I Peter 1:21-25
Former Church Headquarters
Seoul, Korea
Prayer I
Father, You guided our ancestors without any hesitation, doing the most arduous work for six thousand years. Yet our ancestors often betrayed You. They failed to bring You joy, not standing on Your side in victory and glory. When we think about this, we cannot help but admit that we are shameful descendants of the Father.
Father! Please consider us with sympathy. Although we may be unworthy, You must hold us and restore us. Since You are well aware of this, when we think of how You have come in search of these unworthy ones, we are deeply ashamed before You. However, we have gathered with a heart of repentance before the Father who longs for us with a heart of love and is seeking us even today.
How many words of admonition do You want to give us? Yet You cannot speak as You want, and we have become incapable of communicating with You. Please guide us to understand that this is a source of infinite grief to Heaven. Let us mourn over our inadequacies.
The Last Days, when the power of death must be destroyed by the power of life, are nearing. Yet even as we thirst for life, we lack a heart of yearning for life. Please encourage and inspire us so that we can become sons and daughters who can step forward before our enemies bravely, with power and forceful heart, by depending upon the Father, the sovereign of life.
It is our wish that our hands be held by You and that we may take after You. Please, even for this hour, allow us to resemble the Father's internal sung-sang by removing all traces of defilement. Let us manifest the original beauty by resembling the external hyung-sang and glorify the Father. Father of love, we pray sincerely that in this hour You can rejoice with those of us who have cultivated the Father's original heart and have become the embodiments of the ideals of creation.
Please allow us to understand that the waves of death are hovering over us. Satan is trying his best to wipe away the power of life. Please let us first lay a solid foundation of the heart and rectify our bodies so that we can stand securely before the Father. Please guide us to feel that unless our minds and bodies are set on one goal and bow with a sincere heart, countless devils will trample us. Let us humbly and sincerely offer: "Please receive this, since this belongs to You."
Please eliminate all subjective concepts and thoughts of the past. Let us be filled with an ardent desire to call Heaven with a voice springing forth from the deepest part of our hearts. In this way, please let this be an hour when we can build a new relationship with Heaven. Give rise to a new heart, and bring about a new work of resurrection.
Now the wall of battle blocks our path. Please let us understand that we have arrived at the final stage of battle when we have to become the elite corps of Heaven and break through the wall. Please allow us to become brave soldiers of Heaven who can step forward and confront the power of death. Let us become sons and daughters of the Father who can march forward toward the enemy camp. Father, we pray that You will guide us to become the elite corps of Heaven who do not fear death and who can run silently toward victory.
Although those who are bowing their heads here may be different from one another, please let them have the same goal and the same heart. Even if our situations and states of heart may be different, let our heart toward God be the same. Please receive our sincere desire to do our very best for You.
Your sons and daughters who have gathered here have fought lonely battles. Struck by arrows shot by their families and society, they have been following the light of life and calling upon Heaven. Since You initiated everything, until the moment we can return victory and glory to the Father, please let there not be even one person who collapses out of fatigue. We have set out for the sake of the Father. Please allow us to bear the fruits of joy and broaden the foundation of the Father's glory.
This is a glorious day, so please bless all people. Bless the entire church, and bless the pitiful thirty million people of this nation.
We know that the light of life is in Heaven, and that the fate of walking the path of restoration depends upon Heaven. Father, You understand the situation of this people well. Father, You understand the state of the churches in Korea. We know that there must appear many living sons and daughters of the Father who can connect people's hearts and praise Heaven from the heart. If there are sons and daughters who are clinging to hidden altars and are desperately appealing to Heaven, please gather them together and fulfill Your words that You will use a small group of people to shame the larger multitudes.
Father! Just as the seven thousand people who did not submit to Baal were able to ward off the forces of evil, let there be a group of seven thousand people of goodness who can ward off Satan's malice. Please gather together into the Father's family all the hidden sons and daughters who can mourn with You, who can discuss and think with You. By connecting them together as members of Your family, please quickly restore the garden of glory and achieve liberation.
We entrust everything in this hour to You. Please preside over this hour from the beginning to the end. Please do not let our evil minds influence us. We pray that You will let the bows we offer You enable the whole of Heaven and earth to meet the standard of longing for the Father's glory and be in harmony. We prayed in the name of the Lord. Amen.
Prayer II
We sense that we have come into Your presence, and we lie prostrated after wandering in many places.
How can we ever pay back the grace You have given us by allowing us to call You "Our Father"? How can we ever pay back the grace of Your not hesitating to suffer any hardship to protect and purify us and for Your having guided us thus far? We do not have anything with which to pay it back. We cannot pay back the blessing even if we offer You our bodies; even if we offer all of our minds. We are still unworthy to even raise our heads before the Father's toils and accomplishments.
We know that the Father who guided us this far has the responsibility to save us, and that Father's strongest desire is to usher in the day of glory through us. When we reflect upon how the Father wants to be comforted by us, we are ashamed before the Father who put so much hope in us and who has persevered through the numerous difficulties of history.
If our flesh and blood can empathize with the Father's heart, and our bones have laid the framework of our character building, please let them become a basic unit which can testify to the Father's unchanging nature.
How much have You longed for the glorious and sacred incarnation whose every cell belongs to the Father and who returns glory to You? In history our ancestors could not honor You in this way. When they were following Heaven's way, they sometimes held grudges against You and abandoned You. We also know the historical fact that the chosen people had to give up their rights.
Father! Because we have inherited a sorrowful lineage, even if we may say we believe in Heaven today, we are so close to the evil world that we may betray You tomorrow. Please have compassion upon us. Please take hold of us. Please engraft our thirsty hearts onto the Father's heart of life, and give rise to the work of resurrection which can stir new life.
