Reverend Sun Myung Moon
February 15, 1987
Belvedere
Translator - Bo Hi Pak
The topic this morning is "A Life of Attendance and the Heavenly Kingdom" and in parentheses, "Salvation." A lifestyle of attendance of True Parents, attendance of God and the Heavenly Kingdom. It doesn't taste the same as it does in Korean - Korean has a very special taste. It gets watered down in English.
We are passing through a different stage of religious life than in the past. First there was the Old Testament era, then the New Testament era, and now we are in the Completed Testament era. The Old Testament era was a time when people were basically called upon to have blind faith. The New Testament era was the time when salvation came through faith and deeds. However, people in the Completed Testament era receive salvation by a life of attendance.
After the fall of man, the restoration process became necessary and it includes three stages: formation, growth, and perfection. Those correspond to the three religious eras. As a person of faith, you must not forget one most important factor: we are a fallen generation and we are living in a fallen world. That is reality. Furthermore the fallen world is governed by Satan. It is his principality. That is not just our concept but when anyone looks at things from the spiritual point of view, they see it is the clear truth.
In the process of the fall of man, Adam and Eve lost faith first of all. Then their deeds were invaded. Then they lost the opportunity to attend. Therefore in the process of restoration, we have to go through those three stages. The stage of faith was the Old Testament era. The stage of deeds was the New Testament era. Now there is the stage of attendance, the Completed Testament era. No one can be saved without going through these three stages.
In a religious life, the most important goal is righteousness. Why? Without seeking righteousness through faith and deeds, we cannot be in a position to understand the difference between good and evil and divide them. What is the standard of righteousness? The measure of righteousness always gets back to one point: what is the position of God? lust as God believes, we should believe. Just as God acts, we should act. lust as God attends, we should attend. That is the standard.
There is one realm where Satan has no power-the realm of God. No matter what, Satan has nothing to say about God. Even though he rebels against Him, he cannot enter God's territory. So our salvation requires separation from Satan and entering God's realm. We must discover how God acts, how God believes, how God thinks, and then unite with Him. Then we can be saved.
Of course, these three stages we mentioned are merely a matter of emphasis. Even in the Old Testament era, the people needed not only faith but they also needed right deeds and attendance. In the New Testament era, they needed not only right deeds, but they also needed faith and attendance. This is true of the Completed Testament era as well. Upon the foundation of formation, we have growth, and on the foundation of growth, we have perfection. You cannot pull any layer out of it. If you did, the whole thing would collapse. In the present era of the Completed Testament, emphasis is placed upon attendance. This is because conceptual faith is not sufficient.
We are talking about realistically living in the Kingdom of Heaven, and practicing that way of life. Complete restoration rests upon both realms-the spiritual and physical. The fall caused human beings to depart from the original ideal and will of God, spiritually as well as physically. For that reason, total salvation means the attainment of that original position in the spiritual and the physical realms. Both have to come together, not exist separately.
What is the difference between the spirit world and the physical world? First of all, spirit world clearly knows that God is the central figure. Every phenomenon in the spirit world is connected to God because God's power is governing there. Here in the physical world, however, everything is under the sovereignty of Satan. The control is in Satan's hands. This is the vast difference between spirit world and the physical world.
Another way of describing the difference is this: the spirit world has different levels and classes. There is a higher heaven, there are lower heavens, and there is hell. But even a person who dwells in hell knows about the sovereignty of God. They deserve to be in hell under the circumstances, but they do know that the spirit world is organized under God's sovereignty. In other words, there is an orderly chain of command and hierarchy. In the physical realm, however, everything is mixed up. People simply do not know where they belong, where they should stay.
When Jesus said, "Thy will be done," he also said, "On earth as it is in heaven." This is not to say that the restoration is completed in the spiritual world, but it does mean that there is one central figure, a hierarchy, and the chain of command is completely organized in spirit world. In the physical world, there is no central figure, no hierarchy, no chain of command. This is what Jesus was speaking about.
Another way to describe the goal of restoration is that the physical world must come to have a parallel system with the spirit world. God has been trying to establish a channel of command and a centralized system here on earth-as it is in heaven-by erecting religions and encouraging spiritual works. That is the goal of restoration.
