Romans 7:15-25
Former Church Headquarters
Seoul, Korea
Prayer
Father! Please help us realize in this hour that we are not walking the path we should walk in our lives, even though we know we must.
There are those who live centering on their bodies, those who live centering on their minds, and those who live centering on Heaven. Please help those of us who have come to participate in this occasion to understand which category we belong in.
We feel deep in our hearts that we must become the central figures who can bring joy and alleviate sorrow in all crucial affairs. Father, we long in our hearts for the self we can be truly proud of; the self who can critique all affairs accurately. Even if our bodies must be brought into submission, please help us recover that self. Please help us understand that although we have been struggling and fighting to restore that self, the battle still is not over, and we face the fate to put our lives on the line and continue our struggles.
Father! Please come to us in tranquillity. Father, please command us. Please let us understand that the central purpose of our lives is to seek the moment when we are captured by Your voice, the moment when we move in unison with You, and the moment when we can rejoice with You. As we reflect how in the course of history our ancestors never had a moment when You could share joy with them and with other faithful believers, we cannot help but deeply lament.
Father, we lie prostrated before You on our knees with our hands clasped. Please allow us to penetrate into Your subtle heart. Please let this be an hour when You can hold our hands and say, "My beloved sons and daughters."
All that we believe in and experience in the world is transient. That which we believe and fight for in our minds, that which we sing of in our minds, and the world where we connect with You in our minds is infinite and eternal. When we are asked how and when we are going to become people who can be proud of themselves, if we show no confidence, how sad will God be?
We are miserable ones who cannot show ourselves before Heaven and earth. Please let this be the moment when we sever ourselves from our purposeless, unfeeling past; when our minds can become one with the Father's mind, and when our hearts become connected to the heart of the Father.
Although we have experienced everything in the world, we have never lived centering on the Father. This is what we desire, so please take us into Your hands and perform the works of re-creation. Beloved Father, this is what we desire from the bottom of our hearts.
We know that we cannot understand Your situation without the words of truth. Before understanding this situation, we cannot fathom Your heart. Please give us the one truth which will allow us to connect to Your situation and heart. Please allow us to become one based on the truth.
We pray with utmost sincerity that this hour will be a moment when we can hear Your tranquil words in peace and offer bows to You in joy. Let it be an hour when we can feel our hearts surge as we listen to the words of truth.
Please be with everyone who honors You with sincerity. Extend Your grace equally to the lonely members who are bowing before You in the countryside.
We entrust this entire occasion from the beginning to the end to You. Please govern it. Allow the hearts of the listeners to be one with the heart of the speaker. Praying that this will be a moment when we can be in complete harmony with Heaven, we pray in the name of the Lord. Amen.
No matter how much happiness a person may enjoy on earth, there has not been even one person who lived in true joy and happiness of the heart. We can conclude that because we could not feel joy and happiness in our hearts, God or Heaven, who stands as subject partner to us and is guiding us, has not felt joy or happiness.
Human Beings Live in Two Worlds
If we think that we are to live in this world for our own sake, that is a misunderstanding. We know clearly through our lives that our minds are pursuing some purpose and destination in life. Thus, we cannot deny that each of us is connected to a world of some purpose. For this reason we should understand that we do not live for our own goal or for our own sake, but for some other purpose. Hence, we are all both infinitely small and infinitely big. We know that we have traveled through history based on this relationship.
In our feelings, worldviews and lifestyles, there are complementary and contradictory aspects. We cannot ignore this reality. In other words, even in living for some purpose, there are contradictory and conflicting aspects as well as complementary ones. These phenomena are in society; they are in the trend of thought in the world, and some of these phenomena are in Heaven.
When we analyze Heavenly principles and worldviews, we cannot deny that some being exists who transcends our concepts and guides us in great detail. We do not feel this being through our concepts, and this being does not originate from within us.
We have to understand clearly that this position we stand in is not limited to one world but is connected to two worlds. The world that our minds desire and the world that our body desires, these two worlds, are unfolding within us. For this reason, while our minds desire joy and happiness based on some ideology, we cannot deny that there are pleasures and joys that we feel physically through the five senses of our bodies.
The Human Fall Seen from the Viewpoints of the Heavenly Mind and the Human Mind
We commonly say that we have a mind. We say that we have a human mind. There is also a heavenly mind. The heavenly mind and the human mind should have complemented each other within us, guiding our lives based on heavenly law and order. Yet we have not established the order which can clarify the standard for our lives. The heavenly mind and the human mind cannot unite. This is the Fall and the source of our lament.
That which abandons the human mind and betrays Heaven or the good mind is commonly called the evil mind. When we reflect upon ourselves, we find that the heavenly mind enters through our minds, while the evil mind enters through our bodies. From ancient times all saints and holy men have mourned over the conflict they found themselves in. Because St. Paul also suffered in the midst of the chaotic battle between the laws of the mind and the laws of the body, he said, "I am a wretched man." (Romans 7:24)
What kind of world have we been rejoicing in and what kind of world do we want to rejoice in? You probably cannot deny that this world is not a place where our minds and bodies can enjoy true happiness, a world which is in harmony with the truth in our hearts. You are struggling and agonizing in this environment. When we fathom this situation, we can conclude that even though the heavenly mind should rule the human mind, there has never been a moment when the heavenly mind was in complete oneness with our human mind and when it manifested itself and produced joy in our lives.