Many people have lived on the earth. Many people have been born and have died. Yet no one is concerned with the Father's situation and is mourning over the Father's sad heart. Please let us become those who can lament over the Father's situation and heart. Father, we sincerely wish that You will fill the earth with many sons and daughters who are burning with the desire to refute Heaven and earth, humanity, history and their fallen ancestors and to attend the Father.
For whose sake have we come here? It was not to see well-dressed or beautiful people. We who have ugly scars and wounds came to try to resemble the Father's holy sung-sang. Please do not reject us. Embrace us. You know that we are lonely because we do not have a place to rest our hearts and minds. Please comfort us during this hour.
Please appear before us with this heart and guide us as our subject partner of eternal life. Give us words of life which can penetrate our minds and bodies. Please let this be an hour when we can thank Your grace and bow to You.
We want to receive the words this hour. Father, please be with us. Please help us understand that if there is an internal gap between the speaker and the listeners, Satan will come in through that path. That is the realm Satan is seeking. Please let the heart of the speaker and the hearts of listeners be united so that we can be connected to the Father's heart and move in harmony with Him.
Your sons and daughters are on their knees and offering lonely and ardent prayers everywhere in South Korea. Please advise them, as they are suffering through all difficulties. You said that those who persevere till the end will receive salvation. Please guide us to glorify the Father by being patient and testify to the Father before the people as Your incarnations. Please bless the many churches and people who are gathering together. We prayed in the name of the Lord. Amen.
The title of the sermon I am about to give you now is "We Who Are Walking a Life Course." I will speak upon this subject.
We Do Not Know the Origin and Purpose of Our Life
It is commonly said that people are born and will pass away. From ancient times, even the greatest personalities have passed away. We have to think about how this pattern in history and Heaven relates to us. We will one day pass away. Although it is not clear what the relationship is, we know clearly that we came to the earth and will pass away from it after interacting in a complicated manner with many things and under the influence of some ideals.
For what purpose did we come and for what purpose are we going? Although many philosophers and religious people have tried to answer this question with all their hearts and souls, human history has progressed in sorrow. This continues to this day.
We are in an intense moment. We cannot deny that we are walking a life course that we cannot avoid. We were born through the lineage of our parents and found ourselves in a world that we never even thought about before. It is our fate that at some point in our life, we will grow old and die. No matter how great a person may be, he cannot stop the passing of his golden youth. We know the sad reality that there is no way to prevent one's aging, no matter how hard one may try.
Several times in the course of your life you probably felt deep remorse and regret during a moment of reflection, as well as a strong urge to stir things up around you. Why were we born, why should we live, and where should we go? You should not think that you were the cause of your birth. We do not know the origin and purpose of our birth. Although we were born, we were not born because that's what we wanted to do. Although we are living, it is not because we want to live that we are alive. When we die, it will not be because we want to die.
Then what do you have that is still worth being proud of? We are not born out of our own desire; we cannot live the way we want to; and we cannot avoid death. We should not be proud. If we are proud, we will only be miserable. Since we were born and are leading our life, we are to pass away after living such a life.
What is the purpose of this life? You should reflect on this question once more. Since you are not the cause, your purpose must not lie with you. Who does not want to be happy in his life? Who does not want to lead a rich and glorious life? Yet we cannot live as we want to. Still, we want to be proud of ourselves, live as we wish, and be remembered the way we want to be. In each of our hearts, we find this clash of contradictions.
Why do we, who did not cause our own birth, desire something great, wish to live well, and seek a more valuable and greater purpose? Is it because of ourselves, or is it due to some reciprocal purpose? We have to understand this clearly. There is probably no one who would raise his hand and claim that it is because of he himself. Were you born through your parents' lineage because that was what you wanted? Although your parents gave birth to you, they cannot determine the course of your life. They cannot set its outcome the way they want to. They can neither kill you nor save your life.
Who possesses this power? The day we can clarify the possessor of this power, we can rejoice centering on ourselves. People of the present era, however, are struggling and have failed to surpass this standard. We have to understand that we are these people.
For this reason, we are pursuing something greater in our hearts. Moreover, we want to push away the realm of death in our lives and become connected to a greater life and world. Moreover, since we have a heart of emotion and love, we want to transcend the world of human emotions and connect with the world of eternal and unchanging emotions. Although it is hard to explain or demonstrate, we are often pulled by these feelings. The purer your conscience is, the more you will feel that some force is prodding you to forsake this world full of contradictions.
Our Course of Life in which We Shun Evil and Seek Goodness
For this reason no one alive on the earth can claim to be a good person. Upon our birth we find that we are not from a good lineage but an evil lineage. After our birth we find that we are not qualified to stand before the ideal of re-creation or to sing of our value. We cannot deny that we are unworthy, immature and imperfect. In Christianity such people are called fallen.
People's original minds were not born to live happily in a fallen world. Although human beings have been trying to turn away from the fallen path for six thousand years, they could not set the standard upon which they can claim they have avoided it completely.
Our flight from evil and our pursuit of goodness as we seek to reach a purpose is called the course of life. The path of destroying evil and adhering to goodness every day, even in the face of death, is the course of life.
For this reason your minds are shivering in fear. This is not true when you are heading towards the original homeland of the heart. When you are under the control of evil, you will feel fear that something has grabbed you. We have to remember clearly that this is because our original minds shun the sinful history, the powers of death, and the forces of darkness. We are in the course of fleeing. If there is a God, what will He do with all these refugees? How will God instruct the humanity of the world who must flee evil? If there is a Heaven, He will surely have to come up with a set of teachings.
