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What is Satan’s ultimate target behind the history of struggle between good and evil ever since this conflict was brought into being as a result of the Fall of the ancestors of humankind? Satan has his sights set precisely on God Himself. God is eternal, unchanging, absolute, and unique, and the standard of the ideal that He held at the beginning of creation must also have these qualities. Satan seeks to destroy God’s absolute will. If you were to ask God directly, He would confirm what I am saying. How would God reply if Satan asked Him, “God, when You created me as an archangel in the beginning, was it out of love that was ephemeral or eternal?” God would reply that He did so out of a love that was eternal. If He were to say that His love was ephemeral, He would make Himself an ephemeral god. Unless He maintains a standard of loving Satan eternally, there will eventually come a time when He would no longer be able to exercise His authority as God with respect to Satan. Thus, however much Satan may oppose Him, God has no choice other than to establish the basis of loving him. Thus, God is a proponent of the philosophy of non-resistance toward evil. Why is that? It is because, until the world of the heavenly ideal is manifested on earth, God must love the archangel who has become Satan, regardless of the circumstances. However much trouble Satan may cause, God cannot punish him or cut him off. He must establish the basis of having loved Satan whatever his situation. God can have complete victory only when Satan confesses to Him, saying, “Oh, God really is God. I surrender to You.” This is the issue. Since the principled path of the providence of restoration is for God to bring about Satan’s surrender by loving him, we who are to become His children must walk this same path. Whether we are persecuted around the world and considered a worldwide enemy, we must establish the basis of having loved those who oppose us. In this regard, God’s Word, “Love your enemies,” is His strategy to subjugate evil naturally. These words are simple, but no one realized that they have marked the boundary between victory and defeat between God and Satan. If God were to harbor the thought of treating Satan as His enemy and seeking revenge against him, then He would never be able to stand on the pinnacle of victory. On the contrary, He implemented a strategy of love, declaring, “Love your enemy.”
Cheon Seong Gyeong 2126
Jesus could not establish an ideal world through his family and kin. Therefore, he has to come again and fulfill this ideal, otherwise he cannot enter heaven. Where can you find the right prerequisites and circumstances to open the gates of heaven? They are on the earth. Therefore, Jesus left the keys to heaven on earth. Since he and his twelve disciples could not create families, the Unification Church today must establish 70 and then 120 disciples with Blessed Families. If that is accomplished, heaven will be opened. (160-89, 1968.8.11)
1. A Righteous Person Stands against Evil at the Cost to Himself
Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon
The Chinese character for “righteousness,” 義(eui) is a combination of two characters: 羊(yang) “sheep” and 我(ah) “self.”11 In other words, when you put yourself in the position of a sacrificial lamb, you will create the condition for righteousness. (92:309, April 24, 1977)
Go and do something adventurous for the sake of the nation and God’s righteousness. God will encourage you, “Go ahead and do it.” Then you will meet with abuse. There will be a confrontation, but if you subjugate the evil on your own, then God will be pleased. It is the outcome God hopes for. Will God help you if you cower in fear, too afraid even to fight? Therefore, raise well-intentioned problems. (104:107, April 15, 1979)
You must be able to distinguish between good and evil, but how do you distinguish them? In the world good and evil are intermingled; however, the point where good and evil becomes distinguished is in yourself.
The world is evil; therefore, if you live without colliding with the world, you are an evil person. You live in a fallen realm; therefore, if you are living your life like a fish caught in a net, you are an evil person. If you just continue with your life instead of confronting the world’s evils, you are an evil person. Since you know that the present-day world is an evil world, you must fight against it.
Why? It is because humans fell. Having fallen from our original position, you must climb back up, and in order to climb back up, you must struggle through it. It will not do to stay still. Otherwise, you will never be able to greet the new world that humankind desires. You will not leave a mark of goodness in history, and history will not be able to progress. That is why, as people who would advance the cause of goodness, you must fight. (33:42, August 1, 1970)
It is a principle that the side of justice grows stronger with persecution and difficulty. Therefore, when we are hit we will develop even more. (93:134, May 21, 1977)
When good people pursue a certain goal, they are often uncertain about their objective, and on the path they find little support to stimulate and strengthen their aspiration for goodness. On the other hand, evil people find help every step of the way and relationships to encourage them from the beginning to the end. Therefore, a person who is seeking truth inevitably finds him or herself in situations of loneliness and sorrow.