Up to this moment, who has been the central figure and the moving force for the work of spiritual restoration? It is Jesus along with the Holy Spirit. There is no question about it. In the spirit world, God, the total sovereign, is in the center and under God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are the guiding figures with the central role. That situation is reflected here on earth in that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are leading the major religion, Christianity. God has been working chiefly through Christianity for the last 2,000 years.
Spirit world phenomena are reflected here on earth. What we have to do is bring the two worlds together so that they are like the two sides of a coin, parallel and united. How can the spirit world and the physical world become totally united? When will it happen? It will happen at the time of the Second Advent. The Lord of the Second Advent inherits the entire hierarchy and power of spirit world. His role is to bring the system of the spirit world down here and reorganize the earthly principality.
Right after World War 11, Christendom was flourishing. With the defeat of Hitler's totalitarian system, the most golden opportunity arose for unity between the earthly system and the spirit world. That time was the ripest opportunity for Heaven. At the same time, the side of Satan was undergoing tremendous difficulty. If Christianity and the major governments of the earth had accepted the messianic movement at that time, the world could have been quickly transformed into unity. The system of the spirit world could have been duplicated here on earth.
That was not the case, of course. What happened is history: Christianity and the major governments of the world rejected the Unification Church and Father at that time. Therefore, the Christian cultural foundation, based on the victorious name of Israel and a 4,000 year history, failed its purpose and came to have no meaning. Therefore, in 40 years I had to rebuild that foundation. The last 40 years have seen the most tremendous turmoil and chaos because the entire 4,000 years of history were being reenacted in that period.
The heavenly forces of 40 years ago were in a position to completely conquer and overcome the satanic principality on the earth. Instead, satanic power took over the world and tried to push the Unification forces into a corner and demolish them. Satan took the initiative. I had the entire spirit world behind me, but I was working all by myself. The entire physical world was hostile toward me. There was supposed to be a physical foundation of Christianity and free nations like the United States. But when they didn't fulfill, I had to work alone against the hostile physical world.
I have been erecting a new foundation step by step, from the individual victory to the clan, tribal, national, religious, and worldwide levels. In other words, I have been re-erecting and re-organizing the physical foundation bit by bit, stage by stage. The Unification movement is now taking over the role of Christianity. The Unification Church has undergone incredible persecution, yet we laid the foundation bit by bit, even under those circumstances, and pushed the satanic world to the corner I have been pushing and extending the Unification realm and now we have come to the victorious worldwide foundation.
When a mood is created on the worldwide scale to welcome the Unification Church movement, that means the moment of unification between the spirit world and the physical world has come very near. This is the way. You have to have this kind of overall viewpoint clear in your mind.
The United States of America has been the representative, central nation of the Christian world. This nation was supposed to be in the position to accept the coming of the Lord of the Second Advent. However, when she failed to do so, a new foundation needed to be erected. Now after 40 years, this hostile nation of the United States is turning and changing. What is happening today? Christian ministers by the thousands are welcoming me and learning the Unification message and going to Korea for pilgrimage. Seven thousand ministers will have completed the pilgrimage by the end of this year.
Another area that is changing is the political leadership of this country. Representatives from every echelon of the political leadership are coming to embrace our ideology. When all the Christian ministers and all the political leaders can say, "Mansei!" to what we are doing, that will be the victorious culmination. Now we are restoring the victorious and opportune moment of 40 years ago and it is being re-enacted now.
Anybody who is speaking about the fulfillment or unification of Christianity has to consult with Reverend Moon. If anyone talks about true peace for the world, that person has to consult with Reverend Moon because no one else is clearly talking about unity on a global scale. Therefore, the time has come. The Unification Church proclaims Godism on a global scale. We have an absolutely God-centered ideology through which all religions and all people can finally unite.
