Belvedere
Translator - Bo Hi Pak
My topic this morning is the providential road, or the road of God's will. What is the difference between these two phrases? In English, God's win is a subjective term and providence an objective term. Let's compare the Chinese characters for the two concepts. The character for will has three components: standing, proclamation, and heart or mind. So when we write "will" we mean proclaiming the word of our mind or heart. Will involves making a stand.
Part of the Chinese character for providence has a hand on one side and three ears on the other, this represents the people who are able to hear the word. The character also has the components of king and village; thus providence means the village king or the central figure who presides over the word of God. In Oriental languages words have two types of meanings, one internal and the other external.
When we take the road of God's will we fulfill a providential mission or a providential purpose. God's original providential will was perfection, but since the human fall another providential will came into being, that of restoration or salvation. Salvation means restoration, bringing us to the perfection of God's will. The road of God's will is therefore subjective and we are not quite on that road yet. Instead, we are on the providential path, heading towards the will of God.
The providential road can be divided into four major ages or segments, according to the dominant authority or power: first, material authority; second, human authority; third, God's authority; and fourth, love authority.
The providential path begins with the age of material authority. This age can be described as one of making material offerings to God. However, an offering was not originally required in the true road of God's will. It became necessary only after the human fall-to enable us to embark on the providential road.
In terms of content, the age of material authority is one of offering. The age of human authority is one of sacrificial service. The age of God's authority is one of forgiveness. And finally, the age of love authority is one of fulfillment of the ideal.
In terms of level of truth, the age of material authority can also be described as the Old Testament era, the age of human authority as the New Testament era, the age of God's authority as the Completed Testament era, and the age of love authority as the perfection era. Thus the entire history of restoration can be -summarized in these four categories.
In the first three eras, people are required to pay indemnity. Do you like indemnity? Since you don't, why should we go this way of indemnity? Because without it we cannot follow the road of God's will, we cannot attain the realm of God's will. The Unification Church, has been passing through the segments of the Old Testament era and New Testament era. Upon the victorious foundation of both those eras comes the Completed Testament era. Unless you pass through the Completed Testament era you cannot enter the ideal world or the age of the ideal; you cannot experience the kingdom of God on earth or in heaven.
Our calling is to proclaim the fundamental truth that this is the road of restoration and the road of re-creation. We have to follow the road of re-creation in order to reach the ultimate fulfillment of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. Religious people today fall far short of understanding this basic fundamental truth about God's road. For example, even devout, religious people have no idea about the age of material authority, which requires offerings on the individual level, family level, tribal level, national level and world-wide level.
The Old Testament era required a great many offerings and established many rules governing offerings. By sacrificing doves, a lamb or a heifer, people could be forgiven of a certain segment of their sin, such as individual sin, family sin, tribal sin, and so forth. But because they did not know the entire spectrum of the providential course, they could hardly fulfill the entire will of God during that era. Those who are victorious in the era of material authority, however, can gain the foundation to enter the New Testament era, which is the era of human dignity and human rights.
In order to stand proudly in the sight of God, people should win dominion over the world and offer all the world's material goods on God's altar. Without reaching that level no one is truly eligible to stand in God's sight. In other words, everybody has to go through such a process. However, since nobody even knew, let alone understood, the way to God, God must send someone in the role of a high priest to guide the people in that direction. There should be someone representing heaven and earth to lead mankind. Such an individual makes an offering to God, representing all of history, past, present and future. On behalf of mankind throughout the ages, such a priest makes one universal offering.
God promised to send the Messiah to the chosen people of Israel in order to fulfill this need. Such a chosen person comes as a representative of heaven on earth, to lead people along the heavenly path and make an offering for the sake of the universe. The chosen nation of Israel represented the entire world, and one central person, the Messiah, exemplified that chosen nation. However, a problem arose 2,000 years ago when the chosen people of Israel did not recognize that the Messiah came not just for their sake but out of love for the entire world; they were ignorant of the Messiah's worldwide purpose.
