Category: Proverbs

The Last Days Means Creating a World Under God’s Sovereignty

Editorial, Richard Urban Show and audio podcast: “When Did We Visit You While You Were Sick or in Jail?”
January 6th US Capitol False Flag Entrapment Operation Needs to be Investigated

Collosians 2

6 You have accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord. Now keep on following him. 7 Plant your roots in Christ and let him be the foundation for your life. Be strong in your faith, just as you were taught. And be grateful.

8 Don’t let anyone fool you by using senseless arguments. These arguments may sound wise, but they are only human teachings. They come from the powers of this world and not from Christ.

Proverbs 18

8 It’s selfish and stupid
    to think only of yourself
    and to sneer at people
    who have sense.
2 Fools have no desire to learn;
    they would much rather
    give their own opinion.

Eschatology and Messianic Hope

The Last Judgment

3. The Transformation of This World and the Renewal of Life in God

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

The Bible states that in the Last Days the Lord will come to judge us. Catastrophic upheavals will occur, the sun and moon will fall from the heavens, and the earth will be destroyed. The concept of the Last Days is widespread among religions. In Buddhism it is called the Age of the Extinction of the Dharma. In Christianity we call it the Last Days.
    Why should there be a Last Days? The world planned by the absolute God must be an absolute world. Once it begins it should last forever. We surmise that it was not God’s original plan to bring the Last Days upon this world. Rather, because evil entered the world as a consequence of the Fall, the Last Days became necessary… God cannot abandon this fallen world. He must restore the world to its original state.
    Therefore, the Last Days means one era passes and a new era arrives. If in the Last Days, because of Satan, God were to destroy the sun, the moon and the earth which He Himself created, He would be a God of failure. The sun and the moon are already resentful enough that they must shine upon evil humankind. Theirs would be a miserable fate if God destroyed them in the Last Days…
    Actually, the end-times is when humanity will soar upward, after cleansing and renewing the entire course of history and setting up one victorious point as the consummation of human history. The words that promise the coming of the Last Days are words of blessing. The word “judgment” is not a bad word; it brings good news. The Last Days are the time to dissolve the thousands of years of resentment and sorrow buried so long in the hearts of God’s children. Therefore, the coming of the Day of Judgment is good news. (Way of Unification 1.4.1)

Despite its evil beginning, the world under the sovereignty of Satan must one day be transformed into the world where goodness reigns, where the three great blessings are fulfilled centered on God. The Messiah comes at this time of transformation.
    The Last Days is this time, when the evil world under satanic sovereignty is transformed into the ideal world under God’s sovereignty. Hell on earth will be transformed into the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. Therefore, it will not be a day of fear when the world will be destroyed by global catastrophes, as many Christians have believed. In fact, it will be a day of joy, when the cherished hope of humankind, the desire of the ages, will be realized. (Exposition of the Divine Principle,Eschatology 3.1)

He Who Rejects My Sayings Has a Judge

Editorial, Richard Urban Show and audio podcast: “When Did We Visit You While You Were Sick or in Jail?”
January 6th US Capitol False Flag Entrapment Operation Needs to be Investigated

Romans 7

13 Am I saying that something good caused my death? Certainly not! It was sin that killed me by using something good. Now we can see how terrible and evil sin really is. 14 We know that the Law is spiritual. But I am merely a human, and I have been sold as a slave to sin. 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.

Richard: Paul here is especially talking about sexual sin and adulterous sexual desire. This is especially seen in the context of Romans 7:1-6.

Proverbs 5

15 You should be faithful
    to your wife,
    just as you take water
    from your own well.
16 And don’t be like a stream
    from which just any woman
    may take a drink.
17 Save yourself for your wife
    and don’t have sex
    with other women.
18 Be happy with the wife
you married
    when you were young.
19 She is beautiful and graceful,
    just like a deer;
    you should be attracted to her
    and stay deeply in love.

Richard: Again, God speaks to the necessity of sexual purity before marriage and faithfulness in marriage.