If there is a God, would He want to dwell in our minds only for a day? God wants to dwell in our minds for eternity. However, we find ourselves in the chaos of the battle between our minds and bodies. If we ask whether or not Heaven can dwell in such a mind, the answer is negative.
God is good. Goodness is eternal, unique, and unchanging. However, because we do not possess unchanging, unique and eternal principles of life, we cannot penetrate into the mind which is orientated toward goodness.
For this reason, even though God can work through our consciences, He cannot work through our views on life. Because God could not guide us with the universal truth, human history until now has remained in the realm of evil. Hence, this world cannot build an eternal relationship with the heavenly principles. This is why this world must be judged. People living in this world also must be judged.
Religions Pursue the Heavenly Mind
If there is a movement which transcends the human mind in pursuit of the heavenly mind, what would that movement be? It is religion. Religions have made their best attempts to pursue the heavenly mind.
Religions have made great contributions to the cultural history of humanity. They have initiated movements to inspire people's consciences to be oriented toward the heavenly mind and have carried out new revolutions and a new history. When centering on the human mind, the evil mind and the material mind join together to defeat the heavenly mind. It was destroyed. We cannot deny this history.
For this reason there is a common saying, "Live a conscientious life." Can everything be resolved with that alone? Even if one lived by one's conscience, if the rest of the universe did not live joyfully based on the conscience, and if one did not share joy with Heaven, that situation would need to be corrected. Isn't this true? If you really live a conscientious life, then you will experience events that stimulate your mind.
Although people have consciences, they are not in a position to enjoy life based on the purpose of that conscience and the heavenly principles. People who have the fate of the Fall want to reach the goal of the heavenly principles. Having lost the purpose and freedom of the conscience due to the Fall, in other words losing the purpose and freedom of a life based on the conscience, is the source of lamentation. You must understand this.
If the first human ancestors had laid the foundation to enjoy life in a place of goodness centering on the good purpose, their descendants also would have been able to experience joy in their minds and Heaven's mind. However, due to the Fall, human beings could not become connected to the purpose of the mind and life. This is how they fell. When they fell, what was the center of their actions? They fell centering on their bodies.
For this reason your mind and body are in conflict within you. You are subject to these kinds of difficulties. If you have a sincere mind, there should be a time when you try to resolve this. However, have you ever built such a relationship with history? Have you ever built such a relationship for one year, for several decades, not to mention for the course of your life? If you have not, then you stand in a position to betray the heavenly mind.
If you cut off the heavenly mind and pursue the path that the body's pleasures lead you on, you will self-destruct. We find in this world a philosophy which seeks truth in the direction of the body's pleasures and a philosophy which seeks truth in the direction of the mind's happiness.
Human beings are extremely small, but they are micro-universes. Thus, even the fights that take place in their minds have the form of a world-level conflict. Something must emerge which can resolve this, yet nothing has emerged. Moreover, a model which can transcend the individual level and bring a solution for the people, the nation and world has not appeared.
The Person Who Will Stand Fast until the Last Days
Because the world turns around us, the fight between the mind and the body continues in our life. In this fight between mind and body, those who cannot sing a song of victory centering on the mind can never become citizens of Heaven. Those who harbor the ambition to conquer the world will be judged together with this world. Those who try to move this earth centering on their own ideas will perish together with the earth. However, those who hold onto and ceaselessly seek the ideals of Heaven will survive.
Since the world of the mind is unchanging and unique, it can communicate with the world of infinity. Because only this mind can become the base upon which to communicate with the heart of Heaven, those who embrace it in their lives will escape the day of judgment.
Jesus said that the Kingdom of Heaven is in our hearts. This Kingdom is infinite. If there are heavenly principles or the heart of Heaven, those who can invite this heart into their consciences and honor it as the motivating force in their lives, living in harmony with it, will become princes who can build the Kingdom of Heaven.
Heaven is waiting for the day of judgment. He is waiting for the day when the universe will be judged. You have to understand that historical judgment has been carried out, and each one of you are being judged in this hour.
Faithful people of the Last Days fear the day of the great judgment. Who can escape the great judgment? They are probably the people who have resolved conflicts within themselves and declared victory. Yet people today do not know that similar conflicts are taking place in families, among peoples and in the world.
What is the cause of these phenomena? It is because the time has come when the conflict between the heavenly mind and the evil mind will come to an end. This is the reason we have desired to possess the authority of the great judgment. We long to cast judgment on our enemies.
To become such people, we must be able to conquer our own selves. We must completely conquer our body under the leadership of our mind. We must eradicate all elements which may oppose the mind. Before prevailing over our bodies based on our faith, we cannot perform the act of judgment.
Those who are triumphant in the judgment of individuals are worthy to judge families. Those who are triumphant in the judgment of families are qualified to judge the society. Those who are victorious in judging the society will be able to judge the nation. Those who are victorious in judging the nation will be able to judge the world. Those who are victorious in judging the world will be able to judge the universe. They will have such authority.