What kind of course is the path of flight? There is no leader on earth. No one is in position to deal with other people's situations or to share his situation with other people. Although many people have lived, the fate of humanity has always been to flee. They are busy pursuing their own paths. This is the fate of a refugee. Ladies and gentlemen, when a criminal is escaping from the prison he was locked in, what will he see before him? He will surely see the path of survival, the free world, which is certainly a world he yearns for. The stronger his desire for the free world and the world of his ideal, the more he will struggle to escape from the situation he is in.
However, although humanity has to flee, they do not know the whereabouts of the garden they crave and hope for. Under these circumstances, human history continues to circle around. We have to understand clearly that people have not understood their purpose, direction and situation.
We know that human beings committed sin before Heaven when they fell. We are escaping from the unjust bondage of Satan, so we are deserters and refugees from the viewpoint of this world. Where is salvation? Where is the Kingdom of Heaven? This world is a city from which we must flee.
When we are running away, there is a way to flee successfully on the personal level. Since we cannot run away by ourselves, there are ways to flee with the family, as a people, and on the world and cosmic levels. If God does not instruct us in these ways, there is no way that we can refer to Him as the Creator, a being of love, or an absolute author of ideals.
Then where is the standard based upon which Heaven can teach us about the ways of running away? This is not some academic theory. These ways are not in Heaven. They are inside your minds. You have to understand this clearly: they are found in your minds.
The Foundation upon which Heaven Can Teach People How to Escape
The mind acts according to the principles of the universe. It wants to move without limits toward goodness. This is like a magnetic needle pointing to north and south. The principle of nature would never lose the direction and circumvent goodness. There is no such phenomenon. The human mind also seeks to move toward a certain purpose. We have to understand clearly that the mind which is orientated toward life moves through the heart, desires to distill out the truth, desires to unite with the whole, and desires to live in harmony with the doctrine of the whole. This mind is the foundation upon which Heaven can reveal the escape route.
We who are fleeing must fight if we are to maintain a heart which is orientated toward the heavenly nature. We have to fight. We have to understand clearly that depending on whether or not we reach the goals of escape, we may or may not attain salvation. This is the process we are walking through. How should we run?
Ladies and gentlemen, think about this carefully. When we are in a fight, we have to fight in a way that God desires, use the strategies that God desires, and reach the point which God desires. It is inevitable that we have to establish values which comply with the program of the sponsor.
Ladies and gentlemen, please reflect once more upon what state you are in. Since we cannot deny that we acting in a world of purpose and we are chained to that world, the crucial question we must address is what our situation is in the escape route of our life. There are those who are not awake, even when layers of the enemies' ranks are blocking the path before them. They are only dreaming about their situation, or they do not know that they are in a deep sleep. There are those who have fallen from fatigue in the middle of the path they should run on. There are all kinds of cases.
You should find yourself again. You who are participating here today should set the standard of heart, and, based upon that, discern your position and state of being and analyze yourself. Your mind yearns for something, yet without clearly understanding, you feel uneasy and fearful. For this reason, not only would you feel through natural phenomena that you should not be in the situation you are in; you will also sense it through all the things you see around you. Hence, even through these things you will have to understand the situation and state that you are in.
If you can become spiritually open, you will see that countless religious people of the distant past are crying out before the people. Many spirits are running by your side today. They are trying to awaken you by saying, "Let's go; enemies are coming." Yet your ears do not hear these voices; your eyes do not see; your bodies do not sense this. This is how tragic the situation is. There is nothing more mournful than this. This is not something that only you will lament over. This will become an unforgivable sin before Heaven, who is trying to connect the value of existence to the world of the ideals of the whole.
It Is Our Fate to Run toward Our Original Homeland
When a person is walking the religious path, it is not enough for him just to run. He first has to make preparations to reach the goals and lay the necessary internal foundation. Then he must run toward the purpose.
Human beings lost the truth, lost the original homeland of their heart, and lost the source of their life because they fell. They also lost the embodiment of love. They lost all four.
What lies deep inside the heart of someone who is fleeing? It is the desire to return to their original homeland. What qualifications do they need to register as citizens of that land? You must master the truth. You have to understand all secrets of the evil world of Satan and possess the truth which can explain all problems of the fallen world. After that you need to run forward. To reach the goal of connecting the satanic realm to Heaven's realm, human beings have to long for the homeland of truth, conscience, life and love. Then they must run toward it.
For this reason the six-thousand-year history has been the course of discovering the truth. If we do not find the truth, which is absolutely necessary for our running, and obtain the answer, then all the running will be to no avail. When we appear with a clear sense of purpose rooted in the truth, we will deny all values. If the truth cannot be explained, nothing will have value. For this reason, humanity is now in a state where they are groping for the direction of their minds and the direction of the truth.
In history up until now, there is no agreement as to whom we may call the king of truth and the root of truth. Therefore, humanity has been swept away by ideologies and doctrines. There cannot be two truths. There is only one, eternal and unchanging. Yet we do not find one truth around which all of humanity can unite.
What has been established by codes of ethics or an orderly society? You may think that people have sought the standard of truth which can respond to the level of conscience and that these can resolve all problems, but that is not true. Even if people have resolved them, the greater task is how to deal with the life and death problem which is approaching. How are they going to deal with this life-threatening problem? The human mind wants to connect to the infinite world. We cannot ignore this function of the mind. There is nothing in the universe which moves without a sense of purpose. Moreover, there is nothing which functions outside of the relationship of value centered on purpose.