The path of the person who upholds goodness will not be a smooth one. Not many people welcome an individual who strives to cultivate a character of exceptional goodness, especially as he tries to assemble an environment that meets his standard. There will be opposition when that person tries to build a family of goodness, and even stronger evil forces will surround and oppose any attempt to build a tribe of goodness. (36:52, November 15, 1970)
Father! I am going forward as a strong man, bold and magnanimous; I will not be put to shame. Please, watch over me on my path; I will make Thee proud of me. (134:142-43, February 25, 1985)
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Whether it is in the Citizens Federation, the VOC organization or in the Unification Church, the place where all of you must work is not in the offices. Go do the tong ban breakthrough activities first and fight if you have to. You should compete to see who will go into their neighborhood and influence it the most, who will go into their community and get the most people to become activists to liberate North Korea, and who will inspire the most families to follow the direction of their regional leaders under the authority of the committee chairmen. If I had not told you this publicly, then everything would have fallen apart. You professors did not even think of this. Do you know how much I have thought about these things? So my conclusion is that all the professors here should become the leaders of tongand ban (local communities and home neighborhoods), regardless of whether they are located in provinces or counties or towns. I mean that all professors should pack their bags and go to their families.
Richard: Rev. Moon explains being active in serving and caring for 360 homes in your community as a leader of your community. Listen to a Home Church study with Rev. Moon:
Cheon Seong Gyeong 2442
The position of husband and wife is where God and his children meet in unity, where brothers become united in God’s family, where the couple becomes one, and where the parents become one. Centering on the Four Great Realms of Heart, my spouse is thus my absolute counterpart and object, through whom I can perfect myself. Accordingly, a husband is the one through whom his wife can meet God’s ideal son, an elder brother who represents heaven, a husband who represents Heaven and a father who represents Heaven. A wife also stands in the same position in relation to her husband. Such a couple will feel joy by substantially experiencing, through their own children, everything they have invested in those children since birth, just as God has experienced raising the parents themselves. (259-45, 1994.3.27
Righteousness
Righteousness means a life upholding high principles and dedicated to public service. Righteous people are the spiritual and moral pillars of a society, bestowing its vision and setting its values. By their courage, moral rectitude, and devotion to public service they demonstrate the exemplary qualities of a good citizen. Righteousness is often demonstrated by concern for the greater good: for the community, the nation, even for the world. Father Moon calls this being a public person, living a public life. he teaches that we should strictly live with a mind to serve the greater good and never fall back into acting with selfish, greedy motives. It is not easy to be a righteous person. Righteous people invariably place public duties ahead of personal gain. They are serious about the propriety of every action they take. When society is corrupt and decadent, such righteousness is not always welcomed, and righteous people face persecution. Yet the value of righteousness is so great that in the Old Testament story of Sodom and Gomorrah, God was willing to spare those sinful cities for the sake of 10 righteous men. Every community needs such people.
The Master said, “A gentleman in his dealings with the world has neither enmities nor affections; but wherever he sees Right he ranges himself behind it. Analects 4.10 (Confucianism)
And if God had not repelled some men by others, the earth would have been corrupted. Qur’an 2.251
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5.10
Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the moneychangers at their business. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all, with the sheep and oxen, out of the temple; and he poured out the coins of the moneychangers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; you shall not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” John 2.13-16
They that are desirous of victory do not conquer by might and energy so much as by truth, compassion, righteousness, and spiritual discipline. Discriminating then between righteousness and unrighteousness, and understanding what is meant by covetousness, when there is recourse to exertion fight without arrogance, for victory is there where righteousness is. Under these conditions know, O king, that to us victory is certain in this battle. Indeed, where Krishna is, there is victory. Mahabharata, Bhishma Parva 21 (Hinduism)
Neither let us be slandered from our duty by false accusations against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the Government nor of dungeons to ourselves. Let us have faith that right makes might; and in that faith let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it. Abraham Lincoln
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Cheon Seong Gyeong 1969
The archangelic cultural sphere originated from the Nile River civilization established in Egypt. It then shifted to the Greek civilization, a peninsular civilization based around the Mediterranean Sea, and culminated in the Roman civilization. Why did the development of civilization have to gravitate toward the western spheres? It was inevitable due to the Fall.