They also misunderstood the role of the chosen people, assuming that the chosen people should be admired and respected by the entire world. They did not know that the chosen people existed in order to save the world and that it was their responsibility to take care of the world. It is fine to take pride in being the chosen people, but if they do not understand their role in saving the world they will be isolated. Those of you who come from Jewish ancestry, please raise your hands. You can understand this point very clearly.
First of all, the Messiah came to Israel in order to unite with Judaism and the Jewish nation. The Jewish faith was prepared as his internal foundation and the Jewish nation his external foundation. The internal aspect is the God-centered people, and the external is the God-centered nation, which is material. The offering must be made on the base of the nation of Israel. In other words, God's altar must be erected on the national foundation, and the offering must be made on that base. Then, when God accepts the offering, world salvation can begin.
This was the scenario: the nation of Israel was to be the external foundation and the Jewish faith the internal foundation. At the center should have been the Messiah. When those three elements were completely united, their offering for the sake of the world would have brought them into unity with the Roman Empire. Then the territory of Israel and the faith of Judaism would have been linked with the territory of the Roman Empire. The Messiah could have become the Messiah of the Roman Empire, which at that time represented the world.
The age of offering started on the individual level and then expanded to the family, tribe and nation. On the national level, the people were supposed to meet the Messiah and form a national level messianic offering; then they could have reached out to accomplish world salvation. That is how the providential scheme was designed.
The era of sacrificial offerings called for shedding blood, but the next age is that of human dignity. When you become a God-centered person through giving sacrificial service, you receive glory and service. The Bible even records that Jesus said, "The Son of man came not to be served but to serve." (Matt. 20:28) Is sacrificial service good? Is it easy to do? It is inevitable, almost like a test at school. No one likes tests, but at exam time students work hard, burning the midnight oil in order to prepare for the exam the following day. Even though they dislike it, people go through it because there is no choice. In a similar way, you have to go through sacrificial service. It is not easy.
That is why you need a good example, and Jesus came to show a good example of how to live in the age of human authority. Sacrificial service only begins on the individual level. Many people consider individual sacrifice good enough and wonder why they should have to sacrifice on the family or tribal levels as well.
Nowadays there is a lot of excitement and jubilation, especially in the New York area and especially among candidates for a matching. I feel like saying, "You rascals! You are thinking about your own Blessing, but what about the world's Blessing? Have you ever thought about it?" Until we reach the point where I can bless the world, I am still like a forerunner. I shall continue the way of sacrificial service, willing to pay whatever indemnity is needed.
Well, do you think that is a good idea? If you say yes, this means that even after your Blessing you will continue together as a couple along the road of sacrificial service until the ultimate fulfillment is accomplished. In three or five years you will no longer be just two people; you will have become a family, with perhaps three or more children. What will you do then? Still your mission will he ahead of you; world salvation will still be far away. So you have to continue doing sacrificial service. Can you just quit and enjoy your life?
We must never imagine that we are going to live comfortably-not until we fulfill world salvation. That is the destiny we were born to fulfill. You are matched and blessed for that purpose. That is how I constantly think.
Do you suppose that if your family lives a sacrificial, serving life it can achieve world salvation? You are only on a family level now and the world level is still so many levels beyond you. Who will go through all these levels? You will just have to move step by step, from one level to the next. You will ultimately have to transcend even the level of national salvation.
What will you do if your nation opposes you instead of being receptive? Will you quit and follow your own way? To abandon your mission of national salvation is to block your way to the world level. Should you give up in the face of opposition? No matter what the response may be, don't let anything stand in your way until you achieve the goal of national salvation and move on to the world level.
Even though you perfect this era of human authority through sacrificial service, you will not automatically enter the era of God's authority. You still need someone to guide you and raise you onto a new plateau. This is the Messiah. In order to lead mankind from the period of human authority to the period of God's authority, the Second Advent of the Messiah was necessary.
So far, religions have been working on a national level, each one creating its own foundation and awaiting the Second Coming. When they join the Messiah, he will be their pioneer or pathfinder and lead them into the new era; then all religions will be able to pass through that door and enter a new era.
