Former Church Headquarters
Matthew 22:34-40
Prayer 1
Beloved Father, how much did You want the Jewish people and the believers in Judaism who did not believe in Jesus to repent? Please let this hour be a time when we can feel deeply with our minds and bodies the course of Jesus, who was chased out, driven out and could not rest in peace. We cannot help but then deeply feel and take after the heart of Jesus. Isn't it Your will that such a heart finds its place among us? Isn't this also what we desire?
Please allow us in this hour to clearly understand that it is our responsibility to bear the burden of the course Jesus walked and of the words of the gospel that Jesus left behind. It is also our responsibility to fight with millions of satans and to return the glory of victory to the Father. Just as Jesus had a desperate and earnest heart toward Heaven, allow us also to have the same heart toward Heaven.
Please allow us also to believe in Father's words of truth and life and to step forward with audacity just like Jesus, who spoke with courage to the people who had gathered in their faith in God. Lead us to not boast about our present selves before Jesus and not to bring our hardships and situations of today before You. There are many here who fall prostrate before the Father, so please do not let them become shameful. Lead them to have the same attitude as Jesus and to represent the heart of the Father. If Your will is that someone appears before humankind without hesitation any time and any place on behalf of the will of Jesus Christ, then please, Father, remember these children who are prostrated here. Please visit each of them and give them direction.
Father, even when he was being opposed, Jesus spoke in defense of Heaven and was concerned only about the will of the Father. He fought to accomplish it. Yet has there been a time when we rebelled while we were living for the sake of the will of God and Jesus? We have often complained and grudged against the will of God.
Father, please forgive us. Now we will courageously proclaim the will of the Father before humanity, so Father, please lift up those who have gathered here as the brave soldiers of Heaven and as the children of the Father. Please command us, advise us, seek us and put us in the position where You can be proud of us. Father, I earnestly hope and desire that You will love and guide us.
Please allow Your capable hands to be a part of this gathering from beginning to end, and allow us to have the heart of a meek child. Father, I pray that this can be the time when we can become the children who can be offered to the majestic Father as living sacrifices and be recreated into the original selves.
We do not need many words in this hour, so please allow the inspiring work of life to overwhelm the whole of our minds and bodies. We earnestly request that You can enlighten us with the words so that we can sing the Father's happiness and testify to the Father's glory. I pray in the name of the Lord. Amen.
The title of the speech that I want to reflect on with you is "Like Jesus, Let Us Return the Glory of the Resurrection to God." I will speak briefly on this topic.
The Ideal of Creation and the Purpose of the Coming of Jesus
The Garden of Eden is the garden where God's glory is revealed and all things live in happiness and offer a bow of delight to God. The purpose of God's creation was to build that kind of garden. What is more, man should have unveiled on the earth the glory for which God hoped. It was the responsibility of our ancestors, Adam and Eve, to reveal the glory of God in substance, but because they fell, that will was not realized. The original garden in which God wanted to materialize the ideals of creation and live in joy could not be built due to the fall of man. Therefore, until now, humanity has passed through the path of conflict, fighting with the forces of darkness and wishing for the glory of resurrection. This is the course of the 6,000-year history.
As God passed through history until now, He has accomplished the glory of the resurrection of the whole and the unfinished work of the resurrection of the whole. The trillions of living things on the earth and the billions of heavenly soldiers and angels hope to usher in the day when they can sing the glory of God and offer bows of gratitude. God has sent countless saints to the earth to bring about such a day. After 4,000 years, Jesus, the only begotten son, was sent as the manifestation of the internal heart and external self of God and as the embodiment of glory. Since the person of God's glory had come, people should have rejoiced and returned thanks. In other words, the chosen Israelite people and the Jewish sects raised up for the sake of the dispensation should have revealed the glory of Jesus in his place, but they failed to do that. You must know that as a result, Jesus had to leave behind the grief of sorrow and resentment. When we look at the words Jesus left behind, he did not speak them only for the sake of the people who did not believe in him. He was speaking to humanity. Jesus was determined to die for the sake of God. He knew that the path which lay ahead of him was a fate he could not avoid. Because Jesus knew that the fallen people could not fulfill the will of God at certain points of history even as they were pouring out their hearts and souls, he cried out boldly, "You are to love God with all your heart, soul and strength." You should not mistake these words to apply only to your own selves.
