Tag: Salvation

Turn to Me to Be Saved, For I Am God

Urban Life Training Newsletter-March 18, 2021

2 Chronicles 25

14 After Amaziah had defeated the Edomite army, he returned to Jerusalem. He took with him the idols of the Edomite gods and set them up. Then he bowed down and offered them sacrifices. 15 This made the Lord very angry, and he sent a prophet to ask Amaziah, “Why would you worship these foreign gods that couldn’t even save their own people from your attack?”

16 But before the prophet finished speaking, Amaziah interrupted and said, “You’re not one of my advisors! Don’t say another word, or I’ll have you killed.”

The prophet stopped. But then he added, “First you sinned and now you’ve ignored my warning. It’s clear that God has decided to punish you!”

Ezekiel 20

39 Go ahead and worship your idols for now, you Israelites, because soon I will no longer let you dishonor me by offering gifts to them. You will have no choice but to obey me!40 When that day comes, everyone in Israel will worship me on Mount Zion, my holy mountain in Jerusalem. I will once again call you my own, and I will accept your sacred offerings and sacrifices. 41 When I bring you home from the places where you are now scattered, I will be pleased with you, just as I am pleased with the smell of the smoke from your sacrifices. Every nation on earth will see that I am holy, 42 and you will know that I, the Lord, am the one who brought you back to Israel, the land I promised your ancestors. 43 Then you will remember your wicked sins, and you will hate yourselves for doing such horrible things. They have made you unacceptable to me, 44 so you deserve to be punished. But I will treat you in a way that will bring honor to my name, and you will know that I am the Lord God.

Richard: We are currently in a period of separation of good and evil and of judgement. The core teaching of this age is absolute sexual ethics . All the things that are an affront to God and His ideal have to be cleaned up. This will happen, for sure. As always, our own response and and responsibility is key.

Universal Salvation

The compassion and grace of God knows no bounds. The heavenly Father’s heart yearns to save all his children. These passages from scripture praise the extent of God’s saving work and predict it eventually to embrace all humankind. In Buddhist terms, the essential purpose of absolute truth is to liberate all sentient beings, and Mahayana Buddhist scriptures express the universality of grace in the bodhisattva vow of the Buddha Amitabh to save all beings.
Salvation may come to all people through one central point: thus in Abraham “shall all the families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 12.3). For those who believe in one religion as the only way, the divine mandate to save all humankind is a powerful impetus to missionary activity. On the other hand, God may express his saving will by sending multiple prophets and sages to all nations, warning each to return to God using the means suitable to their different cultures.
If salvation is to be available universally, to every soul who has ever lived regardless of his or her earthly life, the doctrine may appear at odds with beliefs about hell and the Last Judgment. If God is most essentially just, how can the wicked ever receive salvation? On the other hand, if God is most essentially gracious and compassionate, how can he permit any creature to suffer in hell eternally? To understand the heart of God our heavenly Father, Father Moon asks us to imagine how we would feel if one of our children were a condemned criminal. We would want to save our child, even take his place at the gallows.
Father Moon also discusses the difficulty of the path of salvation in terms of the methods which God is constrained to use, because he created human beings with the sovereign freedom to live and mold our lives as each sees fit. Nevertheless, ultimately God’s purpose shall be done: all people will be saved and even hell will be emptied of its occupants.

The daily concern of the Parent is single-heartedly how best I can advance arrangements to save all of you.
    Ofudesaki 14.35 (Tenrikyo)

The Dharma of the Buddhas
by the constant use of a single flavor
causes the several worlds
universally to attain perfection.
By gradual practice
all obtain the Fruit of the Way.
    Lotus Sutra 5 (Buddhism)

The Lord is not slow about his promise as some count slowness, but is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
    2 Peter 3.9

God is on the watch for the nations of the world to repent, so that He may bring them under His wings.
Numbers Rabbah 10.1 (Judaism)

I testify that Thou art the Lord of all creation, and the Educator of all beings, visible and invisible. I bear witness that Thy power hath encompassed the entire universe, and that the hosts of the earth can never dismay Thee, nor can the dominion of all peoples and nations deter Thee from executing Thy purpose. I confess that Thou hast no desire except the regeneration of the whole world, and the establishment of the unity of its peoples, and the salvation of all them that dwell therein.
    Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh 115 (Baha’i Faith)

We will make offering unto You with worship,
O Lord, and to the Right,
That you may achieve through Good Mind the
destiny of all creatures in the Dominion.
For the salvation of the man of insight among such as you,
O Wise One, will hold good for everyone. 
    Avesta, Yasna 34.3 (Zoroastrianism)