You might wonder why you need a Messiah when you would prefer to go directly to God without a mediator. You would rather negotiate the way yourself However, the history of restoration centers on True Parents, and without that center you can never rise higher. Unless a center is created here on earth you cannot even imagine the possibility of a Kingdom of Heaven on earth. Furthermore, without a Kingdom of Heaven on earth there can be no Kingdom of Heaven in heaven.
To progress from the material age to the human age you need the Messiah, and from the human age to God's age you again need the Messiah. I said that God's age is the age of forgiveness, but what is forgiveness? During the era of Gods authority no one can stand in His sight without going through the process of forgiveness. God is forgiving, but we need to know how much He forgives and upon what criteria. Furthermore, we need to know how to complete or consummate the era of God's authority and enter the ideal age, or the era of perfection.
First, how can we enter the age of God's authority? Certainly we need a Messiah, but what should he do to you? What is the process of reversal through which the Messiah leads you? There is only one way you can enter God's authority and that is by forgiving and loving your enemy. What does that mean? Can you love Satan as much as you love God? What level of love is God talking about, and what is the limit?
Let's look at the standard of love established by God. How much did God love His own enemy? God loves His enemy so much that He sacrificed His own son in order to save His enemy. If you can pour out such unlimited, unconditional love for your enemy then Satan will give up and say, "I could never do that. I could never be in the position to receive such love." At that point Satan will surrender and retreat. Satan knows the way of the Principle. He has a certain conscience and he realizes that he cannot be loved to the same degree as God; he knows he does not deserve that kind of love.
This is the love that Jesus Christ demonstrated on the cross. Even wounded and dying, Jesus forgot about himself and loved his enemies and asked forgiveness for them. Under such circumstances, however vicious the enemy may be, as long as even one ounce of conscience remains in his heart he cannot help but bow down and surrender. "I do not deserve such treatment," he will confess. "I cannot afford such treatment."
By practicing this you can completely separate yourself from your enemy-and you will discover that you have no enemy. When you reach that level of perfection of love, you can enter a new era, the age of ideal love.
Compare this with current Christian practices. Many Christians do not forgive; they cannot even tolerate those who are different. They cannot accept the Unification Church, for example, and they seek vengeance on every enemy while still clinging to their cubbyhole in heaven.
What is the qualification to belong to God? God's people possess a certificate given by Satan stating, "God, this person loves me (Satan) as much as he loves You- -or even more. So please love him unconditionally, more than anybody. This person truly deserves Your love." That is what Satan's recommendation reads. Then God will embrace such a person as His child and Satan will be able to bow down without jealousy and say, "Amen, Father."
Somehow you have to liquidate Satan. But how? Can you succeed by material or military might? Only by love can you conquer Satan. This is the standard. I have explained the qualifications of a godly person. However, the message this morning is not my own word. It is not my thinking or philosophy but a universal principle. This is the road of restoration and the principle of restoration.
Where are you? To which level do you belong? Is somebody who has not reached this level eligible for the Blessing? You all answer no, but still you are jubilant about the news of the coming Blessing. Why? You have a job to do before the Blessing. This is the road you should walk. My mission, and that of the Unification Church, is to lead you to do God's will.
I don't really have to bear all the burden. If I were living just for myself the burden would be light. But that would mean abandoning this principle, and I will not do that. The world's material and then the world's people must be brought to God. What should I do next? Carry all the world's material and people across the boundary to the next age.
The mission of the Messiah also expands from one level to the next, from individual Messiah to family-level Messiah, tribal, national, and worldwide Messiah. What is special about you Moonies sitting here this morning? What kind of group are you? The Unification Church is the Messiah's Easter egg basket! You are indeed living on the world-wide level, in the age of the world. You can choose to become an individual messiah, a family messiah, a tribal messiah or a national messiah. I am working on the universal level, encompassing all other levels. What level of a messiah are you?
How do you define a messiah? A messiah is a man or woman who loves their enemy and gains recognition from him. Have you been given that recognition? This Unification movement is the messianic movement; we are here to love the enemy and win his recognition.
The Unification Church and its members have to go this path. When you join, you start off fund raising in order to make a material offering to God. The satanic world contains abundant material wealth but its people don't care about God. The people of this world live for a selfish purpose and believe that everything exists for themselves.