The Words Jesus Spoke
What is the meaning behind those words? Jesus felt to his bones the distressed heart of God, which saturated the 4,000 years of history with tears. Accordingly, he felt that it was his responsibility to serve God. He felt that no matter when or which hour he had to represent the heart that could not be revealed in the 4,000 years of history, he would be the champion who offered his life and fulfilled the dispensational will completely. This is the theme that he elucidated.
The glory of Heaven should have emerged as the glory of Jesus, and the glory of Jesus should have appeared as the glory of humanity. The glory of humanity should have reached down to every one of all things in the universe. However, you must understand that because Jesus and the people separated, the glory of resurrection and the glory of gratitude that Jesus brought about remain today as the hope of humanity.
Jesus came as the glorious incarnation of God. Jesus was the victorious incarnation who offered all of his heart, soul and strength for the sake of God. History had never seen such a man before. You have to understand that within Jesus, the heart of God left a permanent impression. Furthermore, you have to understand that before Jesus did his utmost, it was God who gave all that He had. Before Jesus exerted all of his nature and character, God had done it first. Similarly, it was Jesus who appeared as the incarnation of the gospel and the mediator.
Therefore, Jesus' words of truth were not felt standing on the sidelines. They penetrated through the ideology behind the creation of man; they were the glorious ideas that could enhance the value of the whole, and they were the words that could reveal the hidden heart of God. You must understand this.
You must not think that the words that God spoke were given because He loved only you. The reason that Jesus spoke those words was that he wanted to materialize the will of God, who had toiled to raise him up. Just as God had done His utmost for Jesus, Jesus testified that men must exert their utmost for God, but these words could not be realized.
God Has Offered All of His Heart, Will and Character in His Pursuit
Accordingly, now we must honor God with all of our heart, will and character, and we must understand that it was God who first offered all of His heart, will and character to seek us.
What kind of heart did God possess toward men during the 4,000 years? He did not have the mind-set of living for His own sake. Although men deserved to die at once and suffer pain, God gave all of His heart to men and persevered through the 4,000 years of history. He walked the path of conflict in which He separated Satan from men. Similarly, you should understand the nature of God who has persevered, fought, and loved for 4,000 years with an unchanging heart.
Jesus, who appeared before such a God, offered all that he had to build a nation of God centering on the Jewish people. Consequently, the thirty years of his life was the time of sacrifice when he offered all of his heart. During the thirty-year course, he did not try to distinguish himself before the people, but in silence he tried to experience the heart of God, who had persevered for 4,000 years.
By doing so, Jesus unraveled the mysterious facts surrounding Satan in the 4,000-year course of history, and he revealed it after attaining proofs of it in the spirit world. Furthermore, in the thirty years of his life, he bore the responsibility to reveal the secret of the universe hidden deep inside the 4,000-year history, build the substantial foundation for the internal perseverance of God, and build the external substantial foundation. Therefore, the more he found himself in difficult circumstances, Jesus felt the urge to be self- seeking, but he could not even think about doing it. You must understand that Jesus felt the heart of God, who had persevered to find one man, Jesus, during the 4,000 years of history. To emerge as the substantial being who could liberate God from that history, Jesus spent thirty years of his life preparing himself.
Until this hour, God had not made excuses for His situation to any one. He had not complained about it to humanity or to the enemy, Satan. Because Jesus was trying to understand everything about the heart of God, even when he was lonely, he did not complain to anyone and persevered. You have to follow the example of such a lifestyle.
Nonetheless, God persevered for the sake of Jesus, and Jesus did not persevere through it for himself but for the Father. In other words, Jesus felt that God had walked the path of torment to find him, so he persevered not for himself, but for the sake of God.