“As I live,” says the Lord God, “I have no
pleasure in the death of the wicked.”
    Ezekiel 33.11

Turn to me and be saved,
all the ends of the earth!
for I am God, and there is no other.
By myself I have sworn,
from my mouth has gone forth in righteousness
an irrevocable decree:
“To me every knee shall bow,
every tongue shall swear.”
    Isaiah 45.22-23

God it is who has sent His Messenger with the guidance and the Religion of Truth, that He may cause it to prevail over all [false] religion, however much the idolators may be averse.   
    Qur’an 9.33

The Lordsaid to Abram… “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
    Genesis 12.3

And there never was a people, without a warner having lived among them.
    Qur’an 35.24

Are you not like the Ethiopians to me,
O people of Israel?” says the l ord .
“Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt,
and the Philistines from Caphtor and the
Syrians from Kir?” 
    Amos 9.7

The Tathagatas do not enter ultimate liberation until all living beings have entered ultimate liberation.
    Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti 4 (Buddhism)

Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my Spirit upon him,
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
He will not cry or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
a bruised reed he will not break,
and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
He will not fail or be discouraged
till he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his law. 
    Isaiah 42.1-4

I establish the Vows unexcelled,
And reach the highest path, Bodhi.

Were these Vows unfulfilled,
I would never attain Enlightenment.

I will be the great provider
Throughout innumerable ages.
Should I fail to save all in need,
I would never attain Enlightenment.

Upon my attaining Enlightenment,
If my Name were not heard anywhere
In the ten quarters of the universe,
I would never attain Enlightenment.

Practicing the Holy Way—selflessness,
Depth in right reflection and pure wisdom,
Aspiring toward the highest path,
I will be the teacher of devas and men.

My wondrous power by its great light
Brightens countless lands throughout,
Removes the darkness of the three defilements
And delivers all from suffering and pain. 
    Larger Sukhavativyuha Sutra 9.1-5: Juseige (Buddhism)

Home Church Is a Microcosm of the World

Romans 6

15 What does all this mean? Does it mean we are free to sin, because we are ruled by God’s wonderful kindness and not by the Law? Certainly not! 16 Don’t you know that you are slaves of anyone you obey? You can be slaves of sin and die, or you can be obedient slaves of God and be acceptable to him. 17 You used to be slaves of sin. But I thank God that with all your heart you obeyed the teaching you received from me. 18 Now you are set free from sin and are slaves who please God.

19 I am using these everyday examples, because in some ways you are still weak. You used to let the different parts of your body be slaves of your evil thoughts. But now you must make every part of your body serve God, so that you will belong completely to him.

20 When you were slaves of sin, you didn’t have to please God. 21 But what good did you receive from the things you did? All you have to show for them is your shame, and they lead to death. 22 Now you have been set free from sin, and you are God’s slaves. This will make you holy and will lead you to eternal life. 23 Sin pays off with death. But God’s gift is eternal life given by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Isaiah 1

10 You are no better
    than the leaders and people
of Sodom and Gomorrah!
    So listen to the Lord God:
11 “Your sacrifices
    mean nothing to me.
I am sick of your offerings
    of rams and choice cattle;
I don’t like the blood
    of bulls or lambs or goats.

12 “Who asked you to bring all this
when you come to worship me?
    Stay out of my temple!
13 Your sacrifices are worthless,
    and incense is disgusting.
I can’t stand the evil you do
    on your New Moon Festivals
or on your Sabbaths
    and other times of worship.
14 I hate your New Moon Festivals
    and all others as well.
They are a heavy burden
    I am tired of carrying.

15 “No matter how much you pray,
I won’t listen.
    You are too violent.
16 Wash yourselves clean!
I am disgusted
    with your filthy deeds.
Stop doing wrong
17     and learn to live right.
See that justice is done.
Defend widows and orphans
    and help those in need.”

Richard: God is telling us to return to basics. Follow His word, do Home Church, know your neighbor, love you neighbor, help your neighbor.