Other churches ask their members to offer God one tenth of their earnings-a tithe-in order to be considered a good Christian, but in the Unification Church we tithe not just ten percent but one hundred percent.
For three years you tithe one hundred percent. During this time you receive all kinds of persecution: you get kicked, spit at and treated miserably. Material things can be restored only by love, messianic love, which you must demonstrate by loving your enemy. You receive miserable treatment from the satanic world, but instead of retreating you plunge forward and overcome all obstacles through love. People may try to do all kinds of things to you, but instead of retreating keep on loving them until they surrender. In the meantime, you are winning material things from the satanic world to use for God's purpose.
If you can truly give unselfish love to the satanic world and its people, material things will automatically follow you. In other words, you will never starve to death by living this way; you will always be under Gods protection. According to this principle, after you forge ahead into the satanic world as a messiah and win material things, you will move on to the next stage.
At the time of Jesus, for example, many people were trying to come to God by superficial means. One of the early Christians, Ananias, tried to he to the Holy Spirit. In the early church people sold their possessions and gave the money to the apostles. Ananias sold a piece of property and he gave only a portion of the money to the apostles, saying it was all he had received. Then Peter asked him, "Is that all you have?" According to the Bible, Ananias dropped dead on the spot because of his lie. The Acts of the Apostles records this occasion of instant justice.
The same rule applies today, When you fundraise and make a lot of money, it does not belong to you but to God, and you need permission to use it. Instead of taking fundraising money for yourself, your desire should be to add at least a little bit to the total. If you gained a hundred dollars through fundraising, instead of offering just that much to God, you could contribute even a penny of your own resources. Rather than keeping ten or twenty percent for yourself, the desire to add something of your own is the true spirit of offering.
This should be your attitude as you work each day. This kind of spirit should guide your fundraising and your witnessing as well. Those of you who can say, "Father, I am living up to that standard. I have surely perfected and consummated it," please raise your hands.
The best strategy for this particular era would be to go into debt, borrowing as much money as you can for the sake of God. You should be willing to go heavily into debt not for your own sake but for the sake of God.-This is God's perspective and mine as well.
When the Japanese leaders come to make a report, they tell about incredible achievements in the area of material restoration. That is wonderful, but even then it is still good to borrow money. The Japanese leaders have experienced that my goals never get accomplished; instead of getting smaller, the task keeps growing and expanding to an incredible degree.
The Japanese leaders come here jubilantly, filled with many things to report. But when the time comes to leave they all feel a tremendous burden because I never praise them. If I were to praise them, Satan would accuse them because they have not yet separated themselves from him. If I were to praise them, Satan would be jealous and complain that they don't quite deserve such praise, and I don't want Satan's accusation. Therefore, rather than praise the Japanese, I chastise them. Then they are in a position to receive Satan's sympathy rather than jealousy. Why am I doing such cruel things to the Japanese members? Because that is how the Japanese nation and the Japanese people as a whole will get the blessing.
Since 1978, the Japanese have been obedient to me, and that is why the nation of Japan has received such blessing. That nation's prosperity has been booming ever since 1978. Not just in our movement but on a global level Japan is becoming the focus of the world. The Western world in general is paying more attention to Japan as it is gaining in prominence and strength. Western men and women are looking for Japanese mates. The blue-eyed culture finds the experience of looking at another pair of blue eyes flat; you need to look at either black or brown eyes! In such diversity you discover a greater depth of appreciation.
The long-awaited era of the ideal is approaching. I am sure that you members of the Unification Church will welcome it, but what about all the other people? Are such attitudes unique to us or are they part of a general trend?
Please understand that fundraising is a necessity. Even if you die you should resolve to fulfill that qualification. Your goal is to reach the ideal world and experience the age of the ideal, and fundraising is the starting point. If you fail at the first level you cannot progress to the next.
