Develop Knowledge and Fight Opposition to Win

Watch the latest Richard Urban show with Stephen Downward: True Father’s Words Have Been Adulterated: https://youtu.be/8h9AhTg10kQ.

Mark 2

18 The followers of John the Baptist and the Pharisees often went without eating.[e] Some people came and asked Jesus, “Why do the followers of John and those of the Pharisees often go without eating, while your disciples never do?”

19 Jesus answered:

The friends of a bridegroom don’t go without eating while he is still with them. 20 But the time will come when he will be taken from them. Then they will go without eating.

21 No one patches old clothes by sewing on a piece of new cloth. The new piece would shrink and tear a bigger hole.

22 No one pours new wine into old wineskins. The wine would swell and burst the old skins.[f] Then the wine would be lost, and the skins would be ruined. New wine must be put into new wineskins.

Richard: Jesus brought the new word of truth. Yet it was very hard for the prepared Jewish people to receive this word. They would need a new perspective, like putting wine into new, not old, wineskins.

Psalm 38

I trust you, Lord God,
    and you will do something.
16     I said, “Don’t let them laugh
    or brag because I slip.”

17 I am about to collapse
    from constant pain.
18     I told you my sins,
    and I am sorry for them.
19 Many deadly and powerful
    enemies hate me,
20     and they repay evil for good
    because I try to do right.

21 You are the Lord God!
    Stay nearby
    and don’t desert me.
22 You are the one who saves me.
    Please hurry and help.

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
August 9, 1959

1 Corinthians 9: 14-27

There are many religions today. There are many religious sects today: Confucianism, Buddhism, Islam, etc. There are many tracks in the stadium. However, Heaven decides the specific track. It has been determined which event will be held on which track. It is an unfortunate reality that human beings are directed by a certain religious sect or denomination or some person. This is because human beings fell.

You must participate in God’s race one way or another. You will have to run in one event. Yet you belong to different nations. The races that God wants are not to be divided among nations. They are international. In other words, they are like the Olympic games. Into that stadium, all the representatives of each nation will come. They all enter the stadium and run. The same thing can be said of God’s providence of restoration. For this reason, Heaven has been working to find the winners of the marathon race on the world level. Religion may be compared to marathons, which occupy the most prestigious position among all the races.

Not all religions are good. Only when the tradition is properly set will a good religion emerge. Then there must arise common knowledge based upon that. If one lacks knowledge about that, no matter how much one may have prepared, there is no way he can become the winner. It cannot be taught. He will never win, because he does not have a clear sense of purpose.

Therefore, you should prepare your minds and bodies and develop knowledge, so that even if all of Heaven and earth were to be mobilized in opposition against you on the battle field, you would not surrender but overcome it. You should fight on with this kind of conviction. Only then can you participate in the group who will win in the final course.

Prayer

Our ancestors ran the race. Adam was responsible for one event in God’s race, but while he was running it, he collapsed because he upheld himself. Ham, who should have attended Noah with the heart of attending Heaven, failed. Because of this, Noah also fell down mid-course. Abraham should have revered both small and large with an equally sincerely heart and established their relative value, but because he could not accomplish it, he also was broken.

When we examine the course of Moses, we find that the Israelites and Moses both fell. Moses should not have shown anger before God was angry. The Israelites should not have despaired before Heaven despaired. Yet Moses struck the rock twice in rage before God showed any anger, and the Israelites lost their faith in God. For these reasons they all fell down in the wilderness.

When we examine Jesus’ time, what about the betrayal of the three disciples? Although they should have risked their lives and walked the course, they did not want to go. They disappeared out of fear for their lives. The miserable failure of the three disciples has become the tower of humanity’s grief.

We have learned today through the principle of restoration that the path the saints of the past walked is none other than the path we should walk. We know that what was begun in Adam’s family passed through many obstacles in history. Only in Jesus’ time, when Jesus said, “Father, do not as I will, but as Thou will,” did a winner emerge who fought at the risk of his life. Now we have come to understand that if we do not follow his example, we cannot run the race in the stadium.

Father, we have come to understand the content of the restoration. We have come to understand what our determination should be as we set out to engage ourselves in restoration and how fierce the battle is. Please protect us on these race tracks, that we will not fall as losers. We have pledged before Heaven and earth. Even if we are to face death, no matter what kind of difficulties and pain are to rush against us, even if all of humanity were to oppose us like a thunderstorm, and even if Heaven and earth were to change, please let our center remain unchanged and let us overcome all difficulties. Let us cast away the dark clouds and become victorious and glorious sons and daughters who can look up to the joyful grace of Heaven in a bright Heaven and earth.

