Section 1. Those Who Were Called In The Dispensation
1. Noah
When we look at history, because the ties of indemnity are formed only through Abel's blood-line, Noah had paid much indemnity even before the call from God. For this reason, when he tried to establish the condition through 120 years after receiving God's commands, there was Satan's attack. Satan tested him: "You think you are doing good. Let's see how much you really love God. Let's see if you will build the ark for 120 years." Everyone, please think about this. If the ship was built near river, it is a different matter, but isn't it fundamentally wrong to build on the mountain? It is a task which will surely receive opposition. Absolutely, it cannot be seen as normal. Also, when Noah was on his way to build the ship, do you think he went up thinking, "Maybe today I will go up after eating lunch and after taking a nice walk?" No, he didn't. He went up to the mountain to build the ark, even without concern for food.
Noah was a person who invested his whole heart and effort day and night. He had the heart that he must reduce the 120 year period, even if God gave the commandment of building the ark for 120 years. Likewise, he established the integrity of heavenly character. (18-156)
Have you thought about Noah's family? Noah built the ark on the top of a mountain. If it was on flat land, it would be a different story, but building a ship on the top of a mountain is not only beyond common sense it also certainly passed the limits of logical tolerance. In any ordinary sense, Noah is acting like a crazy person. If he wanted to build a ship, he should have built it on a bank; however, since he built it on a mountain, his action was totally beyond common sense.
Do you think God who ordered such a command did so in a joking manner? No. God knew better than anyone that Noah's course required a life of long dedication on the path of unbearable suffering, and He did not command him with a more peaceful (inner) content than Noah's suffering course. Because there was a even more difficult content for God, with such a condition God hoped to gain one way to resolve His inner situation, and He commanded Noah to go the path of suffering for 120 years. How miserable would such a heart of God be? His misery was indescribable.
Therefore, when Noah took the obedient position at the decisive, tense moment of whether to accept or not to accept that command, don't you think God was happier than Noah? Moreover, God is the one who could be saddened more than Noah. God's position cannot be established without establishing the position of such an owner who takes the responsibility for joy and sorrow. (48-69).
Noah fought for 120 years in order to conquer himself and his own family. It was not an easy task. After receiving the command of God which foretold that He will judge this earth after 120 years, Noah didn't wait around thinking, "Only a year has passed, now 119 years are left." God promises once to a person who embraces and relates to a great purpose. (19-237)
What should you do if you want to be victorious? You should go into the satanic world and be hit. It is same as Jacob entering into Laban's family which represented satanic world and be tricked ten times and thus be hit ten times. However, Jacob patiently and without a word waited until he stood in front of God's Will. Noah the is same. The grandpa Noah was patient and remained loyal to God for 120 years. God commanded Noah to build the ark, informing him that He will judge the world after 120 years.
Why did God gave such a command? Seen from the common sense perspective this command was not normal. Although a ship should be built near a river or ocean, why did God command Noah to build the ship on the top of the mountain? It was a strategy to put Noah in the position where everyone would oppose him. Among the people who lived at that period, there was no one who did not judge Noah with words. He had to stand in such a position. Consider the situation of grandpa Noah building the ark for 120 years, regardless of the young and old and the women and men, who all pointed their fingers at Noah, mocking and kicking him and giving all kinds of unthinkable persecution. This was to place Noah in the position where Satan could do everything he could symbolically and substantially.
To a person whom God loves and brings forth, God allows the satanic world to hit him first. It is because if the satanic world hits first, then God can hit the satanic world. Judgment is carried out in such a way. God allows his loving children to be hit first, and then He hits Satan. Noah was so. Jacob who established the victorious foundation of Israel was brought out after being tricked in Laban's house. Moses and Jesus were the same. (14-112)
We can see another example in Noah's building the ark on the mountain for 120 years. He fought with Satan for that long period. Noah suffered rejection from his own wife, family, neighbors and relatives. He received mockery and opposition from his own nation and the whole world. If he attempted to abandon his task even once, then he would have been attacked by Satan again. However, he overcame all difficulties and was successful in completing his mission.
He fought against Satan and separated himself from Satan. God came to love him, and he came to dwell within the realm of God's love. However, that was not all. Whoever comes to dwell in the midst of God's love, God makes that person sacrifice himself by sending him into the satanic world and into difficulties. Of course, one reason may be to train him; however, it is really for the purpose of saving more people. Noah who was righteous, honest, and good had to always sacrifice himself with a sorrowful heart and with the shedding of tears. (52-52)
Even in the environment of persecution and chaos, grandpa Noah was able to win over such an environment because he gave his utmost effort. He went forth with the humble mind that he can only try his best in front of God's law to fulfill the duty of filial piety and loyalty. As he went closer in front of God, he felt the cruelty of his environment and became sorrowful. In such moments, because the grandpa Noah went on shedding the tears of repentance and feeling sorry to God, there was no one who could stop his way. Do you understand?
Think of Noah who lived in such way for 120 years. Even though the satanic world mobilized every possible means to hit this one person, Noah, he never deviated from the standard which God established as the center. That standard is established as the absolute center of the cosmos, as the righteous man of the cosmos, and as the victor of truth. Therefore, God wanted to cleanse the elements of all enemies which go against this standard. Likewise, if one is hit until the end then a great thing may result. (18-159)
2. Abraham
Let us see Abraham. He was the son of a idol merchant. To Abraham who was living in an affluent environment, God called and commanded, "Oh! Abraham, come out of your home." Thereupon, without a word of complaint, without any guarantee of a good life anywhere else, Abraham left his hometown, Ur of the Chaldeans, abandoning everything. As a result, what did he become? He became a gypsy wandering across borders.
If God calls you to come out, then come out. After coming out, no matter what kind of difficulty you may face, you should never regret or resent God. If you complain then you go back to the position of fallen Adam.
Abraham had to believe God even more absolutely than Adam. In so doing he should become one with God. Then he comes to receive God's love. Because Abraham always went with a grateful heart and never with complaint no matter how much God made him wonder, God loved him and blessed him that "Your descendants will fill the earth like the stars in the sky and the sand in the land." (53-43)
Let us look at Abraham. God separated him from his father who was a idol merchant. He had to abandon his own family, own nation, all the material wealth and everything else. In this manner, by separating him from the satanic world, he came into the land of Canaan. God trained him and advanced the dispensation by making him cry not only for his own people but for other people and even for his enemies.
God made him work leaving his own nation for a foreign land. He had to wander around like a gypsy. He always prayed in tears with an earnest heart, and lived with the hope that God could save many people through his prayers.
When we look at the Bible, we may get the impression that God blessed Abraham and loved him unconditionally. However, it is not so.
Abraham had to separate himself from Satan by abandoning his loving family, nation, material wealth, and every thing else, by going to the unknown chosen land, and by always shedding tears for God and for the people. He prayed much for his people and suffered much pain for his nation.
Through such conditions, God was able to establish Abraham as the ancestor of faith and to bless his descendants to prosper greatly. Although such content is not recorded in the Bible, behind God's blessing there was such a background. (52-53)
It was the same for Abraham and Noah. The son of an idol merchant, Abraham was a person whom Satan loved most. However, God has taken away that bright and loving son. The world Abraham dreamed of was different from his father's. Even though he was the son of an enemy, his thinking was different from his father's. Abraham did not worry only about his own family but he worried about the future Israel.
What would have happened when God took away Abraham? When he was growing up, he thought his environment and relatives were on his side, but everything became his enemy. Moreover, think about where Abraham's home would be, relative to the nation and world, after breaking away from his own nation and tribe, and opposing his own parents? Indeed he was alone. Therefore, wherever Abraham went he experienced hardship and pain. When he went to Egypt, the king Pharaoh tried to take his wife; he became a gypsy receiving persecution wherever he went. (18-160)
In order to resolve the miserable history of lamentation, God chose Abraham and made him live a life of wandering. Therefore, Abraham had to go the path of miserable destiny leaving behind the beloved land, his hometown.
Because of this, the road Abraham walked was a miserable one. He had to cross many borders. He became a gypsy. Moreover, he was even driven into the situation where his wife was taken away from him by the deceit of Pharaoh and his family became isolated. (64-210)
However because Abraham felt more seriously that the Israel nation was calling him, the victory was calling him, and the foundation of happiness was searching for him he only longed to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Therefore, God gave His blessing to Abraham. Anyone else would have betrayed God if they had called him into such a severe suffering and difficult environment; however Abraham attended God with the heart that can develop an even deeper relationship with God in such a situation. For that reason, the door of happiness opened in front of his path. (18-160)
3. Jacob
God blessed Jacob. Jacob who received the blessing went into Haran and walked the suffering course for 21 years. He went the path of persecution even being deceived ten times. He was in the sorrowful position. He was driven to the lonely position. However, if Jacob ever became a person who complained about his despair, who felt grief for oneself centering on himself, he could have never occupied the national authority of representing Israel.
Jacob believed until the end that God's blessing will never change even in the suffering course where 20 years were added. He believed that God's promise will never change no matter how much the environment changed. He penetrated and went forth no matter how great a financial power blocked him. There, Laban tried to block the path of Jacob by presenting different things. However, the final victory went not to Laban but to Jacob.
Without bringing such a historical result God cannot establish His victorious day in history. Therefore, you must understand that the victorious foundation for God is the history established when the people in torment did not lose hope.
Although Jacob was driven to the realm of lamentation and despair, he did not lament nor felt despair. He stood proudly believing in the future blessing. Therefore, the realm of the First Israel was established.
It is same for God. No matter how much He was immersed in the realm of despair, He did not lose hope because of despair. He did not lose the ideal of creation because of despair. The stronger and heavier the despair became, the more God determined internally to achieve the ideal of creation centering on his heart and ideal.
Therefore, even if the path that God walks becomes engulfed in the whirlpool of the realm of despair, He does not amalgamate within but steps over that realm of despair to create a day of victory.
If God does not do so, then there is no way for Him to be liberated totally from the realm of despair. Therefore, you must understand that even in the situation of extreme despair and suffering, victory is assured to the people who hold onto God and go forth in belief that "Even in such a position, God does not lose hope nor become discouraged." (64-212)
Jacob treasured the blessing he received from God and in order to receive the blessing he did everything that is unimaginable in the human world. He believed in God's promise absolutely and escaped to the land of Haran to fight for 21 years overcoming all the difficulties by investing his sincerest effort. You must understand that no matter how much opposition you receive, you must overcome it and reach the position of love where you become one with God. (53-43)
Jacob left his home to go to Haran and lived as a servant. He was deceived by his uncle Laban. Uncle Laban gave him Leah instead of Rachel. After taking Rachel, he escaped and returned home. Upon the foundation of difficulties during his 21 years in Haran, God was finally able to bless him. During that period, Laban deceived him ten times. However, by overcoming all those hardships, he was able to leave Haran.
Even in the midst of such hardships, he had the mind of praying for those who deceived him. Also, his action of wrestling with the angel was the action of fighting against Satan who interfered with accomplishing his mission. (52-54)
Jacob fought with such desperate effort he even broke his hip. He wrestled betting his life thinking, "My effort during the past 21 years is decided with this one fight! Depending on the outcome of victory or defeat in tonight's battle, the destiny of my life is decided and the foundation for the blessing of Israel is decided!" Do you think he fought with the angel in a joking manner?
When the angel came, Jacob knew that he came as a messenger from God. Therefore, he asked the angel, "Do you come with the mission to hinder me or to bless me?" The angel answered "I have come to bless you." Jacob then asked, "If you came to bless me, then why don't you simply give me the blessing?" The angel answered, "I cannot give it to you freely because your portion of responsibility is still left."
In other words, the angel was saying unless Jacob could win the fight, he could not give the blessing. That meant that unless Jacob fights with the angel betting his life, the angel will not give the blessing. When angel came out with such a condition, Jacob wrestled with the determination that thought, "OK! Even if I break my finger or my arm, I will not lose to you! I will not let go of you even if you behead me with a sword." How long do you think the battle took? They fought the whole night, Jacob fought with the determination that unless you die first, I will not let go.
God attended there and so did Satan. How desperate was Jacob at that last decisive moment? Jacob did not let go even when the angel broke his hip bone and bent his leg. His determination was such that "Even if I and you both die, I will not let go." How many hours do you think he fought on like that? Ten minutes? One hour? Two hours? He fought like that for more than seven hours. (20-229)
4. Moses
Because the path which God walked was miserable, the path of the people who followed Moses was also miserable. The path of the Israelites was miserable. The path of Moses was also miserable. Moses after 40 years of life in the Pharaoh's palace was driven out from the palace because he took the side of the Israelites. Moreover, he was in the situation where he could not even appear in front of the Israelites and had to live in the Median wilderness as a shepherd. (64-210)
What was one thing which he kept in his mind as he lived the life of a shepherd in the Median wilderness after leaving the palace? He did not feel despair in the fact that his situation was caused by him siding with the Israelites. He did not think that because of the Israelite people he became so. The reason why Moses could win the trust of God was this very point. He thought that even if the fault lay with the Israelites, the reason for him being in this situation was for God. The loneliness he felt was to take responsibility for God's loneliness, and the sacrifice he made were to be a shield to prevent God's suffering.
Don't you think that there would have been attacks from wolves and snakes when he took care of the sheep? However, no matter how much danger, loneliness, and despair seemingly surmounted him, he thought the reason why he came to be in such a situation was not because of Israelites but because of God. Moses who came to that great inner awakening thought that, "I will be loyal to God until the day God's Will is fulfilled."
In so doing, the Israelites who were to inherit God's Will came to relate with him. He stood in the front-line of his people with the autonomous authority and with the thought that, "The reason for me to stand for Israel was ultimately for God's Will." Although there were numerous Israelites, Moses was the most worthy person to stand in front of them -- with the inner and external heartistic attitude.
As ten years passed by, as twenty, thirty, forty years passed by, Moses recollected his forty years of meaningless life in the Pharaoh's affluent palace and said to himself, "I must not be a person who admires the Pharaoh's palace."
It is certain that he admired the nation which God and he longed for, that one palace, where he would live far above the life of Pharaoh's palace and would rule. He longed for that one day when the Israelites would be liberated.
You should know that God ordered Moses to be the representative of Israel because everyone including the descendants of the 12 tribes of Israel, all those who inherited the tradition and the sincere investment of their ancestors, and those who had the authority of special privileges, should have followed the ideology and the tradition of Moses. (64-213)
Then, what was the forty years of life as a shepherd for? Since it was the preparatory period for leading the chosen Israelites, God thought of it as a platform and a period of hardship upon which to grow Moses' strength. He could then overcome, even if over 40 years of suffering may confront him. Because Moses overcame that period, God raised him again and sent him in front of the Israelites.
If he thought of his past even a little, then he would have dreamed on about the luxurious life of the Pharaoh's palace. He would have longed for such an environment, would have compared his situation, and would have fallen into despair as the differences became magnified. Externally, Moses became a person who had completely lost all opportunity. He lost the opportunity in the Pharaoh's palace, and he lived in the Median wilderness for 40 years as a person who could not have any opportunity in front of God. However, Moses was able to unify the Israelites and save the Israelite nation, because he longed for the opportunity, the day which God promised, because he had the mind to save the Israelite people, because he held onto the integrity of loyalty which enabled him to overcome the lost opportunities and his environment.