This year we have been planning and working on the education of state legislators. There are about 7,000 of them. We want to reach at least half of them-3,500. Already over a thousand of them came to be educated last year. This year we will complete the goal. In this way, leaders from all 50 states can hear about and learn Godism. Christian ministers are saying to me, "Reverend Moon, you are the hope for the salvation of Christianity." Political leaders, feeling very pessimistic about this country and the world, have come to see Reverend Moon as their unique hope. Furthermore, many now recognize Reverend Moon as a great patriot of this country even though he is not even a citizen of the United States.
What is Reverend Moon trying to accomplish? I want to duplicate the hierarchy of spirit world here on earth, replacing the satanic world with it. As I said, there is a heavenly hierarchy in place in the spirit world. However, the spirit world has not been completed because a True Parent-centered society has not been accomplished there. It has to be accomplished here on earth first. Earth is the place where True Parents come first and this is where the true order must be erected first. After that, the spirit world will adopt the True Parents' system and be complete. Ultimately, we could say that the perfection of the spirit world is "Adamism," like Godism. "Adamism" means True Parentism.
The spirit world has been divided under different spiritual central figures. There is a realm of the spirit world united under the guidance of Confucius. The same is true for Buddhism and Islam and other religious groups. So far, they have had no united, overall hierarchy. They have been waiting and looking forward to this one, great day of fulfillment: the appearance of one overall central figure, and the appearance of True Parents.
An incredible movement toward unification is taking place in the spirit world. At the same time, it is being reflected here on earth. That is the reason for so many spiritual phenomena. They are pushing everybody toward the center, which is True Parents. The spirit world is pushing this world into one unit, coming down and trying to create an atmosphere such that True Parentism can be totally fulfilled and successful. Without this success, people cannot achieve perfection in spirit world.
Therefore, the entire spirit world, all men and women there, are desiring one thing and one thing only. That is that all the members of the Unification movement become frontline soldiers and aggressively take advantage of the atmosphere and transform the world. When we accomplish that goal here on earth, we will make it parallel to the spirit world, an exact duplication or reflection of the spirit world. The two systems will match. That is the day of fulfillment.
The center of the hierarchy in spirit world is God. Second, there are True Parents. Third, there are True Children. Fourth, there is the true nation. Those are the four elements. True Children are the direct heirs and descendants of the True Parents. The True Children will become the center of a tribe and a true nation.
Who shall deserve to live in the Kingdom of Heaven? True Parents are the temple of God; God dwells within them. God and True Parents were meant to dwell together forever in the heavenly palace, but because of the fall of man, that did not happen. That is why the restoration became necessary. What is your desire? Do you want to have citizenship of the heavenly nation and also the title of heavenly children? Then you will have all the titles you need to dwell in the Heavenly Kingdom.
Is the heavenly system democratic? Democracy is an interim system which is serving a very important purpose. When the Lord comes, sovereignty can be transferred through the democratic system. Making this transfer easier is the purpose of this system. Truly when the Lord comes and when everybody recognizes him, who should they follow? All the people of the world should follow the Lord. When that happens, the boundaries of nations become meaningless.
You know that democracy has its limits because it has already been tested in this world. The democratic system can never unite the world, since it has not made the United States flourish. This country is in peril, close to disaster. If anyone truly wishes for one world under God, he knows it must come under Godism. That is the only way.
The entire spiritual world and physical world are yearning to see the same pattern or system in both worlds. God will be the center of the earth and True Parents the central figures. Out of the True Children a true nation and a true people will emerge. The obstacle today to the ideal pattern in spiritual and physical worlds is the fallen reality of this world. Instead of God being the center, the world is centered on Satan. False, fallen parents and false, fallen nations are the reality. So the ideal spiritual world and ideal physical world are denied.
When your parents hear about the Unification Church, they say, "What do you mean by True Parents? What do you think we are?" They simply can't accept that idea. Furthermore, they say, "What do you mean by True Children? You are true children." That is why some parents have tried to kidnap their own children. Without question, incredible opposition has come against us. But day by day the opposition is losing the power to resist. It is our destiny to succeed.
All of you have to make your exodus out of the fallen world into the true world. That is your destiny but Satan's world or system is stringing up many layers of barbed wire to prevent you from getting out.