Similarly, because Jesus forsook himself for thirty years of his life and persisted for the sake of God, he exceeded Satan in perseverance. Satan had been struggling desperately to destroy the path that God had persisted on for 4,000 years. However, Jesus knew that God's perseverance surpassed that of Satan, so he believed in the Father and persisted with patience just like Him. Thus, he could become the incarnation of patience and persistence. Similarly, Jesus himself stood on the foundation of the heart of God who had persevered for 4,000 years, and using that as the launching pad for victory, he stood above it and fought with Satan. Yet even if he won with his patience, if he could not lay a substantial foundation of victory, the heart of God who had persevered for 4,000 years, would be destroyed.
Jesus Defeated Satan with the Heart of Patience
During the thirty years of his life, because Jesus displayed patience centering on God's will even when he was in an unbearable environment, because he could abide by the will of God and persist even when Satan could endure no longer, Jesus was lifted up as the symbol of patience and became the hero who could fight with Satan.
God walked through the 4,000 years of bloody history for the sake of finding one man, Jesus. What is more, even while men struggle vehemently to attain the things they greedily desire, God has walked the historical course of conflict for the sake of men. Similarly, God fought the satan in us for 4,000 years, but He did not fight for His own sake. Nonetheless, Satan was fighting for his own glory. Moreover, even now, he is fighting with God centering on himself. Yet God never fought for himself. The purpose of God's fight was for the sake of pitiful humanity and it was to find one man, Jesus, through the chosen people.
What kind of man did Jesus appear as? He appeared as the materialization and personification of the victory that God had won over Satan in his fight during the 4,000 years. Likewise, Jesus came to the earth as the champion of the conflict who stood in place of God. The three-year course of his ministry was the course in which he acted upon his responsibility to inherit the will of God, which had established the internal foundation of victory, and to secure the external foundation of victory on the earth. In this three-year course, Satan fought with Jesus for his personal victory, but because he was defeated, he mobilized the people and waged another fight.
Jesus never fought centering on himself, no matter how much difficulty he faced in the battle. Jesus said that he observed the deeds of Father and acted accordingly. He walked the three-year course of public ministry as the incarnation of conflict representing God and as the substantial representative who unveiled the internal heart of God. Jesus never engaged in a fight to try to vindicate himself. Just as God could not speak in defense of Himself, Jesus did not try to vindicate himself when he was fighting with Satan before humankind. He served God with an unchanging heart of gratitude for God's tribulations during the 4,000 years suffered for his sake.
Jesus, who realized that the will of God manifested itself as the course of conflict in the dispensation, carried on the fight in order to realize externally the will for the whole that God had set internally. In this fight, Satan was fighting for himself, but Jesus was fighting for the sake of Heaven. This is where the foundation of victory was laid.
What is the reason that Satan was defeated? It is because he fought for his own sake. However, the purpose of Jesus' fight was for Heaven. What is more, because Jesus fought with the resolution that since God remained unchanging, he would not be changed until the end, he could lay the foundation of victory. Moreover, just as God poured out all of His mind, will and character, Jesus showed the same example before humanity.
Jesus Is the Substantial Representative of God
In this way, Jesus represented the internal character of God and, persevering through all difficulties and sorrows, he could inherit the heart of God, whom he loved. Therefore, no matter where he was or in what position he found himself, Jesus fought with Satan as the substantial representative of God's will and love.
During his fight, Jesus learned that when Satan attacked centering on a selfish purpose, its influence reached not only to Jesus himself but also to God. Therefore, no matter what kind of difficulty he was facing, just as God had persevered for him and humanity and just as God had fought with Satan in the course of the dispensation, Jesus persevered through the thirty years of his life by himself and fought on. Similarly, until the final moment when he took the last breath on the cross, Jesus' life was lived as the embodiment of God, putting into practice and revealing God's love. However, his life course, the course in which he put God's love into practice, was a course riddled with ordeals in which he had to constantly fight with Satan every step of the way.
Why did God give Jesus to Satan to be hung on the cross? This is not because God did not love Jesus. Do you know how much God loved Jesus? You have to understand that the highest of God's love is received when one surpasses the point of death. Therefore, in order for you to receive the love of Jesus who comes in place of God, you have to have the mind-set to even cross the pass of death. At that moment, Satan will surely submit. For 4,000 years, God looked down on the world with sorrow and worry by Himself, but when Jesus stood on the earth, centering on him, a new battle with Satan unfolded. Jesus forgot everything about himself and fought on for the sake of God. Not only that, because he did not have any selfish desire even when he faced death, he could manifest the power of resurrection. Today we must also pass through the same course of victory as Jesus.