The mind has the absolute conviction that there is some undeniable, absolute standard and it forcefully proclaims that we must ward off all evil conditions which are infiltrating the mind internally and externally. That mind must have a destination. In that destination, it will be able to manifest some relationship of value before Heaven. All we have to do is live according to the desire and commands of our minds. Even if we may not be aware of the entire purpose for it, we should live like that in order to establish valuable relationships in our life.
Have you ever asked your minds where their original homeland is? Try and see. History has progressed and cultures have advanced. External environments have evolved and advanced to a certain degree according to culture or human intelligence. However, the world of the heart has remained unchanged. This world of the heart does not experience revolutions or progress; it is inherently eternal and unchanging. When you have a certain sense of purpose and set a clear goal, you will run limitlessly. When the needle of a compass is lined up to the north and south poles, there is no way to turn it unless you apply a force stronger than the force pulling the needle to the poles. Likewise, the world of the conscience cannot be moved. The function of the mind which cannot be moved lies in the realm of ideology. When a clear sense of purpose is set for the mind, you can certainly cause an action that can pull every cell and every emotion.
Then the problem is simple. No matter how great the function of the mind may be, it cannot be more effective than the level the person has reached. Do you understand? It cannot make a greater impact than the state the person has attained. Even though it stands in the position of a subject partner, it cannot be much more effective. Because the mind stands in the reciprocal position to control the body, it cannot function outside of the reciprocal relationship.
For this reason there are gaps among consciences. Although they have many kinds of differences, each conscience is somehow oriented towards the original nature. A system of thought and beliefs emerges to secure the direction of the conscience. A view of life or the universe, some doctrine, assertion or truth appears. It is a perfected entity which has a reciprocal nature. When there is a perfect minus, we can have some understanding of a perfect plus. When there is a perfect plus, we can establish a perfect minus. This is a natural phenomenon. Since there is an eternal, unchanging and perfect subject partner in Heaven, we must strive through our hearts to resemble Him and establish a common base with Him.
God cannot shift the standard of the heart at whim. It can be moved only in harmony with the body. We have to control our body, put it in a certain situation, and align the orientation of the heart with the laws of the universe. God wants such laws of truth to be established. If a truth appears which can link the world together and join it with the principles of Heaven, the conscience can expand outward without limits and be active.
This is the reason human beings have sought truth. However, in the civilized world, which prides itself on twentieth-century culture, we have not seen the emergence of a truth which encourages us to establish a natural common base with the infinite absolute being whom we want to seek from the depth of our hearts. For this reason human beings have not been able to transcend the grief of the Fall.
Thus, you have to understand that God has suffered many sorrows which He encountered in His work as He tried to instruct human beings in various ways and to connect them to the one purpose. How laborious must God's path have been as He was walking our path of escape through which we can find the direction of the truth in our lives? When we discuss all the sad hearts and miserable situations in human history, you many think that human history has been a fearsome experience. However, you have to understand that for the guide of that history, a more fearsome battle is taking place even at this moment. Without such struggles, incredibly miserable events will unfold which will prevent you from sleeping peacefully at night.
Since the mind is the beginning and end and can connect to the spirit and the original self, until the moment all sorrows are erased and we are liberated from them eternally, the mind will stimulate the same feeling of sadness. This is what you have to feel. Since human beings caused this sorrow, human beings connected us to that sorrow and prolonged it, it is only natural that judgment is given to human beings.
The Path We Must Walk
Human beings should find the truth and dash toward the original homeland. Next, they have to find life. Where is the subject partner of my life? Where is the subject partner of the eternal and unchanging life? It is said that God is love and Jesus is love, so where is the subject partner of love? Spirit world is the place one goes after one is evaluated for one's statement, "This is the value of the truth that I have. This is the standard of conscience I possess. This is my standard of love." In the spirit world, there is an extremely good world in Heaven and there is the world of Satan, an evil world which opposes it.
What do you possess? You have to find it. We have come to realize that this is the relationship of our heart, based on our observation of the phenomena of the heart. We should pioneer a relationship of naturally standing in the position of a minus before the origin of my infinite heart, the position of object partner before the subject partner. To do this we need an elucidating truth of the past, present and future which can liberate our body, which is bound. Do you understand? This is why we seek the truth. This is why we seek a doctrine.
Moreover, a great and brave soldier should appear who can surpass the ancestors who were searching for the truth. I await the appearance of a brave one who can challenge the accomplishments of the sages and prophets of the past and the countless religious leaders who led lives of devotion. Shouldn't this come about?
This is an indispensable quality that a person leading a life of flight must possess and cultivate. People of today have lost control over their destiny. They did not choose to be born in this kind of environment, and they do not possess the causal qualities with which to solve their own problems. Therefore, even if they always want to have valuable mutual relationships, they cannot forge them.
Observe the people who boast of their own value in their life. See if they are destroyed or not. If you are a braggart when you have nothing to be proud of, even the things in your environment will condemn you. This is the original impulse of the conscience. How do you feel when someone who has nothing to be proud of is bragging? Do you want to praise him? No. You probably want to hit him. This is not an evil impulse. This is a natural, original reaction. You who are in this situation, please keep this in mind and look at those who brag about their own value.
What teachings are there? What concepts? The world of conscience does not have teachings and views. You have to understand this clearly. The world of conscience does not have doctrines and concepts. It is a world that cannot be analyzed.
How much can we be proud of our value today? It is foolish to brag about your doctrine and identity. Please examine critically whether or not you feel ashamed before the truth which is centered on some doctrine, before the heart or life which possesses heavenly qualities, before the heart of love. Your search for yourself will begin from there.
