Good morning, I'm happy to see you all again. When I think of our mission I think of fundamental things that concern everyone. In the Bible it says that God gave three blessings to all mankind, not just to Adam and Eve. These three blessings weren't simply given, but must be fulfilled. They were given to everyone, so this means that everyone on earth must fulfill the contents of these three blessings. I think you all know what they are. The first blessing is to become perfect, the second one is to multiply perfect children and the third one is to have dominion over all creation. Most important is to achieve the first blessing, otherwise we cannot achieve the second and third blessings.
When we hear about the second blessing we usually think that we must reach perfection first and then receive the Blessing, form a family and multiply children. But the second blessing can be achieved even before we start our own family: by having spiritual children. Having spiritual children is also multiplication, or fulfilling God's second blessing. Before we start our family we have to bring spiritual children by giving God's words. We must also qualify for the third blessing. The blessings don't come automatically, but through our effort. If we're not qualified, then no matter how much God wants to bless us, He cannot. We can only receive God's blessings according to our level of qualification and maturity.
We know that through the Holy Blessing we are cut off from Satan. But are we completely free of fallen nature or do we still have fallen nature within us? We inherit fallen nature from our ancestors and the Blessing doesn't separate us from our physical lineage. We are separated from Satan spiritually but we still have the fallen nature we inherited from our ancestors. Then who will remove our fallen nature? True Parents or God? No, we must do this ourselves. We must make effort to eradicate the fallen nature rooted in our physical lineage. We cannot get rid of it through the Blessing, but must do it ourselves. Members must clearly understand this, also that the Bless- ing is not an end in itself. Of course, through the Blessing, the most difficult condition is laid for us by True Parents. But we ourselves must tackle and remove our inherited fallen nature through our daily lives. To do this we must meet and work with many different people, thereby uncovering and removing our shortcomings one by one. We cannot remove our fallen nature otherwise, because it won't be revealed. It is best for us to meet as many different people as possible. By mixing with them we can find our fallen nature and remove it. If we don't even know what aspects of our character need to be changed, it will be impossible to change them. This is our struggle.
Parents give birth to and raise children. They cannot raise them to be better than themselves through their power alone though. Teachers also cannot make their students better than themselves on their own; there will always be limits. When they add the power of God or someone who is superior to them, parents can make their children better children and teachers can make their students better students. Similarly, we have fallen nature and cannot become better people through our own power alone. We need God's power and that of True Parents and the saints and sages who have led a higher life than us. By borrowing their power we can move from our present state to a higher one. Prayer is needed to bring God and True Parents' power into our lives, without which we cannot overcome our fallen nature. This is why we pray and study the Bible and Divine Principle, because they are wellsprings of power from a high level source. With this heavenly power you can improve yourself, parents can love their children more and teachers can help their students become better than themselves. One thing is certain, without this power working in our lives we cannot remove our fallen nature. We must pray to God to work through us and help us remove our fallen nature, we cannot progress otherwise.
We are told to witness and our members are trying hard to do so. As we can see, however, we aren't getting very good results. What are the reasons for this? We can say that people have heard much criticism of our church and therefore don't want to hear our message. This may be so, but it's not the only reason. Other countries and members are getting good results even though they are in similar circumstances.
What do we do when we witness? We give God's word to people, we work as God's spokesman. We also convey God's heart to people because they don't know God's heart, they don't even know He exists. We must help them understand that God not only exists, but that He is also suffering. Even people who believe in God assume He is a joyful God; they don't realize that He suffers. So we must introduce God's suffering heart to them. God wants to give His love to mankind, but He has no way to do so without going through people on earth. So we must convey God's love to the people. God is an invisible God, but He has a personality and wants to express it through us. We have to connect God's life to the people. We must do these five things when witnessing.