Cheon Seong Gyeong 1051
When dealing with people, you must not do it unsatisfactorily. The work of resurrection does not occur in a course that is mandatory. It has to be exciting. You must stay up at night without even realizing it is night. You discover the value of heaven only when you get to the point at which you can say, “The place where I am now is heaven.” Isn’t that right? Even with trees, unless they are completely bonded, they don’t engraft. (75-177, 1975.1.2
Integrity
3. People of Integrity Do Not Change according to the Circumstances
Today we continue our celebration of True Children’s Day with this special reading.
Historical Children’s Day
October 28, 1980
Today is the historical Children’s Day. God cannot erect His kingdom alone; He needs a champion, an assistant to act as mediator. You are His children, called to this task. God regards you as the champions whom He has hand-picked to create the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. What an overwhelming task for Him!
The Unification Church is one family. If the head of a family thinks only about himself, the family becomes unhappy. The success and happiness of a family flow from the head of the family who cares for all the members. My deepest concern and care dwells with each one of you, and you in turn should love and care for each other as brothers and sisters, advancing hand in hand to meet True Parents.
Misunderstanding of Cain and Abel
The Cain-Abel theory in the Unification Church is very strong, but sometimes I worry that it may not be understood correctly. Our tradition is to follow an Abel figure, but have you also given that same kind of fidelity to your brothers and sisters? Leaders sometimes have the mistaken idea that they can exercise sole authority, but I want you to know that Abel is only Abel when he saves Cain; Abel must love and embrace Cain and bring him to the mother. Cain and Abel must unite before any restoration takes place.
However, your central figure will not lead you to the Kingdom of Heaven; you must unite among yourselves, centered on him, and then you can enter heaven. If your central figure only wants you to unite around him, rather than with each other, he is a false central figure. On the contrary, even if you don’t get along with your leader on occasion, but still you take care of your brothers and sisters, your leader will look for you, because without you he cannot be successful.
A new declaration
Today I am declaring a new beginning: the leader-centered movement is over and the member-centered movement is going to begin.
Our ultimate goal is Canaan. On the journey towards Canaan, our supreme duty is to follow orders, but once we enter Canaan, we no longer live by commands, but by love. This is that time. We are now arriving, and we must live in a God-like way. During the first 21-year course, we were marching towards Canaan, but in the next 21 years, we shall live by love. After their miraculous escape from Egypt, had the Israelites been concerned about each other instead of complaining about Moses, the older generation would not have been destroyed in the wilderness. During the Exodus, the highest virtue is to follow our leader, but in the promised land we shall live by give and take with our brothers and sisters.
My teaching to you is to love one another as much as you love God and True Parents. Then the dwelling of God will be among you, and Mother and I will accompany you. Because this day marks the beginning of that new era, I called this the historical Children’s Day.
Jesus as an example
Jesus practiced this way of life with his twelve apostles. In his most sacred act, washing the feet of his disciples, he demonstrated that he came not to be served, but to serve. His was the supreme expression of love. Jesus became the central figure linking twelve people. However, even these disciples abandoned him in the end.
In the Sermon on the Mount, you can find a revealing phrase, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” The Bible did not say that only those who obey commands will enter heaven, but rather those who make peace. How many people have you made harmony with? To love each other in effect means to love the whole world, because the Unification Church is a small world; what you do here has significance on a worldwide level.
Jesus also said, “Wherever two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of you.” Your prayer is not powerful when you pray singly; only when you pray together. Brothers and sisters must truly unite so they can share life together. I want you to realize how strongly your behavior affects the person next to you; you cannot think of yourselves as isolated individuals. Within our movement, we must feel concern for each other; if someone is hurt or ill, forget your meals and go attend him. Concentrate on caring for your brothers and sisters and creating an atmosphere in which good and healthy relationships can grow.