Eschatology and Messianic Hope

The Last Judgement

People have viewed the prospect of Judgement Day with a mixture of hope and fear. It is a day of hope to the downtrodden, who will finally see vindication as the dominion of evil is overthrown and the guilty are punished. It is a day of fear to those who are painfully aware of their sins and in doubt about their salvation.
A last judgment of sorts comes upon every person individually at the time of death; this judgment was discussed in chapter 5. Yet there is also a collective judgment that falls upon the entire world at the end of Days. The divine promise of the Kingdom of God requires that evil be vanquished on earth once and for all.
While many believers interpret the Last Judgment as a supernatural event at the literal end of the world, Father Moon teaches that the Last Judgment is a real process that occurs at the change of the age, when the evil traditions of the past are put away and people everywhere take up the task of building the Kingdom of God on earth. as in Jesus’ parable of the wheat and the tares, although growth of goodness occurs unnoticed for a time amidst the fallen world, there will come the moment when the distinction between good and evil is clear as day. Then, as people recognize their sins and accept the judgment of God’s Word, they will be able to root out their sins and fallen nature and begin to embody the Word in daily life, gradually transforming their character to become people of heaven.

1. Everything Evil Is Exposed and Judgment is Passed

The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the householder came and said to him, “Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then has it weeds?” He said to them, “An enemy has done this.” The servants said to him, “Then do you want us to go and gather them?” But he said, “No; lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”
    Matthew 13.24-30
 
If anyone hears my sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. He who rejects me and does not receive my sayings has a judge; the word that I have spoken will be his judge on the last day.
    John 12.47-48
 
The ones who disbelieve will be driven along to hell in throngs until, just as they come up to it, its gates will swing open and its keepers will say to them, “Did not messengers come to you from among yourselves reciting your Lord’s verses to you and warning you about meeting [Him] on this day of yours?” They will say, “Of course!” But the Sentence about torment has still come due for disbelievers. Someone else will say, “Enter hell’s gates to remain there. What an awful lodging will it be for the overbearing!”
    The ones who have heeded their Lord will be driven along to the Garden in throngs until just as they come up to it, its gates will swing open and its keepers will tell them, “Peace be upon you! You have been good, so enter it to remain there.” They will say, “Praise be to God who has held true to His promise for us and let us inherit the earth! We shall settle down anywhere we wish to in the Garden. How favored are such workers’ wages!”
    Qur’an 39.71-74
 
Those who feared the lord spoke with one another; the lord heeded and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the lord and thought on his name. “They shall be mine, says the lord of hosts, my special possession on the day when I act, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. Then once more you shall dis-tinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him. For behold, the day comes, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings. You shall go forth leaping like calves from the stall. And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the lord of hosts.
    Malachi 3.16-4.3
 
When the Trumpet shall sound one blast
And the earth with its mountains shall be lifted up and crushed with one crash,
Then, on that day, will the Event befall.
Heaven will split asunder, for that day it will be frail,
The angels will be on its sides, and eight will uphold the Throne of their Lord that day, above them.
On that day you will be exposed; not a secret of yours will be hidden.
Then, as for him who is given his record in his right hand, he will say, “Take, read my book!
Surely I knew that I should have to meet my reckoning.”
Then he will be in blissful state
In a high Garden whose clusters are in easy reach.
[They will say to him,] “Eat and drink at ease for that you sent on before you in past days.”
But as for him who is given his record in his left hand, he will say, “Oh, would that I had not been given my book
And knew not what my reckoning!
Oh, would that it had been death!
My wealth has not availed me,
My power has gone from me.”
“Take him and fetter him And then expose him to hellfire…”
    Qur’an 69.13-31
 
For no other foundation can any one lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any one builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—each man’s work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
    1 Corinthians 3.11-15
 
 

The Last Will Be First, and the First Last

1 Samuel 24

12 I’ll let the Lord decide which one of us has done right. I pray that the Lord will punish you for what you’re doing to me, but I won’t do anything to you. 13 An old proverb says, “Only evil people do evil things,” and so I won’t harm you.

Richard: Let God settle battles and grudges. If someone wrongs us, we should forgive and pray that God’s Will be done regarding that person. To be clear, this does not mean that we accept abusive relationships. Rather, this applies to our reaction to them.

Proverbs 28

12 When an honest person wins,
    it’s time to celebrate;
    when crooks are in control,
    it’s best to hide.
13 If you don’t confess your sins,
    you will be a failure.
But God will be merciful
    if you confess your sins
    and give them up.