Witnessing is much more than just teaching people God's word. We must also reveal God's suffering heart to them, give them God's love and embody God's personality. This is why the European motto is: "Let us establish the true tradition of God by introducing God to the people through His truth and our life". Introducing God to the people through our lives means embodying God's personality in our lives. When they understand that we are children of God, we can connect them to God's life; they can be reborn and become God's children by receiving new life. This is multiplication and when we are many we can have dominion over all of creation. So the three blessings can be achieved even before we start our own families. Once you start a family and have your own children, that is another level of achievement of the second blessing. But even before that you can multiply and achieve the second blessing. We all know that to multiply also means to have spiritual children. As we mature we must be able to multiply ourselves by witnessing. Reaching perfection and multiplication should occur simultaneously, not separately. As we grow we can witness and multiply ourselves and by multiplying we can grow. We know that the third blessing is to have dominion over all of creation. So we also need material, we have to make money; that's part of the third blessing. These three things must be accomplished as we grow.
I think most of you know about the early days of our church. Members followed their leaders blindly. They didn't have the time nor the inclination to look around, they just went forward. In those days they could get good results because they weren't distracted by anything. Consider a horse and carriage, the driver usually covers the horse's eyes so he can only see in front of him. This is similar to the situation in our early church. Members just followed what their leaders told them. That was the age of servants or small children who must be told everything by their parents. Many years have passed since then and Father has explained many things, including things which aren't mentioned in the Divine Principle. Also most of our members are blessed now. Is this a move forward or backward? What do you think? Forward. I'd like to agree with you, but there is one thing we must remember. If we fulfill the conditions of the Blessing we can be said to be marching forward, otherwise we're moving backwards.
In the beginning you followed whatever your leader said; now you're different, you're growing up. When you were little children your parents taught you what to do. But you're not children anymore, you are grown up and able to think for yourselves. This means you have to make your own decisions. This is a sign that you are growing up. What does God expect of you once you are full-grown? If we are mature children we must be able to understand God's heart and His desire for us. What do you think God's desire for us is? God wants us to be His true representatives. He doesn't want us to be servants who just follow orders; He wants us to be lords of creation. God needs representatives who can take responsibility throughout the universe on His behalf. In Korean the word is chuin, which means landlord, owner or host: the opposite of a guest. We should have this consciousness of being landlords and hosts. Then we will know what to do. You may have many ideas already and think in many ways, but if you don't acquire this consciousness of chuin, what do you have? Nothing really, nothing will be left. God gave us the power of discernment to enable us to become lords of creation, not to look after our own personal interests. That is not the purpose. But what is the reality of our church and our members? Do we really have this consciousness of lordship? If not, our church is destined to decline.
We're not little children anymore. We can and must think and make decisions for ourselves. This is why we call this the Children's Age, which means that we children are the lords, the central figures. This is the real meaning of the Children's Age. Earlier it was the Parents' Age, during which we were small children; we had to be told what to do. But the Children's Age means we have reached maturity and are the central figures. So we must consider the situation and make decisions on our own. I think this is good, because once you are blessed you look around and think about many things. That's alright, but one thing you must realize is that you are the lord, the central figure of God's providence. You shouldn't forget this. It's okay to look around and find your position, but don't forget that you are the central figure, then you will know what to do in any situation. God wants us to be mature children; we shouldn't have to be told every little thing that needs to be done.
God needs many central figures. Each couple should take that position. True Parents were in that position during the Parents' Age. They led everything and we were told what to do. In the Children's Age we must do what our True Parents did in the past, we must assume the responsibility they bore earlier. When we do this we can say that this is our age; we will be the owners, the central figures and can take responsibility for it. When there is something that needs to be done in our church or our society, we shouldn't look at it as if we were an outsider, but should consider it our job. God wants us to develop this consciousness of being lords of creation. This is essential. Once we possess this consciousness we will recognize what needs to be done and do it.
The reason we aren't getting good results is that we are so preoccupied with our own circumstances that we forget our position. We forget that we are central figures, lords of God's providence. This is the main reason we can't bring good results. If we seriously feel: "This is my God-given mission," it won't make any difference whether we are engaged in business or witnessing activity nor whether we live in a center or not because wherever we are God will be able to work through us. And when God works with us, we can bring great results.