After three years of fundraising duty, you work to restore people, which is witnessing. How do you witness? The era of human authority begins with sacrificial service, but whom do you serve? If you are going to be a servant, you may desire to serve someone noble, but that is something even Satan could do; he could serve people on a higher level. Where should you start? There are different kinds of servants: to serve a king is a desirable position, but nobody who has a choice wants to serve a beggar. Where would you like to start? Servant of servant is a good phrase, but it sounds too respectable! The best expression for this sacrificial role is a servant of beggars. So do you want to start as a king's servant or as a beggar's servant?
Jesus must have sounded almost crazy when he taught his disciples to go witnessing without even a penny in their pocket. In other words, he was telling them to go out on the streets like beggars. Why? This is the core spirit of traditional Christianity. This is the most dramatic way to give sacrificial service or embark on the road of sacrificial service. You have to start at the worst level and serve beggars. A servant's position is much higher than that of a beggar. Actually, you start the providential course at a position even lower than a beggar. As a beggar's servant, you will be persecuted even by beggars.
Why do we do things this way? Why don't we act a little more wisely? Why does God permit such persecution to continue? It is to enable you to eventually achieve the level of human authority, which is automatically yours when you pass the criterion of sacrificial service.
You start this course at rock bottom with nothing below you, and even there you are persecuted. Then you advance to the level of a servant; there you will be persecuted by servants and win them over. In this way, you rise step by step from the worst position. Later the whole nation and even the entire world will oppose you and do incredible things to you in an attempt to humiliate and subjugate you.
However, choose your tactics; don't stand up and fight people face to face. Instead of dealing with them on their level, you should rise above them. No matter how people may treat you, if you consider them as children and you have the heart of their parent, you can always forgive them.
You can find at least one basis for forgiving your opponents: they are ignorant of who you are. As soon as you teach them, they will change. This is always our hope. Thus we have no right to hate people or feel animosity towards them.
In order to be able to exercise Godly authority, you must experience rejection. By being rejected on the national level, the continental level and the world-wide level, you will gain influence. Do you understand?
Even when Satan inspires people to do anything and everything against you, if you can love them in spite of their actions, Satan will eventually crumble and surrender before you. This is the heavenly tactic. The ultimate condition you can set is not only to withstand the enemy's persecution but also to love the enemy even more than you love God! This is the incredible, supreme criterion of authority. Faced with such a condition, Satan will automatically separate himself from you forever; bombarded with such love, the evil Satan will cease to exist. Then you can pass over to a new level, the level of God's authority.
Where am I situated now along this providential road? If the free world and Christianity with its 2,000-year history had both accepted True Parents, that would have secured the foundation. However, from the outset I encountered opposition and had to begin from the very rock bottom. I have trod every step of this course, just as every human being has to do. My course reached its culmination in 1976, the year I surmounted the hill of opposition. During the period from 1976 until 1983-84 persecution is waning; the opposition peaked in 1976 and entered a seven-year period of decline. These seven years have been filled with all kinds of legal disputes and difficulties. This is why 1982 is the year of the court battle.
Last week was an incredible week. I'm sure you heard about it. Two thousand years ago Jesus was interrogated about his beliefs in the court of Pontius Pilate. At one point Pilate asked, "Are you the king of the Jews?" and Jesus answered, 'You have said it." During this past week, I was dragged into the courtroom under judicial "gun point" and all kinds of fundamental questions were asked me, including whether I am the Messiah. What is the difference between the situation 2,000 years ago and the one today? The day after Jesus was questioned he was crucified. However, God has worked for 2,000 years to establish the foundation of democracy grounded on religious freedom. Therefore, even after my recent interrogation I am able to come to Belvedere this morning and give this sermon to you.
As I sat in that hostile courtroom last week, there were many different attitudes which I could have chosen to adopt. On the one hand I could have been thinking, "God, I wish You would bring down fire and brimstone on this judge's head! And I don't like those lawyers at all; kick them out!" I might have thought in such a fashion, but I certainly did not. On the contrary, I practiced the Principle in that extremely hostile judicial environment and I had compassion on my enemies and forgave them. Inside, I was thinking, "God, please forgive them because they don't know what they are doing. Eventually, the time will come when they will understand who I am."