Selected Passages from the Words of Rev. Sun Myung Moon about Home Church

Today’s Word magazine, September 1981 pp. 7 – 8

It’s your means of salvation
In order to find salvation, we must:
( 1) Pass through the judgment by words, judg-
ment of character and judgment of heart. All of
you understand that we cannot go to heaven
without passing through these three types of
judgment.
(2) Become a True Parent.
(3) Become a central figure in heaven and on
earth.
(4) Help others reach salvation. How many people
have you helped to attend the two-day workshop,
the 21-day workshop, and so on up to the 70-day
workshop? The number of people you have helped
to go through these courses is related to your
personal salvation.
(5) Gain 84 disciples. Everyone should begin his
course of witnessing, with the primary objective
of gaining 84 spiritual children. The number 84
represents the 12 disciples and 72 elders at Jesus’
time, which added together make 84. In addition,
those 12 disciples include the three disciples,
representing the three stages of growth. (2/3/79)

It brings you great benefit
Home church is the greatest gift God and True
Parents can give mankind. It has never existed
before and will never recur in the future. When
you make this gift your own by fulfilling it, you
will definitely become a son or daughter of God.
For the entire 60 years of my life, I have been
preparing this precious gift for you.and now I
freely give it to you; you can make it yours in six
months. This is an incredible opportunity. (4/15/79)

Home church is a very precious blessing for
you, because through it I am giving you a
condition to go beyond the fall of man. (5/27/79)

The extent to which you carry out the home
church providence determines your level of per-
sonal maturity. Perhaps two thirds of your
spiritual growth will take place through home
church and perhaps the other third will come
through other activities. When you follow Father’s
instructions here absolutely and become successful
in your home church, you will inherit four things:
material, man, spirit world and God. (3/29/79)

Home church is the place where you can receive
the worldwide inheritance; you will receive the
individual inheritance, family inheritance. clan
inheritance, tribal inheritance and national inherit-
ance. Through the home church providence you
will also receive liberation from satanic accusa-
tion. (2/25/80)

What you have in home church is a microcosm
of the world, and by practicing there what I have
accomplished on the worldwide scale, you are
entitled to receive what I have inherited from God.
(5/26/79)

When you become completely victorious, your
360 homes will become your home. All 360 people
will say, You have been hungry for so long-please
come to our house for supper: you have lost so
much sleep-please take this bed as your own and
rest. When they see how hard you have worked,
they will all say. Sit down and take life easy; let me
do your job for you. If people really see God in
you, they will surely say this to you. ( 117/79)

We talk about hope and faith. What higher hope
is there than to look forward to the day when the
people in your home church area welcome you?
When you go around knocking all the walls down,
you will eventually find the 12 gates open to you,
and you will finally arrive at the central point you
should occupy. Then you will become a successful
13. At that moment you will have finished the
historical indemnity centering on yourself. You
will have achieved something no one ever dreamed
of achieving, and you will occupy the central
position with God’s approval. ( 1/13/80)

The Words of the Bible Are the Words of a Betrayed Jesus

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https://www.paypal.me/visionroot .

Cheon Seong Gyeong 575

We are the group that seeks the ideal
of love. Therefore, we have to implant
the ideal of love in the horizontal realm
in order to stand as spokespersons for
the spirit world. We should plant it as a
seed. We can grow bigger through our
give and take action centering on the
heart of love. A couple bearing the fruit
of love in this way will enter the spir-
it world becoming one body with God
in the realm of His eternal love. (144-224,
1986.4.24)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1751

The owner of man’s love is woman.
She owns it. The owner of woman’s love
is man. He owns it. All men know this.
To whom do those things dangling from
men’s bodies belong? This was previous-
ly not understood. Thinking that your
sexual organ belongs to you is a sin. It is
a grave sin for women to think that their
sexual organs belong to them. (141-172,
1986.2.21)

Jesus Whom God Wanted To Find

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
October 18, 1959

Matthew 23:29-39

Jesus came and went and two thousand years passed. The Israelites and the Jewish religion exist. The betraying form remains, but where is the betrayed one? He disappeared. The words that Jesus left behind while dying because of the betrayal remained. Yet where have the heart and circumstances of Jesus gone? Despite the fact that Jesus was supposed to lead the fight in place of Heaven and to decide victory or defeat in place of the earth, what shouldn’t survive remains. Jesus’ foundation, which should have survived, does not remain. Meanwhile, the Last Days have come again. What do you think about that?

Numerous Christians all over the world will follow the precedent of Israel if they are not careful. Who can be confident this will not be the case? Who can guarantee that they will not repeat the same blunder as Israel? Nobody can guarantee that.

They say that these are the Last Days. The Bible says that in the Last Days people should anoint themselves, go into a secret place and pray. Groping after what appears to be true is not the will of Heaven, and prayers bound by formalities do not attend God. Jesus, whom God installed a long time ago, appeared out of nowhere. He appeared like a thief. The prince of glory appeared like a thief. He was not born in a luxurious castle. Who would have imagined that he would be born in a stable which smelled of manure?