When we examine ourselves, we find ourselves in the middle of two worlds. The Kingdom of Heaven dominates the higher realms of our mind. Hell dominates the lower realms of the mind. These two worlds have formed a parallel. In other words, on the upper side of the parallel in the spiritual world of the mind is Heaven. The lower side is hell.
Ladies and gentlemen, there are those who feel increasingly intense fear as they near the Last Days. In contrast there are those who are filled with joy. It is inevitable that such movements will emerge. You may have thought that there are only extremely evil people; yet there are extremely good people. Extreme evil cannot invade an extremely good person, and extreme goodness cannot relate with extreme evil. This society cannot hold onto God. There will come a time when no religious figure, no one gifted by Heaven, can bridge the gap.
When that time comes, those who live in an extremely evil world, those who have not built any relationship with Heaven, will certainly face the judgment. There will come a time when such a situation will unfold in your minds. Your minds want to pursue a certain direction, yet your body pursues another. Those who are struggling because they do not have the conditions for connecting their minds and bodies will surely head toward hell.
Where Do the Paths toward Heaven and Hell Divide?
Where do the paths toward Heaven and hell divide? It is determined by each one of us. Those who feel guilt in their conscience as they live in an environment which stimulates their five physical senses are living in hell. Those who live a life of joy in their hearts and live by the direction of their minds are living in Heaven. For this reason people should abandon material desires and the evil mind, pursue the heavenly principles and live by their conscience. You understand this very well.
The beginning of history was not a day of joy. It was a day of sorrow. The time will come when history will end in sorrow because it began in sorrow. It will end in pain because it began in pain. It will end in despair because it began in despair. You can expect to harvest what you have sown. Our ancestors betrayed the heart of Heaven. We have mourned infinitely because we have violated the laws of conscience and the heavenly heart and have fallen. Since this is how it has been, this world does not have what would bring people joy in their hearts.
For this reason you must strike all of these to lead a religious life. You have to understand clearly that this conflict is taking place within you. Any act will be judged to be either good or evil. In our lives today we evaluate our every gesture, what we see, hear, smell and so forth, whether they were for the sake of goodness or evil. People who lead lives of devotion cannot judge these clearly unless they have a firm grasp of this concept and a clear standard of good and evil.
This world is engaged in such a conflict. Although evil rises and strikes goodness first, it cannot persist for long. Evil will not persist. Goodness will prevail. In the long course of history, this will gradually expand from the individual to families, a people, a nation, the world and the universe. Now we are entering the era of a world ideology. Even when the era of a world ideology comes, individuals are still individuals. However, the trends of thought have been expanding their scope.
Although people who have lived by their consciences in the past are the same as those who live by their consciences today, the scope of their relationship has broadened. In the past people were content to live for their own individual sake. This does not have to be the case. It is also not the case that people have to live for the sake of families, societies, nations, or the world. People should live for the sake of Heaven and earth.
Even though the shape and scope of the flow of history have widened, the standard of the mind remains unchanged. Because heavenly principles govern everything in history, when people abide by this standard of the mind and are in line with the direction of the heavenly principles, they will not lose the purpose and direction their minds must pursue. This is the reason it is said, "Live a conscientious life. If you live by your conscience, you will be blessed." When we realize that the day of judgment blocks the path before us, we won't be able to receive the blessings. Even though it may seem that you are receiving blessings at the moment, you will be struck when the time comes, so you cannot consider it a blessing. Blessings are not to be received on earth. Blessings will be given when the one day comes. Because blessings will be given to those who stand fast until that time, it is said that you will be blessed if you live by your conscience. This is how we should see it.
The Last Days Are the Time of the Cosmic Ideology Centering on Heaven and Earth
These are the Last Days. This era which we refer to as the Last Days is entering the era of a world ideology. We are not parting with the world. If there is a heavenly heart, we will enter the era of a cosmic ideology centering on the heavenly heart.
Then which direction should our minds pursue? The time of living for one's own sake is behind us. The time for living for one's own family is also behind us. The time when we live for the society and people is also behind us. The time of living for a nation is also behind us. Now the time for the world ideology will come. We have entered an era when we have to live for the sake of the world under the guidance of an ideal.
Human beings have two paths before them, the internal path and the external path. Each of us faces these two paths. If there is a path which can bring the internal and external paths together, the time that this one path emerges will be the era of the ideals we seek.
Now we should seek individuals, families, a people, a nation, the world and the universe with whom the heavenly heart desires to relate. Otherwise, you will do no more than follow the paths of the great people or religious leaders of the past.
They have been turning the orientation of the human mind in the direction of the heavenly mind, turning the direction of bodies toward the heavenly mind. They have also been turning the stimulating, material world toward the heavenly mind. As they near it, they will cause upheavals internally and externally. They will collide. Based on what will they collide? They will collide based on the earth. Then what? They will collide based on people. Then what? They will collide based on the heart.
In the course of the struggle to destroy the external world ideology and establish an internal world ideology, history has been moving forward. The phenomena taking place today are dividing left and right centering on that heart. Such phenomena certainly take place in yourselves as well as on the world level.
If God exists and He has been working His providence for the sake of human beings, you should fathom how much He has suffered to guide this world toward the era of a world ideology. Think about it. Both in us and in our ancestors, our bodies have not submitted before our minds in their struggle. Our minds were conquered by our bodies. You should think about how laborious God's work has been to use the hearts of these ancestors as the foundation to transcend individuals, families, a people, a nation, and pull them up to a world ideology.