During the tax trial the prosecutor, Mr. Flumenbaum, was incredibly vicious toward me. It's natural to have an urge to knock down such a person. Imagine Mother's feelings during all this; she was suffering so much for my sake, and here was Mr. Flumenbaum behaving in such a hateful way, not knowing me at all. Mother couldn't restrain her feelings and kept protesting to me. However, I always comforted her and said, "Mother, I understand how you feel, but please forgive him. Forgive that naughty boy!"
As we forgive such people the world will change and reach a new level. As a result of this event, the entire world will view me from a different angle; hostility has already begun to subside. Observing me in the courtroom last week many journalists, including a reporter from The New York Times, concluded that I was being mistreated. They realized that such a thing shouldn't have happened here in the United States.
The Principle remains the same from the age of material to the age of mankind, age of God, and age of love. This Principle shows how we have to move forward.
As you know, Mike Warder was a member of our church and I still think of him as my son. He was the one who played the role of Judas in this latest court case. From a secular point of view he could be regarded as my worst enemy, someone whom I should hate. However, that is not at all how I think. Since I knew exactly how both God and Satan felt during that trial I have always felt compassion, never animosity, for Mike Warder.
When someone has compassion for his enemy, justice is always served, one way or another. God and universal law will see to that. Only someone who truly and completely loves his enemy has the right to take the offensive for the sake of justice and righteousness. Our justice is executed by the spirit world; we do not have to carry it out.
Do you consider the road of faith easy or difficult? It is impossibly difficult, and every inch of progress you gain is -incredibly precious. Nobody wants to go back to the beginning point because that would mean losing what they have invested. That is why I am moving forward. Even if the entire United States came against me today, I would not be pessimistic about the outcome. I am looking forward to the future; I am anticipating our rally in Moscow. The only way to advance is to follow the straight and righteous road, without taking any shortcuts or trying to play any dirty tricks. The time has now come to seize the initiative and go on the offensive.
History is filled with many religious people and many prophets and saints. None of them, however, knew the entirety of God's providence. Today we understand the whole spectrum. This is the road we must cover. If you were an individual trying to make this journey by yourself, it might take you a million years to accomplish it. Therefore, you need someone to pioneer the road and lay down a path. I have fulfilled that position. I have been pruning the trees, plowing the ground and clearing the road, laying the highway so each of you can follow it and reach the goal in the shortest possible time.
Look at the modem world and try to find any national level religion comparable to that of Israel 2,000 years ago. There must be one central religion for the modem-day dispensation. Although no bounds have been established for the one central nation, we do have one central religion. The chosen nation and Rome, which represents the world, have to be linked. Two thousand years ago God's direction centered upon the chosen nation of Israel. Judaism as the internal center and the nation of Israel as the external center should have united and reached out to the Roman Empire.
Today, 2,000 years later, we need a new global foundation, one central world-wide religion in the position of Judaism. What is that? It is the Unification Church, which is not composed of just one race or people; we are a collection of people from around the world. All races of people form the base for the launching of the Messiah.
The Unification Church is currently engaged in a fight with the U.S. government, which is playing the role of a modem-day Roman Empire. Communism is combating the free world throughout the globe. This court battle in the United States is not just a clash between the federal government and the Unification Church. Involved in this conflict are all kinds of anti-religious and antichurch elements, and communism is playing a very important role in bringing them together. The entire world is crowding around to witness the central battle being waged in this courthouse. Therefore, this is the best time to expand our territory to the world-wide level.
Simultaneous with this court battle, we are engaged in gigantic projects elsewhere. For example, we inaugurated The Washington Times, which is something the whole world can recognize. Likewise, the movie Inchon was presented at the Cannes Film Festival; this is another way of letting the world know about the work of Reverend Moon. Also, our movement is moving forward in total mobilization; last week we began a 53-day period of mobilization, with the goal of increasing our membership three-fold. Also, the news has suddenly spread of an imminent Blessing. Everybody is becoming dizzy in the midst of all these happenings.