The things that go on in this world are governed by Satan; therefore the first step toward God is denial of one's present surroundings. This is why for true religions throughout history, starting with Judaism, the first order of business was for someone to take off from his homeland and become a sojourner in a foreign land. So far, true religion has proclaimed to the people: "Leave your home. Leave your own country." Now the Unification Church is telling white, black and yellow people to abandon their own culture and racial boundaries. That is happening because of the teaching of Reverend Moon. This proclamation is the ultimate one, not an interim proclamation. Do you understand?
Look at all the Japanese faces in this audience. They were told, "Take off from your homeland," and they obeyed and came to America. To you American people, I will say, "Go to Africa." Will you pack up and take off? Are you ready? Someone might say, "No, no, Father, I cannot leave America. I just want to live here for the rest of my life." That is almost like Lot's wife. What happened to her leaving Sodom and Gomorrah? She looked back and turned to salt.
What kind of group are you? You are the champions or pioneers who are working to transfer the spiritual pattern into the physical pattern. Therefore, this morning we all made the pledge: "We are proud of the one sovereignty, the one people and one nation, one world under God." We also pledged: "We are proud of the one True Parents, one tradition, one language and culture centered upon God." All these showed what we are taking responsibility for.
To what country do you belong? As citizens of the Heavenly Kingdom, you've got to think, "I am a citizen of heaven, not just of the United States, or Japan or Korea." You must feel, "I'm marching from the individual heaven to the family heaven to the tribal heaven to the national heaven and ultimately to the universal heaven." Until we reach the final destination, we cannot let up. Here on earth, you are dedicating your energy and your sweat to transform this fallen world into the heavenly pattern. The more you do, the more you walk this path, the closer you are to heaven. That is the logical conclusion.
When you go on the way to heaven, you should not say, "I just want to bring my children, my brothers, my parents," and so forth. Instead think, "I want to bring my whole country and all the people of the world to heaven." Then what happens? Your parents, your children, your relatives and friends will be included already. We never say, "I don't care about my country-so what? I just worry about my own family. I'm just trying to take my children and my parents with me." That is not our ideal or goal. When we are able to achieve the salvation of the nation, that will include the salvation of our own family.
What about Father? I have always thought, "I'm trying to bring the world, not just the nation, into the Heavenly Kingdom." Day in and day out, from day one up to this day, I have been thinking of nothing but global restoration. For that reason, I am moving into the position of the central figure on a larger and larger level day by day. Thus the thinking of God becomes the True Parents' thinking; the True Parents' thinking should become that of the true Children; the flue Children's thinking should become that of the true citizens.
After the Israelites made their exodus, they wandered for 40 years in the wilderness. What about you in your exodus? Have you been looking back to your own family, your own culture or country? What kind of a life have you been living? The absolute central figure of the Israelites was Moses. The Israelites were absolutely required to follow him. In those days of the exodus, they should not have been focused on their children or their parents. Even though all 600,000 might deny it, the true Israelites should have been looking at Moses only, and following Moses' orders absolutely. That is the way they could have successfully entered the land of Canaan.
Today the same thing is true. That situation is being repeated again. There is a Moses of the twentieth century, the Moses of the Second Advent, which is the coming of the True Parents. We must be following absolutely, with our eyes and spirits focused on only one point. Therefore, the Unification Church tradition is that True Parents' position is absolute. No matter what happens-if you are a Cabinet member and working for the President, if True Parents call and ask you to do something, you should drop everything and jump to it. That is the tradition. Are you centered like that?
If you listen to Father then you will not stray. On the road of restoration, should you always need an explanation before you act, or should you take action first and then be told why? I always push you forward into action first, and then I explain it. Therefore, absolute faith is necessary. The time has come to teach this because it is all being fulfilled. It is all done, in a way.
Compare your desire to go to spirit world with the desire of spirit men and women to come here on earth and fulfill-which desire is more intense? From the Principle point of view, who should be more intensively aggressive in doing the work? Who should be taking the initiative? Spirit men and women or you people here on earth? So spirit world has come down to assist you. Will they do that to help you become a millionaire and have a good life? Or so you can have a good home, a fine automobile? Or to help you build the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth? It's for the Kingdom!