Love each other as you love God
God is almighty, but even after thousands of years of toil, the world remains sinful. In order to realize His ideal, God has given us the mandate to love our brothers and sisters as much as we love Him. In other words, each of you should be God to your brothers and sisters, treating each other as you would treat God. If you live this tradition, God will embrace you as His true children. Many people have said that they love God, but they abused and even hated their own brothers and sisters. Now God wants us to love each other and together come to Him. Your level of heartistic achievement in the spirit world will be determined by such intensity of love.
My teaching to you is this: love the world as much as you love God and True Parents. God feels greater joy when He sees you loving each other more than you love Him. Don’t shy away from adverse conditions or from smelly or ugly people; they are the ones who need you. Willingly attend to the dirty places and make them fragrant. Don’t run away from problems, but face them and conquer them.
You have come from all different races and nations and ancestries, and I am trying to mold you according to one heavenly standard. As individual truth bodies, you cannot of course be melted down into nothing and rebuilt from scratch! But I hive resolved to help you in the most fundamental spheres: life and true love.
God and Satan are trying to hook you
You think you are independent people, but I see many hooks and wires attached to you. Satan is throwing his hooks at you. Are you slippery, or do you have many nooks and crannies where he can grab you? It is not easy to escape him, since you are more susceptible to the satanic element than to the heavenly element.
Each person is a target in the cosmic competition, for both Satan and God are throwing hooks at you. Depending on the kinds of niches you have, either Satan or God can snag you. In general, your mind is more susceptible to God’s hooks and your body vulnerable to Satan’s hooks. Therefore, you have to smooth over the satanic niches and create niches where God can hook you.
Sometimes I regret having met God. It has been like grabbing a tiger by the tail. Since there is no way I can let go, I just hang onto Him until the end.
Each person you meet is a gateway to God
You have to overcome divisions and become glued together with the love of God. There are four directions and four seasons of three months each. Spring, summer, autumn and winter gyrate in one grand circle; when you complete one dispensational circuit, you may start over and go in the opposite direction.
When you arrive at heaven in spirit world, you will see twelve gates of pearl. Would you want to be eligible to enter only one of heaven’s gates, or all twelve? If you can enter all twelve gates, then you can have total freedom of movement. To receive your pass to all twelve gates, you must serve 36 people; then you can enter both heaven and hell.
So look at each person as one portal of heaven, one gateway to God, and resolve to melt his or her heart and win him or her. There are twelve styles of personality. A soft person is the spring gate, for instance, and a tough person is a winter gate. Think of yourself as a parent, and each day select a different person to love and care for until you encompass all twelve types. Love all varieties of people — black and white, young and old. etc. The cardinal rule is to forget yourself.
Those who can harmonize with others will rise higher and higher and ultimately become great leaders. If a blessed couple, for instance, thinks only about their own family, they are in the wrong; they should worry about others before being preoccupied about themselves. The blessed couples who first devote themselves to the brothers and sisters shall be admitted to heaven. The 36 couples are the elders of our church, and this rule applies to them as well. Unless they love the True Children and the members more than their own families, they are the enemies of our movement.
Significance of the 36 couples
There is another important way of categorizing people: those who are married, those who are engaged or are living together without formal ceremony, and those who are virgin. The married people represent Adam’s family, in which the husband and wife joined out of their own will. The engaged people represent Jesus, who came to look for his own bride, but was not able to achieve his goal. The third group represent the second advent, people who can be matched by heaven.
Twelve of each of these three categories were chosen as ancestors of mankind; they are the 36 blessed couples. Their mandate is to unite all 36 types of people, harmonizing the twelve different personalities and the three types of relationships. I have been serving those 36 couples, those tough individuals — matching them, providing them with homes, sending them on trips, etc. When they come to America, Mother and I shop for them, buying them clothes and furniture.