When we study historical documents, we should observe how laborious the history of struggle has been that Heaven has gone through. Have you ever felt that? Those who pray, "Please take away my pains and remove them," will never enter the nation of glory. Those who pray for blessings from God centering on their families, their people, and their nation will survive only until a certain moment. When a world ideology emerges, the national ideology will be shattered. When a cosmic ideology based on the heavenly heart emerges, the world ideology will be shattered.
The Situation of the Last Days and the Ultimate Goal of Satan's Attack
Because Heaven has been working the providence to fulfill His great purpose, His ultimate goal, we should also long for and prepare for the one day when the greatest goal is accomplished. For this reason it is said that the Last Days are coming. What kind of time is the Last Days? It is the time when Heaven and earth meet as mind and body, when the world ideology and all thought come together and when our minds and bodies unite. When they come together, what will they sing of? They will sing of the life of the mind and a world which can connect through the heart. You are to sing with the universe. However, such a day and such a world have not emerged on the earth.
Heaven has been working toward that world. That world is the ultimate goal of Heaven. It is the ultimate goal of humanity. To become someone who will prevail until that day, you have to engage in unspeakable conflict with your body. You should keep to your pledges without a change of heart and never waver from your determination.
If there is someone who goes forth with such a determination, his body will protest, his family will oppose him, his society, nation, and the world will protest in order to break his determination. You have to understand that the whole world is attacking such a person. This demonstrates that the greater the truth you come to understand, the greater the opposition you will face.
Christians say that they are heading toward Heaven. They claim that they are walking toward the Kingdom of Heaven. Yet they forgot that great enemies are waiting for them on the path toward the great ideology. You have to keep in mind that there are great enemies.
What is the ultimate goal of these enemies? It is the body. The target of our enemies is our body. Threats to life, threats on the levels of society and the nation and of Heaven and earth are posed against our bodies. St. Paul experienced this in his life. When he appeared before his people, he was considered an enemy. When he went to foreign lands, he was the foreign enemy. When he stood before the church, he was the enemy of the church.
No matter what religions there may be in this world, Christianity and so forth, they will certainly be judged. They will not overcome it so easily. To do so, they need to explain themselves completely. Because there is this providential relationship on the world level, in the course of seeking our true selves centering on our minds, we are confronted with suffering on the world level.
The closer we come to the Last Days, world level fear comes from all directions. Hence, the closer we come to the Last Days, the more conscientious people are overwhelmed with fear. You have witnessed this around you already. Thus, there will come a time when conscientious and artistic people, particularly those who are in academia, will be swayed by waves of fear which will restrict them from living freely. This is how it is right now. This has been manifested through panic and widespread fear.
We who are living in the Last Days today are different from people in the past. Because this is the era of a world ideology, someone should appear who can put everything on the line, strike the external spheres into harmony with the heavenly heart and say, "Father! I have won the victory." Isn't this so? Heaven hopes to create such a person, and Satan has opposed this attempt on the part of Heaven.
This world is not a heavenly world; it is under the sovereignty of evil. If such a person appears in this world of evil sovereignty, then the entire world will oppose him and protest. Those who strike him, however, will perish. Individuals who strike will submit; families who oppose will submit; and the society which opposes him will submit. Moreover, when nations and the world submit after putting up opposition, the final decision will be made. From this we should learn that the flow of history is the external manifestation of a small individual on the world level.
The Way Providential History Unfolds
People today have never tasted true happiness, from the beginning of their being. They have never been able to sing for joy on earth. From ancient times until today, through the long six thousand years of history, there has never been a person of conscience who stood proudly before Heaven and earth.
The more conscientious a person is, the more he is persecuted, beaten, killed and trampled upon. People have longed for the one day that they can rejoice eternally centering on their consciences. Our conscientious ancestors built an altar of blood. They rose up again after being struck down. When individuals fell down, Heaven brought individuals together as a family. When families fell. Heaven brought them together and formed a people. When a people fell, Heaven brought the people together to build a world. This is the providential history of God.
When Adam fell, the providence progressed centering on Cain and Abel. When Cain and Abel failed, the providence moved on centering on Noah's family, and then on through the three generations of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Then it centered upon Jacob's family. Based on the family as a unit, it moved forward toward a people on the world level, and the first step toward it was the Israelites' slavery in Egypt. Moses, the leader of the Israelites, united the people and guided them out of the enemy's land, Egypt, and left for Canaan in order to restore a nation.
Individuals had to fight to restore a family. When a family was restored, that family had to fight to restore a people. When a people was restored, they fought to restore a nation. When a nation was restored, that nation fought for the sake of restoring a world. In such a way the scope has been gradually widening.
It is not simple for an individual to establish a standard of victory. In order to become an historic person, you have to become victorious while enduring historical persecution and suffering. Look at Noah. For 120 years he suffered persecution more intense than anything we have experienced today. Noah of old endured for 120 years to restore himself as an individual.
