REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON
SPEAKS ON
THE PROVIDENTIAL LIFE OF JESUS
AND ITS VICTORIOUS PURPOSE
October 27, 1957
Chung Pa Dong Church
Seoul, Korea
Matthew 12:18-37
Prayer
The history of conflict lies before those of us who are gathered here
today. We must inherit Your unfinished feats even after our death.
Father, we hope You will allow us to reflect and ask ourselves whether
we have become the elite soldiers of Heaven who can fight on after
putting our stagnant selves before You: the elite soldiers of Heaven
who can fight and bring victory.
We understand that the enemy we must fight against now is not some
person on the earth. It is Satan, who during the 6,000-long years of
history raised the banner of opposition against God, accused God and
snatched away power and authority. The responsibility and mission to
subjugate this monstrous enemy rests upon us today. We realize that
until now we have desired only a comfortable lifestyle and to be on
the receiving end of the love of the Father, while being intoxicated
in His grace. Father, please forgive us.
Until now we have neglected the fact that to bring the enemies to
submission, our spirit and heart must never change, even in the midst
of turmoil, conflicts and the ordeals of the cross. Father of love, we
pray You will allow us to become the elite soldiers of Heaven who will
have unchanging minds from now on and will fight alone with the many
millions of satans.
Are there sons and daughters who have become exhausted while upholding
this will? Father! Please grant us strength. Are there any who are
hesitating? Please give them courage. On this foundation, Father of
love, we earnestly wish that You will let us become the beloved sons
and daughters who can dash toward the victorious purpose and goal of
the conflict and march forward.
The responsibility to fight through the last battle and to
victoriously cross over the pass of Golgotha rests upon our shoulders.
Father of love, we sincerely hope You will let us become Your sons and
daughters who can dash toward all battlefields with the power, heart,
resolve and determination of the Father. Let us feel the bitter grief
and be triumphant.
Although the sons and daughters who have gathered are small in number,
please do not let them be content in the place in which they dwell.
Let them learn to offer gratitude toward the grace given to them.
Beloved Father, we pray You will help us understand that the grace You
give us today is not only for our own sakes. It is the blessing You
have given us for the sake of all humanity, as representatives of the
many millions of faithful believers who are in Heaven. It is for the
sake of bestowing upon us the responsibility and mission to subjugate
the many millions of satans.
Please guide us to reveal to You where our hearts are. They are the
sons and daughters who have the mission to manifest the will of the
Father as one purpose and are to manifest the standard of victory by
contending with Satan. Are they in a state of weakness? Please give
them strength. Are there those who cause sorrow to God while they are
praying before the Father? Father! Please grant them happiness. Are
there those who are trying their best to seek Heaven? Please appear
before them with good and public works.
Father of love, we sincerely wish that by doing so, You will let them
become the sons and daughters who do not become fatigued, even as they
alone take responsibility for the will, grace and dispensation of the
Father. Let them carry on the struggle.
This is a holy day, so please bless the countless religious groups who
are gathering on behalf of the thirty million people. We know that
there are many sons and daughters who have set up hidden altars and
are shedding unknown tears, revealing to others that the time of the
Father's works has come to pass. Father, please appear before them
with the same grace.
Since You have given the promise that in the Last Days You will pour
down the blessing of the Holy Spirit as water is poured down, please
quickly appear before us. Father, we sincerely wish for You to give us
the consultation that will help us raise high the signal light of life
and return glory as Your representatives, building the one garden of
restoration.
Father, please allow the sons and daughters who were called upon first
to offer gratitude before the Father's Will. Let this be an hour when
we can make the pledge that we will return glory to the Father by
fulfilling our responsibility.
When we make an earnest appeal before the loving Father's solemn
presence, let there appear upon the whole audience in this hour the
works of grace that will pay their indemnity with the blessing of the
Father. Let them move toward one standard and purpose before the will
of the whole that the Father desires. Now, even if barriers block our
path in the course of conflict we must walk, please allow us to take
responsibility for this and proceed on toward the will of the Father.
Following the victorious example of Jesus, who overcame even while he
was suffering infinite pain on the cross, please let us set the
standard of sons and daughters of the Father who can win the victory
even by offering the last ounce of our lives.
We have gathered here, so please allow our minds to be in harmony with
one another. Allow us to move as one under the grace of the Father.
Protect us so that we can be guarded by the many millions of angels in
Heaven so that Satan cannot invade us. Father, this is our sincere
wish.
We have entrusted all the remaining time to You, so earnestly
beseeching that the Trinity will govern and that You will grant the
glory of victory to us, we offer all the words in the name of the
Lord. Amen.