The Greatest Desire in Human Life
Since this is our fate, we have to walk the path. This is inescapable and absolute. The greatest desire in human life is the heart which can rejoice in the homeland of the truth; the life by which the truth and heart can act in union; and the love which can join truth, heart and life and evoke heavenly love. What situation are you in today? If you have a healthy body and emotions, what are you gazing at? What are you thinking about and in what direction is your body moving? These are the things you will be judged on.
My hand, how much have you longed for the truth and how hard have you worked to find the truth? My body, how much have you cooperated with the mind which is racing toward the truth and the original self? These are the questions you should ask yourself. If you have the attitude, "Let things unfold as they will; I have eaten a meal and have slept well, so I am content," and lead a relaxed life, then your life will pass by you and you will crash into the cliff of death. Ladies and gentlemen! Human beings are not valueless. The master of the universe did not put us on earth so we could lead such disorderly and purposeless lives.
We cannot ignore the fact that there is some relationship which seeks to reach a goal through the phenomenal world based on the relationship of cause and purpose. Then how can human beings, who should be concerned with synthesizing the relationship and discussing its value, be so petty? You are not that kind of people. There may be smart people, but those who want to say, "I am educated," and try to escape should knock on this door. This is what I want to say.
We should elevate the direction of our minds. We should elevate the world of the heart. We are not to look down upon the earth alone but up to higher grounds. We should not just look at the world; we should look up to Heaven.
Our world of heart is not satisfied with our life on the earth. The purpose of the earth and the function of the conscience in this world do not want to stay where they are. You probably cannot deny your desire to possess some power in your life, to seek some satisfaction, and to build an eternal relationship based upon which your heart can expand infinitely. Then where is the truth, mind, life and love which can overcome the Last Days of history? You should look for them.
The Way to Become a Perfect Bride before the Messiah
If the Messiah, the Savior, were to appear on this earth, he should have a purpose and the ability to put it into practice. He should connect people to God. He should be able to demonstrate this through his life. Otherwise, he cannot be a Messiah or Savior.
From the beginning of human history until now, religions have provided us some paths either directly or indirectly, from new angles and directions. Among the religions, Christianity has made great contributions to the formation of the world culture.
What is at the core of Christianity? It is Jesus. Those who believe say that Jesus is the Savior. What kind of person should a Savior be? He should be the origin of truth, mind, life and love. If he cannot be the origin of mind, he must at least have a reciprocal relationship with the absolute being.
When we reflect on the divine providence from this perspective, we find that there is no one in history who spoke words as great as those of Jesus. We can see how great and admirable the words he spoke were just from his saying, "I am the only begotten son of God." He is admirable even if we do not consider him the Savior. Has history ever seen a person who gave such great and satisfying expressions? Even if it were all his imagination and empty of content, has history ever heard such great words?
Jesus also said, "Love me more than you love anyone else." No matter how passionate a person may be, has he ever heard such fine words? Jesus was the most passionate man. Isn't this so? He also said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one can go to the Father except by me." Based on this logic, Jesus' words can be explained and come into agreement with all conditions. Hence, I want to call him the Messiah. What do you think?
Jesus was the prince who came to liberate humanity from the bridle of sin. He was the vanguard who came to pioneer our course of life. Do you understand what this means? He alone was the prince of flight in Heaven and earth. All of humanity for generations must escape from the bridle of sin, and Jesus came to the earth as their prince. If you feel this is who Jesus is, you should have the truth explained to you. When you cling to this Jesus, the original standard of conscience should be set clearly. When you see Jesus you should develop the eternal quality of life within. When you see this Jesus you should feel the emotion of absolute love. Otherwise, you cannot become a perfect bride.
Ladies and gentlemen; Jesus is the only begotten son of the God who created all things. The only begotten son is the royal prince of God. He is the royal prince who will live eternally in the heavenly kingdom. Because God raised him for this purpose, the day we await is the day of the Second Advent when we can meet him.
Because of this situation, human beings could not build a relationship of absolute and eternal life. No matter how faithful you may be to Jesus, you may one day fall away. Even if you honor him as the bridegroom, you may betray him. There are Christian churches which advocate truths, but they cannot set the direction of our mind correctly. For this reason Jesus must return.
What must we pioneer today? More than having faith in Jesus we should find the truth that lies hidden in the Bible. In order to understand how the historical facts which caused misfortune in human life are connected to the world of the present and future, we have to penetrate through the dark walls. In order to penetrate through them, we should fight and win. Only when people of this capacity appear will we be able to pioneer the world of truth.
Where did the vanguards in the past who stood close to goodness and truth search? They did not search for the new morning of glory. Although they felt the glory in their hearts, in their lives they were searching the dark alleys of hell.
Where the Roots of Truth Are Implanted
That is where the truth is connected. That is where the foundation of truth implants its roots. Truth does not implant its roots in glamorous high society. The roots of truth have to be implanted first in the humble alleys of a culture. The roots of truth are not to be implanted in Heaven, but on this fallen earth. The roots of truth are not to be found in the Kingdom of Heaven but at the bottom of hell. Heaven's new standard of life will be established the day the roots of truth are implanted there, the day that the one who can communicate with Heaven appears.
Therefore, although we establish the truth in an ideal way and as our hope, the course to pursue it requires us to search in the back alleys. We search the back alley of life, mind and love as we look upon the symbol of life. We have to understand that this is the basis for seeking the highest spiritual attainment. A person who is living a life of devotion may be happy from the original standpoint, but he struggles in the back alleys of faith and sings this song in his life. This is the misery of religious life.
What is the origin and motivation of its reform and the creation of a new culture in a nation? When the mind explodes within you which can cling to a miserable person and cry for him, the flames of new hope burn. The historical flames will burn. For this country to be prosperous, for this country to have hope, we must create an environment in which we can shed tears on behalf of miserable people with a pure and sincere heart. Then this country will conquer the world.