How can you say, "Well, how much would you pay me to do my mission? Without a salary I won't do it." The children of Satan take such a role. Actually, what is required is dedication and sacrifice for the sake of your mission. Otherwise, no matter how hard you work at your mission it is not worth much because you have done it for yourself. Who shall pay you? You should pay yourself and do the work of heaven. Think of it. Did True Parents come here so that God would hire them and give them a good salary? "I'll give you this much salary and you be the True Parents." Actually, no salary should be paid by God or the central figure. The salary should be paid by the true world, the true country. In order to do that, you have to build that country first. Therefore, we have to create a country even at the sacrifice of our own life. We have to build a world first. Do you follow? You cannot be mistaken in this concept.
Some people say, "Well, when you hire people outside the church, you pay a lot of money to them. Why, Father, do you pay very little to me?" Don't you realize they are like the servants? They are hired to do the job. They are not doing it for the glory of Heaven. They come and they go, but you will stay and inherit the Kingdom. That is the difference. So how can you say, "Father, you pay me"? The true attitude is, "Yes, Father, I will do whatever you need because I want to lessen your suffering. I don't mind sacrificing to any degree." That is the children's attitude. Do you think that attitude is parallel to the true spirit of attendance to the True Parents or not? If you are trying to reduce and eliminate Father's burden, is that a good attitude or a bad attitude? It is certainly a good attitude.
Think about yourself. You know how you are living and in which realm you belong. When you say, "Yes, I am trying to bring the entire world to heaven," that means the entire spirit world will come down and help you. But if you just think about yourself, no help can come from spirit world, or only a small group of people might come to help you. Which kind of assistance would you like to receive-the entire world of the spirit or just a few?
Someone named Mike is here. Suppose he says, "I am going to heaven in the name of Mike. I want to go to Mike's heaven." The entire spirit world would say, "Huh! Who is interested in Mike's heaven?" But if he says, "I'm interested in bringing the whole world into heaven," spirit world says, "That's my champion. That's him. I'm going to go down and assist him." Then the entire spirit world will mobilize to help him.
If Father ever thinks, "I'm a Korean and I just want to work to create heaven for the Korean people and my own parents and grandparents," do you think the spirit world would have reason to come and help me? No. What I say is, "I am trying to bring the entire universe into heaven." Then what happens? Father becomes the champion of the entire universe. The universal spirit world comes down and says, "Yes, Reverend Moon, go ahead. We are all behind you."
Are you working for the universal heaven? You are not so dumb. You know what the right answer is. What has been your goal so far, before listening to me this morning? Is God listening to this sermon too? Will God say, "Reverend Moon, you are right. You make me feel so wonderful this morning." Or will God say, "What are you talking about, Reverend Moon? I don't want that kind of heaven. Let them worn for themselves!" Which will He say? Somehow you are very clever this morning. So, no matter how much difficulty you may be having at your home, or how many problems you encounter each day, say, "I am working for the sake of the world." Then God and the entire universal support system will be with you.
When I entered Danbury prison, my thinking was, "I am the champion of the universe. Nobody can touch me; not even one finger." That is the kind of feeling and pride I have. What happened? I walked the path of Danbury in the name of God and for the sake of the universe and I felt no shame. I felt truly wonderful. What happened? Rather than shame, Danbury, brought me greater reputation and greater victory. I do not seek to become famous, but circumstances are making me more and more famous every day.
What is happening nowadays? In 1988, another presidential election will be held. Many who are harboring the dream of becoming candidates in 1988 are thinking, "How can I get some connection to Reverend Moon so I can get his advice?" Even though they cannot explain it, they sense that somehow they have to hook into Reverend Moon or else they will not get heavenly, spiritual help. Something calls them in their heart.
We have come that far. Among the American people, who will stand up on the side of an Oriental man, Reverend Moon, and be his advocate? Beyond you, there are many champions who are standing up for Father. The time has ripened. Do you understand? God's timetable has come to the time of golden opportunity. What do you think? Is this just Father's whimsical thinking? Or is it the heavenly Principle? This is not my concept. It shall be done.