If God's dispensation of restoration had not existed in the time
between the fall and today, it would not be possible for the mouths of
humankind, who belong to sin, to call God "Father." As people with the
lineage of death, you cannot even think about the grace of Heaven and
the grace of love with respect to the Father. Moreover, you have to
understand that it is due to the grace of God that we can dwell inside
the realm of life today.
God Tried to Embrace Humankind Through Jesus
The quality of comprehensiveness is contained in the providential life
of Jesus. God's dispensation took 4,000 years of history, until the
appearance of Jesus. Because Jesus came to the earth, God could embark
upon a new dispensation centering on him. God cannot relate freely
with people on the earth. Therefore, passing through the period of the
Old Testament, God guided the dispensation by using angels as
messengers. By establishing Christ with a substantial body, who could
work directly on the earth, the dispensation of God to embrace fallen
humanity could begin.
Since Jesus passed away, 2,000 years of history have passed. Thus, you
have to understand that you are living in an era when, as you enter
the realm of the Father's grace today, you can attend Jesus Christ as
the Lord and enjoy the protection and blessing of the Holy Spirit.
You have to understand that because God could not deal directly with
human beings in the 4,000-year period before the coming of Jesus, He
had to resort to the toilsome dispensation of seeking humankind
through the errands of many angels. Moreover, you should understand
that after dividing the spiritual world and the physical world, the
Father sent Jesus Christ to establish the direct, horizontal
dispensation with humankind.
Today, 2,000 years of history since the coming of Jesus, in order for
you to be chosen before that grace, you must experience the heart of
God, Who was seeking humankind on the spiritual plane for thousands of
years before Jesus. Moreover, you must never forget that you are in
the middle of a historic process dealing with the will of the
dispensation. After coming to this earth, Jesus set the goals of his
daily, earthly life and his eternal life and tried to let you
accompany him.
Jesus fixed the will as the purpose of his daily life for thirty
years. To accomplish this, in the 2,000 years since, he has been
guiding your ancestors. Moreover, you should feel that the
providential responsibility to lead your descendants in the future
lies with Jesus.
You know very well that when Jesus deals with the will of the
dispensation, he cannot usher in the day of peace based only on the
daily life, earthly life and eternal life in which only he is joyful.
At this time today then, when we have not found the day of the peace
of Heaven or the day of hope that Heaven demands, what kind of
position is the people on earth in? No matter how hard you try, you
will not be able to find the day of peace. No matter how much you seek
peace and no matter how ideal a world you dream of, your fate is such
that you cannot guarantee that.
The reason is that the dispensation of God, the Creator of Heaven and
earth, remains a sorrowful one. Jesus Christ, who came as the Lord of
all things to accomplish the dispensation of salvation for the fallen
people of this earth, also relates with the will of the dispensation
with a sorrowful heart. Therefore, no one on earth can find peace, and
we cannot boast that we have attained the glory of victory.
As long as the sorrowful heart of God, who must shoulder this
dispensational fate and lead people forward remains, the garden of the
love of God will not be attained. As long as the grieving heart of
Jesus Christ remains, as well as the sorrow inside the many millions
of people of faith who are connected to the providence, the garden of
goodness and the love of God which humanity longs and yearns for will
never be obtained.
It is not easy for Heaven, who is conducting this dispensation, to
cling to human beings. Before the sorrowful heart of the Father, Satan
is blocking the path and is making accusations, using people as the
condition. You have to understand this.
When in your daily, earthly life or among the ideals you desire, there
is some element that is not in accordance with the principles of the
heavenly way or God's ideology of creation, you have to realize that
the Father, the Lord and the faithful believers are grieving, being
beaten and fighting on our behalf while they are being mercilessly
accused by Satan for every condition. Therefore, in the dispensational
history of God, the sorrow of God, the sorrow of Jesus Christ and the
sorrow of the many millions of people of faith who have been
participating in the dispensation still remain. Yet what is the
greatest anguish of God? It is the agony of having to battle with
Satan while defending us. You have to understand that God is in this
kind of position.
Jesus Christ Bridged the Gap
Between God and Humanity
Now you have to reflect upon the birth and life of Jesus Christ.
Before Jesus was born on the earth, there was a great distance between
humanity and God. Accordingly, God hoped that human beings would pour
out all of their hearts and exert all of their strength to trample
upon all conditions of the satanic world. He hoped that they would
penetrate through the dark forces of Satan that had seized power and
reach up to Him. The dispensation of the Old Testament was such that
only by doing so could humankind receive the grace of God. However,
God understood that human effort and toil alone would not allow them
to find Him. He had heard the people looking up to Heaven in sorrowful
tears. Therefore, He sent Jesus to make it possible for them to attain
the relative value from a horizontal position and associate with the
one center who represented God. This is the condition of victory and
pride against Satan in the 4,000-year history of the dispensation.