What was Jesus' situation on the earth? He did not praise the value of Jehovah from the absurd position of seeking the beauty of some fantastic ideal world. Although his internal contents were like that, his life was that of a prince in hell. This is what you have to understand. In his life, he was a royal prince in hell. He exerted himself more than anyone else to advocate and pioneer the truth. When he learned one thing, he was concerned about ten things. Although the people of this earth feel one type of pain, that of solving their problems and those of their own generation, Jesus felt countless types of pain. You have to understand that he led the life of a prince in hell.
Even when he entered hell, he had the authority to conquer it. He did not attain it freely. If he judged, punished and sentenced sinners without having had the same experience himself, God could not be a true God. If the leader of Korea punishes a violator of the law from a position of serious empathy, this country may survive. He should never say, "What you do has nothing to do with me."
Jesus came to this earth with such a feeling in his heart. He came with this power and told people to love him. Why did he tell them to love him? What he meant to say is, "You who love only temporarily! No matter how precious you may be, you should abandon all that you have and love me. Then God will love you on a higher level." Although he appeared in a humble manner, the words he spoke were completely the opposite. He could not have spoken those words if he did not have some inner quality of confidence and pride. Because of this Jesus was able to be the Messiah.
Truth Is the Weapon with which to Defeat Satan
We may not know how our relationships with one another have been formed. We do not know what kind of past ties exist between us and the people we see around us, but if we could discuss the substantial Jesus rather than pursue the Jesus who passed away, how great would it be? Many people have believed in the historical Jesus and honored him as the historical savior. Yet there has been no one who related to him with the perfect standard based upon which one can discuss the value of the substantial Messiah in the providence of God. One who is born as a man, born as a person who has an historical body on this earth, will become the prince of truth.
Jesus said, "I have many things to tell you, but you cannot understand them now." (John 16:12) He also said, "You do not believe me even when I talk to you of things of the earth; how can you believe me if I tell you about the things of Heaven?" (John 3:12) Jesus was not just the incarnation of truth; he was also the origin of conscience, life and love. If there is some great person who can suggest to Jesus, "Isn't this like this? Shouldn't this be like that?" Jesus would not chastise us if we were to welcome that person with both hands and honor him more than we do Jesus.
Since we have learned the standard of the Messiah, what should we do? Since we have come to understand Jesus, what must we do? Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life; no one can go to Father without going through me." He also said, "The Kingdom of Heaven is in your mind," and "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." All these words were about himself.
Bringing Jesus to life out of the Bible is the greatest duty of Christians. He said, "I am in you and you are in me," so we should let Jesus come alive in our hearts. Otherwise, if we do not meet the standard that the mind pursues, everything will be shattered. Only those who can let him come alive in their hearts, in the place where their life thrives and their heart moves, can receive the Lord. I do not have any desire for a fabricated Lord. We have no need for such a Lord.
For the human beings who are escaping, there will be attacks by enemies and defensive preparations by the enemies. What is the one standard that can defeat them? It is the truth. Truth can clarify everything of the satanic world and condemn Satan, who betrayed God, as a sinner and prevail over him.
What is Satan like? He is like a judge. Jesus is a defense lawyer. God is also the judge. We are the criminals. This is how it is. However, while we are fleeing, we have to pose as the attorneys and serve Jesus as the defense lawyer and God as the judge and punish Satan as the criminal. When we reveal everything about Satan, beginning from his origin, and charge, "These are Satan's crimes, so we hope that Heaven will punish him," then Jesus will agree and the Father will give the sentence. If we can attend such a Jesus and Father, what can we be afraid of? We have to possess this standard of triumph.
If we have such a relationship with Jesus, we will not face any obstacle in the world of the heart. There cannot be any fear in that heart. Because the phenomenon of fear becomes active based on evil, if someone can reveal it clearly and stand in the position to drive out its source, then even that which has the power to dismantle Heaven and earth cannot conquer the person's life.
An Honorable Guest Who Can Be Invited by Heaven
Ladies and gentlemen, in the society in which we live, the tide of truth is infiltrating even though we are unaware of it. The flow of the world of conscience is seeping in. It is connecting to the feeling of life. The relationship of the heart is coming around. Yet have you ever shed tears and welcomed them, saying, "Please come"? If you have never done so, you will remain a sinner before Heaven and earth.
If there is someone who sheds tears and says, "Tide of truth, please strike my mind. Movement of God's heart, please dwell in my heart. Feelings of God's life, please dwell in my mind. The relationship of God's love, please govern my heart," he is greater than a Ph.D. You have to understand that such a person is an honorable guest whom Heaven can invite and welcome.
Jesus was such a person. Jesus looked at the sins and evils of the people and said, "People! You do not know that the heart of God is springing forth within your minds. You do not know that the eternal and unchanging life is vibrating in your life. You do not know that God's love dwells within your minds, that there is a God who is shedding tears with a mournful heart in this hour."
Jesus passed away. Although Jesus came, he passed away without being able to fulfill all he was supposed to accomplish. Who will be responsible for what he left unfinished? Who will inherit the truth that we must learn and teach it to us? Who will pioneer the mind that we should have? Who will establish the standard of life? Who will build the connection with the love with which we should forge an eternal relationship? You have to understand that Jesus is forced to lament and pray even on the right hand of God.
This person, Jesus, is our bridegroom. Ladies and gentlemen! No matter how wooden a person may be, when he looks at the world with such a heart, he will find there the tears, flesh and blood of Jesus. When he looks at Heaven and earth he will sense that the love of God is penetrating into their hearts. When he then runs on the path that others do not travel, without a rest during the day and night, he is a helper of God. God needs such a person. Humanity awaits the appearance of such a person.