Jesus offered all that he had to possess the eternal life of God and exhibit the glory of God. Moreover, he offered himself as a sacrifice for the sake of wicked humankind. We have to understand the love of Jesus who raised his hands and prayed for the sake of humanity to the point that he even forgot the opposition of Satan.
Because Jesus unveiled a love that cannot be found in the satanic world, Satan had to submit to that love. Satan wanted to make a claim for himself, but through Jesus, he felt ashamed of himself. Therefore, as a result of the crucifixion, not only did God feel mournful, but also men began to feel doleful, and Satan also felt sorrowful. You have to understand this. It was not just God and men that mourned over the death of Jesus. Satan also mourned over the death of the love of Jesus. Therefore, the greater the remorse that Satan feels, the greater the fruit that the love of Jesus will bear.
Based on the victory of the cross that testified to his love, Jesus could forge an immutable link with God who had been carrying on the dispensation for 4,000 years and who became the embodiment of unchanging victory and love. Because Jesus became one with God representing heaven, earth and men, since God remains unchanging, he also will not change.
God had tried for 4,000 years to manifest the glory, but that will was not realized until he found one man, Jesus, through whom He tried to realize it. Therefore, Jesus tried to manifest the will on the earth through men. Although Jesus was supposed to emerge as the substantial proof of the 4,000-year dispensation of God, because of the crucifixion, that will was trampled upon by Satan. Nonetheless, as the eternal incarnation of God, Jesus demonstrated the glory of God, who had been carrying on the dispensation for 4,000 years. That is none other than the glory of the resurrection. You must understand this.
Jesus Manifested the Glory of the Resurrection
Jesus' resurrection was the first representation of the glory of Heaven and the glory of victory won in the fight with Satan in the 4,000-year history. Because Jesus had demonstrated the standard of victory on the spiritual and substantial level, God raised the deceased Jesus to unfold another dispensation. Through the crucifixion, Jesus took on the responsibility for the 4,000-year history of the dispensation and the responsibility of the ancestors. Representing the glory of Heaven, he ascended to heaven. This is what the resurrection and ascension are about. Similarly, Jesus came with the purpose to evince in substance the internal glory of God on the earth. In other words, he came to demonstrate fully the glory of God. The complete glory must combine the internal and external glory. This is the mission that Jesus came to fulfill. In order for the glory of God to be fully displayed, the internal glory of God endowed in Jesus should have become the glory of the earth through the unity of the Jewish people with Jesus. Nevertheless, Jesus, who should have been in charge of the 4,000-year dispensational history of God, and who should have realized the glory of God on the earth, had to die on the cross due to the unfaithfulness of the Jewish people. As a result, the internal glory of God became spiritual glory only. Therefore, Jesus ascended after having realized incomplete glory.
What is the ground upon which Jesus, who came as the representative of men, creation and the love of Heaven, must establish victory? It is none other than the earth.
The Holy Spirit Took on the Responsibility for the Fight on the Earth
Who is then to be responsible for the course of conflict that remains on the earth? While Jesus inherits the internal fight of God in the spirit world, we must cooperate with the Holy Spirit on the earth and join our efforts to win the victory in the fight of love, the purpose of which is to bring the internal fight and dispensation to completion in substance.
This fight will not just be engaged in spiritually. It has to be fought physically and spiritually. Moreover, you must understand that the fate lies with us to bring victory in the battle. In other words, it is our destiny to inherit the internal fight of God that Jesus took on in the spirit world and the fight on the earth that he carried on by sacrificing his thirty-year life for the sake of saving humanity. Therefore, you must now pray and cry out, "Father! Jesus! Holy Spirit, please give me strength," and give all that you have for the realization of the historical hope of Heaven on earth.