In order to accomplish his task, how close to God do you think his inner heart, which nobody understood, had to be? Behind his heart, numerous heartistic inner situations with which God could not help but to sympathize, were tied together. To such a person, it was certainly God's responsibility to give him that one heavenly opportunity, and also it was God's Will to do so. (57-301)
5. David
We should know also that God from among many of the ancestors who related with His will, chose a miserable shepherd, David. He placed him in the position to guide Israel. He was a lonely shepherd. He was not born in a great place.
However, in worrying about the nation, he stood in the loneliest place. In such a place he longed for God. You should know that he was concerned about God's agony in his deepest mind. He prayed in front of God with a deeper heart than anyone at that time in order to lighten the burden of God's concern.
When the giant Goliath defied the Israelites and stood with great authority, and when the Israelite army was about to be eliminated, David appeared wearing a shepherd's cloth with his sling and stones. However, David's master was not a human being. He was not subject to a nation. He instead set God as his master. He came out with greater faith in God than any of his ancestors. He knew that God was a living God. He believed that God would protect him even if he faced death.
David walked a lonely path, but he was not lonely. He was in a miserable situation but was not miserable. God was with David because David had resolved to end God's suffering heart. From this we understand that no matter how great Goliath may be, he had to collapse like bits of straw in front of David. (64-211)
6. John The Baptist
Look also at John the Baptist. He also had to leave his beloved home and live in the wilderness. He walked a path that abandoned his loving family, that denied the secular relationships, and that united God's Will and became one with God. God drove him out so that his standard could be recognized as being even better than that of Adam and Eve and as being more loyal than that of the archangel who disbelieved God. (53-44)
Before looking at Jesus, let us look at John the Baptist. John the Baptist was led to the wilderness. In other words, he had to leave his home, be separated from his past, and go out to the wilderness, surviving only on locusts and wild honey. He shed tears for the coming messiah, for God, and for his nation and people. When he prayed, he shed tears of peculiar significance. He shed tears for the nation, for the messiah whom the Israelites longed for and for God's will. In this sense he was the greatest prophet among all prophets.
In other words, all the earlier prophets could not receive the messiah, but John the Baptist was there to straighten the road that the messiah would walk. All the others could not pray for this coming messiah, but John the Baptist could pray for him and would be able to work for him. This was the difference. This was why he was the greatest of all prophets.
However, although John prayed for the messiah as the ruler of his nation, Jesus came as the ruler of the whole world. There was some difference between John's view point and God's heart. This was the beginning point from which he could not be united with Jesus.
John's view of the Messiah was for his own nation. Therefore, he dreamed that the messiah would come to save the Israel people, Therefore, he expected that Jesus would keep the Mosaic Law which was the rule of Israelite people, but he knew that Jesus instead of keeping the Law, violated it.
Coming to save the whole world, Jesus' perspective was much wider and was different from John's. In Jesus' perspective there was no one particular nation. This made them go their own separate ways. Therefore, John the Baptist ended up standing in the position of the Israelites who opposed Jesus, and he rushed into his own death.
If he had stood on the side of Jesus and became one with him, then he would have become the primary disciple and thus the disciples of John would have become Jesus' disciples. Had that happened, the followers of John the Baptist and all people who believed John to be the greatest among all the prophets would have followed Jesus. (52-54)
7. The Disciples Of Jesus
Just as Jesus Christ came as the mediator representing God's love, today, we should appear as the substantial testimony of hope, faith, and love by receiving Jesus Christ's hope, faith, and love.
Without us becoming such people, we cannot fulfill the condition to indemnify the standards of Jesus Christ's hope, faith, and love anywhere we go. Therefore, today, we have to pay back the debt to Jesus Christ who appeared as God's hope, faith, and love in front of this satanic world. Our payment should not be partial but full and complete. Humankind tried to pay back, but was never able to do so fully. However, you should understand that Jesus wanted to reveal a model for such a course through his three disciples.
Then, who was the person who appeared as the substantial fruit of faith? It was Peter. Also, who was the person who appeared as the substantial fruit of hope? It was James. And who was the person who appeared as the substantial fruit of love? It was John.
By these three people taking responsibility for each part of Christ's gospel, today I was able to receive the fruit of faith, the fruit of hope, and the fruit of love. Ideally these three should harmonize and be culminated as one perfected body. This was the last teaching which Jesus left on this earth.
Therefore, today, in order for you to appear as the final perfection, you have to become the representative body of Christ. However, if you cannot stand as one, unchanging, substantial being from this root of three disciples, then you cannot stand in front of the bridegroom Jesus. We have to harvest in each of us the fruit of love which Jesus established through John. (1-92)
8. Peter
The person whom Jesus looked back at as he was walking the lonely path of cross at the peak of Golgotha, was Peter; He was the representative of the beloved 12 disciples. Today, you should feel once again Jesus' gaze that looked back at Peter with a loving heart, even while his heart was bitterly sorrowful for his concern for God's will.
However, Peter denied Jesus three times saying that he did not know Jesus. He stood separated from God's will and without any relationship to Jesus. Although Jesus knew these things, he looked back at his beloved primary disciple Peter, for he wanted to find even one person on this earth who could cover his back on his way toward death, and even one person who could sympathize with his mind and body. Today, you should realize that Jesus' will to find one true person was immersed in his blazing gaze, looking back at his beloved disciple Peter.
There would not be any more sorrowful moment than this for Jesus who came with the responsibility of fulfilling God's overall dispensation. It was so because there was no one who understood his painful heart. He could not find one person who could inherit his mission as he was going the way of Golgotha, the way of death. Therefore, Jesus was pierced by an indescribable sorrow. Only God understood his painful heart and was concerned for him.
When Jesus recollected about his 30 years of life, the painful course walked as he undertook the burden of God's sorrowful situation, he was overwhelmed by the desire to blame humankind and to curse the earth. However, in suppressing such a mind, he stopped his footsteps and looked at Peter who was following. You should clearly know that if you cannot feel Jesus' inner heart today, then you cannot inherit God's Will in place of Jesus.
Then, what would Peter's mind be as he looked at Jesus? He must have been in an indescribably miserable situation, remembering the original relationship of love which he had in the past with Jesus, and groaning in his loneliness. Peter's heart must have hurt so much as he saw the crowd mock the sorrowful Jesus, blame the innocent Jesus, and pull the innocent Jesus.
However, Peter came to stand in the position of thinking only of himself. He did not realize that Jesus came as the messiah with the mission of changing the whole world. When the maiden servants approached Peter who stood in this situation and asked "Aren't you one of Jesus' people?" he replied, "I don't know him," three times. You should clearly know that Peter represented all of humanity on the earth.
When we recollect once again the situations of Jesus and Peter, we come to realize that Jesus looking back at the Peter who denied him three times is not the situation that happened only between Peter and Jesus but happened throughout the process of whole human history. (225)
Although Peter denied his teacher three times at the difficult situation, Jesus truly looked at Peter turning his body toward him. Therefore, when Peter looked at Jesus who had forgotten about his own difficulty, his own sorrow, his own situation and was looking at him, a great transformation occurred in Peter's mind. Peter's emotion exploded when he saw Jesus, forgetting about his own sorrow he truly loved him, and was concerned with his future. Moreover, at that moment Peter realized his identity, as he rekindled the old relationships he had with Jesus when he felt joy, anger, love, and everything together with his Lord.
Peter saw Jesus Christ striving to pioneer the way of human salvation. As he saw that he felt his shortcomings. In other words, when he thought that he stood in the position of a disciple who should have dedicate his whole hearted loyalty to Jesus alone, Peter realized how great a gulf existed between the faith of Jesus toward God and his faith toward Jesus.
When he realized that he believed Jesus as his Lord but did so centering on himself, he was intolerably ashamed in front of Jesus' glance toward him. In other words, he lamented over his unfaithful self. Peter's mind was suddenly transformed and a stirring desire to live for his Lord emerged in his heart. From the moment when Peter realized his unfaithful self, he felt ever more poignantly his shortcomings, as he compared the life course of himself with Jesus.
The three disciples deeply felt how their lives were so self-centered, as they observed carefully Jesus, who offered everything of himself as a sacrifice to God for God's Will and for all people of this earth, without ever seeking his personal happiness, and who never became resentful of complaining as he was dragged on with the burden of the cross. Therefore, the disciples repented in front of Jesus Christ, who was not self-centered, and were able to determine and pledge to inherit and practice the will which Jesus always cherished.
Then, what did Peter feel? He felt the disbelief of those around him as he felt his own disbelief. Peter was able to look through the sorrowful and lonely heart of persecuted Jesus in Jesus' gaze, as he saw the evil people around him as they bound the innocent Jesus Christ and felt pleasure in lashing him. Peter felt the insolence of that environment in front of the burning gaze of Jesus. There, Peter, the disciple of Jesus, determined righteously to fight against such insolent powers around him, until the Lord would come again to destroy the evil people. (2-28)
9. Stephen
Stephen was not a wise person. He was a risk-taker and a person who seemed to lack things. However, he had a trait of deciding splendidly when betting his life. Such traits became the elements for him to be a martyr. With it he became the first generation martyr in Christianity. From this perspective, it is true that Stephen was well above many other people.
10. The Apostle Paul
When the apostle Paul was traveling to witness in the area of Minor Asia, he faced many problems which brought him close to death. The apostle Paul was threatened by his own tribe, by foreigners, and by his enemies, but he went forth accepting all those dangers as his necessary responsibility and mission for being a forerunner and a pioneer. He faced historical journeys of suffering in his short life time. He walked the pioneering course under the single-minded thought to unify and indemnify everything.
11. The Other Prophets
The prophets, whom God called, were people who had no choice but to hold onto God, raise their hands when God asked them to do so, and did not exist for their own selves. Any leader who is not like them will fall away because he cannot hold onto God. However, before you sympathize with them for their hardships, you have to know that God's hardships for sending them was much greater. (11-281)
God urged, "Have the smile of Esther." Accept any kind of persecution. Keep the appearance of not being sad, even if you are sad. Have the appearance that can forget about the false accusations, even if you are falsely accused. When you are enraged, bear it with the determination to forget even the fact that you are born. In recollecting this fact, you should understand that God had to act in such a way until today. (17-92)
Two thousand years ago, Jesus fed bread to numerous people on the field near Bethsaida. Then, why were all those who ate the bread destroyed? Why did the people who heard Jesus betray him? Why did the disciples who followed him through all those hardships for three years betray Jesus? They betrayed him because they thought those words were just for that day, and that bread was to just to fill the stomach in that hour. They did not know that those words which Jesus gave to them were the words which they had to convey to the whole world. They did not know that the bread which Jesus shared with them was the bread which they had to share with all the people of the world. (4-85)
You know about the famous representative of the life of poverty in the Medieval Age called Francis (Giovanni Francesco Bernardone). He advocated the life of poverty. When he lived such a lifestyle, he did not feel resentful, complaining, and sorrowful even if he faced a harsh life and was persecuted by his external environment. If he felt resentful and complained then he would not have inherited God's Will. However, because he felt gratitude in the midst of suffering, had hope in the midst of pain, sought new standards under such hardships, God was able to help him. Therefore, we can see how a new age dawned there. (66-41)
As we know through Saint Francis' holy work, how happy it is to be supported by the whole creation? Of course, I know that you have received much persecution during these times. I am sorry. However, there was no other way. Father was the same. Instead, please possess Father's heart. (11-322)
When Christianity first came into Korea, do you think that while Rev. Thomas was in the place where he had shed blood and was dying prayed, "Father, I came here and now I am dying. Because I came and witnessed here in order to receive my salvation, let me go to the Kingdom of Heaven and let these people go to hell?" No, he didn't. He prayed "Father, even if I die, please resurrect this people instead of the blood I shed." Because he did so, thirty million people are paying respect to him as a son of God.
A person who uses a nation to advance himself has nothing to do with that nation. When we shed tears, we should do it for the world. At this time, because a national repentance did not happen, we should shed tears for the nation. Because a worldwide repentance did not take place, our tears cannot stop. Those who go toward such future would be connected to the will of that history.
You must start, not centering on yourself, but centering on God. You should know that if you start centering on yourself, then it will remain as suffering to God. You must surely go together with God. It is all right even if you don't know how to pray. You just have to be such a person whose heart becomes sad, if God's heart is sorrowful, and whose heart becomes naturally happy when the day is so bright and there is joy in the environment. (32-111)
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Section 2. The Way Of A Priest
1. Minister As The Priest From The Levite Tribe
In order to decorate the offering table, we must fulfill the responsibility of the high-priest. In order to fulfill the responsibility of the priest, we must become the priest. Therefore, without a priest, the offering table must not be decorated. There must be a priest. That means being in the Levite tribe. Not anyone can be the high-priest. That person must be from the Levite tribe.
You are raised up in the same position as the Levite tribe. What kind of tribe is the Levite tribe? It is a tribe which does not own anything in this world. When the twelve tribes had distributed and received their lands, did the Levite tribe receive any land? [No.] They didn't receive anything. The only thing they had was their own physical body.
The Levites did not have any possessions of their own. What was their possession? It was the temple. Their sole possession was the temple. When we think about this, what should the Unification Church do? The Unification Church at this present time must stand in the same position as the Levites. In order to do so, we must not have our own possessions. Do you have many things of your own? Do you own many things? You must naturally be like the Levites.
In so doing, when we can establish a certain standard and this nation can be raised up in front of God. (155-276)
2. The Way Of The Priest From The Levite Tribe
When considering in what direction the Unification Church must go, you must remember that the church is the mainstream. The church is like the Levite tribe. There was no land distributed for the Levite tribe. Isn't it true? Look in the Bible. The Levite tribe is a tribe but it did not have any land. What was then their possession? It was the church. The church was their possession.
Then, which tribe is the central tribe? Among the twelve tribes, is the tribe with the land center or the Levite tribe without the land the center? The Levite tribe is the center. Therefore, all those who receive a salary are gentiles, and those who do not receive a salary, keep the church, and participate in activities are in the mainstream -- in the principle position. This is the way the Levite tribe goes.
The only thing that belongs to the priest is the sacrifice which was on the offering table. They had no other possessions. Therefore, become the priest who enters the holy of the holy and tries his utmost.
Therefore, the mainstream course of the Unification Church is walked by those who loyally work at the church. All the other people must offer a tithe to the church. All eleven tribes must offer the tithe in front of the offering table in the church which the Levite tribe oversees. From now on, those who do not offer tithe are not the members of the Unification Church. Originally, you should offer three tithes. One for your nation, one for the world, and one for God and the church. . . For the church, for the nation, and for the world, you must offer three tithes.
The regional and local leaders are the priests. The priests came from the tribe of Levites. The Levite tribe did not receive the land. It is because they were the tribe of priests. The sacrifice for the purpose of redemption must be donated by those who will receive the forgiveness. Because the sacrifice exists to forgive Cain, the Cain side must donate the sacrifice to Abel and feed him.