This is heavenly law. When you follow this law, you shall deserve heaven. If you are against this law, you shall deserve hell. Period. Every one of you, whether you have the Blessing or how many years you have worked in the Unification Church, it doesn't make any difference. Whether you come under this law or against this law shall determine your destiny.
Tens of thousands of years of human history have elapsed in order for this kind of foundation to be established. Think about it. It is such a glorious and incredible opportunity that in your lifetime here on earth, this short time span, you can have this heavenly goal. What a blessing! Do you understand?
Let us give an analogy. Imagine raindrops coming down from the sky-billions and billions of drops are falling and every drop is wishing it could fall on the head of the True Parents. But out of those billions of raindrops, how many could actually have the chance to fall right on the head of the True Parents? So very few. But that is the position you are in-you are like a drop of water that hit True Parents right on the head. Therefore, the spirit world is looking down at you and saying, "Oh, I envy that person. I've been working so hard for tens of thousands of years, and I never even got close to the Blessing those men and women are receiving. How wonderful it is for them. They hit the heavenly, million dollar super home run." That is your position.
(Father writes on the board.) Mark Lincoln very important name. Let's imagine that he goes up to the spirit world and he says, "I was a bodyguard for the True Parents." Then spirit world will say, "Oh, you were? Let's see your score." Then they will go to the heavenly computer room and push a button. Suppose they say, "Mark Lincoln, you only got ten points. You flunk." The heavenly computer might say, "You had a golden opportunity, the greatest opportunity on the face of the earth. You were luckier than anyone else, but you thought about your family and your own things, you complained, you slept late, you missed Pledge." In that case the computer would say, "Mark, you missed the mark!" What could he do? By that time, he no longer has an opportunity to change things.
As soon as Mark Lincoln enters into spirit world, he has no more opportunity, so in order to raise his score, he would have to come down to the earth and try to assist somebody else. But by that time, no one would even recognize him, no one would want to receive help from Mark because already tremendous progress will be made. So he would be left totally behind. This is just an illustration. Mark Lincoln is not that kind of brother! But this is the way it happens.
Everyone must go through that kind of judgment. You may say, "I want to hear Father this morning at Belvedere because he is so exciting and amusing and I like it very much." You don't just come here for enjoyment. You know you've got to do it. You've got to practice living correctly. This is the Principle. What do you think? I don't want you to say someday, "Father, why didn't you teach me more clearly?"
You are not here for the sake of the Unification Church. Don't ever think, "I'm doing a favor to the Unification Church." You are here for the sake of yourself, for your own salvation, your own eternal life. Ultimately, the Unification Church will not even need to exist. We will take down our sign when we are no longer needed. Only during the period of the fallen generation does the world need the church.
No matter what, this philosophy is final. This is the ultimate law in the entire universe. According to this, all the Christian ministers out there deserve a big chunk of heaven, don't they? No, they don't. Because they don't know that truth, they can't practice it. But you know it, don't you? In many cases, you are so clogged up with discouraged, narrow thinking and you suffer and agonize inwardly, and in the meantime you waste your time. But Father never wastes one minute. From the first day up to this one, Father has been thinking of universal restoration. Not even one iota of my time has been wasted.
When you go out and do home church and witnessing, you can see that circumstances out there have changed quite a bit. Can you really feel it deeply? Reverend Moon has become like a refreshing new wind of hope for people. Even though they cannot clearly explain it, they know that the direction of that wind is good. They will get some good news from it. Central America, South America, and Africa are already like that. Many there are saying, "Reverend Moon is our hope." There is no question about Asia. Soon it will come to the Western world, to Europe. Even if you feel the time is late, you can redetermine yourself today and say, "I'm going to become a champion for the world and the universe." Or are you going to remain centered on yourself?
In order to become a universal champion, you have to transform the world to the ideal of spirit world-God, True Parents, True Children and True Nation. That is your job. When you serve that goal here on earth, Satan has no power or accusation against you. You will have graduated, having successfully made your exodus from the fallen world.