However, because Jesus could not fully realize the purpose behind his
coming to the earth due to the faithlessness of humanity, it has been
our fate to pray to Heaven and exert our utmost.
Why is it that while human eyes are created to look straight out
horizontally and move around, the human mind is supposed to be aligned
with Heaven? When you achieve the will of God's dispensation in the
horizontal sphere, God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and all people on the
earth can be happy. Only after this has been realized can our wishes
materialize. As the first step toward fulfilling this goal, God sent
Jesus, but because faithless people killed him, you have the
responsibility to receive the deceased Jesus Christ again.
After coming to this earth, Jesus took the first step of his daily
life in accordance with the will of God's dispensation. What was the
center of this daily life? First, it was guiding the people to God and
battling against Satan, who makes accusations against humankind. Jesus
made his start from this kind of dual position.
Jesus alone grieved on behalf of the sorrow of God, who had conducted
the dispensation for 4,000 years, and on behalf of the sadness of the
heavenly principles. While he was being falsely accused by Satan in
the invisible spirit world and opposed by all the faithless people in
the physical world, Jesus grieved for God. With this kind of heart,
his gaze was fixed on the Israelites. He dealt with the chosen faith
of Judaism according to God's heart of love.
However, the Israelites and the sect of Judaism who should have upheld
the will of God and helped Jesus fulfill his mission did not appear
before Jesus at all. Instead, they stood in opposition to him. The
Christians today, who believe that this was inevitable, must
understand that the time has come now when they must fathom the
genuine heart of Jesus.
Jesus had to block off the forces of Satan invading spiritually. He
had to block all the arrows of faithlessness shot from the hands of
many people. However, Jesus alone cannot just be engaged in that kind
of conflict. You have to stand in his shoes and feel sympathy for the
way Jesus' life began, considering the fact that he was in a position
to behold the greater and more distant will and wish of God and adjust
his mind and body to them. The problem was how Jesus, who began from
this kind of position, could accomplish the will of God and subjugate
Satan. He had to restore all people who have fallen nature. Jesus
stepped forward to find a solution to this.
Why Jesus Taught the Way of Obedience
Satan has acquired power and authority on this earth and enjoyed the
glory of God, ruling over humanity as God should have ruled over them.
Humankind has lived under the oppression of Satan. Therefore, when
Jesus came to the earth, before he fought against the opposing people,
he first had to battle against the spiritual Satan who caused them to
oppose him. You have to understand that the history of Christianity
began with this kind of conflict.
What did Jesus, who came to confront the original nature of Satan,
give as a sign when he appeared in life? He had to do what Satan could
not do. The Christian Gospels point out the actions that Jesus took
for the sake of accomplishing this responsibility.
His words, his mind, his daily life, his physical life and even his
death were all for the sake of setting conditions Satan was incapable
of carrying out. You have to understand that such was the course of
Jesus. Because the laws of the heavenly way exist, because God governs
everything centering on those laws, Jesus Christ separated Satan
according to those heavenly principles.
The basic nature of Satan is arrogance and fury. Although Satan dealt
with the people of the earth with this kind of personality, Jesus came
before the people of the world in meekness and humility.
Jesus did not stand in a position of meekness and humility because he
was incapable and unworthy. He deserved to be higher and enjoy more
glory than anyone else, but Jesus forsook all this and stood in a
position of meekness and humility. Although Satan tried to fight with
Jesus, because Jesus knew that Satan was bound to the condition that
required him to submit before God, he could remain meek and humble to
the end. A meek and humble nature like this is the opposite of Satan's
original nature of arrogance and fury.
Moreover, because Satan was aware of the existence of the laws of the
heavenly way, eventually he had to recognize Jesus. In other words, if
you move forward in meekness and humility, then even the satanic world
will be brought to natural submission. Jesus understood this
principle, and he took position of meekness and humility of which
Satan was utterly incapable. Similarly, you have to understand that
only when you stand in a position of meekness and humility can you
pioneer the new path heading toward God, who works through the center.
Furthermore, Jesus demonstrated compliance and obedience. Compliance
is following directions in an environment where it is possible to do
so; obedience is following in an environment where it is not possible
to do so. Jesus taught the ways of compliance and obedience to the
faithless people. This was also meant to stop Satan's original nature
and all his elements of life.
Satan, who is centered on himself, does not care about what happens to
other people. This is another original nature of Satan. This is why if
you follow Satan, your future will be unfortunate. Thus, Jesus taught
all people to believe in him and submit to him to follow Heaven.