Where did the Wise Men of the East, who exhorted people to believe in Jesus, go? Where did the holy men who testified that Jesus was the Messiah go? Where did Anna and the group under John the Baptist go? They all disappeared. Since the people Heaven sent all disappeared, the Israelites, who were ignorant, went away as well. The Jewish religion also declined. Thus, Jesus remained alone, all alone. God had attempted to establish Jesus by laboring and fighting for four thousand years, but Jesus remained alone. The numerous soldiers whom Heaven had led, the prepared religion and people were lost to Jesus.

The words of the Bible that you believe in today are the words of a betrayed Jesus. The apostles betrayed not only Jesus but also his words. His words were betrayed and Jesus was also personally betrayed. Did Heaven labor for four thousand years to establish Jesus just so he might be betrayed? No, not at all. Why do you believe in Jesus? You must believe in Jesus in order to fulfill the hope of God and to ease the pain of Jesus. Without caring whether you go to Heaven or hell and even if you go to hell, you should fulfill Jesus’ hope. Even if you become the prince of hell, you should believe in order to fulfill God’s hope. But people say, “Even if Jesus perishes and Heaven fails, all that needs to happen is that I go to the Kingdom of Heaven.” This attitude is worse than criminal. This kind of faith is faulty in essence. Today the road of the Unification Church members is the road of setting this kind of Christianity straight.

We must find the historical Jesus. That Jesus is the Jesus of the age. That Jesus is the Jesus of history. The history that Jesus wanted to create was destroyed. The age was severed, and the future was also curtailed. Did you know that Jesus had nowhere to go? The Israelites should have laughed and cried with Jesus, holding onto Jesus, who came as the fruit of their historic connection to God, for whom God had persevered for four thousand years. The Israelites were lost to the Messiah. After Jesus passed away, did the Jews become true descendants whom Jesus could rule? This age is also losing sight of Jesus. Jesus came with the mission of Heaven, bearing with him the connection of the past, the present and the future. The fact that he even lost the past is regrettable.

If Jesus appears again in this age, in these historic Last Days, he must establish a historical connection. Christianity today must make a historical connection. How should they establish the historical connection? Christians of today must become the second Israel which can support Jesus with God’s standard, not like the Israelites or the Jewish religion which betrayed Jesus. Christians know about the Bible, but they do not know the essential spirit of the contents of the Bible. They do not know the heart of the Bible. No matter how much they dig up genealogy or discuss things, if they cannot treat that genealogy with true dignity and value, they do not have the qualification to compile it.

Salvation is to Restore What has Been Lost

Ezekiel 44

The Lord said:

15 The priests of the Levi tribe who are descendants of Zadok the priest were faithful to me, even when the rest of the Israelites turned away. And so, these priests will continue to serve as my priests and to offer the fat and the blood of sacrifices. 16 They will come into my temple, where they will offer sacrifices at my altar and lead others in worship.

1 Kings 20

23 Meanwhile, Benhadad’s officials went to him and explained:

Israel’s gods are mountain gods. We fought Israel’s army in the hills, and that’s why they defeated us. But if we fight them on flat land, there’s no way we can lose.

24 Here’s what you should do. First, get rid of those thirty-two kings and put army commanders in their places. 25 Then get more soldiers, horses, and chariots, so your army will be as strong as it was before. We’ll fight Israel’s army on flat land and wipe them out.

Benhadad agreed and did what they suggested.

The Toil of God as He Tries to Raise up His Beloved Children

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
October 11, 1959

John 3: 11-21

1 Corinthians 7:28-29

If this is what the God who sought me is like, then how about tomorrow? Is there any way to comfort this God? Even if human beings were to experience pain, there is no greater pain than God has experienced. No matter how unsolvable a problem human beings have, there is no problem more difficult to resolve than God’s.

Do you think that God yearns for the appearance of a son who will say to Him, “Father, how much You have suffered,” with a heart more sorrowful than His? Have you ever thought that God sought sons and daughters who can say, “Father, how much have You suffered, how many times have You fallen down, and how many times have You struggled?” He wants sons and daughters who can endure many sufferings, persecutions and difficulties and cast away all sorrows, bitterness and indignation. The God we believe in and should serve is such a person.

Where are the true sons and daughters who understand the sorrow of God, who is seeking us even while going the course of the cross? We need such sons and daughters. You have to understand clearly that the group, the people, the nation and the world which can unite centering on such sons and daughters is the world that God is hoping to realize, the ideal world of creation.