How can you become good children of attendance? How can you develop the lifestyle of attendance? Seek always to unite your thoughts and deeds with God. Strive for absolute unity with God. The way God thinks, the way God does things, you do the same. The way God serves, you serve. By your doing so, Satan will have no power over you.
Think, "Everything in the universe belongs to God and to True Parents. I am a child of True Parents; therefore, it belongs to me. I love this city of New York because it belongs to God and True Parents and it belongs to me." For every material, even toilet paper, think, "This belongs to True Parents and it belongs to God, so I cannot waste it." It is according to my tradition that I never use more than two sections of toilet paper at a time. But in many cases, American young people seem to try to use up an entire roll at one time!
Think about how you are living-you are always living with Heavenly Father, even when you are on the toilet. He is with you. God would say, "Hey, what are you doing? Why are you wasting My things?" Always think, "Would God do that? This is a revolution of lifestyle. Think, "Everything belongs to God, and that is why it belongs to me. Everything belongs to True Parents, and that is why it belongs to me. That is why it is precious."
Many working people today have the desire to do less work and get higher wages. They only want more money all the time, but you are the opposite. You do the best work and you get small wages. You do more work because you are doing it for the Kingdom of Heaven and you are doing the work of True Parents.
In order to receive a greater blessing in the spirit world, you've got to seek very little in the physical world, materially speaking. Most people want to receive a lot of material blessing here on earth and they may think they can get a lot of blessing in spirit world, too. But it is the opposite. If you really want to deserve spiritual things, you have to go the opposite way. That is because less material help means more sacrifice on your part: less money, humbler clothing and food, little sleep. The more you sacrifice, the more you deserve spiritual blessing. It is logical. Do you understand?
If some store is holding a big sale, average people will run to the racks and try to grab as much as possible, even pushing other people out of the way. But Unification Church members should say, "Everybody else go first and get what you want. Then, if anything is left, I will get something for myself." With such a lifestyle and character, that person will be appreciated not only by God and spirit world, but the people on earth will love that person too. For black people especially what you need now is more effort: work harder than white people. If you try to seek little, then the black people will be blessed. Who shall dislike that kind of person?
When you walk down the street, you may think you have nothing to do with it, but that is not the case. That street belongs to the True Parents. That is the street of God. Pick up the dirty things, like cigarette butts, and put them in the trash can. In that way you are cleaning the Kingdom of Heaven and True Parents' world. When you walk down the street, always walk with God and True Parents and you will never be alone. As True Parents' representative, cleaning up trash is an ordinary duty. It is your responsibility.
When you talk, you talk as a representative of the True Parents. When you teach, when you sleep, it is as a representative of the True Parents. You should live 24 hours a day with this attitude. That means you never allow Satan even one minute to infiltrate your thoughts. Satan is given no chance; your 24 hours are guarded.
The United States of America has given tremendous anguish to me. But I do not harbor any resentment against this country because I can see that Satan did it. The American people and the American government did not do it. They did what they did because they were ignorant. But once they are taught the truth, they will follow God instead of Satan. I know that. I have never lost hope for this country and its people. That is my thinking about America.
When you wear your suit or your dress, don't think of it as "yours." Think, "This is my armament from God and True Parents. I am wearing it for them." When you eat a meal, think, "This is not my meal. This is given by God and True Parents and my brothers and sisters." When you have some delicious food, don't think, "Wow, that was wonderful. I'm in heaven." What about the tens of thousands of our brothers and sisters around the world who may not have such good food? Think, "God, forgive me, but with this energy I will work harder for them." Then go out there and do your work.
That is the way Father always thinks and lives and practices. This is my lifestyle. Therefore, the suffering people of the world can have no complaint against me. Even if someone has followed me through 10, 20 even 30 years of suffering, they still don't feel, "I've done enough." They feel they are inadequate because they know that they have never come near to the suffering of the True Father. Sometimes it seems that men and women who work with this kind of spirit and understanding will not make it. But somehow such people do make it because God and spirit world are behind them.
My life is a good example. For 40 years, everybody thought, "Reverend Moon will never make it. All kinds of opposition is against him. How can he survive?" Many people thought I would not last. But during the past 40 years under such difficult circumstances, I have become more successful every year and I have finally laid the worldwide foundation. Amen? (Amen!)