Who must feed Abel? Should the parents feed Abel or should Cain feed Abel? [Cain.] Since Cain feeds Abel, Abel offers his life. Cain who centers on material things and Abel who centers on spiritual things become one here. As the result the foundation for the restoration is made. Because the priests who represent the Israelite nation are in the position of Abel, they come to possess Cain after paying the price for the restoration of Cain.
When considering the Unification Church, who is Abel in front of the whole Unification Church? [It is you, Father.] I, as Abel must save Cain by my sacrifice. That is my mission. Do you understand? (44-146)
3. The Consciousness Which The Priest Must Have
Chief priests who receive a salary are not doing heavenly work. One does not live to receive a salary. We must live from the rewards of our sacrifice. We all bow our heads to those who shed their blood in that manner. Isn't that right? The reverend who neither sheds tears nor sacrifices but asks for benefit is a rotten reverend. You must know that.
Look at America. Have you wondered why America has become a wealthy nation? When they made money they did not buy food to eat; they did not buy clothes to wear, and they did not build a house to live in. They first built a church, then a board of education, then they built their houses. I'm saying to build a church first because I also know that ideology and because that is the principle.
So, this year for the sake of the church, I invested the money I had tearfully saved and set aside to build a house, for the construction of the headquarters in Yeo-ee-do. After that, for the building of our schools and for the sake of our future descendants we must sacrifice today. The people who do not do that will be ruined. That is God's Will for the sake of the future. That is the meaning of our descendants. We sacrifice now in the history of the restoration of the providence through indemnity for the sake of the restoration of the future.
Today, in order for us to save this world, in front of Heavenly Father, as people who can shoulder the responsibility of a high priest, we must exist for the sake of God's Will and our next generation. A person who sacrifices for the sake of God's Will and the next generation will not starve.
How many peaks does the Arirang summit have? It has twelve summits. The woman who loves God, loves her husband dearly, and says, "No matter how difficult the path, I will bear it and go on. I will bear the hunger and the tears while I go on and overcome. Even though I die and disappear, let us meet as one, husband and wife, who will be praised by our descendants." Doesn't the Arirang peak have twelve summits? That Arirang peak is the peak of restoration. If you look at Korean folk songs, you can see that the Korean people are a truly spiritual people. Why did the words "twelve peaks" appear? Because that is the course of restoration.
Rather than feed myself, I must feed my country. And rather than me living well, I must make my country live well. By doing this, what does the reverend who overcomes that summit and achieves Israel's sovereignty become? Until that time, as the whole nation's representative, the reverend suffers, and the people all bow their heads to him. Because of the reverend's training, when God comes and gives a new sovereignty, then he becomes the one responsible for the sovereignty. In order for the reverend to inherit God's tradition, Heavenly Father, throughout history, has gone the path of suffering, the path of death, the path of hunger, every possible difficult path. In order for us to inherit the tradition which came from God's course of suffering throughout history, we must overcome the path of death, the path of hunger, a difficult path, the course of being driven out from our homeland. You must absolutely know that this is the path the reverend must walk.
4. The Process Of Restoring The Offering
In the Old Testament, centering on offerings, the high priests created a relationship with God. The people of the Old Testament had to become one centering on the offerings. That is because, since the offering is the object and people are in the position of subject, if the object receives recognition before God, so can the subject. If a complete minus appears, automatically a complete plus will appear. Also, just the same, if a perfect plus appears, a perfect minus will automatically appear. That is because heaven and earth were destined to be in that condition. When you consider this principle, humans must become one with their offering. Suppose that you become one with the offering; who stands above it? Heavenly Father.
When you center on all things, there are true things, false things and detestable things. Cows, lambs and doves are good things. Of all things, these are the best. You mustn't put fatty meats on top of the offering table. It is not good to prefer fatty things. So, the meat which goes atop the offering table should not be fatty or bloody smelling. Well-dried meat like dried octopus or mullet should go atop the offering table.
Therefore, in the age of offerings, because people tried to choose the best things, they chose the cow, lamb and dove. Then what do these things symbolize? If you stare at a far off mountain, the cow chewing its cud symbolizes the people who will be restored. To say it again, it symbolizes the person who waits day after day for the day of restoration.
Also, the lamb is a frail beast. Although its shoulders are broad, it is the animal which can be caught and eaten by animals which are smaller than itself. The lamb symbolizes weak things. At the same time, it is not disobedient. Even when the owner holds the lamb, it does not resist.
A long time ago, when a lamb was caught for a sacrifice, if he resisted, they did not use it. The kind of lamb that was made an offering did not resist, but cried "baah baah" as if it was crying mournfully from subjugation. A lamb which was caught fighting and kicking was not used.
Then, what did the dove symbolize? When we describe something plentiful, we say in Korea it is like a dove's pupil. We also call a couple a pair of doves. That is because the dove symbolizes love.
When we see these things among animals they belong to a higher dimension with good meaning. Because of this, they were chosen. People must become one with them. That is to say, be loyal as a cow, suffer like a lamb and love like a dove. Again, centering on all things which represent the substance of restoration people must become one and go form a relationship with God.
So, how should you go about becoming one with them? You have to go the opposite way. You must surrender to your servant and you must surrender to your daughter-in-law. If you don't do this there is no restoration. If you do only as you wish, restoration is not achieved.
So, the Old Testament was a time of sacrifices and then what was next? What kind of age was the New Testament Age? Jesus came prepared to be the complete, substantial offering. Because of that, Jesus was the fruit of the Old Testament. Because Jesus came as the bearer of the fruit of the Old Testament's substantial offering, if he had just given all things and Cain as an offering, then the religious body and the nation would have been restored.
If this happened, then Abel's nation would have been realized. Then Satan's world and all things would have been finally restored and the Cain religions and races would have disappeared. Therefore, Jesus bore the fruit in the place of all creation, in the place of religions and in the place of the Israelites.
Even though Jesus came in this position causing Satan to lose his grasp on humanity, if the people do not change to Jesus' lineage then it will fail. That is why the course of redemption through the cross came about. If the people in need of salvation do not accept Jesus as the offering, restoration does not occur.
Next is the Completed Testament age. They said Jesus was coming again, but how will he come in the Completed Testament Age? He will bear the fruit of the offering, the fruit of Adam, then because there is the internal result, the fruit of Cain's formation stage and the fruit of the growth stage. Because of this, he had to bring Cain to submit to him.
So, when Jesus died on the cross, everything was prepared spiritually. This was the fulfillment of the formation and growth stages. If you ask what that is, because Jesus stood in the position of having realized the position of the adopted son and brought the submission of the angelic world, he brought the people to the formation stage and then to the growth stage. Jesus represents the adopted son. He died trying to complete the work of John the Baptist.
In the end, Jesus could not attain the role of the son because he died doing John the Baptist's mission. In accordance with this, if he had not accomplished this he would never have been able to come again to this land through the Second Advent. He had to unite the formation stage archangelic realm and the growth stage adopted son's position. After completing this he comes as a husband.
Christianity must prepare its brothers and sisters in order for Christ to come again. Because Adam and Eve were brought to fall through temptation, the Christian churches of this land must take the form of the worldwide Eve and the worldwide Bride to prepare its brothers and sisters for the second coming of Christ who arrives as the next Adam. If so, then centering on a special nation, the groom will arrive.
Because there is a place of restoration, we must begin by restoring the offering. The offering exists in our stead. Abraham's offering stood in the place of his body and mind.
To become the adopted son, you must become the king of offerings. We are offerings for the sake of God. Completed Adam is his own sacrifice. Dependent upon the offering, the high priest, the adopted son and Father's name, we must win back all the things of Satan's world.
God has put you in the position of the high priest because Father has gone through the course of atonement by the altar. After that God will make you the adopted son. The adopted son then attains the authority of Heaven. Then, after the chief high priest passes through this course he becomes the direct descendant of God's lineage.
5. The Mission Of The Unification Church Member
Originally, the life of faith could be seen throughout the course of history. In the same way, the path of offering continues in succession. Things do not finish simply through this continuous course of offering. The offering must be connected to the people and in front of Heaven it must turn around completely. That is the mission of the offering. What I mean is, not only must you bring salvation to yourself, but you have the responsibility to bring salvation to all things beyond yourself.
When you see it this way, if you ask what the central position is, it is us who have become the offering. We have been placed in the central position of the offering. At the same time the offering is placed before a person it is surely placed before God. When the sacrifice is properly offered up, that person receives a blessing, and Heavenly Father's desire for that offering and his suffering are appeased. It is in this important position that the offering stands.
When you look at it this way, we must stay in a dimension where we are able to pass through the age of the individual offering, through the age of the family offering, then the tribe, race and national offering. Until now, we have represented the race, nation and even the world level through the position of the spiritual offering; however, now we must go into the time of substantial realization. Although in the past it was good to be a spiritual people, and although we were able to be right in front of God through a spiritual standard, from now on, we must move beyond that into the age of substantiation. When you think of this problem, you must know the difference between the dimension of us in the past and the path we must take today, So when the Unification Church stops and looks at itself, where does it stand! In the time centering on the spirit, the physical standard stood behind; however, that is not true in this time. Centering on the mind and body, the spiritual side and the physical side must stand in the central position as the representative of the people.
Therefore, the offering itself becomes the issue. When Heavenly Father looks at that offering, is the offering itself able to carry the meaning of history so that God can accept it? That is what becomes the issue. The offering which has until now grown and become prepared, when it is shown to God, the issue is whether or not it is a sincere offering.
The Unification Church's mission is as a spiritual and a physical offering. Then who is the reverend who should give the religious service? That also becomes the issue. Is it Heavenly Father? On this earth, who is it to be? If you look at it like this, Father, who has taken responsibility for the spiritual realm until now, from now on should becoming the officiating reverend.
Then not only do yourselves need to be a clean offering, but also, he who offers the religious service must be the same. When the original man offers the service, the issue becomes whether his devotion was enough to cause the offering to grow or develop.
If the offering has not become clean, then of course, it itself has to bear some responsibility; however, the person in the position of the high priest also must bear the responsibility. This is what I have been thinking until now.
Because our Unification Church is on the path of the providence Of restoration, what is the marrow of our ideology? It is to follow the path of the offering. You must know this. What kind of thing is the offering? "Invest your entire heart, all of your desire and your entire spirit and love God," Jesus said. What does it mean to invest your heart, your desire and your spirit? It is to put your neck on the line. The conclusion is you must go. You must put your neck out on the line. It says, lay down your life and love God.
I do not mean for you to force yourself to lay down your life if you do not want to; I mean for you to do it as if you were crazy about it. That is what Heavenly Father loves. Would he want you to lay down your life crying over it; or would he like it if not knowing whether you would live or die, crazy with joy, you danced your way to lay down your life? Which is it?
In order to become a high priest, you need a temple, an altar, and a people. The altar is there for the people, and the offering and the high priest exist for the sake of Heaven and Earth. Therefore, you all must now assume the seat of the high priest.
Why do you travel around the area? You do it to find a place to lay an altar. In order to become a high priest you need a temple. Therefore you must gather that area's people and build a temple. Then you must build an altar. What is an altar? It is that town's sacred place of tears. Until God's Will is achieved, we need to make altars.
If there is a church leader who stands in the position of high priest who dedicates an offering, then he and the offering must become one. In front of the high priest, the offering must adjust itself to him. Until when must it be like this? It must adapt itself until it sheds blood. With this kind of standard, though a difficult situation arises you adapt yourself once, twice and three times, with a determination to go beyond life or death, then Heavenly Father will come to look over that place.
Because of this, when you witness, even though it is only to one person, you mustn't think that it is just one person. Do you understand what I mean? Don't see him as one person; if he is a villager, think of him as a representative of that village. Also, as a high priest, you must be conscious of what kind of priest you are making this offering as.
If it is a country, you must have the conviction that you are the representative of that country. With that kind of conviction, one must go and when one enters a certain village, and someone comes before that church leader, although he is not sent as a representative of the town, it is all right. Even if only one person had appeared, he must have the conviction of a high priest to center on the standard and stand in the position of object to be in harmony with you and follow your command of offering, namely to be thankful for suffering as he works. Then, that sphere of indemnity is not a on-on-one personal thing, but it becomes the country's representative sphere of indemnity.
When you see it from that point of view, with the providence of restoration through indemnity, it cannot be wrong that God sent a man who, representing all of the four directions, with the standard of value of the center, walks the course beyond the individual, beyond the family, beyond the tribe, beyond race, beyond the nation, with central value beyond the world, representing all things. The Lord of the Second Advent must come.
Before there were religions, prophets were sent; however, those prophets were sent in that age, so they had to complete the mission of responsibility of religion. At the same time, when they died, they proclaimed who would come in their stead. If they did not set the path for the prophet who was to come next and died, the mission of the prophets could not be united. Because of that, even Elijah had to prepare for the next person to come.
Centering on the mission of the high priest, when you look at the Unification Church, what is the mission of True Father? He must fulfill the individual mission, the family mission, the tribal mission, the race mission, the nation mission, the world mission and the mission of the cosmos. And, centering on God's Shimjung, he must even fulfill the mission of God's body. He must become the high priest who can dedicate the entire world and stand in the position of the one capable of the internal standard of value and has the value of the entire world as the representative of the completion of the created world. Here, the day he joins as one with his partner, a new resurrected life can come about. From this resurrected life arises the reborn individual, the reborn family, the reborn tribe, the reborn race and the reborn nation.
So, what do God and True Father desire? We hope to see a race, nation, and world connected to your Blessed families. We desire to see the entire democratic world connected. However, they are not. So the Unification Church is living the second history of indemnity.
The high priest must take the offering and pay indemnity. In the past material substance was taken and indemnity paid, then the sons and daughters were used and indemnity paid. So, now what should you take to pay the indemnity? We must pay indemnity centered on our husbands and wives. That is how indemnity has come to be.
It is not the time to pay indemnity centered on our sons and daughters. In the past, centering on Cain and Abel, in one line the relationship between past and present was decided. But now it is the time to choose the vertical relationship. This is a different time. Why does that have to be?
It is because the completed age is the time representing the parents. Because of this, the married couple must become the offering for the sake of the complete unity of your Blessed families in Cain's position and True Parents family in Abel's position.
The name "state leader" means you are the high priest responsible for tens of millions of lives in front of God. You must know what a high priest is. You must know that it is your responsibility to pray for the people who die in your state. For the sake of the people who die. Do you know who is dying in your state twenty-four hours a day, every day. So, if they die while you are playing, or while you are sleeping those spirits will slander you. You must also know that you are responsible for the man who is sent to court for committing a crime and goes to jail.
Not only that, you must know that you are responsible for bringing all the lives in your state in front of God. Creation is watching you and saying the same as me, "In your state there are people suffering, young people going to jail; while these people are wandering aimlessly, what are you doing?" All the things which see you slander you; all the world's animal also slander you; this, you must know. The land you own also slanders you. You have to feel that if you are so crazy with the sincere desire to spread Father's words busily throughout the day that you go beyond the town to the top of the mountain.