I know God as a miserable being. Misery is the only word to describe God’s situation. No matter how miserable a person may be, compared to God, he is not miserable. No matter what kind of sorrow there may be, it is not comparable to that of God. No matter how bitter one may be, compared to God, he has no problem.

Upon creating Adam and Eve, God desired a garden of goodness. God created them in order to embrace them and love them and rejoice while all things of the universe reciprocated in harmony. Yet when we look at the Bible, where does it say that such a thing ever took place? The heart of God over losing Adam and Eve is the heart of sorrow over losing one’s only son and only daughter.

It is said that Jesus is the only son. What does the only son refer to? It refers to the only son who can receive God’s love and comfort God. Since Adam lost God’s love due to the Fall, Jesus was sent to recover it. He is the first son and the only son born of God’s love. That is why he is referred to as the only begotten son. What was Jesus supposed to do on the earth? He should have shown us what the love of God is like. He was supposed to show us what life centering on God’s love is like, what society centering on God’s love is like, and what the world centering on God’s love is like.

When Jesus came to the earth, did he clearly show what the love of God is like? He passed away without showing it fully to us. Did he show what the family that God loves is like? Did he show what the people, nation, and the world that God loves are like? He could not.

If Adam and Eve had reached perfection without falling, God would have raised two arms and blessed them, “Oh, my beloved sons and daughters, I want you to inherit My work and govern all the things of the universe and live together with Me eternally.” However, this will of God was completely undermined. For this reason God longs for the one day that He can bless two people like Adam and Eve, giving them all of Heaven and earth. This is what you have to understand.

What is salvation? It is to restore what has been lost. This is why while going through the historical course of ups and downs, God held the people up every time they became tired and fell down. After four thousand years passed, God sent Jesus.

By sending him God wanted to unveil the sorrow and unload the suffering of the four thousand years. Through Jesus God wanted to restore and complete the ideal of the creation of the universe. Jesus was the person sent as the one responsible for that. Jesus was the one sent to complete the ideal of creation.

Have the Heart of Wanting to Hold on to and Save those in Need

Esther 1

1 1-2 King Xerxes[a] of Persia lived in his capital city of Susa[b] and ruled one hundred twenty-seven provinces from India to Ethiopia.[c] 3 During the third year of his rule, Xerxes gave a big dinner for all his officials and officers. The governors and leaders of the provinces were also invited, and even the commanders of the Persian and Median armies came. 4 For one hundred eighty days he showed off his wealth and spent a lot of money to impress his guests with the greatness of his kingdom.

Richard:  We should let everyone know about the Kingdom that has already arrived.  (Need more education on this topic?  Try subscribing to the Urban Family Life Training Web Portal:  https://www.urbanlifetraining.org/index.php/online-teaching-portal.

1 Kings 19

18 But seven thousand Israelites have refused to worship Baal, and they will live.

19 Elijah left and found Elisha plowing a field with a pair of oxen. There were eleven other men in front of him, and each one was also plowing with a pair of oxen. Elijah went over and put his own coat on Elisha.[f]

20 Elisha stopped plowing and ran after him. “Let me kiss my parents good-by, then I’ll go with you,” he said.

“You can go,” Elijah said. “But remember what I’ve done for you.”

21 Elisha left and took his oxen with him. He killed them and boiled them over a fire he had made with the wood from his plow. He gave the meat to the people who were with him, and they ate it. Then he left with Elijah and became his assistant.

Richard:  Always follow your conscience, centered on God’s Word: http://visionroot.org/resources/the-eight-books-of-holy-scripture/.

 

The Grieving Father, Son and Daughter as They Try to Establish the Kingdom of Heaven

Sun Myung Moon
May 17, 1959

John 14:1-24

What is the meaning of the saying, “Love me more than anything else”? It means “I will have faith in you and love you.” God is treating us just that way. Because God has loved us so, He was unsparing of His time.

When the leaders of the churches today cannot cry tears and hold onto the lives of their distressed sheep with genuine hearts, they are violating heavenly law. If they cannot become such shepherds, they are as if they were dead.

The acts of God are unique in that His heart precedes His words. Satan is defeated by the words unconsciously uttered as His heart overwhelms him. Evil succumbs in such a way. No matter how good the spoken words are, evil does not surrender if they are not founded on heart. Restoration starts when a person becomes indignant over having his life stand at the crossroads of life and death and is overcome by the heart of wanting to hold onto and save those in need, throwing himself in for that cause in spite of all pain, not worrying over his situation. Continue reading “Have the Heart of Wanting to Hold on to and Save those in Need”