Would you like to walk down the road of failure- Satan's road-or the heavenly road? Therefore, live a life of attendance. Wherever you work, that is where God and True Parents are. Think, "I am there to be a model, to be an unspoken teacher to those around me." Can Satan invade a person with that kind of lifestyle? Without that attitude' you are just trying to live for yourself. Then Satan says, "Oh, this is my boy. This is my girl," and he begins his infiltration.
This life of attendance should become so much a part of your consciousness that even if someone shakes you awake at midnight, the first words out of your mouth would be, "God! True Parents! True Children! True Nation!" That means you will be separated from Satan. That shows you are subconsciously moving with True Parents and that lifestyle becomes yours to the bone. You don't even have to think about it, you just do the heavenly thing.
For example, if I want to go somewhere, I immediately feel whether it is the right thing for God or whether it is not so desirable. Actually, for that reason, I don't need a bodyguard anymore. Sorry-Mark Lincoln lost his job! (Laughter.) Am I a very unhappy man or a very happy one?
In Danbury, we had a cubicle with a lower bunk and an upper one. I always took the upper bunk. The reason is that I always want to be close to Heavenly Father. I thought, "God is above me and I want nothing to be between me and God." When I pray, it is always in such a way as to comfort God. Therefore, I prayed, "Heavenly Father, don't worry. Even though I am in Danbury prison, that does not lower Your prestige. I'm here fulfilling Your desire. If Your will is done more quickly this way, don't worry about me. I just want to comfort You."
What happened? During the Danbury period, I achieved more than at any other time in my history in the United States. Major projects and plans were all unfolded and executed while I was in Danbury. This is why, without any reason, the Danbury officials just could not like me at all. They felt a certain spiritual barrier because they were representing the satanic forces. They could not even come near me.
However, the inmates were totally united with me. Knowing that I was watched by the officials, they could not even say, "Good morning," to me. If they showed too much kindness to me, the officials would become even more hostile because they were jealous of me. So the inmates would say in a very low voice, with a kind of signal, "I can't say anything, Reverend Moon, but you understand." The whole camp felt heartistically connected to me.
Yesterday, some of those inmates sent Valentines to me. I didn't remember all their names, but they never forgot me. Furthermore, they wrote on the Valentine's cards, "Dear Reverend Moon and Mother." Everybody called us Father and Mother, so the inmates addressed us as either `'Father and Mother" or "Reverend Moon and Mother." To everybody, Mother is Mother. Period. (Laughter. )
Wherever I go, heaven is there. There is no such thing as hell for me. Do you understand? We have the extraordinary privilege of bringing the spiritual heritage down and duplicating it here on earth. That is our job, our pride and our prestige. "Within my lifetime, I'm going to use every ounce of energy, every drop of blood for Kingdom building." You've got to live with such bubbling enthusiasm. Then. you will be the happiest men and women.
If you are living such an enthusiastic lifestyle of attendance of True Parents and Heavenly Father, you may get so exhausted that you just drop down on the sofa and fall asleep. Even if your hands are dirty because you have not had time to wash them for a week, they will give off a spiritual glow. The person who lives like that never leaves God; God will always be with him. Think about that lifestyle-prayerful and always aspiring for the goal of God and True Parents. That is the most noble, happiest, and most prosperous lifestyle anyone can have. Don't you think so? That is where the Kingdom of Heaven is established. That is heaven, actually.
Our job is to destroy the satanic kingdom and the satanic realm. Then our pride and our mission is to transform it into the Heavenly Kingdom. Perhaps you can say, "Up to this morning, I haven't really lived for the sake of the universe, and Heavenly Father was not always with me. I have been thinking mainly of myself, my own family. I have felt miserable many times. But this morning, I feel awakened like a new person. I'm going to be different. I'm going to be God's and True Parents' child. When I walk down the streets of New York I will fulfill my mission of changing this world into heaven. I am a Kingdom builder. "
Those who pledge that to Father, raise your hands, please. Thank you. Let us pray.