On observing this, some people may think that the 36 couples are the masters of the Unification Church, but that is wrong. Through them, I have been setting an example of service for you. If I were to ask them, they would immediately go to the jungles of Africa. After you serve twelve types of people and 36 couples, serving one God and one set of True Parents is an easy task!
The heavenly dispensation is like a relay game, with each person carrying the baton in his turn, passing it back and forth, down through the 36 couples. Some of you don’t want to look at these 36 couples, who are all Korean, but I am telling you that you need them. Without them there is no foundation or backbone for the Unification Church. The backbone carries the central nervous system, linking it with every tissue in the body. The 36 couples perform that role in the Unification Church.
What matters is not whom Mother or I love the most, but who will be the king or queen of loving brothers and sisters. You can even hold a love competition. Whether I am present or not should not matter, for you already know the secret of going to heaven — loving each other.
From today on, our membership around the world shall perfect this heavenly way of life.
Happy True Children’s Day! Today we feature a special reading for the holiday.
Today we commemorate the 18th anniversary of Parents Day. No other group on earth celebrates True Parents Day. We have four major celebrations during the year, Parents Day. Children’s Day, World Day, and God’s Day, and by celebrating these holidays we are truly celebrating the rebirth of heaven and earth.
If there had been no fall of man, we would never have seen such holidays as God’s Day, Parents Day, Children’s Day and World Day. Adam and Eve would probably have been the only two people who would have celebrated these days, while their descendants would have celebrated only the victory of their established foundation. All of mankind was supposed to have been born on the foundation of these days. Through the fall of man, however, there was no fulfillment here on earth, and all joy was lost. Consequently there was no day of joy for God, no day of the True Parents, no day of the true children, and no day of all things. All mankind is born in sorrow and suffers in sorrow, and struggles to recapture the original world; because of the fall, however, that perfection has always eluded man.
There are many celebrations in our world, but all of them are for the joy of the satanic world, not for God. There has never been one day in which God could declare His joy. For example, each one of you celebrates your birthday and those who are married have your wedding anniversaries, but are they above the realm of fallen mankind? No, they are still outside the dwelling place of God.
When is the day going to come that mankind will establish a new kind of holiday? It will be the day that all men and God can be joyful together. That day will not be your own birthday or wedding anniversary or day of national independence. Throughout history all mankind has been looking forward to the day of fulfillment when God could declare His joy and personally commemorate God’s Day and Parents Day. Once God’s joy is declared, and God’s Day and True Parents Day are established, then automatically the true children will come into being, and all the things of creation will declare their joy too.
Throughout history, however, no one has seen God’s Day or True Parents Day, and all the things of creation are in agony in this fallen world. Out of 365 days in a year the most important day would be the day to honor God, the day on which God could declare His joy-God’s Day. The day we can declare God’s Day to the earth will be the king of all days, and that year will be the king of all years. I do not know whether you have ever heard of such expressions as “king of all days,” or “king of all years.” Do they make sense?
Today you are all here to celebrate Parents Day, but actually you are not entitled to celebrate on this day. Since meeting the True Parents you may rejoice over this Parents Day, but this joyful day is also sad because only this small group of people has recognized Parents Day and come together to celebrate. We also feel sorrow that we are still surrounded by the fallen world.
There were several consequences of the fall of man. One, the dignity and authority of God was damaged; in addition, mankind was separated from his intended state and fell into the dungeons of hell; at the same time a portion of the angelic world also fell; finally, all the things of creation were brought down. Thus it happened that everything suffered when man fell, including the dignity of God, and since then the entire creation has been trapped in a place of sorrow and despair. The world has become sick, but in the same way that patients cannot cure themselves, the world is helpless to restore itself. Who will come to restore the world? There is only one superior person who has the ability, power and will to bring man back to his original place — God.
The fallen process has been like a healthy person becoming ill, and in order for that sick person to regain his original health he must complete a reverse process; man must be restored to his original place by reversing the process of the fall. The world of salvation is equivalent to the work of restoration and involves bringing a person from an abnormal state back to his original state, just like bringing a sick person back to health. Salvation and restoration are the same, but the point of observation is different: From God’s point of view the process is salvation, while from the point of view of man who is to be saved, the process is restoration.