Today is truly a time of confusion and chaos on the world-wide level. For instance, England is waging a war with Argentina over the Falkland Islands and the United States is caught in the middle. Even Christian leaders have been suffering from confusion. Billy Graham, for example, has been preaching in the wrong places to the wrong people and giving the wrong kind of message. Reverend Moon is involved in a court battle. People are reeling from all these headlines in the newspaper. Do you feel dizzy too? What can we do?
Is your marriage your key concern at this time, or does Gods will take priority? Will you reply, "God's will, but only after my marriage"? Does the will of God truly come first for you? Your mind must be clear. Once you organize your thoughts you can be free from confusion.
The solution to our problem is very simple: if each of you can get three spiritual children you can have them help you with the work instead of doing it all by yourself. Thus you can complete four weeks' battle in one week; your battle-strength will increase four-fold. Did you ever think of that? I asked each of you to write letters every night to your relatives, friends, and so forth. Have you forgotten to do that?
When you go out now, you can witness in a new way. Tell people, "If you listen to me and can come to a one-week workshop, I will give you a special ticket to attend the Blessing. You can be an eyewitness to the 'greatest show on earth'!"
Is it better for each of you to linger a long time at each level and gradually progress upward, or to rise through all the levels at one stroke? Who is going to show you how to do that? Is it easy to pass through all the levels at once? No, you need a leader to set the example. Therefore, I am co i g to you as a leader. I have laid the highway and built a bridge to enable you to overcome all the obstacles. Since I have covered every step of the territory no one can accuse me. I can point you in the right direction and tell you, "This is the way you should go," and you can run along the highway.
When you encounter people who mistreat you and persecute you without mercy, you may feel strong resentment towards them. But you should think, "Father has encountered this kind of person over and over in his fife, and he was able to love them even more than he loves God. Therefore, I can endure anything." I have experienced this kind of opposition and been able to forgive and love my opponents, not only on the individual level but also on the family, tribal, national and world-wide levels.
Satan attacked my own family and sought to destroy them. The Unification Church can be regarded as my tribe, and there is a tribal enemy in the world who is doing its absolute best to destroy the Unification Church. You are being subjected to kidnapers, deprogrammers and all kinds of people who would assassinate your character. I have never felt any urge to take revenge on our enemies or hurt them; I always feel like forgiving them because they don't understand. On the national level, my own country, Korea, has been in the position of trying to kill me, and today the United States is also in that position.
Whoever inherits my tradition has no room for complaints. You must realize that the reason you should inherit such a tradition is because of the goal ahead of us: the age of perfection of love, the age of building the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. We are heading towards our ultimate goal, the building of that kingdom. By inheriting True Parents' tradition and emulating our way of life, you will be able to inherit that Kingdom of Heaven on earth. That is how you must accomplish it.
When newcomers join us, we need to lead them along this great highway. We should help them follow the same path so they can succeed in reaching the same Kingdom of Heaven. Our goal is to make the Kingdom of Heaven prosperous and very crowded!
We are an extraordinarily different sort of people: we are devoted to loving our enemy, no matter what they try to do to us. We feel close to the United States, even though it is trying to destroy us. I have great hopes of leading this nation into the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, where we can all rejoice together.
The Jewish people were dispersed throughout the world, but now in these last days they have reassembled and established their own nation. It is an even greater accomplishment that, while the Unification Church has been subjected to intense persecution, people of all different races and nationalities have joined together to embrace the world, working to erect the Kingdom of Heaven on earth so that all people can rejoice together in unity.
Therefore, you have no right to complain. Even if you are suffering, you have no one to blame. Tell yourself, "Before I die, I must fulfill the one criterion of heaven: loving my enemy. I must accomplish that."
When I was young I was subjected to terrible tortures from the Japanese imperial government. I was thrown into jail and treated horribly; my suffering was intense. Then liberation came in 1945. For most Koreans the end of the war became the time for revenge, but not for me. I felt a deep heart of love towards our former enemies who were packing up and retreating from Korea. As they returned to Japan I even bid them a tearful farewell. For this reason Japan is permanently indebted to me. That is why the Japanese movement is booming; they are contributing more than any other nation, yet they still feel unworthy.