As I said earlier, when we work without God's power we cannot achieve what we want. We try very hard to witness to people, but it is very difficult to win their trust. There are many reasons for this. Many people have heard bad things about our church. This makes it more difficult to reach them, it's true. But we cannot blame our low witnessing results on this. Elsewhere members witness under the same circumstances, but with good results. Why? They are able to mobilize God and good spirits to work with them. As a result they can touch people's hearts and gain members. We will never gain good results if we work alone. We must mobilize God and the good spirit world, then we can get good results.
How can we do this? Of course we must pray, but we also have to change and realize that we are chuin: people who will take responsibility for this world. When we have this consciousness God will work with us. True Parents have this strong consciousness of lordship. Father feels that if he fails, God's providence will also fail. He has a strong sense of responsibility which we lack. When we develop the same deep sense of responsibility as True Parents, things will change. We need this consciousness of being chuin: that this is our nation, our work and our responsibility. Then when we pray, God and good spirits will come help us. Now is the time for us to realize that we are the ones to take responsibility for this nation before God. We represent God and at the same time we represent Germany. So actually God and Germany can be united through us. If you are God's representative as well as Germany's, God and Germany can connect in you. God needs such people.
German members tell me that many problems from the past are being solved now. So this is the time to fulfill our mission. From now on couples must plant the consciousness of lordship within themselves. You may feel unworthy to be lords or representatives of God, but even if you aren't perfect yet, God needs you to be His representative to whatever degree you can. If you are 50% perfect then God needs you to be a 50% representative. If you are 60% perfect, you can be His 60% representative. You will lose everything if you wait to become 100% perfect. There's no time for that. You must represent God to the best of your ability as you are. Germany will change if the blessed couples living here have the conviction that they are lords of their nation.
We read in the Bible that when God wanted to destroy Sodom, Abraham asked Him if He would destroy the city if there were fifty righteous people there. Ultimately God agreed to spare the city even if there were only ten righteous people there. We have many more than that. If we all become His representatives, God can do great things for this country and Europe. Your physical health is greatly affected by your state of mind; your mind can control and influence your physical body. Likewise if the members and blessed couples of our church have the consciousness of being God's representatives it can have a positive influence on this country. Of course 72 couples isn't that many, nonetheless if they are all aware that they are God's representatives they can do much to improve the atmosphere. I don't worry too much about the results now. What concerns me is our state of mind: how deep our feeling of being connected to God and True Parents is. This is the essential thing. We shouldn't be discouraged by low results, but take hope and focus on becoming true representatives of God. We must pray and make effort to accomplish this.
We must realize that God has great expectations of each one of us. He thinks of us as central figures in His providence, so we must recognize that we are the lords of this earth. Wherever you live, you are the lord, not a guest. Guests come and go, but the host or lord lives there permanently and takes responsibility for everything that happens there. Especially blessed couples are lords where they live. God can work through lords, He can use His power as the Lord of all creation. He cannot exercise his power without having lords on earth, because He can only work through physical people. God needs representatives everywhere on earth. Blessed couples must become representatives He can work through. This is the ideal of God's Bless- ing and the mission of blessed couples and families.
Anyway we have to perfect ourselves, so it must be possible. Don't you think so? We must believe it is possible. God isn't asking us to do anything impossible. But members often think, "How can I ever reach perfection?" You will never reach perfection if you feel that way. God created man with the ability to reach perfection. This doesn't mean we won't make mistakes anymore, but that we can be His representatives and do His work. Everyone should reach that state. Of course it will take some time, but we should be confident that we can reach perfection.
We all know the importance of prayer. There should be trinities in each nation who pray for the fulfillment of God's providence in that nation. Our work and our prayer must be combined. Hard work alone won't bring good results; it must be supported by our prayer. I feel that we don't have enough prayer for our mission. We should pray harder and attract the spirit world's assistance. If you do this then when you want to visit someone he may have a dream about you coming. Such things can happen. In military terminology this is called a combined operation or an air, sea and land operation. In battle the air and ground forces must work together. In the spiritual war those people living on earth are the Army and the spirit world, which transcends time and space, is the Air Force. The Army and Air Force must cooperate. Before making a landing one calls in air support to destroy the enemy defenses so that the ground troops can occupy the enemy's positions without great losses.