Korea also awaits the emergence of such young men and women. If there are young men and women who can pray, "Heaven! Earth! Please let me take on the burden of this fateful sorrow," when others are basking under glamorous neon lights, this country will never perish.
If we forget that there is an ideology of life which has implanted its roots in the back alleys of all things, then we will perish. Before we rise to high places, we should become a sacrificial offering in a lowly place and shed blood and fall, crying out for the people and the future of this country with concern. If there are statesmen who can listen to those voices of concern and seek them, then their country will prosper. Such has been the history of Heaven.
Among the sages who came to this earth or great persons who were chosen by Heaven, was there anyone who did not shed tears, blood and sweat? Those who remain on their path, even when they are struggling in the back alleys of life and are trampled upon, pushed out and fallen down, are walking the religious path.
Ladies and gentlemen! Let us honor those who are in sorrow. They struggled and were persecuted in order to implant the roots of life in the back alleys of death. This people broadened the foundation by connecting with the flow of history, life, truth, heart and love even without being totally aware of it. Heaven cannot ignore such people.
Jesus who said that he will be responsible for all humanity from the back alley of the world was not a Messiah of glory. He was not a Messiah who could enjoy love, joy and happiness. He was a Messiah of agony and sorrow. He was a Messiah of death. You have to understand that Jesus took responsibility in the most unjust back alleys and was sold at a wholesale price. To believe Jesus is not to rush to him and cling to him. Rather, it is shedding tears and holding onto him, saying "Now we are about to die with You." Do you deny this?
Jesus said, "Whoever wants to follow me should deny himself and bear the cross each day and follow me." (Luke 9:23) What is the self to deny here? It is the authority of the satanic world. The powers of self-centered individuals, the self-centered standard of criticism, and the self-centered world come from Satan, the king of this world. Those who sever these and shed lonesome tears are fertilizers who are absorbed as an element and lay the foundation to implant the roots of life. Struggling in the dark and troubling alleyways of life, these are the people who are living a religious life.
The Lord Who Emerges Again with New Words of Truth
Christians today should lead this kind of life. Those who praise the dreams of the new age and are content to be at the cutting edge of a splendid culture will be denounced by history and forced to stand for judgment at the bottom of this world. Conversely, if there is a group of people who say, "All of you go back; I will guard this place," and fill up the ditch of death with their own blood, sweat and tears and make a level ground, then God will work through that group.
History is created with new ideologies and in new forms, yet it does not begin from a good situation but from a bad situation. You've learned all this. For this reason, where there is sin, there will be much divine grace.
We who must go now should open our hearts and protest, "God! Although Jesus came, I could not establish a standard in my heart which would enable me to go confidently before the absolute being as His object partner. What am I to do?" We should cling to Jesus and protest. We should cling to the Bible and protest. If we were only to listen to the words of other people, we would perish. The Korean people have suffered the misfortune of becoming a colony of another country because they listened to someone else's words.
Now, as we stand before God who has been seeking humanity speechlessly, we should not unconditionally believe other people's words. There are fundamentally different forms of words. You cannot believe others.
Therefore, although it is said that the foundations of heart and truth in our hearts should be like this and that, when these words do not come true, we should protest. If you want to protest, you should be able to defend yourself as such and such a person. If you say, "Father, this should have become such and such because of this and that. Why was that not realized?" then God will immediately say, "That is true." Have you thought about this?
Christianity today says that the Lord will return. Buddhism claims that the Maitreya will return, while Confucianism says that the true man will appear. Each religion is talking about the return of the Lord. They do not mean that he will simply relive the words in the Bible. He is not someone who will relive the words of the Bible or repeat the words of an already established faith. These religions are talking about the return of a Lord who will come with a new truth of higher content. For this reason, if Heaven exists, we should protest until we can obtain an answer concerning him from Heaven. Have you ever tried that? The time has come when we should protest, "Is that really true about Jesus? Is God really like that?" Only then will history make progress.
Although many faithful people worshipped the founders of their religions and took a direction in history, that did not manifest itself in their lives. For this reason we should rise above the founders of religions and grab hold of God. Shouldn't we do so? Since not everything can be explained by what is written in the Scriptures, we should rise above their pinnacle and protest to God. We are to protest about the founders of religions.
What is the purpose of believing in Jesus? What are we to accomplish by believing in him? To become his bride? What are we to do once we become brides? To live a good life? What are we going to do once we live a good life? We are to reciprocate. Hence, if this has not come true, then shouldn't we protest? Our goal is to meet Jesus, our bridegroom. Yet have we ever received the love of Jesus? That is not what I believe. Regardless of whether Jesus loves us or not, I want to reach beyond Jesus and receive the love of God. Jesus is a condition. He is the condition through which we can receive the love of God.
Thus, Paul said, "Who will ever cut me off from the love of God which dwells within our lord Jesus Christ?" God's love within Jesus is not the love related to a bride. If Jesus cannot take a bride and receive God's blessing, he cannot inherit the great work of Heaven. You have to understand this. You should build a relationship of God-centered love.
Have you ever opened the gates to your heart to obtain this quality and felt the waves of truth? Have you ever prodded an extremely clear conscience? Have you ever grabbed onto the traces of life coming through the voice of your conscience and praised it? Have you ever felt something in your heart which is connected to the infinite world and emerged with an explosive power of life? Have you ever felt it?