The same was true for Jacob. For twenty-one years until he materialized the blessing, he fought through all difficulties. In his fight he did not have even one friend. He did not have brothers or parents. He built a family all by himself. On the foundation of that family, the first step he took was the course to enter Egypt. The four hundred years in Egypt was the period that the people came together in unity. Moses came as the leader of the people. He had to lay the foundation of a nation based on the foundation of a people.
The Purpose of the Providence Centering on Jesus and the Mission of the Lord of the Second Advent
What kind of person was Jesus? He was someone who was to use the nation to found a world. Although he came with such a mission, when the nation and the people opposed him, he had to die. Therefore, the providence must begin from the individual and pass through the family, people, nation, and rise to the level of the world.
Israel became an enemy of Jesus. The Jewish people whom God chose through four thousand years of toil became the enemy. Although they had the responsibility to restore the world on the foundation of the nation and to restore the land of Canaan on the world level, when the foundation of the nation was shattered, the four-thousand-year history was completely destroyed. You have to understand that for two thousand years Jesus was laying that foundation.
However, no matter how many Christians there may be in the world today, there has not been even one family centered on Jesus. Has there been? Jesus himself could not fulfill the ideal of the bride and bridegroom and form a family. Do you know what the bride and bridegroom are? They are the second standard on the family level which enables one to stand before Heaven. They were the second family standard to restore the one that Adam and Eve could not establish because of their Fall. On that foundation Jesus should have become the head of the family of Heaven. Did he become the head of the family? The most important purpose on earth is to become the head of a family. Only after you become the head of a family can you have children. Only when you have children can you have a people. Only when you have a people can you have a nation. Isn't this true?
The time has come for Christians of the entire world to repent. Christians of the world have not become citizens of any nation. They do not belong to any tribe or clan. For Jesus to become the head of a family, the twelve apostles should have united and laid the foundation upon which Jesus could form a family. Yet they failed to do so. For this reason, the providence of salvation on the world level could not be consummated.
Thus, Jesus and the Holy Spirit had to endure through hardships of blood and tears for two thousand years. What was the purpose of that? It was to found the first family foundation. They were to found a new Israel, a new family of Jacob, and raise them from the level of a family to the level of a people, from the level of a people to the level of a nation, and from the level of a nation to the level of the world. Then they were to bring the revolution of the Kingdom of Heaven based on this world as the foundation, to liberate hell in the spirit world. This is the ideal of the second providence. The Lord of the Second Advent does not come to be glorified. He comes with the mission to use the world as the foundation to destroy even hell in the spirit world and to build the Kingdom of Heaven on the cosmic level. Only when this is done can God rest in peace.
The World of the Mind and the World of the Heart
Although we have minds, we are unclear about their direction. We are surrounded by the confusing ideas of our environment and have been lost, not knowing where we should go. Our minds have been degraded to the point where they move based on whim. Therefore, we do not know what is true and right. Although the direction of our minds sets out from a single point, it divides in the end. This is how it is. Although the beginning is normal, it divides in the end. To divide is to be destroyed. We have been living our lives in this way.
Although democracy and communism are in conflict today, these ideologies cannot solve the problems of our world. Just as we cannot confirm the direction of our minds, the same is true for the physical world of today. This is the trend of thought. Isn't this true?
When do you decide the direction of your mind? It is the moment you form a relationship with which your mind can rejoice eternally through the heavenly heart. Why did God give people minds? It is for God and people to become one in heart and rejoice. God created human beings for this purpose. On the foundation of our minds, which are unclear in their direction, we now need the joy which undeniably enters our minds. Only when undeniable joy is fulfilled in our minds will the world experience joy.
The body has an end. However, there is no limit or end to the mind. For this reason in the world of the mind there are no concepts. There is no such thing as a worldview. Greater than the mind is the world of the heart. The world of heart is not restrained in any way. The world of the mind does have some restraints. Based on the conditions of reciprocity, the mind is restrained. Yet nothing can restrain the world of the heart. What can ever restrain parents' love toward their children? Even a barrier as daunting as a huge mountain cannot block the way. The world of the mind is like the object partner while the world of the heart is the subject partner. Because the mind has four directions, it can be restrained. However, this is not true for the world of the heart.
What might the hope of Heaven be? When Jesus comes in the Last Days, he will say, "The Kingdom of Heaven is in your mind, and the Kingdom of Heaven begins from your heart." Is this statement adequate? The conclusion which must be arrived at is, "It is realized in your heart."
Why do you experience misfortune? It is because you cannot harmonize with the center of the mind. No matter how great the external difficulties, if one can rejoice in harmony with the mind, one is a happy person. Why does one feel misfortune, then? It is because one does not have an unchanging center of heart which can move one's mind. That is the reason.
The Standard by which the Garden of Joy Can Be Realized
See if you can be happy being attached to the things of this world. That will come to an end one day. No matter how good one's mind and heart may be, the things of this world will surely come to an end. As long as there is no clear center in your mind, you will find both sorrow and joy. As long as you do not have a clear center for your body, you will feel both joy and sorrow. They are in this reciprocal relationship. Although we have lived through times when our minds were sad, we have not lived through times when our minds were happy. Fallen people, who have not been able to enjoy such experiences in life, are miserable people who should be cursed and judged.
The time has come when we should seek such a path. Since the purpose of Heaven is not to judge and eradicate people in the Last Days, we are to possess the master of our homeland, the families of our homeland, the society of our homeland, the world of our homeland, and the universe of our homeland. When we do not possess them, God judges us.