Please have compassion on those of us who have gathered here today. Since we have already entered the race, even though some are running and some are unable to run, please govern them so that they will not escape from this fateful course they must run after repentance. Please guide us to welcome the tribulations and afflictions that come our way and to digest them so that we can establish conditions of pride and glory before the Father. Let us become worthy people who can use them as conditions of sacrifice.

We understand the great work which has been hidden deep inside the heart of the Father, who has desired to give awards for six thousand years. Based on this, Jesus said that he was the bridegroom and that we are the brides; that he is our true father and we are his true children, true family, true nation, and true world. However, today we do not have a family, a people or a country. We do not have anything adequately prepared. What hesitation and reluctance can we have before our parent, who is trying to restore everything? What hesitation and reluctance can we have before the heavenly family and the heavenly nation? We should pour out all of our determination and unswerving zeal to run the race without stopping and conquer the enemy camp. We should raise the flag of God’s victory and say, “Father, please be liberated from all Your grief.”

We have learned that to accomplish this we have to overcome any difficulty and win in the fight. Please protect us so that we will not fail as racers in our life. Please guide us not to lose the original ideal that the Father established and not to cause anguish to the Father’s heart.

Please allow us to become children of Heaven who can risk our lives each day and run the race bravely. Please do not let us lose the race. Praying that You will allow us to become final victors in God’s races and become precious sons and daughters who can glorify the Father before the entire universe and all things of creation, we prayed in the name of the Lord. Amen. 

Let us Understand Heaven though the Deepest Part of our Hearts

Mark 16

After the Lord Jesus had said these things to the disciples, he was taken back up to heaven where he sat down at the right side[b] of God. 20 Then the disciples left and preached everywhere. The Lord was with them, and the miracles they worked proved that their message was true.

Richard: This Saturday, August 17th, we will celebrate the seventh anniversary of the ascension, or Seongwha, of Rev. Sun Myung Moon.

Proverbs 21

The Lord controls rulers,
    just as he determines
    the course of rivers.
We may think we are doing
    the right thing,
    but the Lord always knows
    what is in our hearts.
Doing what is right and fair
    pleases the Lord
    more than an offering.
Evil people are proud
    and arrogant,
    but sin is the only crop
    they produce.[a]
If you plan and work hard,
    you will have plenty;
    if you get in a hurry,
    you will end up poor.

The True Sons and Daughters of Heavenly Father Who Will Remain in the Last Days

Rev Sun Myung Moon
July 26, 1959

Romans 8: 12-27

12 My dear friends, we must not live to satisfy our desires. 13 If you do, you will die. But you will live, if by the help of God’s Spirit you say “No” to your desires. 14 Only those people who are led by God’s Spirit are his children. 15 God’s Spirit doesn’t make us slaves who are afraid of him. Instead, we become his children and call him our Father.[a] 16 God’s Spirit makes us sure that we are his children. 17 His Spirit lets us know that together with Christ we will be given what God has promised. We will also share in the glory of Christ, because we have suffered with him.

18 I am sure that what we are suffering now cannot compare with the glory that will be shown to us. 19 In fact, all creation is eagerly waiting for God to show who his children are. 20 Meanwhile, creation is confused, but not because it wants to be confused. God made it this way in the hope 21 that creation would be set free from decay and would share in the glorious freedom of his children. 22 We know that all creation is still groaning and is in pain, like a woman about to give birth.

23 The Spirit makes us sure about what we will be in the future. But now we groan silently, while we wait for God to show that we are his children.[b] This means that our bodies will also be set free. 24 And this hope is what saves us. But if we already have what we hope for, there is no need to keep on hoping. 25 However, we hope for something we have not yet seen, and we patiently wait for it.

26 In certain ways we are weak, but the Spirit is here to help us. For example, when we don’t know what to pray for, the Spirit prays for us in ways that cannot be put into words. 27 All of our thoughts are known to God. He can understand what is in the mind of the Spirit, as the Spirit prays for God’s people.

Prayer

Father, we know that You need not speak many words to those of us You have gathered here today. All we need is the heartfelt desire to be embraced in the Father’s bosom. We know that when You call us, “My beloved sons and daughters” with a heart of longing which springs forth from the depth of Your being, we can be filled completely. This is the moment when liberation is completed.

Father, when we hear Your heavenly voice, let us be fully intoxicated in Your loving heart. You know that we long for the moment when we can be overwhelmed by a heart of longing and can transcend our conscious thoughts to be embraced in Your bosom. Please grant us such a blessing.