Reversal and Restoration

Salvation is sometimes pictured as a great reversal. it looks to the day when God will act to turn the existing social and political order upside down, when the wealthy and powerful will no longer tower above the honest and god-fearing. internally, it brings the insight that the way to God is the reverse of the way of the world. an enlightened person recognizes that he should reverse his or her orientation one-hundred-and-eighty degrees. scripture speaks of this inner reversal as dying to self in order to live, seeking darkness in order to find the light, and abasing the self in order to become prominent.
This leads to the concept of salvation as restoration. restoration refers to the undoing of bad habits, modes of thinking, ways of behaving, and social relations that have grown corrupt and deviated from the proper way. it is a return to the origin, aimed at restoring the original way of life according to the true principles and purposes of God. an important expression of this theme of reversion to the origin is the Buddhist doctrine of Dependent origination (Paticcasamuppada), which is not just a law of causality but more properly the insight that all causes leading to downfall must be reversed.
Father Moon discusses this topic at length under the teaching of restoration through indemnity. indemnity, broadly speaking, means to restore mistakes by taking the opposite course. it begins with a reversal of character—from self-centeredness to other-centeredness. it extends to relationships—paying restitution for a crime to making amends for a breach of trust, from the standpoint that it is my responsibility to restore harmony with my brother, even when the original problem was not my fault. it concludes with complete restoration, the reversal of the original sin that happened at the human Fall.


  1. The Great Reversal

The last will be first, and the first last.
    Matthew 20.16

Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
    Matthew 23.12

Him who humbles himself, God exalts; him who exalts himself, God humbles; from him who searches for greatness, greatness flies; him who flies from greatness, greatness searches out: with him who is importunate with circumstances, circumstance is importunate; by him who gives way to circumstance, circumstance stands.
Talmud, Erubin 13b (Judaism)

The way of Heaven,
Is it not like stretching a bow?
What is high up is pressed down,
What is low down is lifted up;
What has surplus is reduced,
What is deficient is supplemented.

The way of Heaven,
It reduces those who have surpluses,
To supplement those who are deficient.
The way of man is just not so:
It reduces those who are deficient,
To offer to those who have surpluses.
Who can offer his surpluses to the world?
Only a person of Tao.
    Tao Te Ching 77 (Taoism)

The bows of the mighty are broken,
but the feeble gird on strength.
Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger.
The barren has borne seven,
but she who has many children is forlorn.
The Lord kills and brings to life;
he brings down to Sheol and raises up.
The Lord makes poor and makes rich;
he brings low, he also exalts.
He raises up the poor from the dust;
he lifts the needy from the ash heap,
to make them sit with princes
and inherit a seat of honor.
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord ’s,
and on them he has set the world.
He will guard the feet of his faithful ones;
but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness;
for not by might shall a man prevail.
    1 Samuel 2.4-9

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

The path of the providence of salvation is the path of restoration. The path of restoration is the path of recreation…
    When God created the world, He had only one concept—the concept of the zero-point. Hence, we have to return to the zero-point when walking the path of restoration and recreating God’s world. We should return to the state prior to God’s creation; otherwise, nothing is possible. That is why the Bible teaches, “Whoever seeks to gain his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it.” To lose your life means to cut off Satan’s life [by returning to the zero-point]. Otherwise, we have no way to connect with God at the origin. 
 
    Historically, evil people have lived better than good people. Originally, good people should prosper while evil people should decline. These positions should be switched. The zero-point is the time of transition when good people go up while evil people decline. Now is the time when this transition is taking place. (218:187-88, July 28, 1991)
 
In America, quite a few people live perverted lives. Grandfathers have sex with their granddaughters and fathers with their daughters—even while they live with their wives. This is the fruit of Satan, who in the beginning reversed the direction of human life 180 degrees from the plan of God. In a world that abides by Heaven’s principles, could homosexuality exist? Lesbianism, alcoholism, drug addiction and such came to exist because human beings suffer from emotional misalignment. They suffer in this world, which is hell on earth. We, on the other hand, are living 180 degrees different from them, as we strive to live in God’s Kingdom. (243:192, January 10, 1993
 
 

The Fool Who Thinks He Is Wise Is Called a Fool Indeed

The Richard Urban Show
#80-Peace on Earth to Everyone Who Pleases God

Petition Congress Rally-January 6th, 2021, Washington DC

Sample letters to Congressman about opposing election fraud on January 6th, 2021.