Jesus came to the earth as the culmination of the 4,000 years of work and suffering, and as the first perfected person for which God had wished. However, there remains before Jesus the course that was not completed in the thirty years of his life. Moreover, there remains deep remorse for not having completely manifested the glory of God even during the fight in the three-year course of public ministry. His heart of love that shed blood on the cross is left behind on earth.
Consequently, when we put ourselves before the Father and make criticisms about ourselves, what should we do? Jesus fought with Satan to fulfill the will of God. Even after Jesus passed away, he labored arduously with the Holy Spirit for 2,000 years. You must follow the example of Jesus. What is more, you must remember that when he went forward before God and engaged in the victorious battle, it was not a matter of one day, but of the whole thirty years of his life. You must fathom the heart of the Father, who has carried on the dispensation for 6,000 years, and the heart of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, who were desperately trying to bring the will to pass.
If in your own course of perseverance, you cannot pour out all of your heart and persist, then because of you, the will of God who has mourned for 6,000 years, the will of Jesus for which he toiled his whole life, and the will of the Holy Spirit who has worked strenuously for 2,000 years since the death of Jesus, will all be greatly hindered. You must understand this clearly. Therefore, you must carry on the fight for the sake of this will.
Our Mission
Jesus was severely opposed by enemies. When he was chased out of one village, he went to another. When he was persecuted there, he sought refuge in another place. Even in the midst of that, he never acted in defense of himself. He came with the life of the whole of Heaven, but he could not manifest it. In this way he was persisting in a silent battle; even on the hill of the crucifixion, he completely forgot himself and fought with Satan for the sake of testifying to God's will and love.
Therefore, if you have a heart of love and strive to raise Jesus up, then it will not bring sadness to Jesus but will make him happy. You must consider this and act on behalf of the thirty years of the grievous life of Jesus and represent the heart of God, who has waited patiently until today. You must represent the heart of the prophets who built an altar and worked through the people to fulfill the will of God, and the heart of Jesus who loved humanity. By doing so, you must do the same work as Jesus, who did not elevate or love himself and who made Satan sorrowful by setting the standard of victory. You must bring all the conflicts of the 6,000 years to a conclusion.
You must win victory in all kinds of courses of conflict through perseverance. Moreover, you must be victorious in the fight to testify to the will of Heaven. You must act on behalf of Jesus Christ. You must possess the victorious heart of the will, glory and love behind God's perseverance of 4,000 years. Just as Jesus completely forgot about himself and toiled only for the sake of realizing the will of Heaven, you must forget yourself and bear fruit in the glory of the whole that God desires. You must bear the fruit of victory with your mind and body.
Accordingly, you can sing a song of the glory of Jesus in your heart, and sing a song of the glory of the Holy Spirit in your body. In our hearts, we must represent the glory of the resurrection of Jesus and in our bodies, we must represent the glory of the resurrection through the Holy Spirit. This is the only way that the Holy Spirit can enter the glorious position of resurrection. Although Jesus already commands the glory of resurrection and ascension, the Holy Spirit does not yet possess the glory. Until today, there has not appeared one substantial being who spiritually and physically represents the glory of God who has been guiding the dispensation for 6,000 years. Today there must emerge someone who can represent the glory of the victory won by the love of Jesus; someone who can stand in the position of glory established by the resurrection of the Holy Spirit. You must realize that unless you emerge as the substantial embodiment like Jesus, who fought with his mind and body to fulfill God's dispensational will of the 4,000 years, the will of God cannot be gloriously manifested.
What are we to do from now on? You have to understand that the Holy Spirit, who possesses the utmost will, heart and character, has come to the earth. Therefore, unless a substantial representative of Jesus Christ, who acts on behalf of God's will, and a substantial representative of the Holy Spirit appear on the earth, God's will cannot be fulfilled. You must understand this. What is more, you must understand that you bear the responsibility even to liberate the Holy Spirit from this earth. If the will is not accomplished today, in the last days, then the purpose of God's 6,000-year dispensation cannot be reached. Accordingly, you must reap the victory in all the battles fought for the sake of bringing to pass the will of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. You must go over that course of conflict and perseverance to bring to full light the glory of the Trinity.
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