Righteous suffering in a righteous sacrifice will never be in vain but will be rewarded abundantly. Even today, after all the mistreatment I have received from the U.S. government and news media, I still love America just as much as I did the day I first arrived. Even though I was forced into this court battle I do not hate or despise the American judicial system. When the time comes for me to bid farewell to America, I will still love it as much as ever. Ultimately the American people will feel eternally indebted to me. Eventually, generation after generation of their descendants will bow down to me in apology. Don't you think that will happen?
I have not done anything to wrong the United States. Everything I have done here is for the purpose of helping it, building it up, and giving it hope. No one else is acting with such patriotic zeal for the sake of the United States. Although some government officials have been casting mistaken accusations against me, I want them to know that Reverend Moon is not their enemy. I am their best friend.
Why have I walked this path? It is the road of God's will. God is the beginning point, the origin of the providential road. A tremendous gap has long separated God from the rest of the world, and the providential road has been completely blocked by obstructions. Somebody had to open the pathway and lay the bridge. Who did it? You and I are pioneering the construction of that bridge and closing that gap. When we accomplish the task, we will be able to invite God into every corner of the earth. The Unification Church, headed by Reverend Moon, will accomplish this. This providence is called the home church mission. As the home church crusade grows bigger and bigger, it will expand to the tribe, nation and ultimately the world. This world will become God's own world.
I have walked this path on the universal level. Since no one else can tread the exact path I have gone, I have given you the territory of home church-a world of your own in which you can walk my path. Actually, this home church crusade is the microcosm of the entire providence. Your task is to cut off a little branch from the providential tree and engraft it to your home church. Everything that occurred on the universal level, everything that I have tasted in my path, will happen to you in your home church work. You can experience the microcosm of the macrocosm. Whatever I have done you will do too, even if only in a symbolic way.
The most crucial aspect of this grafting process is that the engrafted branch must come from the original seed. As long as that is true, no matter what people say, your branch will prosper when it is planted. It will not die.
In a microcosmic way, you will pass through the material age, the human age, God's age, and the age of love in your home church territory. From there, you will launch yourself into the Kingdom of Heaven-both on earth and in heaven. Such activities are taking place in the spirit world as well as the physical world. It is crucial for you to realize that unless you fulfill this dispensation here on earth you will experience great regret when you go to the spirit world. This is your destiny. No one can deny it. Without it you cannot survive for eternity. The only difference between your path and mine is the scope; you must duplicate my work in your home church.
Now do you realize how necessary home church is? Can you tell me why? Instead of doing home church, would you rather go back and repeat the entire dispensational course? Is this dispensational path something which only rich people can succeed in? No the road is the same for everyone; each person is treated fairly. I want you to travel this road with pride and tremendous dedication. You should feel highly fortunate to be able to inherit such great achievements in exchange for such a small price. When you realize this, you should be filled with gratitude and commit yourself fully to the task.
It is absolutely necessary for you to experience this, because through it you can feel God's heart and my heart. As you are persecuted and even struck by your enemies, you will become the victor. First you will be hit, and then you will gain something. That has always been my path. In this process you will come to know the heart of God and True Parents. As a result you will become real men and women. This is your most crucial calling, and this will determine your eternal state.
Truth is unchanging, eternal and absolute; the key quality of truth is its absoluteness. In order to become true men and women you must work in home church and proclaim the truth. There can be no compromise or deviation from this standard. By practicing the truth, which is eternal, unchanging, absolute and unique, you will experience God, who is the origin of eternity, immutability, absoluteness and uniqueness. Practicing the truth will unite you with God.
You cannot call your course finished until you have loved your enemy and subjugated even Satan with your love. At that point you will be totally united with God, but until then you cannot say you have completed the task Do you understand?
You need have no doubts about how I will conduct myself during this court battle because this is my guiding principle. I am always smiling because I do not consider the prosecutors my enemies. Of course, this occasion is an incredibly serious showdown between God and Satan, but the showdown will be resolved not through the judicial process but through the love which I manifest.
When you have fulfilled God's will, you can proclaim to heaven and earth, "Amen! All has been accomplished." Then you can shout "Mansei!" forever. God bless you.
