jesus wanted to connect the love of Heaven to this world. He said, “I am the bridegroom and you are the bride.” We should then acquire the position of children, bear the heart of a bridegroom and bride, and ultimately reach the position of the parent, which is what Jesus called Heavenly Father.

We Have Lost Our Parents

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Romans 4

9 Are these blessings meant for circumcised people or for those who are not circumcised? Well, the Scriptures say that God accepted Abraham because Abraham had faith in him. 10 But when did this happen? Was it before or after Abraham was circumcised? Of course, it was before.

Isaiah 38

7 Now I will prove to you that I will keep my promise. 8 Do you see the shadow made by the setting sun on the stairway built for King Ahaz? I will make the shadow go back ten steps.

Then the shadow went back ten steps.

The Father and I

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
July 12, 1959

John 14: 1-19

The title of the words that I would like to reflect upon together with you is “The Father and I.” On a greater scale, this becomes “The Father and Us, God and Humanity.” I will speak briefly upon this topic.

Out of all the sadness in this world, there is probably none greater than that of children losing their beloved parents. Likewise, there is probably no greater sadness than parents losing their beloved children.

Christianity tells us that mankind fell. This is a fact that cannot be denied when we look at or speculate upon society. It can be conjectured that the society we see today resulted from a sinful cause. We are standing on the course of history, which is the result of that cause. Furthermore, we cannot deny that we are struggling because we ourselves are also results of it.

What can be the problem of all problems? It is the agony of losing our parents, who should never have been lost; it is the agony of trying to find the lost parents, the agony of not having parents in spite of one’s right to have them, and the agony of not having children in spite of one’s full right. These are the greatest problems.

We say there was a Fall, but this involves both mankind and Heavenly Father. We cannot help but accept the fact that it involves us, too. We are certainly not ideal. When we accept that mankind has fallen, we cannot deny that a Fall cannot occur without a reciprocal relationship. When we do not feel good, it is because we have the inner potential to be better. When we desire to be greater, it is because we have that potential within us. Such a relationship interconnects each person to everyone else.

We may have a lot of confusing problems, but there is only one fundamental problem in our hearts. It is the fact that we have lost our parents. Mankind’s loss of the parents and Heavenly Father’s loss of His children has to be recovered. It is our foremost priority to reestablish that lost relationship, to regain the lost happiness, to repossess the lost joy.

What will solve all these problems for us? We acknowledge the evil history, we acknowledge that we are living in a sinful world, and we are struggling due to the conflict between our mind and body. This cannot be solved by any systematic philosophy, ideology or conceptual faith. The only way is through the heart. The world of the heart has no before or after, no highness or lowliness. It has no beginning or end. The situation can only be solved through heart.

What is mankind’s sorrow? The sorrow is that, due to the Fall, the true master was lost from Eden. Mankind could not sing and live with eternal happiness in the ideal of creation of all things of Heaven and earth. Mankind could not sing along with the heart and life force of all created things.

Heaven Is Being Lashed Ruthlessly

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1 Corinthians 16

13 Keep alert. Be firm in your faith. Stay brave and strong. 14 Show love in everything you do.

Jeremiah 30

10 Israel,[d] you belong to me,
    so don’t be afraid.
You deserved to be punished;
that’s why I scattered you
    in distant nations.
But I am with you,
and someday I will destroy
    those nations.

The Path In Search of the Original Homeland Rev. Sun Myung Moon

July 5, 1959

Luke 15: 11-32

Prayer

Father, we stepped forth on the path You commanded us to go, not expecting it to be difficult. Only afterward did we realize that it is a difficult path. Only after we walked the path for a while, expecting it to be a path of joy, did we realize that it leads to a crest of tears.

Father, we have sorrow, and we wish to grieve holding onto You. We have come to realize that if we grieve holding onto man, we will easily get disappointed. We have also realized that if we march on believing in man we will get hurt.

It is You, Father, who have been immutable. How happy was the moment of weeping, holding onto the Father! Jesus, too, sought the mountain path to cry, taking hold of the Father.

To the Unification members gathered here today, denomination does not matter. Form does not matter. We want to be the people who know how to cry, holding onto the Father. We want to be Your true sons and daughters who know how to cry for You, knowing the heart of the Father who let the Jesus He raised up before humankind cultivate this path because the course of life is sorrowful and desolate.