People did not understand this intention of Jesus. On the contrary,
they thought of him as an unrighteous person with respect to the will
of God. Jesus pioneered the path of obedience, even while he was
suffering unspeakable persecution and mistreatment from this position.
Moreover, Jesus came with the spirit of sacrifice and service. In
truth, Jesus came to this earth as the only begotten son of God. As
the representative of the glory of Heaven, Jesus should have ruled
over all people, all things and even Satan. He should have received
their sacrifices and service, but he stood in the completely opposite
position. To make Satan comply with him, perform services and
sacrifice for him, in other words, to bring all the forces of Satan to
submission, Jesus made the offering of unlimited sacrifice and
service. You have to understand this.
In the satanic world, people try to use and exploit other people and
things to an infinite degree. Jesus stood in the opposite position.
Jesus led a life of which Satan was incapable. Satan had to surrender
because Jesus was meek and humble, compliant and obedient, and he led
a life of sacrifice and service. If you measure yourself against the
meekness, humility, compliance, obedience, sacrifice and service that
Jesus taught and think that you cannot practice these teachings in
your sphere of life, then you have to realize that you still belong to
the tribe of Satan.
The Path of Heaven
on Which We Cannot Accompany Satan
How has your life been so far? Are there still some people who live in
fury and arrogance centered on themselves? You must quickly free
yourself from this position. You must make an internal determination
to struggle against the persecutors of Heaven, based on the standard
Jesus Christ set. You must adopt his attitude of humility and
meekness, compliance and obedience, sacrifice and service, which are
the foundation to win victory in the final battle to conquer Satan.
Satan is the one who has opposed the will and stands in the position
of rebellion against the will. Such has become Satan's lifestyle. The
reason that you unconsciously feel the desire to rebel against the
will is not because that is your own mind's desire; it is because the
satanic forces are manifesting themselves unconsciously through you,
since you are bound to that environment. Although Jesus' grief and
sorrow are deeply rooted in the satanic world, he came forward to
bring resolution to this path, determined to sacrifice and serve.
In the Last Days in which we are living, there remain two branches of
the forked road. They are the path that Satan is walking and the path
that Heaven is walking. The path that Satan is walking is different
from the path that Heaven is walking. Satan cannot walk the path of
Heaven. In other words, Satan cannot comply with and obey God,
actualizing the will with meekness and humility. He cannot sacrifice
and provide service on behalf of all humanity before the
dispensational will like Jesus did. Therefore, you should understand
that Jesus is the king of kings in regard to being good, meek, humble,
compliant, obedient, sacrificial and performing services.
Many people on the earth do not know how to be meek or obedient. They
do not know how to walk the path of an offering through sacrifice and
service. Although countless people and sages had come and gone in the
4,000 years of history before Christ, because Jesus could do what none
of them could do, he could step above everything and rise. He could
set the highest standard of meekness, obedience and sacrifice before
Heaven. Similarly, Jesus demonstrated to us the bloody course of
bringing Satan to submission.
After Jesus came to the earth, he led such a life because he lived
with the same heart as God, Who had toiled for the sake of the earth
throughout the long history. Therefore, Satan had to surrender, and
there came into being the historical beginning point that would cause
fundamental change.
Satan is trying to prevent people from going to God and, instead, is
trying to pull them toward himself, although he understands the heart
of God. He is trying to elevate himself, rebel on his own initiative
and use people. Although this is how Satan is, he cannot dare to raise
his head when he goes before God and Jesus. You have to understand
that this kind of condition was established in the sphere of Jesus'
life. Therefore, if we follow Jesus, then Satan will be separated from
us. The life of Jesus brought to pass this kind of historic beginning.
How did Jesus set this standard? First, Jesus set the standard that
God and he were one, not two. He had the mind-set that if God lives
forever, he would also live forever. If God is unchanging, then he
would also be unchanging. If God is infinitely merciful, then he would
also be infinitely merciful. In other words, because he could feel and
unite with the internal heart of God more than anyone else, Jesus
could set the standard of victory during the conflict against Satan.
However, from the time Jesus came until today, there has not been even
one person in this satanic world who understood the words linked to
the internal hearts of God and Jesus. There has been no one who
understood what kind of situation existed between God and Satan.
Meekness and Humility,
Compliance and Obedience,
Sacrifice and Service
Jesus came to the earth 2,000 years ago. As a way to subjugate Satan,
he taught human beings to be meek and humble, compliant and obedient,
to sacrifice and serve. The people on the earth could not create an
environment to live according to Jesus' teachings. They could not give
thanks and remain meek and humble. They could not give thanks while
complying and obeying, or sacrificing and serving. Without them being
conscious of it, their heart of compliance became one of fury and
arrogance, confrontation and rebellion. Sacrifice and service were
twisted into abuse and exploitation.