So, as a high priest, if you give the offering but people pass by the temple without gathering it, it is your responsibility. Instead of them, you must shed tears and pray for forgiveness for these people. You must pray. And you must think that because I have many sins no one came. If the place where you pray has a wood floor, it must never be dry, but should be wet with tears twenty-four hours a day. Then Heavenly Father will show you a person to whom to witness. God will have compassion. Representing God, you must receive the announcement, "Yeah, I'm on your side." Then, you must treat the people who come before you as kings.
You must have the heart to attend a king. "I will attend as a servant." A sinner cannot strip himself of his sins. The more you attend someone as a king, the faster your indemnity will go. Isn't that true? Because I lower myself, and raise people with sin to heaven, in that relationship a large condition of indemnity is created.
Therefore, from one person, ten people; from ten people, one hundred people; from one hundred people, beyond. If this happens, automatically, it gets broader. All the things which have been thought until now must be turned upside-down. So you think you're Abet; if so, you have to take the role of the high priest. If you have no followers and yet your people are committing sins you cannot become a high priest. If you have that kind of heart, although people cannot become your friends, because they become God's friends, God will gather and give them the Spring breeze. Father went to the Washington Rally in an impossible situation and brought back victory. Father, with that heart took the blacks and the Asians and raised them up like kings. I prayed that prayer and shed those tears.
You all must be my replacements. If you become like me, then you must believe you will take on all the responsibilities of God, throw away the good blessings and take on only the bad blessings. If you want to do this, if you go to a the top of a high mountain, that area's people can hear your voice calling them to come, and you can feel their ancestors in spirit world coming to find you. You must fulfill your responsibility in the middle of that place. That is the high priest. You must hold the high priest's certificate of qualification and do your responsibility. No matter how much your head aches, you cannot say it.
The high priest must begin at the bottom eating the food that is found there and push straight upward. The things you wear must also come from down there first. All things must be restored. You must live that kind of life. This must arise from unity and with the nation and that nation's people. It is a wretched thing, a wretched thing.
With that meaning, Father often gives thanks for the pressure he receives. My family and our church's indemnity are talked about loudly so we become exhausted from our enemies' indemnity. Because of this, the responsible person suffers. The act of suffering becomes our exhibition of a condition of indemnity. Don't sleep, but pray, and offer your sincerity. Continue to try without rest and it will arise from the act of paying the indemnity of others. That is the path of the high priest.
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Section 3. The Mission Of The Minister
1. The Life Of A Reverend As A True Shepherd
We are learning the words, "Jesus is the young lamb." We are also learning what it is to be called the shepherd. In order to know the way to inspire obedience you must have a history of knowing how to be obedient. Because of this, Jesus said, "I have not come to be received, but to receive you." You must also be like this. If there is a leader who has completed his responsibility and is a great central figure, then there is the desire to bow your head and follow. Through inheriting, the tradition of following like that, arises a level ground where you can stand anew.
Although a false shepherd drives lambs, the purpose with which he drives them is different. He comes to stare at and criticize them. The true shepherd is the very opposite. When he pulls them anywhere he does it for their sake, in that position, he is the true shepherd. Also, it does not become overbearing that he accompanies them. However, if on the way there is a lamb who says, "Hey, hey, let's not go," he is not a lamb but a goat. Centering on adapting and complaining about true and tactile things, you must know to adapt.
When you come across arrogance and suffering, here, arrogance does not become the subject; you must know that the only thing is for suffering to become the subject. When you come across force and obedience, and you ask which must be the subject, the force must retreat while obedience is left there. This is something that you all must know.
In front of you there is foxtail weed and true grain. There is also a true shepherd and a false shepherd. Because of this you must be able to classify exactly which is which. The true shepherd does not say he is the true shepherd. One day, he quietly holds God's will and the entire universe in his heart and goes out and he doesn't explain his position. Because of this, when Jesus and Pilate were in the court, the villains were claimed to be right, Jesus did not explain his position. You must be able to see the truth.
But in the last days, there will be a time when you cannot distinguish between the truth and the lie. So when the person in that situation goes to meet God, he rubs oil on his head and goes into a secret room to pray. After each has decided that he is right, intense confusion and chaos arises and because no one can tell who is the true shepherd and who is the false shepherd, quietly you must go into the secret room to pray where God will tell you the judgment.
The true son does not brag of the ideal that his father does not brag about him, and does not reveal his own self. Even should he stand in the position of his father's glory, he isn't proud of it, and he says that he will lower himself. Because of this, one day in order to become that kind of person, you too must work steadily.
One day, when you come to see things centering on the church, you must know that spiritually, even physically, an intense war may develop in order that Father can cultivate that path.
What does a thief or burglar do? He takes the things which aren't his and uses them as his own. One day it will seem as if there are many of those people. They will take our principles and use them as if it were theirs.
The person who returns things received from Heaven as Heaven's, and uses things he received for himself as his own is a proper individual. You mustn't become the thief who takes Heaven's things and uses them as your own.
Furthermore, now in order to stand with an Abel-like existence, you must have a specific purpose. You must connect with the fruit which can enter the true shepherd's warehouse. You must become the true grain, the true fruit which the true shepherd can enjoy and be happy with.
You have probably heard of Jesus being likened to the shepherd who raises sheep or maybe a new shepherd. In times of peace the shepherd stands in the lead, however, in dangerous times, the shepherd puts the lambs first and pushes them on. This is because one day Satan's world will come behind them to fight. The person who in the end is unable to stand in this position cannot be on Heaven's side. Like this, we, as individuals must overcome the summit, and the family must also overcome its summit.
The religion, race, and world which meets a leader who does not shed tears will come to ruin. Jesus embraced the church but was driven out first by the churches. He embraced the people but was betrayed by them. He shouldered the world; however, they didn't know him. That very person is the true shepherd, the true friend, and the true teacher are this person.
2. The Reverend's Life As A Doctor
Brothers and sisters, now if you look at this fallen world through Heavenly Father's eyes, everyone has caught a terminal disease. These days cancer is an incurable disease. Therefore, how pitiful is the person who is stricken with this sickness? This person walking down the final stretch is all you can think.
However, the disease resultant from the fall goes beyond that. If a person can stand in the position of having an injection or medicine to cure the people with this disease, then how happy must the parents and brothers of this person be. Wouldn't he fight with time in order to give this medication?
There was no one to cure them from this incurable disease. If there were someone in the position to save the people with a cure, how busily Heavenly Father would be moving. Heavenly Father would want to save the Earth's entire human race. You must know that the people who participate in the Principle Movement have the special appointment from God to give the injection to save the diseased people.
Receiving a Divine Principle speech is the same thing as receiving that injection. The joy which moves to their hearts will be their safety. When you think of the fact that this can revive the people, how happy must God be, who has been hoping for this. If you are our Heavenly Father's sons and daughters. . . To save that brother from the jaws of death, to save that elder brother, maybe your elder sister or sister-in-law, to stand in the position to save them must be such a joyful thing.
The person who knows that with one step he can arise to save a person from the jaws of death, but doesn't, is an evil person.
We are the people whose relative purpose is to find our lives. But this is not something you can do with a quota. You cannot just give the injection flagrantly. Because handling a life is a somber act, you must keep a clear attitude and be conscious that you stand in the position to make judgment on life or death.
Because this infectious disease is spread throughout the world, the Unification Church, saying "let's cure it," must bring everyone to the Unification pharmacy. True Father is also taking the role and going to the young child, the middle-aged guy and the old man with a bottle, all over the country. If it's a bottle, what kind of bottle is it? It's a medicine bottle. It's not a bottle which causes you to fall sick. We must go out to the Korean peninsula of three thousand li (Korean measurement), carrying the syringe and medicine bottle to catch those who try to escape getting the shot. If they do not listen to us, we must say, "If you want to be cured you must do this."
So, the doctor did well, and cured the man of the terminal disease. Even if he catches a more serious disease, "Oh, there are no doctors in this world except that one. It would be great if I could be cured again," he would say, and you will be the doctor who is called in as his savior, Do you understand?
I'm not sure which medicine I gave to the Unification Church leaders. The people who have been cured through the Unification Church's medicine, although struck with another disease will still cry out, "Father." Does that make you feel good or bad? If the disease is a different one, a different prescription will come about. You must know the Unification Church prescription is not limited to just one type. So, because the world is like this, this three thousand league peninsular must stretch out to cover it.
We are not doctors whose purpose is to make money. You must know we are there to save lives. Because of this our leaders must conquer only the dangerous diseases and the most incurable diseases. The more you do this the more famous a doctor you will become.
If you want to become a noted physician you must have discipline. When you took at different groups of people, a thousand people or ten thousand people, since their lives are all different you must investigate the trends. When you witness, you should reflect on how important you think a life is. Although the doctor is ill, if a sick person comes to visit, he is responsible for curing him.
If I am the only one who is able to cure the disease, and surgery must be performed, then I must forget my own illness and pick up the knife. For a few hours, to save the person I have to adapt myself and invest my skills. That is the purpose of a doctor. That kind of doctor can be seen as a true doctor. If after completing the surgery, he immediately falls dead, that doctor can be seen as a person who has lived truly. If a person who cures the disease in that way exists, then his good deed will never be forgotten and will be handed down as a testament to those people's descendants.
When you become leaders in the future, you must truly stand in the position of the doctor who cures the diseased. If a person's spiritual situation begins to deteriorate, then be it night or day, you mustn't hide, but work through the night shedding tears together to try to cure that person. That is the internal leader. How many nights have you stayed up trying to save lives? How busy have you been trying to save lives? If such deeds go up to spirit world with you, then you will be the object of commendations and you will set the standard for character.
Do you want to become a famous doctor or not? (A famous doctor!) Then you must be disciplined. You cannot work thinking you cannot do this, but you must have the desire to research and believe that no one but you can achieve this.
Many people must join this kind of movement. If someone gets a disease, but says, " I've gotten an injection from that hospital, but they did it carelessly," then he'll never come again. Also, if the disease is at a certain stage of being cured, but you administer the wrong dosage, then the medicine could have the opposite effect. If you speak the Divine Principle, you must do this while watching whether or not he is accepting it.
If you ask what makes a patient happiest, it is when the doctor asks, "you hurt here, here and here, right?," even though he doesn't say any, thing.
Heavenly Father is the doctor and the nurse who gives the injection of love to the human race. It is something which must be come no matter how much people criticize or hate it. When it comes time for kids to go to the hospital to get a shot, they cause a great disturbance. (Laughing). Even so, they must get the shot. Everyone says they hate it, but they will soon understand.
Sick people need an injection. At first they will be unwilling; however, later when the illness is cured they will understand you. People will come to know that being opposed to you isn't right, and they will apologize.
3. The Life Of A Pioneer
If you look at the course of history, when it flowed in a dark direction, the people who controlled history became the historical or the age's guide. However, until you become this guide, you must absolutely go out with the responsibility of the pioneer.
The pioneer must be stronger than other people when facing his purpose. That is because when one is searching for a new world, in the middle of all that hard work one must go to battle with all of his faith and even his life. You must know the fact that as our path as pioneers becomes more and more difficult, things become increasingly dangerous.
If you cannot become the victorious pioneer who conquers this kind of course, then you cannot complete the moral duty of the pioneer. Because of this, the desire for a pioneer comes from the need for some. thing like a student and teacher guide.
Today, from the point of view of the nations who are groping for a new direction, a leader who can take the role of the guide is needed. Thus, we must stand in the position of the pioneer who can bear the difficult mission in order to complete a new purpose for history. We know well the fact that looking at our circumstances we cannot take the role of guide or stand in the position of a pioneer.
When you see it from this point of view, even though we are in the course of the providence of indemnity to save humankind, we definitely need a guide who is centered on God's will.
Only after someone fulfills the mission of the pioneer can he fulfill the mission of the guide. In order to do the mission of the pioneer, even though you stand in an unnatural position with an environment which comes and pushes you, you must not be pushed; you must be able to break through those circumstances and find a new direction standing in the lead. To say it again, if you do not stand in the position to bring unity in the direction of accomplishing your purpose then you cannot fulfill the mission of the pioneer.
Because the pioneer's course is to seek out the new purpose, he must be able to bring restoration in a versatile way, standing as a subject over the difficult conditions of the surrounding environment. If that is not so, you cannot see yourself as becoming a pioneer. Furthermore, the guide must walk in the position of the pioneer who succeeds in his mission in order to become the true guide.
If you look at Noah's family, Noah also represented the age in which he lived. After he was to pass through the mission of a pioneer, he would be entrusted with the role of Heaven's guide. After Abraham passed through the mission of the pioneer, for the first time someone was prepared with the authority to be entrusted with the role of Heaven's guide. Moses was the same. If a person does not pass through the course of the pioneer he cannot fulfill the responsibility of a guide. When you go in the direction of a new destination, you must go out and explore on your own. You must actually go through the substance of the pioneer. We know these facts by looking at history.
Jesus, himself, in order to bring about the world which God desired from the two independent worlds of Heaven and Earth, absolutely had to pass through the mission of the pioneer. Furthermore, if you are not prepared with the authority to solve all of the problems by going through such a challenging course, then you will not have the right to victory over the preparation of the foundation to unite the two worlds. If you do not do this, then the role of historical, or universal guide cannot be taken by you.
Furthermore, you must prepare absolutely for the role of guide and from the position of the representative of all who can be responsible, can you attain the goal. This is the proper path in life.
The person who follows is not a pioneer. To be a pioneer is to stand in the lead. A person who inherits and idolizes history is not a pioneer. Isn't that true? In a place where there is no history, the person who establishes it is a pioneer. Therefore, a person who carries with him all the motives he has learned cannot be a pioneer. That is a person who follows. He is a person who lives copying a pattern.
A pioneer has no history. He doesn't know the direction. He is his own history and direction. If it happens that he becomes linked with our history which has gone wrong, then he naturally becomes a failure, and if he goes in the wrong direction, because he himself has gone to bits and pieces, he will fail because he is now unable to bring out the essence of his life.
Because of this, if the pioneer has a life of faith, it must be an absolute life of faith. When a person is drowning, to find a way to live, he grabs onto the fallen leaves as a source of salvation. The pioneer has no history, and there is no example for him to follow. He himself is history, as a substantiation, he must ponder the seriousness of his position of choosing between victory and defeat. That is the path of the pioneer.
Because we are in the course of wilderness heading for the promised land of Canaan, we cannot drift along day by day with the passing months. If we are not focussed on preparation for the next day's advance forward, then here in the wilderness we will become food for the vultures. You must know that we are historical pioneers. The pioneer must break through difficult surroundings and have the attitude of preparation to head in the direction of hope tomorrow.
Because we are in a historic time, is there a person who says, "I am a pioneer for the world." Even if there is a person like that and he promises to be the pioneer of history while avoiding the path of suffering, he must be denounced in front of history. Furthermore, if there is a pioneer for the world, and he declares that he will be the new pioneer in front of history, then he must be able to accept the path of suffering as his own obvious destiny. If he goes out believing that it is his path to bring restoration to his wretched surroundings, then he must believe it obvious that he should rather die that fail to do so. It is not something to complain about, but something which should be obvious.