The principle that is vital to this process indicates that for man to be restored, indemnity must be paid. To liquidate sin man must pay the debt of sin. In the same manner, a patient must often endure suffering when being treated by a doctor. Sometimes the doctor must prescribe a very bitter medicine, and even though the patient is reluctant, he must take it to be restored. True medicine is often bitter. Fallen man is like the patient and must assimilate indemnity, pain and suffering in order to be restored into his original wholeness.What can cure the disease of fallen love?
What kind of disease have you caught? The diagnosis is that fallen man has the disease of fallen love. It is the disease of love centered on Satan and controlled by Satan, and through it mankind has become prisoners of Satan by inheriting his lineage. All men are born on this earth as direct heirs of Satan. How did this disease of love start? The motive that initiated this love disease was self-centeredness. The fall was initiated when one person claimed self-centered love. That person denied the value of all other relationships in his desire to make himself the center of the universe. He only sought to bring benefit to himself, and when his desire entered the realm of love the disease was begun.
We must find a cure for this love disease. What medicine should be prescribed? Because self-centered love brought the fall, we must find a God-centered or unselfish love in order to be cured or restored. If Adam and Eve and the archangel had forgotten themselves in the garden of Eden, only thinking of God and their desire to place themselves in a God-centered love, then there could have been no fall or any of its consequences here on earth.
What is heaven? Heaven is created by those people who live here on earth with unselfishness and an absolute, God-centered love. This is the most basic principle, and all other principles you learn are the expansion of this basic truth. What I have spoken to you thus far is the very heart of the truth of God.
Do you love yourself most of all? Are you the center of your love? Is God the center? Twenty-four hours a day and 365 days a year have you been loving yourself in a God-centered way? If you cannot say yes then you are not destined for the Kingdom of God in heaven, and need liberation from your bondage. This is the most severe battle which you are waging every day, and each of you must become victors in this battle for your liberation. Without becoming victorious you will not deserve the Kingdom of God.
Suppose someone suddenly attacked you without any reason. The usual human reaction would be to yell, “Why did you hit me?” and try to hit back. But you must be patient, not because you are weak, but because in the name of God you are becoming different. Jesus Christ waged this different battle when he blessed his enemies. Jesus was thinking about his mission for God 24 hours a day, looking at everything from God’s point of view. Before seeking revenge against the world, he remembered how God had persevered and been patient while waiting. Knowing that God’s will was ultimately the restoration of mankind, Jesus did not wage his battle as Satan does.
Because Jesus prayed for his own enemies, especially at the moment he was being destroyed, he transcended all satanic realms, and totally liberated himself from accusation by Satan. From then on he was free to go to the throne of God and exercise the grace and power of salvation. Satan is always looking for some loophole or hook of fallen nature, and since most people have a thousand hooks Satan does not have to make much effort to snag them. But Jesus’ life was absolutely pure, and no matter how much Satan tried to find some weakness in him, Jesus was not vulnerable.
Jesus Christ was completely free from satanic accusation, and by rising above the satanic realm he could become one with God in heaven. Since Jesus could enter that realm, God could use him as His instrument without any reservation. After Satan killed Jesus on the cross God was free to resurrect him. God did not have to pay attention to Satan, but could exercise His power to the ultimate degree. Because of Jesus, therefore, a new world could come into being which was completely free of the satanic world.
By knowing this principle we must clearly realize that when the Messiah comes for the salvation of mankind he will not come In glory. He will come in misery and assimilate all the pain and suffering of the world. He will be attacked by the entire satanic world, yet persevere without seeking revenge, being patient as God has been, and finally winning out in the end. Any religion or any work of religion which teaches the need for such patience while going the road of indemnity will be the religion which ultimately meets the Messiah.Our motive for unification must be clear
Who are we, the Unification Church? The word unification is a big word, indicating that we want to embrace all religions so that we can unite all of them into one. Do we desire that for our own satanic purpose? No, we want to bring them back to the throne of God. That is the meaning of the word unification. The Unification Church must walk the messianic road, the road of suffering and beatings. It is the road that commences at the very bottom of mankind’s misery and rises all the way up to the very throne of God. That is the road that we in the Unification Church are undertaking.