We must do the same thing. Prayer is our way of calling in air support to attack Satan. Once Satan is driven away from someone he will become innocent and natural and we can reach his heart easily. If he is occupied by evil spirits he cannot open his heart. Once the evil spirits are driven out by our air attack he will be open to receive God's words. We have to do this. One reason we aren't getting good results is that we have neglected this aspect of our work. We must always keep this in mind. God wants to work together with us in His restoration providence. Good spirits want to help us as well. We must join with them and work together, otherwise we work in vain. Before you go witnessing, pray and ask good spirits to precede you and pave the way.
Tomorrow is October 1st, so we should begin the last quarter of the year tomorrow with prayer and a good conscience. We must know our position: we are the central figures of God's providence at this time. This is the Children's Age and should differ from the Parents' Age. We are the central figures, everything rests on our shoulders. We are chuin, lords and hosts. God wants to have many chuin because He has no physical body and cannot control this world without one. So He needs chuin, not just followers or servants. We have many members, but if they're not chuin God cannot work through them. God wants to have as many chuin as possible, not just one or two. So each of us must become chuin then God can control everything through us. This is His desire. Thank you.
Let's pray together:
Our loving Heavenly Father, we are so grateful that we could come before you as your children at this time in your restoration provi- dence. Even though we are weak and small, you cannot fulfill your will or consummate your providence without us. We are so valuable to you, you really want to work together with us. Father, we must understand this and make ourselves completely available for your providence. You want to visit us, but many times we are closed and don't accept you in our lives. Then you are sad and must leave without any result. Father, we want to open ourselves so you can come whenever you need us as your instruments to fulfill your will on earth.
Father, you've asked us to become your true representatives and children and to demonstrate your love and your truth through our lives. We really want to achieve your ideal. You gave each of us three blessings to fulfill. We must all reach perfection, multiply your children through our activities and regain ownership of all creation. Father, when we achieve these three blessings we can realize your ideal on this earth. If we don't become your representatives you can never work through us or achieve your ideal. We truly want to be like our True Parents and take responsibility for everything we do. We are not servants or simple followers, but your representatives. We really want to become like you, accepting and fulfilling all responsibilities given us. You would never ask us to do the impossible. We must realize this, and have complete trust in you, working together with you to achieve your ideal. Our desire is to make you a happy God. We don't know enough about you and your truth, Father, but we do want to become your true children. Through our True Parents we have learned about you and your heart and have received your love. We want to express your truth and love through our lives and activities. Father, we want to reach peoples' hearts so they can understand that you are working with us.
Father, all people are longing for true happiness, true peace and the ideal. They are looking for these things, but cannot find them. We must show them that what they are seeking is here with us. Through our truth, our life and our love we must help them find what they're looking for. Father, you are the source of true happiness, true peace and all ideals. We know this. When we become your representatives we can surely show people that what they are looking for can be found here in our church. We must do this, Father.
We pray for our True Parents, especially for our True Father suffering in Danbury. By becoming one with our Abel brothers and sisters we can free our True Parents. Also by becoming one with the Cain churches we can lay a condition to free our Father. This is why we are reaching out to ministers and explaining the purpose and activities of our church. We want them to understand that our purpose and theirs are the same and that we should work together to achieve our common goal: your goal. In this way we can complete the condition to vindicate our True Parents.
Until this time you weren't certain we were your true representatives. We are your representatives; you cannot work without us. You can't find anyone else to work with. Father, we are so grateful we can be your children at this time. We know that this is the Children's Age, when all children must be mature and take responsibility for your providence. Father, we truly want to fulfill our portion of re- sponsibility. We ask you to be with us and give us courage, power and energy; lead us to final victory on earth. We ask your blessing upon all members. We want to return great joy and satisfaction to you and become your happy children.
We pray all this in the name of our True Parents. Amen.