What kind of person is the pioneer with value? He is the person who does not pursue value today, but pursues things more valuable in the future. He believes that the future is infinitely more valuable than the present, and pours out his whole heart to work non-stop.
The only person who can be a pioneer is one who accepts the life-threatening path of death as a sure thing. As such, he will be a leader who can take charge of his role in history. The person who abandons the future together with today cannot be a pioneer. The pioneer must always deny the present again and again.
In order to bring resolution to wars and more, you must lead the universe, you must invest your greatest burst of energy. But, you mustn't think that through that investment of energy, there might be some left over.
You must all become pioneers of the Shim-Jung world. That pioneer will the have the perseverance to conquer the pioneer's path. That is the philosophy of life. No one understands that position. It is a tiring and wearisome position. It will be wearisome to the point of absolute exhaustion many times.
Even after completing the mission of the pioneer one should feel ashamed. You must feel to yourself, "Heavenly Father, I see that you were with me, too." Every time you passed the crossroads of life or death, God was worrying and taking care of you. More than you prayed, Heavenly Father was worried about you. So, there was no need to pray.
There is no need to pray in the world of Shimjung. The path of filial piety is not one which makes demands of the parent. The path you walk should bear witness to your piety.
The pioneer must be like the stupid and ignorant bear. You must become the cousins of the bears. The bear will climb a tree then fall down, and although hurt, climb up again. Even so, they always sleep under trees. (Laughter). I heard that some have never been like bears. You must have the stupid tenacity of a bear.
You must become people with strong pioneering spirits. We need people who have made that determination. A self-centered person does not have the spirit of a pioneer. You all have a pick-ax and rake, which you do not see. So what do you have to do with them? You can't be criticized by your descendants for not having done things well. You have to clear a path such that they will hold their heads and say, "How did our ancestors walk such a path?" You must clear that kind of path.
4. The Life Of Heaven's Emissary
Today, the people who are dispatched to Satan's world for Heaven's sake are emissaries. There are so many people that big, small, wide, narrow, high and low differences may exist but, you must not leave the life of an emissary when faced with this. Here, life or death threats always intervene. If you come near losing your life, you come to be in the position of having the problems of life come to your side.
Because of this, it is impossible to live the life of the emissary without having the thought of finding one's home country to watch over him and support him, to be hundreds of times stronger than his environment. When you have the heart to see the glory of your home country, and the thoughts of all people happy to see the hopes of their country come true, and as you think of the time when your merit will show forth because you have created history by restoring independence to your home country, then you must ignore your position today. If you do not have such a heart before you, then you cannot complete the mission of the emissary. To say it again, if your desire to see the restoration of independence to your home country must become a thousand or ten thousand times stronger than the desires you have now, then if you have the heart of suffering that can change your life today, you overcome it, and complete the mission of the emissary.
If you do your duty like that and suddenly an accident should happen, another responsible person will be sent to replace you. Even at the time of his death, his friend, or team is already sent to take your place. Because that person came from the example position, even if he suffers, someone will come to his side.
That kind of person will always have a replacement sent by God. However, if you aren't in such a position and you die, no matter how much you accomplished it will end with you.
What kind of person is Heavenly Father? He is the king of emissaries. He is the commander in chief, the great king of the emissaries who come to Satan's world to bring independence to the fatherland. If that is so, then did Heavenly Father ever have a single opportunity in 6000 years to proclaim, "I am God. This is the truth I have to teach."
He never did. Even so, Heavenly Father has been working through our clear consciences to guide and direct us.
He has raised up the nature of our hearts to bring a world of harmony throughout the 6000 years of the history of the providence of restoration.
The son of God comes to this land to fulfill this responsibility entirely, he has the mission of the emissary who must bring the external together back to the internal. When there are external difficulties, because Heavenly Father is on the internal side, there is an incentive to unite with him. A difficult environment does not bring separation, instead it causes you to become one with the internal aspects. Because of this in that sort of environment, it is impossible to deny the fact that God will appear to bring his blessing and fight together with you.
In such a position, what kind of attitude must you prepare? Your belief in the restoration of the fatherland must be stronger than any other, burning in the center of your heart. To repeat, you must become the engineer who can build the homeland for which God has been waiting 6,000 years. You must have the self-confidence to take responsibility for this incredible mission as a pioneer, a member of the crack troops who stand in the advance guard. We have to take on the serious responsibility of bearing this special mission that only exists in this time, which so many people who have come and gone have desired to achieve but couldn't.
Furthermore, all things we do, eating, sleeping, coming, and going, everything must be for the sake of establishing the fatherland. How long has Heavenly Father been waiting for a strong and brilliant person he can send as his emissary to accomplish this mission? That providence has not yet once been fulfilled.
However, now it is possible to create the Fatherland. That Fatherland has its sovereignty, its own territory and its own people. Also, its own people's lineage is destined; no other people will be able to attain such a history. For the sake of this homeland, we must take on the mission of the emissary. The faster you bring this mission to its successful completion, the closer the independence of the Fatherland will come about through you.
What kind of attitude must the emissary adopt? The important things should not be your life or death. The emissary is always faced with life or death situations, and is constantly interrupted by death in his path. Even so, you stand in God's place walking the borderline of life and death, stepping over death. I don't know whether those who have stepped over the 38th parallel know this feeling, but the emissary must adopt the resolute way of life of the person who walk on the foothold of death. It is a challenge similar to that of crossing a nations borders.
Likewise, today where we have a place to communicate the Word, if we limit how much we give, it is wrong. First, we must be a human example, then a life example, then an example Of action; we must be an example in every way. In other words, in any neighborhood, in relationships high and low, everywhere, you must set the example in front of everyone. It is not right if you cannot be better than those people in certain ways. Those people must say, "That person is really necessary to our neighborhood." And you must make the foundation that you become one with the village, wishing not to leave but to stay there as you can. If you cannot create that sort of foundation it will be very difficult to carry out the purpose of our position.
Have you lived that kind of life? I'm asking if you have spent two years, three years, ten years as one living that kind of life with the people from which you were born? Becoming an emissary does not complete your responsibility. For the person who was sent from his people or country by special command to fulfill the purpose of the Fatherland, it is a mission which even after 10 or 20 years cannot be completed. Also, if your mission cannot be completed in one generation, then someone will be sent in your place to continue the mission. Furthermore, centering on this special command, with anticipation, you must fulfill your responsibility from a position similar to that of a live offering.
When you see from that perspective, your attitude and all other aspects of yourself must be different. You must believe that you are the only ones in that village who can fulfill the responsibility and then you must do it.
God's emissary always lives for the sake of the Fatherland. He, himself must be the one who says, "Heavenly Father, please be here," because God is the original leader. Although it is a position with an unclear future, if the emissary must die, then he must die with God; if he is hunted, then he must be hunted with God; if he is driven out of his home, then it is with God that he must be driven out; and if he fights, then he must fight together with God.
If, when heaven develops and prepares a strategy, you cannot over come a difficult situation and establish a foothold, then it will be impossible to fulfill the colossal responsibility of defining the Fatherland's fate. Because of this, wherever you look at the colossal responsibility for the sake of the Fatherland, it is impossible to not be serious about your attitude and actions regarding the mission of emissary you must carry as an individual.
For example, there are currently spies who are being sent from North Korea to the South. The spies sent here must receive training as a special agent. When they train, what is the first thing they learn? They must learn South Korea's customs. They have to learn South Korea's language, and become accustomed to South Korea's way of life. How adapted they must be to the South Korean life to be able to put themselves in the position to live through life and death situations.
Because of that principle, if you ask how it is that they can adapt themselves to all the specific areas of their living environment, it is because it is the principle of the special agent. All customs of life, like language, cannot seem even a little awkward in front of a South Korea person, he cannot seem strange in any way. He must live in the midst of all the commonplace and natural environment as if it were his own.
Because in North Korea, North Korean's have their own customs, their own way of life and their own social systems, without him knowing it could surface in any environment. So, in spite of this, how difficult it must be to eliminate everything and act like someone from another region or country. If he doesn't think about things two or three fold it won't work. We can guess that the position of spy requires that they think two or three times about and pay attention to each act they commit and each word they say.
If, a spy's actions or way of speech is a little different from other people's, it becomes one clue through which his true identity can be exposed. Because that former lifestyle comes from within your innermost heart, how painful that position must be. How much training it must take to adjust oneself to that way of life. What is the same way of life that we are living.
Although today in this region, the Unification Church leaders are in a somewhat developed position, a long time ago, in the beginning, similar to what I said earlier, we were like spies and we had no choice but to live the life of an emissary with a special command. In order to live that kind of life what do you have to do? You cannot have the belief that all of your ideas can be forced to apply to that region.
Today, however, when you consider the past event of the Unification Church leaders, you can see that they did not lead that kind of life. Immediately after going to a certain region, they put away their beliefs and innermost heart, and they spread the word alone, considering how the people of that region thought. It is impossible for us not to look back on these activities to which were our greatest impediments.
Did you accept the mission of heaven's emissary? If not, then did you accept the mission as an ambassador's emissary? Because we have done things however we please, we are paying the price of unspeakable suffering. Now, centering on God's will, you must make up your mind and say, "This body receives the special command of the emissary from God." Because of this, you must know the fact that one mistake of yours causing terrible consequences to your surroundings is not a local thing; it is connected to the vast and great Fatherland.
Now, you are the new emissaries. You have received a new command from God and stand in front of a new world. You must now become more serious. It is not right to take your authority and go confront the people of a village. Your life and death problems are involved and the problems of the world until now are involved. Furthermore, with a serious heart, you must do the emissary's duty as you lay a foundation for yourself and a new destiny. In order to create a foundation which will not collapse in Satan's world, you must conduct yourself well. However, if you disregard this and live with the same habits as before while wondering whether to do God's command, or not, God's Will will never be accomplished.
New clothes and worn-out clothes are different. A new command and an old command are different. Today's new point of view and the past point of view are different. Today's era and the past era are entirely different things. This is a new stage of growth, with a new consciousness, a new spirit and a new resolution. If you do not prepare a new environment then the new truth cannot be accomplished.
The providence moves in stages, first, second, then third. Because of this, in order for you to rise up to the next stage you must have the heart to prepare on your own. When this preparation is put to use on your environment, the issue becomes how it can be brought to bear fruit. When you took at this problem, you are still ignorant.
The missions of emissaries to a village and those to the capital city are different. The circumstances are different. Also, it is different when you have the mission of the emissary entering on the sovereignty of one nation. You mustn't have only the same abilities as in the past. Furthermore, when you have a new command and a new direction, you must invest your life with a new beginning according to that command. You cannot use the same foundation as in the past. You must make a new investment.
You must have the spirit to establish the fatherland, bring glory to it, live with it and then die in it. Until now, no one has been able to take that responsibility, and you must not neglect this somber responsibility which can only come about once in any era. Listen once and think about it ten times. You must consider the things you hear once, ten times or more. In order to bring about the fortune of Heaven here, you mustn't be troubled even though you are disgraced a thousand times, and even though you walk the path of death a hundred times you mustn't falter. If you have that conviction then God will watch over the paths you take. In my experience, Heavenly Father never abandoned me during difficult times, you can be sure that He will also watch over you.
Therefore, as the one with the mission of restoring independence to the fatherland, with the conviction that you are the only one who can accomplish this responsibility for that village, and as the person in charge of the one plan, you must never quit your position. You must not become a traitor here. Even the inability to fulfill the responsibility of a thousand people is forbidden. Because we are in the back roads of this responsibility there is no way for us to avoid or step over it.
Even if you cannot sleep, you must do it. Even if you cannot eat, you must do it. Even while you are being driven out, you must do it. When you make a new determination to accomplish this sort of mission, the path you must walk will naturally open up to you. But, if you don't do this, the world of hope and glory which Father has chosen, becomes a world of darkness. Father is worried about this issue. So, the issue to which this time in front of you has been committed is the issue of "the emissary and the Fatherland."
When you have succeeded in this mission through which God will find this nation, then all of its people will praise you. When will that day, when glorious Heaven is praised, come about? When you become people who can pledge that your life purpose is to seek that end, and never forgetting it, the day of hope for the independence of the Fatherland will approach in your future. If you cannot do this a path of suffering will lie before you. You must know that arising from that failure, that end will also lie before the thirty million people of your nation.
The figure of the emissary does not allow you to put on an air of importance. Also, you cannot become one simply through your ability. The emissary's mission stands in a position connected to God's shimjung, and while he establishes the customs for this nation, he must control his environment with devotion. On the day that you do this, you can stand in the position to carry out God's direct command.
Father knows, from many years of personal experience, that if you fulfill the responsibility of the emissary, that work will absolutely become a success. I spoke with you for a while today with the desire for you to go out and do such acts yourselves.
5. A Reverend's Daily Life
What must you restore? The entire human race must be restored, and even the spirits in hell must be restored. After that what needs to be restored? God's heart of sadness must be restored to the shimjung of happiness.
You must set the standard by proving that:
1. You are God's son or daughter through your lineage
2. You are God's son or daughter through the truth.
3. You are God's son or daughter through your lifestyle and,
4. You are God's son or daughter through your work.
History, this era, and the future guarantee success. Until now, history has not seen a person who could bring this distinguished mission to a successful conclusion. I hope that you will go out and fight with conviction.
A mission must firstly be historical. Next, it must be worldly, and finally it must be for the sake of the future. We take on this kind of mission with three periods. As you know, I said that today is harvest day. Today, our fallen ancestors on this earth have had many harvest days. If they spread seeds in the spring, one summer it grew to its peak until fall. The resultant fruit was then harvested as their own. Then, with that harvested fruit, they planted again.
Today, people have harvested and spread out happiness, but God has not yet felt the happiness for the harvest. God has never felt the happiness of gathering new seeds and then scattering them about. Heavenly Father has never been able to spread out the seed and with fate, see the scattered buds be harvested as a thousand or maybe a hundred times the amount of what was planted.
When you consider this, though today it is late autumn, as people who gather grain and face the fruit of our harvest, we mustn't stand in the position of harvesters from the past when we do our own. Because God desires that we, with our own loving hands, gather in and distribute each seed and grain in the middle of His garden of love's shimjung. You must become the people who can be expected to stand in the position through which God can put this desire into practice. This must happen in order for you to become a person who knows how to gather the fruit and then knows how to distribute the seeds.
In a perfect world great love can be attained. When the Unification Church becomes famous, and when it becomes the age of the Unification Church, then you all will bloom. If the flower blooms, the color of your flowers will change, then, a scent is sent out. colors must change. Right? [Yes] When a flower enters maturity and it blooms, its color changes. So, flowers must grow and its scent must come out. You must all give forth a fragrance.
The essence of the Unification Church must be the pollen which can bring love's hidden flowers to bloom and give off fragrance. Love's fragrance does the work of cleansing the world. How is that? Let's clean up this world, the college roads, the country side, the city, and the academic world.
When you wait for a loved one who has gone far away from whom does news arrive? [the mail man] It comes as a letter doesn't it? That letter comes by the way of the mail man. Isn't that so? [Yes] When you receive the letter do you feel good or bad? [good]
There are people who wait for a letter until their eyes fall out, then when the mail man arrives, happily they take it and run inside the house. But no one invites the mailman in to have lunch. The mail man is a pitiable person. So many people receive tender-hearted news through him, but does anyone receive their salary and then offer him a tip? If there are any mothers here who have welcomed a mailman in courteously, please raise your hand. This shows that mailman are the most pitiable person.