We pray sincerely that You will guide us not to understand Heaven through the words we will receive, but rather to understand Heaven through the deepest part of our hearts. Please lead us not to seek salvation through the words. Rather, guide us to sing songs of life before the Father with our hearts. In this way, please allow us to understand how arduous and painful the Father’s path has been. Let us humbly bow our heads and offer You consolation.

If we possess anything valuable, please lead us not to keep it as our own. If we possess anything worthy of pride, please lead us not to consider that the source of our pride.

If we have a goal in our life, guide us to seek it with our hearts. If there is to be some substance to our life, please let our one heart be that substance.

Many people have come before the Father. Please guide them to find on their own who they live for, what purpose they live for, and in what direction they are heading. These pitiful ones have no master to claim them. We know that if someone can be recognized as one whom others want to share their hearts with eternally, there can be no greater joy.

Father. We have come to realize that the Father who calls us with the heart of eternal life, the eternal ideology, and eternal love dwells within our hearts. What belongs to the Father belongs to us and what belongs to us belongs to the Father. The Father longs for sons and daughters who can sing and rejoice based on one ideology. We yearn for the time when, after serving the Father and offering all glorious elements to the Father, we can rejoice and be proud before all of Heaven and earth.

Father, You understand all this. Please connect our hearts and move everything of the past, both in Heaven and on earth, and bring them into harmony in the world of heart. Please allow this to be a moment when we can make a firm determination in a state of surpassing joy. May that determination bring glory.

I am about to give the words of truth. I do not want to convey just the contents of the words. Please work through me to convey Your words and let us fathom the heart of the Father and discover our true selves.

We know that Satan works to put a gap between the heart of the speaker and the hearts of the listeners. Therefore, please let this be an hour when we can unite in one heart and serve the Father together. I prayed in the name of the Lord. Amen.

Christianity Will Fade Away Unless an Internal Movement Appears

Cheon Seong Gyeong 963


To this day, no one has been regis-
tered into the heavenly kingdom. The
kingdom did not have a nation. It did
not have a family or nation. When you
go to the spirit world, your parents, and
– if there are ten people in your family
– all ten of your family members would
be separated. However, from now on it
will not be that way. You should know
that originally, if human beings had not
fallen, heaven would be the place where
you enter with your mother, father and
clan.
If your grandparents, mother and
father, couple, and children, become one
based on true love, and inherit God’s
true love that lives for others, then even
God would be absolutely obedient to
that. In the world that strives to live for
others – a world that moves according
to the love that submits to the tradition
of living for others – the basis for peace
would surely emerge even if it resisted
being formed. (210-354, 1990.12.27)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1428

The homeland desired by the will of
God is the homeland and the original
homeland of humankind, based on true
love. Korea should become such a home-
land and the homeland for all humanity.
(185-131, 1989.1.3)

Let Us Fathom the Heart of Heaven
Rev. Sun Myung Moon
September 13, 1959

Matthew 10:24-39

Christianity will fade away unless an internal movement appears to shoulder difficulties and support one another with the belief that we are brothers and sisters and one human race, the citizens and family of Heaven. It will follow in the footsteps of Judaism. It will face the same fate as the Israelites who fell down in the wilderness.

Who should uphold the providential will of the people? If Christians do not recognize this mission, foreigners or members of another faith will surely shoulder it and realize the blessings of Christianity. Providential history never warns arrogant and overconfident people with words of guidance. Human beings are to follow the providence; the providence is never steered by human beings, nor does it ever follow them.

Hence, we should give our best and pour out all of our strength to recognize each other as the heavenly citizens, people, family and brothers and sisters. We should yearn for the heavenly sovereign, the ruler of Heaven. This is the time. This is God’s hope. This is the nation that God wants to convey His will through. This is the ideal world God wants to love.

Even if we do not fully understand this, we should understand that we are God’s people. We should know that we are God’s kinsmen and families. We will meet courageous sons and daughters. Those who understand this truth understand God while on earth. Jesus said, “Whoever says to others that they know me, I will recognize them before God.”

What do you want to understand by coming here? You should understand the desires and goals of God and understand that we are His people. You have to understand that God is in anguish and is desperately trying to liberate people from imprisonment in Satan’s world.

Prayer

Father, we have learned that Your desire does not rest in Heaven. Your situation is not focused upon Yourself. The heart of Heaven is not Yours. How much have You longed for Heaven’s desires, situation, and heart to be with the past, present and future? We who did not understand this are traitors and rebels.