As we look at the world, we find that although there are individuals, families, societies, nations and a world centered on the body, our minds do not feel satisfaction here. Shouldn't there be families, nations and a world where our minds can rejoice eternally? If there aren't, why would our minds feel that way?
Your minds do not pursue goodness because of their own creative powers. Force is not generated alone. It does not function without a partner. We find that this is true in chemical reactions and physical reactions.
Observing the undeniable reality that the conscience is clearly in operation, we can be sure that it is helping us alleviate an aspect of sorrow and bring an aspect of joy. The moment that we can rejoice is the moment of hope and joy for humanity. The problem hinges on this.
Today democracy and communism are competing to conquer the world, but this is wrong. Where should we find the solution? We should go back to the state before the Fall of Adam and Eve, when they could be happy centering on God and rejoice at hearing God's voice. A garden of happiness will come to this earth if we can establish the standard that God is our eternal Lord, the head of our families, the Lord of our people, nations and world. He is also "my God" whom we wouldn't exchange for any treasure of the world.
The Person God Has Been Seeking for Six Thousand Years
Although the world of our minds can rejoice, be in harmony and move together, they cannot be intoxicated. Original love is not human love; it is the love of the eternal and unchanging God. The moment we are embraced by God's love and serve God as our Lord, we become one with Him. When we enter the state of joy where we can interact with Him, we can conquer the world. The moment of rejoicing with God is the moment when we can be more happy than if we possessed everything else in the universe. If a person has experienced this, the stimulation he feels through his body is insignificant.
What work has God been carrying on centering on our bodies? He has been working to develop the universe. You forget that He has been guiding us to do the work of pioneering the universe. For what purpose does God command our minds? It is for us become universal beings. God commands us to grow to become someone who can embrace the universe and grow on the foundation of everything of the universe. God guides us so that we can become such a person.
For this reason He commands us to love both good and evil people, love all things and all of Heaven and earth. Isn't this so? How satisfying is this? We human beings lost the core of these original concepts. Our minds should be joyful. At the same time that our minds rejoice, the cells in our bodies should also be happy. At the same time that our minds are intoxicated, the cells in our bodies should also be intoxicated. Then we should be able to convey this feeling of intoxication to the environment around us. You have to understand clearly that God has been seeking someone who can make this happen.
If there is a mind, what kind of person does it envision? What kind of person do the world, the nations, and the universe desire? The type of person that I just talked about is the person. Even if one were to be conquered by such a person, one would be happy. Isn't this what you should do? You would feel happy even after sacrificing yourself infinitely. The Kingdom of Heaven will dawn upon us when there are many such people. God's sons and daughters are such people. They want to keep giving, even after having given so much. They want to keep sacrificing even after having sacrificed so much.
Isn't that what parental love is like? God's love is ten times, a hundred times greater than parental love. The world that your minds long for has not come. There must come a day when the world of the heart and the minds of people join together. The day that absolute standard of judgment is established on the earth is the end. Based on that heart, the judgment will take place.
Christianity is the religion of the heart which has gone beyond the religion of mind. God is not the Lord of the mind; He is the Lord of the heart. No matter what kind of evil people may be around you, you cannot prevent the love of God that comes forth through the heart. When that love comes in waves, everyone is happy. Even Satan and demons like that love. You have to understand this. Although they love God's love, they are in a state of darkness where they cannot receive it. The human fate is to pioneer this with their minds. Yet how will they do this?
Your path has been determined. You will find that there are relationships which come through your minds. There will also be relationships which come through material things. You will find relationships built upon people or words of truth. Then you will find relationships which come through the heart. The mind desperately yearns to escape from this world in search of that. You must never forget that God, who has been building relationships in history, will seek those who long for and look for those relationships of heart to appear at a certain place and time.
To Cultivate Our Heart
Those who live a life of devotion are moving toward the heavenly heart. They should not take anything lightly. They cannot ignore the sight of an enemy trying to strike them with a sword. They have to think that there is some relationship behind it. In this distorted world, God does not appear in an attractive manner. God comes in an unattractive way in this distorted world. Only when you can have an open heart even to such an instance and search for the value of the relationship can you make the first step toward the cultivation of the heart.
Then you can discern through your mind whether what you hear, see and feel in your interactions with people are good or evil. When you hear some words, when you come into a relationship, your mind will be drawn to them. If there is some truth, some church and some religion, you will be drawn to them without your conscious awareness. Isn't this so? The mind follows principles similar to those of the natural world.
Just as the magnetic needle of a compass points north and south, our minds behave similarly. When the plus mind appears, the minus mind will always be drawn to it.
If you have never felt your body being drawn to the religion that you believe in, your faith is not true. If you have never felt your body, mind and heart being drawn into the faith, you cannot claim that you really believe. Such people will one day stop believing in that faith.