We are assuming the responsibility of becoming that world religion. However, we must make our motives very clear. Are we here for the sake of the Unification Church, or for the sake of heaven and earth? The Unification Church exists solely to serve God and mankind because that is the way God thinks, and that is the way we must think. For that reason we receive the pain of suffering and difficulty, but we cannot be liberated from the satanic realm unless we think, “This is for God and humanity.” The satanic world is totally self-centered and in order to liberate ourselves from it we must live an absolutely different way of life. As we live this life absolutely, we will liberate ourselves from satanic influence. Is this clear?
When you go out witnessing and fundraising you might sometimes think, “I am not good for this. I am so tired I just cannot go on.” That excuse is acceptable if you are thinking only of yourself, but when you put God in the picture and claim you are universe-centered and mankind-centered then you cannot complain or say you are tired. You may think that many members of the Unification Church are working very hard, but from God’s standpoint this is not true. You have not yet met the standard that God has established. You may persevere for a time, but then come to the point where you give up, “No more. I want to rest now and do things my own way. ” Then your attitude becomes a big hook. Satan is always watching and will say, “Look, you said you are working for God and mankind 100%, but your actions have given you away.”Harder times are coming
Of course sometimes you get tired and weak, and sometimes you get sick, but at those times you must think, “God, You have suffered more than I have. True Parents, you have suffered more than I have. Heavenly Father, there are many brothers and sisters in this world who are suffering more than I am. I am so grateful that I can do this, and as long my life remains, I will continue.”
When you speak your gratitude and live it, Satan has no way to hook you. Then you are totally free to go beyond the satanic realm and to be like Jesus, completely one with God. I do not say this to bribe you to work. This is the basic principle of God. I want you to know that the logical conclusion of this principle is that even tougher days will come to the Unification Church.
You may think that every day our way of life gets tougher, with more persecution and pressure, but I want you to realize that this is the sign that we are near our total liberation from satanic influences. That final segment of our journey of freeing ourselves from the satanic realm is the year of 1976 through June, 1977.
A Congressional source informed me a few days ago that ever since our involvement in the issues of Watergate, the U. S. government has received many letters of both protest and approval about the Unification Church, and disputes over our church have developed within high levels of government. That person said that there has not been such a heated battle over one particular issue since Watergate. We are creating a world event, aren’t we? We will see the entire world come against us, and even now we can feel the pressure of the world upon our shoulders.
Our enemies will not only create national and worldwide protest against me, but will use dirty tactics to undermine us. For example, communists will infiltrate our ranks and behave like dedicated members. Once they are trusted they will begin to make all kinds of trouble, and ultimately their actions will reflect back on me. That is their goal, and I am clearly aware of this tactic. How pitiful my situation is. Already I am receiving all kinds of accusation and persecution from outside, but even worse, there are people who are calculating how to shame me from within the Unification Church. There is no place where I can escape the heated battle.
How do you see me? Am I a tough man of conviction and iron will, with the drive to go to the end, or am I the type of person who is so timid and afraid that I cannot even speak? I am a very hot tempered man of extremes, and no one has a more determined will than I do. On the one hand I am hot-tempered and blazing like a fire, but I am also like a person with no bones who can take beating after beating and remain patient, never desiring revenge and never cursing anybody. I think that being hot tempered and iron-willed as well as patient and enduring is what God wants me to be, and I am trying to fulfill that.
At the moment of his death, Jesus forgave those who killed him. My determination is that in my own life I will bless my enemies by persevering and absorbing all the beatings and pain the world may give. I want to establish that condition while I am yet on earth. Jesus Christ liberated himself from the satanic world by his crucifixion, but I intend to go past that realm while I am here on earth.