Please help us realize how we are enslaved inside the iron fences of Satan. Please allow our calling upon You to be manifested in Heaven and on earth. Please connect the hearts of those who are gathered here to Your heart.

When this is realized before the people and the world, we know that joy will fill all of Heaven and earth. We have learned that we cannot build this ideal world unless we can long for the people, brothers and sisters, our family members and children and shoulder the cross in our battles.

We sincerely pray that You will raise us up as sons and daughters who can fight every day with unbounded, infinite animosity toward Satan’s world.

We hope that we can clearly understand our own situation and the direction that we should head in based on the words You have given us today. We pray that You will guide us to become sons and daughters whom You can recognize and who can understand You. We prayed in the name of the Lord. Amen. 

Are the Battles Being Fought or Not?

Cheon Seong Gyeong 586

What is the meaning of death? Earth-
ly life, the time of living in air, parallels
the time of swimming in the womb. We
are living in a wrapping cloth of air.
Death itself is not unique, but only our
rebirth into the third life. That moment
of transition is what we call death. (49-
286, 1971.10.17)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1526

Pledge number two signifies that
our family pledges to represent and
become central to heaven and earth by
serving God and the True Parents, to
fulfill the way of filial piety in our fam-
ily, patriotism in our nation, saints in
the world, and a family of divine sons
and daughters in heaven and earth. This
means that we will complete everything
desired by God in our family. Through
it, we are making a vow that as parents,
we will educate the children in our fam-
ily, the citizens in our nation, and the
people living in the world, and in heav-
en and earth, so that they may become
eligible to become the family members
of God’s Kingdom. (260-190, 1994.5.8)

Let Us Fathom the Heart of Heaven
Rev. Sun Myung Moon
September 13, 1959

Matthew 10:24-39

God came to us and taught us in the following way: He said that He was the father of individuals, families, people and the world. As long as a people possessed a father, they all had the same father. As long as the world had a father, the world had the same father. This is what God wants.

God came to us. He came to each one of us, prisoners in Satan’s sovereignty. However, even after raising up Abraham as the father of faith, God could not share all that He wanted to tell us. Although He raised up a family, He could not tell them all He wanted. Although he chose Moses to lead the people, He could not reveal all He wanted to. Although He sent Jesus, He could not convey all that He wanted to at that time. He could not. It is written clearly in the Bible that He could not speak all that He wanted to.

Why is this so? Jesus represented the God of the world and of the universe and all of Heaven and earth. He could not accomplish this mission without a foundation. Thus, Jesus said that he will return in the Last Days.

Please reflect upon yourselves. You owe an historical debt.

To instruct you and teach you, Heaven came to your people and sent prophets countless times. Do you understand this?

What did Jesus bring with him? Jesus came with the desire to elevate all people as the children of God and to judge Satan’s world. He came to build a garden of happiness as the King of Kings, centering on the Father. He came with this desire, situation and heart of love. Have you ever had such a desire? Have you ever experienced such a situation? Have you ever felt such a heart? If you have not, then you cannot avoid judgment.

Therefore, we should not call out, “God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob. God the Father who called Moses and the prophets of the past, Father whom Jesus called upon!” We should pray, “God of Abraham, God of Jacob, God of Moses and God of Jesus! Please be my God.” God should not be the God of someone else. He must be our own God. This is what we must do.

The time that we call out to the historical God has passed. Thus, the God of the past must have a relationship with us and the God of the future must have a relationship with us. You have to build a relationship in which you can say, “God of the past, isn’t this the current situation? God of the present, isn’t this the situation? God of the future, isn’t this the situation? Isn’t this Your desire?” and God will say, “Yes.”

To do this, first we have to understand that we live in Satan’s world. You are the descendants of Satan. You are prisoners of war captured not by God’s side but by Satan’s side. The Savior is the chief communications representative on the world scale who has the responsibility to bring you back. The “Savior” means that he will save you. The Savior is the person with the mission to save all the prisoners of war. He encourages them and goads them to fight. For this reason, it is written that Jesus came not to bring peace to the world but to provide weapons and provoke battles. Yet are the battles being fought or not? Please examine this carefully.

Undertake the Adventure of Conquering Yourself

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2473

Family Pledge number four states:
“Our family… pledges to build the
universal family encompassing heav-
en and earth, which is God’s ideal of
creation, and perfect the world of free-
dom, peace, unity and happiness, by
centering on true love”! It is from here
that happiness arises. Happiness, free-
dom and the ideal are realized in the
family of the ideal of creation desired
by God. (260-305, 1994.5.19)

Richard: Happiness cannot be achieved without realizing God’s ideal of the family.