The Unification Church members have been trying to take on the mission of the mail man, but is there anyone here who has gone to every house with good news?
Is there a mail man who delivers a letter saying, "Today is one of the hottest days of the year. I'm sweating so much." Then asks from the entrance for a cold glass of water? The mail man is always met with contempt. Isn't that so? We must become the mail men of love. Let's become the mail men who can deliver God's love to the world. How splendid is that?
Until now, Father has said, "establish a tradition," several times. You must have heard me say this many times. We must establish a tradition now. We will fail if we do not establish a tradition. The tradition must be connected to the nations ideology of patriotism and then established. Do you understand?
The fact that you are meeting this era together with your wives is surprising. It is a more difficult thing than world unification. World unification begins here. Furthermore, you can become happier than the people from any other age. As much as you are in that position, there, happiness and sadness cross each others paths. You must know that your mission is to be able to absorb this happiness and sadness as subject.
In this time, you must show all the people the ways of Heaven's course, and without error you must pave a path like a highway for them. If you do this you will live for 1,000 or 10,000 years in their memory. Do you understand? [yes] During happy times, people will look upon the tombstone at your grave, and if there is a mountain you frequented, they will frequent it, saying, "Please receive this happiness." You must become this kind of ancestor. That is a worth-while life. Do you understand? [Yes.]
If, in your life, you lived on the highway, taking medicine, laughing and dancing, what will happen to your grave? A person like that will have only grass growing on his grave; but, a person who sheds blood and dies for his country will have the flowers of his nation growing there.
6. Consciousness Of The Mission
God determines which things you prepare when you offer things before Him. As an omniscient and omnipresent being, and because He is a perfect being, He has the desire to see every offering made before him be perfect. We know that our lives must become a course, of offering all our devotion and all our sincerity.
Have you seen the movie, "Silver Streak?" People who have seen it raise your hands. Wow! There are really a lot of you. This is exactly the same situation. Now, people's lives are running toward hell. Similar to the movie, there is no driver and it's running fast, but people are dancing there, saying, "Wow, how fun!" They are laughing, "ha ha ha ha," even though they are about to run into a wall.
So, what should you do if you know this is happening? The people who know must accept the challenge. If you know the challenge, then how can you be still? When God watches the ride down overflowing with people, does he say, "Good job; that's good?" [No] If one knows this and goes out prepared to give up his life, even though he is headed for Hell, he can be taken up to Heaven. 0n the way, if he experiences suffering, he will be taken up to Heaven.
In this failing country, in this failing world, in this situation of the world heading straight toward Hell; if I take up the challenge and die trying, will I end up in Hell? You will go to the top of Heaven. Do you understand what I mean? [Yes] You must think that way. I'm telling you to become that kind of person. I will make you into that kind of person. Is that wrong? [No] So, there are no complaints? [No]
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Section 4. The Responsibility And Attitude Of A Minister (Part 1)
1. Ministers Are Chosen Ones
The motto for my life has been "God's spokesperson." From today, I ask that all of you become heavenly spokespersons. Become God's representative. And become his alternative embodiment. I hope that you can go forth and become one who will die in the place of God.
A missionary is the spiritual leader of a region. You must pray for the people even if you lose sleep. Since you must offer things in order to save the people, you have to give your full devotion. In an offering, the subject (God), and the object must become one in order for a response.
In your mission area, you must have a sense of urgency, as if your flesh and bones were melting. Stand upon the altar and preach with the following prayer and heart: "Father! It is distressing that I must go forth when I am so unworthy!" Do not center on yourself, but go in place of you parents and the heavens as if you were a heavenly soldier holding God's instructions.
You have fought for your people, and you have taken responsibility for your village, town, county and province, but you must know that you shouldn't complain or be disappointed in that position. The longer you are in that position, you should have sadness for God's will and mankind.
God does not come with false intentions when choosing and establishing a center on earth. He devotes his heart when he chooses and establishes a heartistic center. This position is one which can be called the real "true." Because this is a once-in-history occurrence, without devoting the utmost fervor and heart, it is impossible to establish a true singular standard. You must know that this is why God had to search through the individual, family, tribe, nation, and world levels.
So, what kind of people are we today? We must have this ideal and tradition imbedded in our flesh and blood because we are people who have been anointed from these traditional ties.
The whole world and cosmos revolves because of us, each one of you. Centering on you, your ancestors and descendants will be able to revolve. This kind of amazing phenomenon is happening right now. You do not know what an incredible position you stand in now. You are the axis.
2. Your Attitude Towards Being Called
Heaven has expectations of me, telling me to create a new world. I have already been bestowed with the responsibility of resolving all the ruined events.
Then what position am I in? I am a being which has to exist as an individual. The reason is that I belong to mankind, the world and God. Our hearts must be awe-stricken at the fact that we are called upon although we are an unworthy people and an unworthy lot.
When we think of the fact that even those who have given voluntarily for their nation and people have not been chosen, we must have a thankful mind and awe-inspired heart that God has chosen us and made us his children.
More than being joyous with such a grand goal in front of you, how do you do your responsibility on your own? It is impossible not to feel the importance of the duty and responsibility you must take on in order to accomplish your responsibility. This feeling extends beyond the individual, family, tribe, people, nation and world.
Let's think about it. What is the path that we are currently taking? It is the last road. Therefore we must infinitely appreciate its effect.
Who's threats caused me to come to America and fight? I volunteered for this struggle. No matter how much persecution I receive, I just kick it aside and move on. So, what is it that you all must do? Should you volunteer and do more than I, or should you do more than I because you are forced to? Even if by force, if you are unable to exceed my standard you will fail. It's simple. In theory, it's simple.
Any era's central figure must never think that he was chosen because he is special. The fact is that he stands in that position because of the contribution of ancestors and the great sacrifices paid. It is not exploitation of the people because you are special or because you are dignified, but rather you must maintain the posture of a sovereign ruler who is doing it for the sake of the people. In terms of the Unification Church, the nation is not putting itself first for the sake of the Unification Church, but the Unification Church is for the sake of saving the nation. The Unification Church has to be for the saving of the world and not to take the world for itself.
On the path of faith, it is difficult to receive a calling, but to receive a calling and to follow that calling is especially difficult.
Therefore, while on the path of faith, you must always peacefully open the door to your heart. Your heart must be round like a big rubber ball that has been completely filled with air and you deal with others without any prejudices. Without adopting that position, dangers will undoubtedly arise on your path of faith and there will be courses that throw you backwards. We can feel this clearly.
In order to be in a peaceful position and have a heart that is always undisturbed and in the subject's position you must constantly cultivate yourself. If not, and you go into an enraged position, that rage will cause your heart to receive biases. If you go into a sad position, you will receive a shock that will cause your heart to differ from your original nature and break. That is why you should always have a moderate disposition, and knowing how your disposition should be, you need to have a correct attitude towards life.
In a certain way, you can see your heart as a balloon. When, like a balloon, your heart is floating high above, you can observe everything. However, as when the balloon loses pressure it comes straight down, your heart can also feel like it has come down.
If you are in a position that is coming down, you must either go further down or push in the opposite direction and go up. When coming down, how far do you have to go? If you go all the way to the bottom, you start going back up because of a reaction.
If the pressure keeps going down and you go down to a certain point, because of a counter-reaction it goes up instead.
Accordingly, you will either maintain the downward position or push up from your present position. You need an attitude of faith that can always control the standard or your heart.
3. Minister's Qualifications
1) The Qualifications that a Minister Must Have
What type of representative must we become? You are all not good looking, you have no experience, you have no possessions, but your heart is yearning for the highest standard. What kind of representative are you going to become? Becoming a representative who takes responsibility for one's household is obvious but you must go beyond that and become your nation's representative and the world's representative. In order to accomplish such a thing you must have a worldly standard.
If you want to have this worldly standard, it must come close to the absolute standard. However, without first going through the center of the family, you cannot go through the center of the people. Furthermore, without going through the center of the people, you cannot go through the center of the nation and without going through the center of the nation, there is no way to go through the center of the world. You must know this fact.
Because of the current direction of history, countless people want to become rulers and the persons responsible for their countries centered on themselves. Going beyond that, they wish to become the leaders of the world. However, these people must go through the family door, the tribe door, go over the hill of the people, and the hills of the nation and the world. Only then can they call themselves worldly. To be worldly is to be number one. You must become number one.
The primary problem is that you must determine God's ownership. As an individual man, God must be able to say, "You are eternally my son or daughter." One cannot be a son or a daughter by name alone. You must become one who has a subjective love which can gather all the central elements of your nature and which God can hope for. He must be able to say, "You are truly my beloved son or daughter." These words are necessary. Why? Because God knows of the historic scar left by the history of our ancestors through the fall. Adam fell because he couldn't become a true son. Therefore there was a need to say, "You are my truly beloved son."
Do you know how much effort it takes to receive that recognition? Have you tried? If there is an altar at the church, you must shed a lot of tears there and receive that recognition. You must go to a high mountain and spend the night in prayer saying, "Only your love is my shield for certain victory." The educator is the one who takes responsibility for the church and takes on the responsibility of becoming a true sapling onto which people can graft to receive new life.
Just as Jesus represented God and bore witness to him, just as Jesus represented God and fought Satan, and just as Jesus represented God and died for him, you must represent Jesus and bear witness to him, fight for him and be able to die for him.
From there, you must become a person who someone else can bear witness to. That is why Jesus had apostles and you too will have followers.
In order for you to be in a position to call yourselves sons and daughters of God, there must be someone who can testify that you are an unwavering son or daughter of God, someone who can fight for you and die for you.
It is not something you do after receiving restoration. The road to restoration is a road that must be developed. You cannot realize the history of restoration by accepting things from the satanic world. You must give heaven's things. So what is it that you must give? You must give true heart, true character, and true words.
In order to do that, you must establish the standards of true words, true character and true heart. You must set up true words, true character, and true heart on the individual, family, nation and world levels. . The one who comes as the person responsible for increasing the scope and establishing an indemnity standard for the entire world is the messiah. You mustn't forget that he comes during a serious historical time.
If you want to accomplish something big in this world, you must take on a big mind and start to do a lot of preparation. People are unable to accomplish big things because of a lack of preparation. Therefore, if your goal is big, then your preparation should also be big. If it is some sort of trial, then it needs preparation over a continuous period. If the preparation is not correct then even though the opportunity for success arrives, you will not be able to reach your goal.
From a long time ago there have been heroes and patriots who have come and gone on this earth, but without making a correct foundation for success, they would have never been able to accomplish the things they did on the national or world level. If you do not make the appropriate foundation nothing will work. Also, no matter how well prepared your foundation is, if there is no support from God at that precise time, you will fail. You need the right conditions, Heavenly fate, and the correct timing. Time is a factor.
In order to become an airplane pilot, how many decades must you train? In order to become an astronaut, how much money must you invest in your training? And how much knowledge do you need in that field?
2) The Pride a Minister Must Have
I did not come here to ruin you. I am not some person who came here to make you suffer. I came to save your families and the world. This is because I know the day will come when your children will be welcomed as the children of the world and, after crossing this hill, the people of the world will call to us and welcome us with tears welling in their eyes.
After sixty years of trusting Heaven and knowing Heaven and walking on this path, I have come to know this as a fact. Now, I am not alone. I have friends in the world. I am not lonely, for countless people who lead this world know I am the leader, revere the path I take and ask that I fight hard.
You can be proud before all of Heaven and earth of the surprising fact that you follow such a teacher and you go before him holding a warrior's banner. You will feel strongly that God is with you, if you go forth with the faith that even though history may stop, the position of victory is unstoppable. You will discover the living God.
You are the center of attention. Even though there isn't much to see in you, you are all the center of attention. "Although my hands are worthless, the path to the world can connect through these hands. Through all my sight, God's sight can connect. Through my emotions, the root of the heart can connect."
The direction of heaven's providence depends on the path of my life.
What more could we ask for, if in the face of the great historical Last Days, we could be the appointed object before God, who sits in such a lonely position? Is there any thing more we could ask for? Even death would not worry you. Even if my flesh becomes water and flows away, or becomes powder and disperses in the air, what resentment would I have? There will always be plenty of lives with no value that die like pigs and dogs in the world.
4. The Ministers' Responsibility
1) Responsibility Starts With God
We know that no one can live on this earth without fulfilling responsibility. In the case of the family, parents have a responsibility as parents and children have a responsibility as children in front of their parents. Furthermore, each family has a responsibility towards society and the nation. Even in the case of a single nation, there is a God-given responsibility in relation to the world's state of affairs and it's historical course.
As humans we have a responsibility sought by the mind and a responsibility sought by the body. Then, what is the responsibility sought by the mind? You must substantiate the purpose by centering on the purpose of God who bestowed all responsibilities. The mind must command you to do this responsibility. That is why the mind is there to command and achieve God's purpose.
2) The Responsibility of a Minister
We cannot live an irresponsible life every moment. We must take responsibility. It is not an easy thing to take responsibility. If you are to take responsibility for a group, you must show the direction to the group. If you take responsibility for a family, you must center on the direction and accomplish the responsibility. You cannot become a leader without direction or by doing things haphazardly.
In order to become a historical leader you must go through the historical view of past and present and use a responsible content that is one with that direction. That is when you can say that one's duty as a leader has been accomplished.
What do you all have to be responsible for? First you must take responsibility for the spirit world. Second, you must take responsibility for the world. Third, you must be responsible for your descendants. This is the restoration path that Unificationists must bear today, and it is the destined path that the Unification Church must take.
What kind of leader must you become? You must become like True Parents. And after that? You must pray and set up a strategy. After that you must propagate the truth. You must know that this is an important job that must be done by the leader. How do you receive the tactics from God? You must learn God's laws of tactics. You must learn God's tactics and make the best possible tactical plan.
In harmoniously making a plan together with God, you must know that it is heavenly law that since you have accepted the responsibility of a leader, you must have the faith that the position you are in belongs to True Parents. Please try to practice this as this is something I am telling you from experience.
Try it once to see if it is or if it isn't the case. Do you understand? (Yes.) If you do it, then from now on you will be able to develop your destination.
First, if you accept the responsibility, you are my representative. If there is some problem, the power to decide lies with the leader. All the materials needed in order to decide it are gathered and brought by the surrounding people. On the basis of those materials, the leader must decide. In order to make decisions about such important matters, the leader must pray in earnest. You must not do it according to your feelings or thoughts. Since it is God's matters that you are deciding on, not only will God definitely work on it, but God will also work for those in the object position. You all must know that the leader has the great responsibility to combine these matters and decide what must be done.
Just because I believe in Jesus doesn't mean I can call out "Jesus!" in a second. The church leader is not there to further their own goals. If there is such a person, then they are unqualified to be a church leader. Because the leader has the responsibility of laying down a bridge, the leader must be willing to give to the members that seek out the church.