What is humanity seeking today? They are searching for an ideology. What explains an ideology? The truth explains it. What is the truth? It is the word. It is the truth in which our minds can be eternally happy, the truth in which our minds can be eternally intoxicated. It will give us something new and fresh even after hearing it hundreds or thousands of times. The greatest truth of all is like rice. No matter how often we eat it, today, tomorrow and for seventy or eighty years, we find it delicious. The same is true for the truth. You should be grateful. Through the words you know that there are two worlds for human beings. Jesus said that people should not live by bread alone but by the words which come from the mouth of God. Our bodies and hearts should be intoxicated in the truth. If you have such a truth, isn't that all you need?
Therefore, you are not to sit idle at this time. The time has come when directions will reverse. We are to proceed in one direction toward the one subject partner. Because we will find obstacles when we look to the side and take the divergent path, we should cut off from all of them. Everyone considers that heretical.
Now Is the Time to Search for the Standard with which We Can Become Lords of the Universe
Now the direction is being reversed. Heaven will become the earth, and earth will become Heaven. Human beings have to become the center. This is a time for change. Since it is a transition time, we should become central beings of Heaven and earth and the lords of the universe. Heaven is not the center of the universe. God created human beings for the purpose of raising them up as the lords of the universe who represent His authority.
To reach that standard, you have to lay the foundation to solve problems ourselves with experience from our hearts. To pursue the path which can resolve problems from our minds and hearts, we need to search for the one direction. What are we to do after we find the direction? We are to look in the four directions around that direction. After looking around in four directions, we should find out what they are like and then look at the heavenly nature. Only then can you understand the state you are in.
The religion and ideas that you have now cannot serve as a perfect standard for your minds, heart and ideology. Why not? Because it is written that as a new era comes, all of them will fade away. Since our religions and thoughts have not become the perfect standard for our minds, hearts and ideology, the time has come when something new must become our center. This is such a time. You and I are in the same position. Jesus said that his disciples were not his servants but his friends. We are in the same position. The universe is not lofty. We must stand shoulder to shoulder with the universe.
No denomination has the quality of all directions. They are all one-sided. For this reason those who decide upon the heavenly heart as the center must be critical of their one-directionality and be open to the four directions. Should the mind and body always be in conflict? The mind should conquer the body. Then the standard by which the mind can guide the body to all four directions should be established. That is how it should be. Otherwise, there won't be a perfect solution.
For this reason you are not to sit still. Wait idle and see what will happen. You are not to boast, "I am great," or "I am some great scholar." People talk about this scholar and that scholar, but scientists are better than most of them. Other scholars will find that things may turn upside down. They should not be so proud. They should realize that they have greater responsibility. Those who mislead other minds with their hypothetical theories and malign the ways of Heaven will face eternal accusation once they go to the next world.
You all want to become heroes, right? If you try to become a hero that you were not born to become, you will be struck by lightning. You want to become great and successful, but if you attain success that God does not permit, you will perish. Your descendants will perish. This is why there are such cruel events as sudden assassinations or murders by knife. They say, in effect, "You are not qualified to be in that position." This is also something that Heaven directs them to do. This is the law of Heaven.
The time has come when we should throw away our ambitions and find ourselves. God longs for those who can rejoice in mind and body together. Have you ever experienced God saying, "Let me touch your hand," and then had Him hold your hands in joy? Is that how your minds are?
God created the physical world in order that our minds could be active and stimulate the actions of our bodies. You should become someone who sings for all things, all people, for the future world, the spirit world and the earthly world. You should be able to rejoice in your minds. You should become someone to whom God will come and whom God will receive with joy. This is not fancy or imagination. This is reality. It is a reality that this young man who is speaking to you has experienced and knows is true. Hence, even if Heaven and earth were to oppose me and even if Heaven and earth were to turn upside down, I am determined to walk this path. What kind of age is this? It is the Last Days. However, without a person who has established such a standard, the last judgment cannot be cast. The day of judgment will not come.
Myself and the Truth That I Need
What kind of truth should the truth of a religion be? We do not need a truth which explains only contents. A truth must appear which our bodies, minds and hearts can all endorse. We need that kind of ideology and thought. When such a truth is spoken around us or we somehow encounter it, our minds will be drawn to it. Even if you have to go do something that your body desires, and the circumstances are pressuring you to do so, you should deny them all; abandon them and go to the truth. If there are words of truth which pull you to be transcendent of time and space, you should pack up your things and follow it, carrying humble baggage on your back like Kim Sat-Kat did. You will not be ruined. Your name will live on in history.
To become that kind of person, you cannot continue to be as you have been in the past. You should take off the inappropriate mask. You should take off all masks of the conscience. This and that position in a religion, you should abandon them all. Although you are attending the Unification Church, I am longing for the day I can do away with the name. The reason that we have this name and organization is for certain conditions which require it. It is because we have opponents to fight against that we need it, but one day we must do away with it. What title do you need in the world of the mind? What title do you need in the world of the heart? Even if you don't do anything, you will know. Even if you don't do anything, you will naturally do things. The first standard is resolving this.
What kind of life have you led so far? What kind of position are you in today? You have to remember that you are struggling in two worlds. What you can rejoice in is not the direction that your body is dragging you toward, but the direction your mind is pulling you in.