We have come to realize above all that Heaven is being lashed ruthlessly, is receiving harsh persecution, and is being subjected to all kinds of unfair treatment. How can we make excuses for ourselves? How can we complain of our own sorrow? Since we have realized that there is no reason for us to feel sorrowful centered on ourselves, please feel compassion for Your sons and daughters here today. We have learned that the necessity of going the path in search of the original hometown is pitiable, unfortunate and miserable. Father, we are aware that You cried before we started crying, holding onto us, and that You were struck before we started getting struck. We are also aware that You suffered before we started to suffer; You felt pain before we started feeling pain. You fell down before we started falling down.

How badly has Heaven longed for the sons and daughters who know this and know they are lacking even after walking on and on toward Heaven in silence? How badly has Heaven longed for those who can call Him Father with their heads bowed down before Heaven? Through this word today, please allow such feelings to be stirred up in our Shim Jung. Allow such feelings to be stirred up when we relate to this nation, this world and Heaven. We know that only when such feelings are stirred within us can we say that we have total faith from the level of the individual to the level of the realm of the whole worldwide ideology. We will be in the position of Heaven, having the very best Shim Jung for the sake of setting up our own ideology. I ardently beseech that You will let our minds be stirred so that we can proceed, cultivating the path of the environment like this.

I ardently solicit and wish that You will allow us to be the children who criticize ourselves, thanks to this word today. Let us feel sorry in the course of life we must go. Let us live intoxicated with happiness. Let us uphold the Father’s glory with bowed heads, placing high value on connecting our individual bodies with Heaven.

Since this gathering leaves You in full charge of us, I ardently desire and wish that You will have dominion over our lives and our whole way of living, including any ideology we possess. That way, we will not run counter to the Father’s Shim Jung. I pray all these words in the name of the Lord. Amen. 

“I Am the Love”

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Daniel 4

13 “In the visions I saw while lying in bed, I looked, and there before me was a holy one, a messenger,[c] coming down from heaven. 14 He called in a loud voice: ‘Cut down the tree and trim off its branches; strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the animals flee from under it and the birds from its branches. 15 But let the stump and its roots, bound with iron and bronze, remain in the ground, in the grass of the field.

Richard:  The world needs a fundamental change in viewpoint.  The new bud from Christ must be grafted on to the remaining stump left after the radical change in viewpoint.  This is nothing less than a revolution, a new sexual revolution.

Ezekiel 4

15 “Very well,” he said, “I will let you bake your bread over cow dung instead of human excrement.”

16 He then said to me: “Son of man, I am about to cut off the food supply in Jerusalem. The people will eat rationed food in anxiety and drink rationed water in despair, 17 for food and water will be scarce. They will be appalled at the sight of each other and will waste away because of[d] their sin.

Richard:  God is warning us that we have to change.  It is not optional.

The Path In Search of the Original Homeland Rev. Sun Myung Moon July 5, 1959

Luke 15: 11-32

We are striving on the course of life in search of the original hometown. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but by me.” (John 14:6) But I’d like to add one more word to this. That is “I am the love.” Jesus left out this word. Thus, if there came a man who can connect to Heaven’s heart, who can say with confidence, “God, I am the love, and the truth, and the way, and the life; no one meets with God but by me,” no one would be able to put him on the judgment stand. No one would be able to say, “Hey, you rascal! You are betraying Heaven.” God is eagerly waiting to see many such sons and daughters emerge on this earth. This why we hold Jesus in such high esteem.

We the Unification Church believers have come here today. We have experienced every inch of the surging waters in the course of life. We have wandered about, searching for Heaven while being pushed here and there. I need a place where I can entrust my body, entrust my mind and entrust my heart. Since the original Adam is the central figure to all things in the Garden of Eden, how would they think of him? All things under the sun are to say to Adam, “Please, quickly become my master.”

What kind of a being is God that we human beings call on Him? God is the being who is in the position where everything can say to Him, “Please be my master.” That is why we call Him God. Otherwise, how could He govern all of creation?

Humanity today should be able to say, “Since I wish to offer to You everything I have, God, please be my master.” We should become the people who have built the history, the providence, and the character to do so. If you meet a man like that on this earth, you must say to him, “Please have dominion over my body, my mind and my Shim Jung. Please be my master.” Only then will you have the mind to attend the master as he has pined to be attended. You should become people like that.