I am the leader of the Unification Church, and you all are individual church leaders. If you are church leaders, have you gone to the far reaches of your area, in the backwoods where they live apart from the world, and gone to the small village farmhouses and proclaimed, "He who Heaven loves has come!" while holding them and shedding tears? Have you traveled everywhere till you feet wore out, and screamed out till your throat exploded, your eyes went blind and your ears went deaf? You must not stand in a position where you ask to be delivered from your circumstance, and sit around seeking free hand-outs.
You must know that is not acceptable. If there is any group that accepts that, it will fail.
"Because I am left out, I am sad. Because I got in, I am happy. . ." I do not carry those feelings even deep inside of me. Long ago, Jesus' disciples did this to Jesus and it caused them to fail. All of them failed. Do you understand what I am saying? I am for the whole! I am for the whole. The "whole" is not the Unification Church, but the "whole" is for God.
When looking at the Unification ideal, we can see our position as a bus or a car heading up a road towards a very rugged and steep mountain path. In this situation, we are like the driver of that vehicle. You are a driver with the responsibility of completing a course in a restricted time frame, going on a very difficult road, having a set time to get to your destination, having to do restorative repair, as it becomes harder and harder, as time becomes shorter and shorter, you must be able to turn that steering wheel with a grim determination and an extraordinary will. Without doing that, you will not pass the road.
Although we know this, in the current situation with a national crisis, a worldwide crisis, with the situation being like a man who is covered with wounds, where is the driver who can successfully navigate the dangerous road? Where is the driver who can lead this nation and it's people?
As the Unification Church president said a while ago, if not us, then who can save these people? The more that we ask and answer that question, our two hands and our minds must come to bear the responsibility of that driver in the course that this nation and people follow.
However, the course is not a well paved road. It is a treacherous, crooked, steep road. A road that no one in history has been able to travel. If we were to consider that we are that driver who has to complete the course in a limited amount of time, even if we were driving on that road right now, there is no way we cannot worry about the remainder of the road ahead of us.
Although everything behind us is passed, we still face the course that is left before us. In preparation for this course, when you stand in the position of worrying about yourself and preparing yourself, the question that arises is how you will manage to pass through the barrier and what attitude you will need to do it.
From this position when we assess the road which lies ahead of us, we know we are not going to be on a developed road. We have to develop it as we go along. You must know that in this position you will have to develop it as you go along.
What kind of nation is going to be established in Korea? When North and South negotiate and begin to interchange with one another, will there be established a communist regime like the North, or will it become just like the South, or will it become a new country unlike either North or South? When we look at questions such as these, our time is slowly approaching. If you are the Unificationists that will take responsibility for it, how much feeling of responsibility do you hold and how much sacrifice are you willing to take? Do you have confidence?
In this time of personnel shortage, who will go to Jung-joo, North Korea and take responsibility for Jung-joo? Have you thought about that? Have you considered being the church leader for Jung-joo district and preparing for ten or twenty years only to be unable to accomplish it and then tell your son on your deathbed, "Son, study and prepare well for that day when you will accomplish Heaven's plan and become the Jung-joo church leader"? I have been thinking of that and preparing up until now.
When you think about that, do you young people go back to the country side to your children and wives and live a care-free life? Is it supposed to be that way or not? (It's not supposed to be that way.) Even if you die, you have to leave your country behind.
Even if you die, you should leave a country behind for you children. You should make a new determination. A determination like: "I will become the church leader who will go to the far border of a remote area and stand face to face with communists throughout days and nights under sounds of gunfire and play the role of a border guard. And even if my nation or anyone doesn't recognize my efforts, I will never change my heart of loyal love for the country even if I die." That attitude is perfect. Even if the world never recognizes you it's okay. If you go to the spirit world. everything is exposed.
When you think about these things, you must understand that people are unworthy. You have to know that people are lacking. Born as a man with a mouth and emotions, there is no excuse for you not to be able to give Divine Principle speeches, especially you younger ones in your twenties and thirties.
How miserable is it to be the father who, determined to give his life, does his duty loyalty, and refuses the sympathy of heaven while ready to collapse at any moment? Since God has done thus, I must do the same. Without passing this course, he cannot establish on the earth a regular and normal tradition, nor can he establish the condition that he has loved mankind. Therefore you must clearly know that God has traveled that route.
3) You must Love even your Enemies
What is the biggest headache in this world? What is the most difficult problem? What is the greatest cross? What is it? Satan. It is Satan.
Who is going to be responsible for this? When you say "I will take responsibility. We will take responsibility," if you can become the kind of person that God can say "Okay, you take the responsibility," then God's headaches regarding Satan will go away. Will you take responsibility for Satan? (Yes.)
How despised Satan must be. Think about how despised he would be. Even God who is omnipotent and omniscient has endured suffering for 6000 years. How much suffering have Unification Church members who have taken responsibility for this endured? If you say you will take care of Satan, do you think that he will meekly follow behind you and accommodate himself? Do you think that if you take responsibility, Satan will leave you alone? What do you think? (He will not accommodate himself to us.) Who will take responsibility for these things? Who will? If you are going to take responsibility, you must do it with the secret key that will defend against him. You must do the things that Satan cannot do. Satan is a destructive being with an evil hand. If there is anything that is good, Satan will try to destroy it. Therefore, what is there that he cannot do? If we are to defeat Satan, we must do the opposite and destroy evil things.
So, is it easier to destroy good things or is it easier to destroy bad things? Which is it? Also, is it easier for a good person to become bad or a bad person to become good? Which is it? (It is easier for a good person to become bad.) Satan is the thief who made good people go bad even in the garden of Eden.
So, can you take responsibility for that? (Yes.) Your answer maybe "Yes," but think about it. Have you thought about it? If I now leave Satan to your responsibility will you say, "Oh, this is the gift that I have been waiting and waiting for"? (Yes.) If that is the case, then you will become the saviors. You have to think of how the domain of responsibility expands to even these problems. When you look for all the fundamental rules to follow when disposing of these problems, you will find that there are none. The only method is by trusting others, living for others and loving others. You have to bear the cross. Outside of that, there is no possible way. Do you like that? (Yes.) Think about it. This is a very difficult situation. Short of sacrificing yourself, it is very hard.
Can you sincerely trust others, live for other and love others? How do you think God does it? Have you thought about how God might be able to do it? Don't you think that this would be difficult for God also? God would like to be able to prove that through a test he was able to accomplish this easily. Even though he stood in a position where he has not completely trusted, lived for or loved, God trusted, lived for and loved completely.
The fact that he let his beloved son die on the cross was how he practiced that heart. To do that for those who couldn't trust, live for, or love is a look into one of his ordeals. It is possible to think in this manner. You have to know that this kind of serious problem is connected.
Therefore, the person who can fix all the problems and take responsibility is the leader. Do you want to become that kind of leader? (Yes.) That job is difficult. If there is a leader who is able to take on that task and complete it. That leader will become the person who can forever control history. God must also take on that responsibility. If the messiah comes to execute God's responsibility, if that messiah is not a leader who can take care of such a responsibility, he will be a messiah that only judges, which is not right.
4) The Mind's Posture Towards Accomplishing Responsibility
Those who are appointed definitely have a responsibility for their duty. Just as in a workplace, if you are a manager or a division head, if you have been appointed then you have a responsibility to accomplish the duties that you receive. Also, there is a limitation in accomplishing your allotted responsibility. You do not do it forever. It is limited to a certain period of time.
What type of heart must you have before taking on responsibility? You must have the determination to change your life if you cannot accomplish the responsibility.
You mustn't stand before life in a position to only receive. In front of God's will, you must only stand in a position to give.
You must go forth as if it were a matter of life and death. It is not a simple task. You must go through even three separate attempts. If upon this foundation you go all throughout Korea for heaven's will, God will observe you from the back. Thousands of saints and heavenly soldiers and sages, as well as your good ancestors will be observing your actions. Therefore, not only the fate of the Unification Church, but the fate of these people and the world rests on your two shoulders.
You must pray the following prayer, "I know how much suffering Father went through to find the central individual. Centering on me, I want to go and become the heavenly representative who finds my people and my tribe. Father please help me." How serious is this prayer? Isn't God's wish that there are people such as this in the countless regions of this world?
Today, we should take this grave sense of mission and work. Let's give sincerely, and be patient, and be victorious. Let us shed sweat and blood for mankind and give sincerely. If it is not genuine, then it will not be left in history.
You must become the most pitied person in the world in the face of your responsibility. In order to accomplish your responsibility, you must try your utmost with all your effort. If there is a God, that kind of person will absolutely not fail. God will absolutely not allow for his failure. This I know from historic personal experience. If you say, "If there is something that I cannot do, I will do it. I will be responsible, then already God is inclined to take responsibility. If you continue with that kind of earnestness and accomplish your responsibility, God will never let that kind of son be let down or fail. I know this from experience.
From extraordinary works come extraordinary miracles. Do you understand? A person's heart, or a parent's heart or God's heart is the same. It is the same.
When it comes time that you must leave a village, if you have not fulfilled the job you started and prayed you would do when you arrived, you must say that you will return again to fulfill what you promised to do, and shed tears in order for the road ahead to open to you.
Do you understand what I am saying? It is wrong to say, "This village is evil. Please move me somewhere else." (Laughter) If you leave seeking a better place, who will take care of that village? Can someone who does worse than you come and take responsibility? If you want someone better to come and take your place, shouldn't that someone go someplace better? It is a serious problem.
Therefore, if you have to leave your position without finishing your mission, you must say, "God, I will leave now," with endless tears. When you can say, "Heaven, I have done all that I could have done. I have done all that I could as a human. Day or night I was of one determination and I have offered extreme dedication," and Heaven can also see that you are leaving after having done everything you could, even though you could not finish your mission in that position, Heaven will return to you in excess of your effort. If you can quietly finish your portion of responsibility, even though you finished, you should feel inadequacy. If it is good, then you cannot feel it is good before Heaven does. if it is bad, you have to become people who worry that Heaven might see it as bad before you do.
5) The Victorious Warrior Responsible for the Origin of Creation
When you are sent to a location for the providence, you have to be able to take responsibility for yourself. Someone who cannot be responsible for themselves cannot have another mission. Only when one can be responsible for oneself can they take on other responsibilities. Only after you have taken responsibility for yourself can you establish this ideal.
God has been unable to find on Heaven or earth someone who is able to take responsibility for themselves. However, if you can take that responsibility, that is a starting point. The food we eat, the clothes we wear are expecting responsibility from us. If you can't take responsibility, you will be ashamed before creation. So I hope that before the whole, you can become persons who can take responsibility. You must stand in that position to be able to call God, Lord of Creation, Father, and Master.
From the Fall, humans have lost their position of being able to take responsibility. They have been unable to be True Children before True Parents. God is the absolute being to creation, parents to humans, and the genuine owner of the heavens. God is the True Father, true owner and we must be able to go in place of God. If not then we are ignoring the lord of life.
Regarding the absolute person, we must give our lives. Regarding True Parents, we must give our love. Regarding the true owner, we must give our loyalty. Otherwise, we cannot establish the connection with the true life of creation, true love of True Parents, and the duty of the true owner. If you cannot take responsibility for yourself, you cannot make any connections with any of your neighbors.
This kind of person becomes recognized as a being of unchanging value. When you go out to the different regions, you must go as people who can be responsible for and stand in place of the position of the ideal of creation, the position of parents, and the position of owner. Creation does not lament because they don't have a God, but because they don't have anyone to can take responsibility in the place of God. You must be responsible for yourselves. If there is a place to take responsibility for, you must go there whether it snows or rains.
God is taking the responsibility as Lord of Creation, an absolute being, true father, and true owner. That is why he has conducted the providence of restoration. If God had never taken this responsibility, things such as restoration or Heaven would not be possible. Even though God may be betrayed and be kicked out, he doesn't abandon his position as an absolute being. God takes responsibility as the absolute being, father, and the true owner. You too must take on these responsibilities as the absolute being, the father and the true owner.
Don't refuse responsibility because you don't have the qualifications, but go forth with the responsibility of a father and owner. When God is taking responsibility for three sides, you must at least take responsibility for one side. If you go to a region with a certain responsibility, all creation in that region will know what kind of value you have as an entity. The environment will bear witness. What kind of witness will it bear? That you are the one who came to save their lives, you are the embodiment of father, and you are the owner of their region. The heart to give everything to you and support you will be in motion.
By taking on the responsibilities of lord of creation, father, and true owner, heaven and earth will help you. You must take on the responsibility of the absolute being, father, and owner. If you go with those responsibilities, you will not be rejected. Today, people are looking for someone to take responsibility for their actions, their lives and their hearts. This sort of society is an ideal society. If you take responsibility and offer your life, you will find friends.
If you go out to the countryside, you must take the responsibilities of the lord of creation who created life, parents, and ownership. If you do not, you cannot be the representative of the absolute being, true parents, and the true owner. If you cannot take responsibility, you should at least be willing to serve in attendance with absolute submission. Therefore, you must stand in a position to be responsible for yourself. Representing the absolute being, the True Parents, and the true owner, you must become a victorious warrior. Heaven is eagerly searching for such a person.
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Section 4. The Responsibility And Attitude Of A Minister (Part 2)
5. An Appointed Person's Attitude Towards Their Mission
At work, if you are appointed as a manger or director, there is a definite set of duties and an amount of responsibility that needs to be taken care of. Also, there is a limitation when it comes to accomplishing this responsibility. It is not something you can do forever. It is restricted to a certain time period.
Then, how much is the time period and amount of responsibility? When you estimate your lives to be seventy or eighty or around 100 years, the question becomes, how much can be accomplished within a century's time? Also, how do you go about doing it? If you want to put in the same amount of dedication as someone else, if someone else does ten hours, then you too must do ten hours. If someone else does ten years, then you must do ten years. However, if you try to do it more quickly than the other person, you will have to do more than ten hours.
In order to do this you need an increased effort. If you have only ten hours, but you want to accomplish it faster, what must you do? You must invest an increased effort and dedication. So you must save every moment and throw all of your dedication into it. If you are a person who lives with the feeling that even a moment can decide victory or failure, then your days will be bright days.
In receiving an appointment and completing your mission, there is always a time period. When you build a house, you have to prepare a comprehensive plan of how you are going to build that house and by when you will have it finished. Just like one has to start building under a specific plan, you must also receive a mission under a specific place before you start. If you have started that mission, you must finish it within the allotted time.
In regards to completing within the given time frame, if you can complete more than the plan within the time frame, it will be worthy of commendation.
If you do a more complete job than the plan required, that is not a normal job. It was done abnormally. What does that mean? It was possible because the person's effort and dedication was increased. If you do it according to the plan, there will be no problems. Anyone can do that. However, if you anticipate a completion better than the plan, not everyone can reduce the amount of time necessary.
So, what is the privilege that someone who is appointed can have today? This privilege has a fixed volume, and an established time with which it must be completed. This is something anyone can do. The privilege received by an appointed person cannot be interfered with by anyone, even the planner. It must be an absolute authority. If you worked together with someone for ten hours and slept together, you would have shared many thoughts. Also, when the suffering and dedication that you put into your job gets doubled through someone else, the results that are realized through the other person are going to be given the highest honors by the cosmos.