The reason Jesus could resolve this kind of problem is that he had an
indescribable relationship with God. He understood the situation
between God and Satan that must be separated. Because he understood
how he could separate from Satan, Jesus could walk this kind of path.
Nonetheless, because human beings were not aware of this, they could
not walk the same path as Jesus.
Accordingly, you must call out "Father!" toward Heaven and offer
prayers to Jesus. Moreover, understanding the heart of God and Jesus,
and the conspiracy of Satan, you must divulge the historical sins of
Satan. You must subjugate Satan's camp in actuality. By revealing the
secrets of God's dispensation, you must bring an end to this.
If you are not meek and humble, then you cannot experience the heart
of Jesus. Moreover, if you do not lead a life of compliance,
submission, sacrifice and service, you cannot go before Jesus. You
have to understand this. At the present time, it is difficult for us
to perfect this kind of life and seek God. Therefore, human beings are
making the appeal, "Oh! God, please dwell with us! God! Please have
compassion on us!" While doing so, they are waiting for the time,
saying, "When will the time of God come? When will Jesus and the Holy
Spirit appear before all people of this earth?" This has been left
behind as the sad situation of history.
Because you have been faithless people who are ignorant of the
situation that exists between God, Jesus and Satan, you have to
understand the anxious heart of Jesus, who could not speak to the
people even when he wanted. Become the obedient offering, the
historical offering, and the offering of sacrifice and service,
shouting out toward Satan, "Why have you not followed the will of
God's dispensation?" If you cannot discover the secret of Heaven that
can bring Satan to submission, then you will not be able to
substantially subjugate Satan over whom Jesus won spiritual victory.
Therefore, you have to release the heart of Jesus, who could not
reveal everything, saying, "I still have many things to say to you,
but you cannot bear them now," (John 16:12) and "If I have told you
earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell
you heavenly things?" (John 3:12)
At this time, when the historic day of judgment is nearing our
doorsteps, if you are then to feel sadness, what kind of sadness must
you feel? You have to become believers who can feel the heart of
sorrow that exceeds the sorrow of Jesus while he tried to subjugate
Satan.
The moment Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane with the path of the
cross lying before him is a moment of sorrow that exceeds your
imagination. Although his own death was not a problem to him, he was
sorrowful because it was an event that shook Heaven and earth. You
have to feel the heart of Jesus, who prayed and cried in the Garden of
Gethsemane with a heart that longed to liquidate the forces of evil
with an electricity that ran throughout his body. You even have to
feel the heart of God so that you can make Satan come before that
heart and bring him to his knees. Otherwise, even if the Lord of the
Second Advent comes to this earth, he will again become a Lord of
sorrow.
What then must we do today? We must now determine to offer ourselves
for the sake of God's Will. If it is the will, then we must stand up
as the spearhead of meekness and humility. If it is the will, then we
must comply and obey so that no matter what kind of opposition is put
upon the earth, just as Jesus walked a lonely path, you must also
become the offerings of compliance and obedience for the sake of the
will of God. Furthermore, with this determination, even if the whole
world opposes you, you must become the offering of service and
sacrifice to be offered up before the will of the Father.
What must be the extent of meekness, humility, sacrifice, service,
compliance and obedience? As long as there is the dignity of God and
the dignity of Jesus Christ, you must stand in a position to uphold
that dignity. You must be meek and humble on behalf of the thirty
million people. You must be able to fight the fury and arrogance of
Satan. Representing the thirty million people, you must comply and
obey to fight against Satan's confrontation and rebellion.
By doing so, with a heart of sacrifice and service, you must come
forward before Satan, who is trying to use and exploit people. You
must be able to confront Satan with the indignant heart that Jesus had
toward him. If you cannot become this kind of person of faith, then
you will not be able to receive the returning Lord on the earth. Even
if the Lord were to come, you would not have any relationship with
him.
What then should be the ideology of life that Christians must possess
today? It is the spirit to comply and submit first, be meek and humble
first, and be the first to sacrifice and serve. You have to understand
that the will of the Father is realized through this kind of path.
Thus, the hearts of God and Jesus are liberated. God is longing for
the emergence of great numbers of the faithful believers, among the
thirty million people, who can show resoluteness and sacrifice and
serve on behalf of the church and the people. He is looking for those
who can comply and obey for the sake of the will of Heaven. These are
the ones who can accompany the Lord of glory.
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