God Desires to Express Himself through Human Beings
God created people in such a way that they can feel a corresponding amount of the truth that they cultivate in themselves, the emotions of the heart, the emotions of life, and the emotions of love that they generate in themselves. Isn't that necessary for them to receive love? If they have the appearance of being dead, who will love them?
Only those who have felt the stimulation which would empower them to generate some aspects of truth, heart, mind, life and love will hear God say to them, "You are truly my son." Only then will you be alive. Do you deny that?
If they are not careful, they are sure to misunderstand. Only those who stand upon the foundation of their original nature and who possess certain motivating qualities can establish a common base with the absolute one. This will never happen to those who merely consume what they are given and fall after they are raised up.
What is the state you are in as you flee to the city of refuge? What does Heaven desire? We have to understand that God has been struggling for six thousand years as He has longed for human beings to become the sources of truth. You will understand through your own experience that when you can enter that state, you can confidently say, as Jesus did, "I am in God and God is in me."
No one can hold back a prince of escape who feels this motivation and is willing to walk the path of death. Ladies and gentlemen, he moves in unison with the truth, is in harmony with the world of the heart and is connected to the principles of life. He manifests the world of the heart and the beauty of the infinite creation. For this reason Heaven will protect that person.
If we can talk about our value in this realm and talk about the relationship between God and ourselves, how happy will God be as He looks upon it. If I wrote a book and said, "So and so is like this," do you think that the person will say, "You! Why do you offend me?" What do you think? How do you think he will feel if you sing him a pleasant song and say, "Although you do not say it out loud, isn't this how you feel?" How would you feel?
God's ideal of creation is to bring out in people of the present age all the stimulating emotions which lie within Him, and rejoice as He appreciates their value. Those who live centering on themselves will lose themselves and perish. Those who praised their own value will fade away in death. Sons of filial piety, women of chastity, patriots in a country composed of tribes will disappear when the country is swept away by the worldwide trend of thought and is destroyed.
When we are running toward the city of escape we have to cut away everything that is individual and all self-centered emotions. If in the six-thousand-year history such a person appeared, wouldn't God bless him? God laments because such a person does not appear. If such a young man appears in Korea, we can invite God to Korea. This is not nonsense. When a receiver has the capability to pull in electronic waves forcefully, it can receive the energy to shoot them back out. It can possess such generating power.
Human beings lamented over their own situation and mourned their own limited value. This is miserable. The Messiah is the brave one who comes with the authority to shout to those who are struggling over the ideals of their family, nation and world: "All of you, step aside!"
The World of Relationships for the Accomplishment of Goals
Conceptual views of history will not last. If we cannot elucidate this universe, history will continue. History could not lay all our standards and foundations and could not solve them, so we have to begin answering such fundamental problems. If we can be in tune externally with the flow of history and internally with the direction of the mind, and if at the point of transition where we can transcend we stand before Heaven, God will say, "You are a victorious prince." This is what I believe.
Now the time has passed when we should listen to someone's words. More than any truth and more than the words of the greatest teacher, we should listen to the voices of our mind and pursue the mind which we yearn to listen to over and over. Then something infinite which we do not even understand will come out. This is creation.
When a distinguished scientist solves an atomic formula, there are times when he struggles because he cannot find a common base to relate it with. When he then secures a common base, he can derive all the answers. To secure this base, he has to forget sleeping and eating and forget all feelings associated with his life and all the things of the senses. He must concentrate. When he struggles so desperately, he can manifest an internal reality as an external, demonstrable formula.
Human beings at most can play this intermediary role. What is the state we are in today? We are not in the causal world or in the world of destination. We are struggling in the world of relationships. Yet this world of relationships is passing us. When we solve a mathematical formula, once we plug in several numbers to a formula and obtain an answer, the answer is all that we need.
Since the world of relationships has become miserable, if there is someone who can explain the misery of this world and connect it with the will and heart of God, he will live for eternity. He will never be judged with history. You have to understand that he will never perish with the last chapter of history.
In conclusion, the problem lies in each of us. What is the reason that the Jesus we believe in was praying so desperately, not eating well, not putting on good clothes, not sleeping at night? It is because he was busy walking his path of life. He had to resolve his own path, resolve the path of the people, and resolve the path of the world. That is why he had to exert himself many hundreds of times over. You should think about how much you should exert yourselves to pioneer the path of your life.
I hope that you will not be deserters and not crash during the takeoff on the path of life but will exhibit the qualities of a brave soldier who can fly into the vast sky like a jet.
Prayer
Father! Although many people have been born and passed away, no one has built a relationship of life which is transcendent of time and space. People in history longed for such a person. Even today they are bitterly appealing to You.
Your sons and daughters who lie prostrated here find after hearing the words that the problem is not someone else's problem; it is their own. Reciprocal views on existence were not the problem; the actual content which can make the determination centering on ourselves has been the problem. We know that You long for those who cultivate these qualities and call you Father. Please guide us to become such sons and daughters. This is our sincere prayer.
Now we have heard the truth that we have to become unchanging people whose minds and bodies are united with the infinite Father. We should stand so close to the life and love of the eternal Father that we do not know if we exist or not, if we are inside or outside of the body. Please allow us to feel this.
Each of us knows what situation we are in, whether we are dozing off, struggling on a deviant path, resting, sleeping, or in what environment we are in. We know that to pioneer our own environment we have to carry on a battle of truth, a battle of the mind, a battle of life, and a battle of the heart. Without passing through such a course, we know that we cannot build a relationship with the world of purpose.
Please encourage our minds and bodies as we head toward this purpose. Please let the words of life remain eternally deep inside our bones and flesh so that we can approach the homeland. Hoping that You will hear our wishes, we prayed in the name of the Lord. Amen.