As long as these kinds of people remain, the world will last forever. That is if someone with an even higher standard does not appear. In athletics, before someone breaks an established record, it seems as if that record will remain forever. Therefore, you must plot a course set for that record. As an appointed person, this is inevitable. If you are able to complete the task assigned to you in the available time, you can win a medal and high commendations. This is your mission. It is a direct mission.
If it is a job that an individual can complete, it is wrong for two people to do it. When you receive a prize, two people can't receive that prize. When seen from this view, the person who received the command wants to accomplish it centering the responsibility on himself. Interference from anyone is disliked. This is because you have individual authority. You cannot forget that you have such a serious authority.
What am I going to do? What kind of person am I going to become in front of my people? What kind of person will I become before the world and before heaven and earth? This type of heart has not been instilled. A person without this heart has no qualifications to be appointed. It is in order to understand these things that questions such as philosophy and religion gave rise. An appointed person with a subject's authority does not like to receive interference. However, if an absolute being who is able to interfere appears, then he will receive interference.
When today's people say, "Love me. Love me forever," it ends only in words. In order to become a person who can love from the absolute position, you must love before even asking for love. If it is returned from the object's position, that becomes an absolute standard.
When seen from this viewpoint, you have all abandoned your lives to become chosen. That is something that absolutely no one can interfere with. Even God cannot do anything about it. Throughout the historic times of past, present and future, absolutely no one has been able to interfere. That is because in front of an absolute standard, there must be an absolute object standard.
The larger the scope of the appointed duty, the larger the amount of time that is allotted for it. There are instances of giving thousands of years and several generations worth of dedication over the period of one generation. The question becomes whether or not one can give that kind of thousand year dedication.
6. The Attitude That A Minister Must Have
1) You Must Start from the Very Bottom
The people who are starting to establish the traditional thought for the present time are you people. But there are too many people. How many people attended here today? (Fifty five people.) I am saying that fifty five people is too much. All these people must each go out and take responsibility for a region. It is not that you are going to be starting from the position of regional leader, but you must start from the very beginning. Before you become a devoted regional leader, you must become a devoted church-goer. If you become a devoted church member, you become a regional leader even if you don't want to be. Regardless of how deep a vein of gold is buried, you will get a professional to dig it out and reveal it's original value. Likewise, necessary beings become revealed.
Among you, there are people who think, "If I do this, I can become regional director from a mere village director." These people are the ones who are living for themselves.
You must have the heart to be able to live one hundred years for the church. There are many people such as person X and person Y in this world. Among them are people who have lost their children, lost their spouses, have nothing to eat and have nothing to wear -- thousands of different kinds of people who can be pitied. You have to become the closest friend of these people. This is living for the sake of the world.
If you try to find the side of yourself which can endure a lot, fight a lot for the sake of the whole, Heaven will naturally support you. No matter how long you may have stood in that position, you may not boast about it. If you set yourself up, you will fall. However, if Heaven sets you up, you will not fall.
That is why it is not good for a leader to stand in a position which he has setup for himself. You must seek a position or the environment around which you can establish a foundation in which you can stand. Then you can stand there and not fail. All things are this way. It is wrong for you to assert yourself. If you assert yourself there is no way for you to become God's son or daughter.
When I left prison, why did I take with me the rags that I wore while incarcerated? Even if I sold it, I couldn't get one cent for it. Even if I gave it to a candy dealer, I wouldn't get a candy for it. Why was it that during that period of nearly three years I gave away all my silk clothes to others and wore only these rags? Why would I need these rags that are falling apart when I touch them? This is because in ten years, or a century, or tens of centuries time, they will be such treasures that you could give all the world's fortunes and you could not buy them.
Hot-blooded young people today may laugh if they heard this, but because it was more valuable than any fortune, I overcame difficult circumstances to bring it out. To the average person, it is not worth a set of satin clothes, or even a single coin from their wallet.
Precious treasures gained by all sorts of severe hardships have all been lost by the Unification Church. The one and only precious treasure has been lost. Even if you give all the money in the world, you could not buy it. Then, would I do this in order to leave something for myself? No. If you go forth with this kind of heart, then God will want to leave something, and afterwards he will want for your descendants to leave something as well. Because God's heart is such, and the heart of future descendants is also such, I am doing it for God and future descendants.
This is the life-view that must be taken by people in a public position. You must know the sense of value for someone in a public position. Even if I am tortured and throw up blood and fall over, I say "Dear heaven, please do not shed tears over my blood. This is going to be shameful blood, and any tears will be soaked in lamentations and resentment. I do not want heaven to sympathize." That is how I will not pray when I go to prison. In light of the world of the heart, this is what one must do.
2) You Must Go Forth with Faith
The place where faith comes from is ideals. This ideal is not just an individual ideal, but a world-centered ideal that can make comprehensive connections, and an ideal with step-by-step systematic content. It is from this type of thought-based ideal that faith arises. That is why someone who claims to have a ideal or a doctrine, must also have faith, you must have a faith that no one else has.
It is the same for us who have taken up the new Unification ideal and Unification thought. You must be filled with a strong and resolute faith in the new cosmic view, life view and lifestyle view centered on Unification Thought as Unification members, and be able to say, "This is the best. If not this, then nothing at all." This is the problem. You must first have ideological knowledge, and then a faith that it will work, If your thoughts and faith are not influenced by it, then it cannot become yours and can easily be taken away by someone else. But the foundation that I have realized and strengthened, and the ground which has roots that have been firmly planted, cannot be taken away short of the application of a strength and faith that is greater than them.
You must have that confidence in many subjects and areas. First, faith must come. First, faith! You must have tried many things and have faith to be able to say, "I am doing this without any doubt." If you are someone with ability who can take on and process many difficult situations, you can adapt and develop in any place.
No matter what kind of work you do, faith is a problem. Even if you go to your post and suffer, you must have faith and live and work within faith. When we see movies, we enjoy scenes that are dangerous and risky. In the same manner, when we work, all creation and heaven and earth look on to see if the risky crisis can be successfully navigated.
When fishing with a net, you must cast the weights a little bit further to be able to catch one more fish. Since we are in the position of the weights, we have to move with the heart to try to bring in even one more person from Satan's domain.
In regards to God's Will, if you have the determination to have greater loyalty than me, everything will unfold easily. Do you understand what that means? If, for instance, I have gone to a depth of ten meters, but you have only gone five, Satan will attack. Do you understand? It is not the same level. If you inherit the foundation of my having gone ten meters, it is okay if you go eleven and then come back and stay at ten. If you cannot fulfill this and remain in that position, it is not horizontal or level and an angle forms. You have to know what I'm talking about exactly. In order to become horizontally level with the foundation that I have set, you have to be correctly educated in my ideals, traditions, and abilities to produce results. You must have the ability to produce results.
3) You Must Be Crazy To Go On This Path
If you look at it a certain way, saints are somewhat foolish people. They seem somewhat stupid. They have the character of a bear. You have to have the kind of slow-wittedness that, if you had your arm cut off, would make you simply say, "Oh, this is not cut enough. Please cut more." If a bear or a wild boar gets shot and is slowed by the wound, they would chew off the wounded limb and run away. They last thing they think of is death and the first thing on their minds is the wound that is slowing them. You have to have this kind of slow-wittedness. Do you understand? You have to be a little foolish. Even someone like St. Steven was somewhat foolish in the world's eyes.
How pitiful was Jesus? Why did he go around, feed five thousand people, cause troubles, and end up dying like that? How good would it be if he just stayed quiet? That's why people say there is no prosperous loyalist. Prosperous ones are opportunistic. Men of blind-faith are ignorant and stupid and bear-like. There aren't many handsome loyalists. There aren't many pretty virtuous women either. If you look at statues of the exemplary virtuous women, they are all average or less in their beauty. Beautiful people give out sexual odors. So Unification Church members are all ugly. (laughter) Therefore, you should think that it's okay for ugly looking people like us to be treated like trash, so that when God does construction work to fill a valley, you can ask him to make you the first blob of dirt to be dumped. Then where will you be buried? You will be buried in the very bottom, at the foundation. Then you will be the king of all dirt used in the construction. Right? (laughter)
You need to know that this 70, 80 year-long life comes only once. Even though the course of indemnity seems extremely long in a lifetime, it's even shorter than one breath, compared to eternity. Isn't it? But how long is eternity? Starting with "e. . . and "ter. . ." and till "nity. . ." this is how long the time of eternity is. (laughter) It is that long. In this world, we can count how many times I breath. The number of times I breath in an hour, in a day, in a year, in ten years, and even in my lifetime, we can calculate. In this short period of time, please don't gasp and lead an anxious life. Everything is momentary.
To be a persevering person, you need to go through many things. That's how you get connected to God. Think about it. If you make good connections in a difficult situation, then in good times, you will have that connection without any effort. Ordinary people die to have that connection in good times. That kind of connection will end up to be temporary. It should be at the level of relationship where both would wish to die for each other in life and death situation, and it's the stage when you can even exchange your lives. Having walked the road of death together and having gone through difficulties together, you don't need to worry about happy times. The relations made in difficult times have different taste from those made in good times.
4) Endure and Persevere until the End
You should know how much God had endured. You complain and protest at little difficulties. How patient was God at those times? We need to be like him. We should endure thousands and millions of years. I'm not saying we shouldn't fight. Fight until both sides become good. We don't fight till one perishes. We should fight to educate and to bring them to our side, not to make enemies, okay? [Yes]
How much had God been enduring? How many sights He didn't like did he see and endure? What He didn't want to hear, didn't want to say, . . . from now on, make resolutions to yourself that you will endure all the curses from people in the world in order to perfect God's love. Look at God and make resolutions to learn his endurance.
Then, why do we have to endure? It is to inherit God's love and to make it ours. Because we know that He is looking for someone like himself, we ought to learn his patience, okay? [Yes] We need to learn God's patience. First in the history, we need to be kings of patience. Because God was a king of patience, I too have to be a king of patience.
So, how much God would have endured? The enemy who killed his sons and daughters, killed the king of the world, and destroyed God's ideals is the ultimate enemy. God had endured an enemy like that. Do you want that too? [Yes] Do you want that endurance or do you want love? [Love] (laughter) You shouldn't only desire love. Without desiring endurance, you can't possess great love. You know it now? [Yes]
I'm persevering. My ear, forget all! My eyes, forget all! My heart, forget all! Persevere even though the heart aches! For whom? For God and mankind. It's God who is to be consoled, not me, however sad I am. Without doing this work, you can't even pray. You must know that this is the path the church and I had walked. Why? There is no other way. This is the shortest way.
Think about it everyone. How persistent was Christianity. For four hundred years during Roman persecution, Christians went underground and suffered, but they struggled to overcome the circumstances. I can't help wondering if the Unification Church can survive in this world or not.
To remain in a welcomed place is not a problem. The problem is how to remain in a place where you are opposed and persecuted. Long time ago I thought that we should be flexible enough to change our shapes or make our selves smaller when we are pressured.
If you look at it that way, I have been persecuted for thirty years but gone through it quiet well. When hit once, I retreated. . . That's a strategic retreat. Again I go into it strategically. We should have inner determination to reach up even further whenever it's possible.
So, think about the seeds of trees and fruits. In this frigid zone, a pine tree from a tropical region wouldn't grow and die off. But if you grow the seed in tropical region and move it to frigid region and back to tropical region and so on, it will grow in any region. Therefore whichever the seed is, it shouldn't grow only in proper climate. If it wants to grow in any place, it should either absorb all the elements of different environment, or have the power to oppress them. Even if the Unification Church reaches a miserable end, we should say, "We work for a greater cause than any one else. We work for the world. ." Even if we die, this is how we should die. Is there any organization that died like that?
Right now, our Unification groups are moving for the whole world. In accomplishing God's will, if we endure and persevere, God's Will will accomplish ultimately. Right? Even if I don't say it, there is a saying of "luck will come after enduring and persevering."
In enduring and persevering, what is the 100 percent standard? The standard is to risk your neck. If you risk your neck and die, mother and father will cry and say "why don't you live longer?," and little siblings will say "why brother and sister, why die now?" and the whole family will be turbulent.
Most of the people in the world withdraw if they fail first, a second and a third time, but our Unification youths should have hearts to start again after several failures.
Wild boar hunting is fun. When first people depart toward a ridge, everyone tries to be on the front, but after a few ridges, they get tired and think "It would be good enough not to fall behind." But if they get more exhausted, they think "What if I take a short break?" and if they go a little more, they hope "I can stop now." This is when wild boars run away.
When you go fishing in the ocean, you feet as though you will catch every fish, but after you throw the net in the water a few times with all your might, the spirit disappears and it gets tedious.
5) To Defend the Dignity of Heaven
Therefore wherever you go, you need to defend and keep the dignity of heaven. The dignity of heaven, dignity of Unificationists, dignity of our apostles who followed the principle, dignity of us who confronted the evil world centered on God's heart. This dignity cannot be compared to that of any soldiers. It cannot be compared to dignity of the world's best army.
In this dignity, the historical response and imminent response live. You shouldn't forget that the straight historical road to eternity will be established only based on this dignity. At the same time, it is continuous. Therefore, if I can't go, I have to prepare a successor for me. I plead to you to have this kind of spirit and beliefs.
6) Results Should be Connected to Causes
God's providence doesn't aim for some individual purpose but aim for whole purpose. If you look at a tree, it always has roots, stems, branches and leaves. To look at it in stages, branches existed before leaves, stems existed before branches, and roots existed before stems. Yet, is it possible to have a leaf without roots, stems, and branches? Then its own body cannot exist. Thus, in order to complete a tree, each has to do its own part.
Throughout my life, when I earn some kind of glory, I never thought of it as originating from myself. It's because I know it originated from heaven.
For the cause of Heaven, we ought to connect the result to Heaven. In other words, when you look at your daily purpose as completing your responsibility, you should connect the cause to the result. Then, how do we make cause and result match? This is the problem. This social environment doesn't do that. Because it's 180 degrees different, we need set up conditions for indemnity and overcome the environment.
Nowadays numerous people devote themselves in cultivating their moral sense. They are all receiving something from God's spiritual providence. They think each of them are best in the country. They actually get that type of revelation. However, since that is a consequential thing, they should pursue the fundamental root. In pursuing the cause, it shouldn't be done centered on oneself. Why not? It's because the result appears when one becomes one with God's heart and one with True Parents' heart. Hanging onto the result without knowing the cause is like a rootless branch, and therefore will end up being miserable.
Without having same cause and result, you can't say that you have completed your responsibility. Therefore everything has to be one. One centered on what? It has to be one with God's heart and parent's heart. Parents don't exist because of me. God doesn't exist because of parents. Parents exist because of God, and I exist because of parents. Therefore, Unification Church members, who are in a child's position, should possess the heart of God and parents.
Today we shall stand on one basis which transcends our previous perception and entire beliefs. You must know this clearly. If each of you look back on yourself till now, you will see that you've had your own notion of thinking. Some complain and some say all different kinds of things about the church headquarters, but this is unacceptable.