Luke 24

44 Jesus said to them, “While I was still with you, I told you that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the Books of the Prophets, and in the Psalms[d] had to happen.”

Proverbs 30

30 These are the sayings
    and the message
    of Agur son of Jakeh.
Someone cries out to God,
    “I am completely worn out!
    How can I last?[a]
2 I am far too stupid
    to be considered human.
3 I never was wise,
    and I don’t understand
    what God is like.”

4 Has anyone gone up to heaven
    and come back down?
    Has anyone grabbed hold
    of the wind?
Has anyone wrapped up the sea
    or marked out boundaries
    for the earth?
If you know of any
    who have done such things,
    then tell me their names
    and their children’s names.

5 Everything God says is true—
    and it’s a shield for all
    who come to him for safety.
6 Don’t change what God has said!
    He will correct you and show
    that you are a liar.

Egoism and Pride

Egoism, the inordinate preoccupation with one’s own self, makes people blind to the reality of God. the problem is compounded by pride—pride in oneself, pride in one’s wealth, knowledge or power. ego-ism and pride close us off from God. thinking ourselves to be independent, we cannot recognize that our very existence is dependent upon ultimate reality. pride makes us blind to the needs of others and too stubborn to accept help from others. pride makes us unable even to take an accurate measure of ourselves.  
   
    In Christianity, pride is regarded as the first step to the fall and rebellion against God. in Buddhism, grasping after the self and the sense of ego is the chief of all cravings and the deepest root of ignorance. in the Indic religions egoism is a fetter that binds people to the wheel of rebirth.
    Father Moon reiterates these universal teachings, but with particular emphasis on the social manifestations of pride and egoism among the affluent people of today’s wealthy and powerful nations. he warns America in particular that it had better repent for its arrogance, which is seeping into every cranny of the social fabric, or inevitably it will decline. he also links egoism and pride to the human Fall, which implanted that wicked propensity deep in the human mind. 
 
Verily man is rebellious
For he thinks himself independent.
Lo! unto thy Lord is the return.
    Qur’an 96.6-8
 
Pride goes before destruction,
and a haughty spirit before a fall.
    Proverbs 16.18

Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
and shrewd in their own sight!
    Isaiah 5.21
 
 
Selfishness may be sweet for oneself, but no har-mony of the whole can come from it.
    Osashizu (Tenrikyo)
 
We maintain that all pain and suffering are results of want of Harmony, and that the one terrible and only cause of the disturbance of Harmony is selfishness in some form or another.
    Helena Blavatsky, The Key to Theosophy
 
In thinking, “This is I” and “That is mine,” he binds himself with his self, as does a bird with a snare.
    Maitri Upanishad 3.2 (Hinduism)
 
“Sons have I; wealth have I”: Thus is the fool worried. Verily, he himself is not his own. Whence sons? Whence wealth?
    Dhammapada 62 (Buddhism)
 
Where egoism exists, Thou are not experienced,Where Thou art, is not egoism.
    Adi Granth, Maru-ki-Var, M.1, p. 1092 (Sikhism)

But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked;
you waxed fat, you grew thick, you became sleek;
then he forsook God who made him,
and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation.
     Deuteronomy 32.15

Nzame [God] is on high, man is on the earth.
Yeye O, Yalele, God is God, man is man.
Everyone in his house, everyone for himself. 
    Fang Tradition (African Traditional Religions)

For the Lord of hosts has a day
against all that is proud and lofty,
against all that is lifted up and high;
against all the cedars of Lebanon
lofty and lifted up;
and against all the oaks of Bashan;
against all the high mountains
and against all the lofty hills;
against every high tower,
and against every fortified wall;
against all the ships of Tarshish,
and against all the beautiful craft.
And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled,
and the pride of men shall be brought low;
and the l ord alone will be exalted in that day.
    Isaiah 2.12-17

The fool who thinks he is wise is called a fool indeed.
    Dhammapada 63 (Buddhism)
 
Whoever proclaims himself good,
know, goodness approaches him not.
    Adi Granth, Gauri Sukhmani 12, M.5, p. 278 (Sikhism)
 