Why do I have this determination? God wants to see that victorious pattern sealed here on earth, not just in the spiritual realm. We need a victorious foundation here on earth, the complete liberation from satanic influence. This is my mission. I came to liberate mankind from all satanic influence, and to do that I have to be victorious by going beyond the satanic realm here on earth. Do you realize that the pinnacle of this providence was reached at the Washington Monument Rally? Then on February 23, the True Parents birthday, I offered an extraordinary prayer, forgiving heaven and earth and declaring a new day and a new history. Can you grasp the significance of the new day and new history? This is the work we are undertaking right now.
Today is the 18th anniversary of Parents Day. Your 18th year marks the beginning of your maturity, and I understand that in America some states allow 18-year olds to vote, recognizing them as adults. The truth of the matter is that women mature before men do. Women become adults at the age of 18, but men generally take three more years, maturing at the age of 21. The three years remaining until the 21st anniversary of Parents Day will be a buffer zone in which we can fully consummate our work. This is the period where we will restore the dignity and authority of the Unification Church. The Unification Church will then be able to stand before the world as mature……
This 18th Parents Day is a very meaningful day. You must fully realize where you are standing and what your mission is. I have explained to you what kind of attitude brought the fall, and by wholeheartedly undertaking your mission you can liberate man from the conditions that led to the fall; in the future nobody will accuse you of being a self-centered person or of indulging in self-centered love. You now have the opportunity to be liberated from the satanic lineage and influence.
Even though you are leaving the satanic realm, Satan still has a claim to your body because you were born in his lineage. However, if your loyalty is with God 100%, then even though you still have that string attached, Satan has no power to pull it. You must remember that a string is still attached, for Satan recognizes that your blood is his, but must also realize that you have been restored to a position outside of the satanic realm, the position of angels who have not fallen.
How can you create your beachhead in the satanic world? When God created man in the garden of Eden, He was assisted by the angels. In your recreation as well, you need the help of God and the angels. An angel is good and pure, but until the appearance of perfected Adam and Eve, the angel is not free to perfect himself. Without the perfection of Adam and Eve the angelic world cannot be perfected For you to elevate yourself to the position of physical Adam, you must be surrounded by spiritual children in the position of the three archangels.
Now that you are in an area isolated from the satanic world you can create your own spiritual defense by winning spiritual children from the satanic world. With the help of God and those in the angelic position you can bring yourself into Adam’s position. Then you are ready to have your own children.
To establish your physical resurrection you must give birth to physical children of God who can be restored in the satanic world. Those children will serve in the role of your body.
In bearing and raising your pure physical children you are linking the spirit world to the physical world through yourselves. Because the fall of man came in the growth stage you must first restore yourself to the growth level, the position of Adam and Eve before the fall. The perfection realm was left unfulfilled by Adam and Eve, and shall be filled when you make yourself perfect Adam and Eve and win the right to give birth to your own sons and daughters.
You can go through this entire process in seven years’ time, just as the total creation was accomplished in a seven-day period. In this seven-year period you will go through three stages. First, you have already separated yourselves from the satanic world and are being elevated to the position of unfallen angels. Second, you will elevate yourselves into the growth level, the position of restored Adam and Eve. Because the fall occurred between husband and wife, you must fulfill the level of Adam and Eve as couples.
The third stage of perfection is the parents’ level. No matter how great you become as you are restored, you are still the product of the satanic world; you were born into the satanic lineage, and you still have ties with the satanic world which you cannot completely sever. Your children, however, will be born in the name of God, having nothing to do with the satanic world, and they will be the stepping stone by which you will elevate yourselves to the level of parents. The birth of your children is but the first step for you to elevate yourselves to the position of perfected Adam and then parent. There is always a chance for something to go wrong while your sons and daughters grow toward perfection and the blessing; you must take constant care in raising your children until they are mature and you can bless them in heavenly matrimony.
At what point can you be totally grafted into the lineage of heaven? The moment that you receive the blessing from the True Parents is the great moment when your bonds to your satanic lineage are severed and you become part of the heavenly lineage. Most marriages in the world are not God-centered, but in the Unification Church our greatest pride is that in the name of the True Parents couples can enter into the heavenly, God-centered lineage. At that moment they become direct heirs of God. Through the blessing the process of the fall can be totally reversed. But that reversal must be complete, for if some tiny hole remains then Satan will dash in to claim it.