When you look at the world today, you will find that the direction of the body and the external conditions are perfect. They have all been prepared. They have been prepared at several hundred points. They have gone beyond the individuals and families and have formed a world. In comparison, the direction of the mind is only a small percentage of that. When we think about that, we find that God wants to judge this world. What will we do about the sorrow of God? We have to find the course through which we can come to know sorrow and rejoice in our minds. For this reason, religious people of the past endured even as they were being beheaded. I do not want you to come to the Unification Church. However, if your bodies and minds and hearts submit to the words of truth that are spoken here, you should know that this place belongs to the end times.
What kind of person is God? He is the eternal Lord of our bodies. He is the eternal Lord of our hearts. In the original world, no matter how much a couple may love each other, the wife will not mind that the husband loves God more than he loves her. That is how it is. Moreover, even if the wife loves God more than she loves her husband, the husband will not object and ask her why. Heaven is a place where they can both be happy about the situation. God, who is in a position transcendent of any love of this world or of any content thereof, is the eternal Lord of our bodies. When we are in the garden of the bosom of God, who is the eternal Lord of our bodies, we are happy even if we die. All He needs to be is the eternal Lord of our minds and the eternal Lord of our hearts. What more would we want?
What kind of world is the world that you long for in your hearts? It is not the world which comes to us through the external senses or the five senses. Nor is it a world created by concepts. We long for the world of God's love, a world of love. In this world we can feel the love of God even from the smallest subatomic particle. You have to understand this. You must understand it. Jesus said, "Those who have ears to hear will hear." (Matt. 11:15) With everyday feelings you cannot feel the ideal world, which is circular and is in the position of subject partner.
The Joy You Cannot Trade
We should sing with our bodies and with our minds. We should praise with our hearts. What? Our Lord. Who is that? It is God. God is my father. He is my father. We are God's children. We should say, "What in the world can we exchange for God? What in the world can sever our relationship with Him?" The kind of love that people like, the ambitions that people cherish, and the glamour and luxuries that people desire are insignificant. If we can serve God, whom all things of nature and all beings want to honor as their eternal Lord, our Father, what greater happiness would there be? When a woman becomes the wife of some person of a high position, she brags and makes a big fuss about it. Yet God is our father. You cannot exchange this joy with anything under Heaven or on earth. God is looking for sons and daughters who can comfort Him and say, "God, You have searched for me through the suffering path of six thousand years. How many difficulties have You endured?" You have to understand this.
You Have to Learn to Judge Yourselves
To raise up such a son, God has been influencing our ancestors thousands of times during the many centuries of history. How many times have people betrayed Him? We have to understand that we have betrayed human hearts and the heavenly heart. We have betrayed the heavenly principles and the Father's heart. We have to repent for these sins.
What has trampled upon the heavenly principles? Since our bodies trampled upon them, our bodies are our worst enemies. Your enemies are not in front of you. Your bodies are your enemies. You have to suppress your body. You have to learn to judge yourself. For this reason people who walk the path of devotion go against conventional wisdom. They advocate laws which go in the opposite direction and walk against the trend.
To what extent have you put your lives on the line in your struggles? Among the people who attend the Unification Church, there are many who fight centering on the name of the Unification Church. However, you have to fight by your own virtue. When Jesus was carrying the cross, women wept bitterly and followed him. Jesus looked at them and said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not cry for me; cry for your own sake and the sake of your children." (Luke 23:28) You have to solve your own problems. You are the problem. You should not curse other people or hold grudges against other people. You should curse yourself. You should rectify your false self and receive Jesus, who is your friend of the original mind and heart. You should receive the Father of the mind, the Father of the heart, the Father of the body and the Father of all things. Only when you walk this path can you avert the judgment of the Last Days.
Prayer
Father! How much have You suffered? It took six thousand years to raise up one life. To establish one family, You have made all the preparations necessary to build a home. All the external environment of the world has become a garden in which the Father can rejoice. Thoughts and views are to be divided into two paths.
Likewise, in our world of the mind we should bring the conflict to an end. Please allow us to conquer the enemies, raise the banner of victory, and march forward toward the world. In doing so, on the day that we judge the enemies of Heaven, please allow us to be proud of the fact that we are the Father's sons and daughters. Let the Father's grace penetrate deeply into the hearts of the sons and daughters who have gathered here. Father, that is what we wish and desire.
We have been used by our enemies until now. Please allow us to do away with the past, when we could not fight for the original ideals which would bring us joy in our hearts; when we could not go toward the original world and the original Lord. Please allow us to become sons and daughters who can dash toward the heavenly heart.
We know that the world will end up being a world of one ideal. Please let us understand that the place where our hearts can become one with the Father's heart and sing is the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and the ideal garden. Please let a family who can sing of the heart of the Father appear before Heaven and earth.
Please let us be intoxicated in the love of the Father more intensely than we are intoxicated in the love of our own parents. Let us be intoxicated more intensely in the love of the Father than we are in the love of our children, so that we can sing of the love and rejoice in the love. We know that to create this environment is the will of Father and our wish. Please let that will and wish be materialized. Before our life comes to an end, we have to create the environment in which the Father can be happy and we can be happy. Please allow us to realize that world from this moment on.
Through all our relationships and words, through all people and through all material things, please guide us to keep to the place where our minds and hearts are moved. Allow us to become Your sons and daughters who can follow our hearts and minds and run toward those places of the heart and mind. Father, we are grateful that You have been with us. We prayed all these things in the name of the Lord. Amen.