Confucius said, A faultless man I cannot hope ever to meet; the most I can hope for is to meet a man of fixed principles. Yet where all around I see Nothing pretending to be Something, Emptiness pretending to be Fullness, Penury pretending to be Affluence, even a man of fixed principles will be none too easy to find.
    Analects 7.25 (Confucianism)
 
He who tiptoes cannot stand;
He who strides cannot walk.
He who shows himself is not conspicuous;
He who considers himself right is not illustrious;
He who brags will have no merit;
He who boasts will not endure.
From the point of view of the Way, these are like “excessive food and useless excrescences” which all creatures detest.
He who has the Way does not abide in them.
    Tao Te Ching 24 (Taoism)

Pride has seven forms:
Boasting that one is lower than the lowly,
Or equal with the equal, or greater than
Or equal to the lowly
Is called the pride of selfhood.
Boasting that one is equal to those
Who by some quality are better than oneself
Is the pride of being superior. Thinking
That one is higher than the extremely high,
Who fancy themselves to be superior,
Is pride greater than pride;
Like an abscess in a tumor
It is very vicious.
Conceiving an “I” through ignorance
In the five empty [aggregates]
Which are called the appropriation
Is said to be the pride of thinking “I.”
Thinking one has won fruits not yet
Attained is pride of conceit.
Praising oneself for faulty deeds
Is known by the wise as wrongful pride.
Deriding oneself, thinking
“I am senseless,” is called
The pride of lowliness.
Such briefly are the seven prides.
    Nagarjuna, Precious Garland 406-12 (Buddhism)
 
 

How Many People Die and Go to Hell Each Year?

Urban Life Training Newsletter-10-29-20

The Richard Urban Show:
#66-The Family Rooted in Absolute Sexual Ethics Part 5-with Stacey Urban

Acts 2

On the day of Pentecost all the Lord’s followers were together in one place. 2 Suddenly there was a noise from heaven like the sound of a mighty wind! It filled the house where they were meeting. 3 Then they saw what looked like fiery tongues moving in all directions, and a tongue came and settled on each person there. 4 The Holy Spirit took control of everyone, and they began speaking whatever languages the Spirit let them speak.

Proverbs 15

29 The Lord never even hears
    the prayers of the wicked,
    but he answers the prayers
    of all who obey him.
30 A friendly smile
    makes you happy,
    and good news
    makes you feel strong.
31 Healthy correction is good,
    and if you accept it,
    you will be wise.
32 You hurt only yourself
    by rejecting instruction,
    but it makes good sense
    to accept it.
33 Showing respect to the Lord
    will make you wise,
    and being humble
    will bring honor to you.

Hell

3. Rescuing Souls from Hell

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

God is a God of love. When God looks down from His throne and sees spirits in hell crying out to Him in their misery, “Please, God, save me!” what would He say? Would He say, “You deserve a lot worse”? Or does He have mercy on them? Surely, God will do everything possible to liberate hell. (98:116, May 7, 1978)
 
Only through love can we transform hell into heaven. We can renovate hell only if we possess love. (90:314, January 15, 1977)
 
Since people do not live longer than 100 years, out of the five billion people on earth, fifty million go to the spirit world each year—even to hell. What shall we do about this? God wants to harvest to His side what Satan has sown, but how many of them have gone to hell during the past forty years?
Perhaps two billion? This is serious. When I go to the spirit world, they may say, “Reverend Moon, when you were alive on earth, why didn’t you fulfill your responsibility for us?” How am I supposed to reply to them? At least I should determine in my heart to take responsibility to save them, if not now, then through my followers who come after me. (205:356, October 2, 1990)
 

From Judas Iscariot and Emperor Nero down to today’s communist party,
countless people have betrayed Heaven.
Although we are destined for victory in relating with the entire cosmos,
at this time for the complete dissolution of grief,
we recognize that when the divine judgment befalls them
we cannot just sweep them up and throw them away.
Mayest Thou, through Thy name, and with the solemn authority of Thy universal victory,
enable us to form relationships even with them, as is also our destiny…
Although they were hated enemies who pierced Thy heart with nails,
who killed Thy son Jesus, and killed many of Thy beloved people,
let this be a place where we can love them.
Open the gates of heaven and earth and reach out to them with Thy heart,
Thy mind of magnanimous love.
We know that by liberating them, the doors of hell will be opened,
and the way will gradually be paved to abolish hell. (78:18-19, May 1, 1975)