Cheong Seong Gyeong 1242

You must understand how impor-
tant the Blessing is from a providential
point of view. God’s Blessing is received
where the Kingdom of Heaven on earth
and the Kingdom of Heaven in the spirit
world meet. It is the place where the eter-
nal world and the corporeal world meet
horizontally. (Blessed Family – 544)

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
July 19, 1959

John 10: 1-18

Then what is the adventure of adventures? It is to cry for the miserable people in Heavenly Father’s stead, with a deep, desperate heart. Although you may have received a complicated and difficult mission, and even if your heart desires peace, you have to be determined to fulfill the responsibility and go forth toward the standard God desires, in spite of death or universal opposition.

The world’s affairs were pioneered through adventures. But no one took on the adventure of the world of God’s heart. Thus, if God says to live a certain way, then live that way. If Jesus said to do this, then just do that. To find out if it is true or a lie, you have to charge through with it until the end.

There is no greater adventure than the adventure regarding the issues of your own heart. Please become the explorers of the world of the heart, and understand that there is nothing more joyous or renewing than to make a relationship with Heavenly Father through those adventures.

Prayer

How much did Jesus sympathize with the miserable fishermen when he walked the beaches of Galilee for thirty years? How much did he sympathize with the pitiful villages? How concerned was he when he saw the state of the Jewish churches and the religious bodies? We realize how miserable Jesus was as he was chased out of the temple in Jerusalem, wandering around from village to village, and later on searching the seaside to find just one disciple who was true in heart.

As we tried to see what was the adventure of adventures, we realized that the greatest adventure is not to an object or something in front of you. It is to conquer yourself and completely dominate yourself and bring yourself into submission.

Jesus knew that the day you go into the world of the heart and conquer yourself is the day all of the cosmos will find you. Because he knew that, he gratefully trod the path of isolation and of being nailed to the cross. Jesus was grateful even as he was sneered at. He even comforted the people. Although his body, dripping with blood, was in pain and his heart was indignant, he saw that the Father’s heart was vested in those people as He worked through the providence. Therefore, he was filled with the heart to elevate the Father and deny himself. We now see the heart of Jesus. He prayed that Heavenly Father might bless the people, that he might somehow accidentally obviate the four thousand years of the building of a relationship with mankind and ruin that foundation.

Although humanity has been struggling to explore and conquer the things of this visible world in spite of numerous risks, humanity is not undertaking the adventure of conquering the self, with the internal heart at stake. Please allow us to realize that the course of this adventure is more rough, dangerous, great and fearful than any precipitous mountain of this world; it is greater than traversing any great ocean, and going any place where wild beasts dwell.

Many people who were walking the path of the Way failed when the element of the self came in. We realize that Jesus was able to possess the glory of resurrection when he gave himself up. He became the historic master who was victorious over himself.

We have to lose this world, lose the self, and lose the history of sorrowful regret. Please allow us to fight with our bodies and minds. Please allow us to fight on while holding on to God’s heart of the six thousand years. Allow us to realize that it is the historic desire of mankind, the desire of the age, and the request of the future that we be the victors who can rightfully wish blessing upon all creation, representing Heavenly Father. Please help us to realize that it is not God or Jesus, but I, myself, who must become such a being. I, myself, am the true center of God and Jesus, this land, and all the existing world. Let us realize that to find this truth has to start from oneself.

Jesus lived thirty years in this world. He lost himself, and once again lived to experience the joy of the resurrection. Please allow us to feel the joy of finding ourselves again after being lost. If we cannot experience the joy of being reborn after death, the coming garden of blessing does not have anything to do with us. Please allow us to bury and throw away the self that goes along with this world and to live again with Heavenly Father.

We have to carry on a revolution today. We have to find the new world. We need an adventurous and investigative character. Father, we realize that those who think about themselves cannot be included in this number. Those who are clinging to the conditions of the environment will not be able to pioneer that environment. Those who are caught up in the thoughts and ideals of this life cannot partake in the ideology of this new world to fulfill their role as world leaders God can be pleased with.

Please allow us to have the heart that is in tune with the heart of the ideal, from the individual, to the family, up to the cosmos. Let us be grateful wherever we are sent, grateful no matter what kind of offering we may become. Let us be heavenly princes of adventure who can go forth ready to face any risk.

I sincerely pray that we can be the sons and daughters whom God can trust and that we can be responsible for everything. I pray all these things in the loving name of the Lord. Amen.