Sun Myung Moon
January 15, 1978
Belvedere, New York
Translator - Bo Hi Pak
When their deaths are nearing your parents will say, "My son, I admire your conviction and your service to God and humanity. Your goal is just marvelous and 1 want the rest of my children to be like you." Every parent wants his children to have conviction and goodness in their hearts and to follow a goal that is greater than themselves. When you do some noble deed, they will repent inside. If parents pray even a simple prayer of repentance for opposing your efforts to follow God, then their destiny in the spirit world will be completely changed.
It is your responsibility to influence your parents like this. After all, it is you who impress your parents. If you stick to your guns and follow without any wavering, you will impress your parents so much that they can pray in repentance later. It is my responsibility to make you that kind of person. The responsibility ultimately comes back to me, and for this reason I will push you out strongly without any reservation.
If you hesitate to say you are a Unification Church member, you are no good to God
Go beyond the dividing peak. Whatever you have done in the past, I forgive you. Don't bear a grudge in your heart or take offense and have a sinful attitude. Get rid of such feelings because I am forgiving you. If in this forty-day condition you set a new record, then all your past errors can be forgiven. Shout out on the street until your voice is hoarse and until your eyes automatically close at night with weariness. It is cold outside, but even let your face become frozen. When you are cold and shivering, pray for the people who died in the cold even without food, saying, "I'm taking this suffering in the cold and paying indemnity for those who died under these circumstances."
This year we are organizing a publicity offensive to let people know who we really are. The media has given the public a false impression of us, but we have nothing to fear and nothing to be ashamed about. Because we are Moonies we are connected to God and the True Parents. Because we are Moonies we are heading toward the perfection of every level, even pushing toward the ultimate perfection of God. Let it be known to the world and proclaim yourself as a Unification Church member wherever you go.
From this year on there will be no forgiveness for those who hesitate to say that they are members of the Unification Church. God and the entire spirit world will punish you so you must have heavenly dignity. Some people may have a very scornful attitude, but just confront them and demand, "I'm a Moonie; so what? What's wrong with me? What are you doing for God and the world?" Don't hesitate even for one moment. The most important question you can ask someone who is saying unkind things about me is, "Have you ever seen him? How could you say such a thing without meeting this person even once? I have listened to his message and I'm proud of the tears and sweat he shed to make me a righteous man in the sight of God. You are absolutely mistaken if you think he is a brain-washer or a front for the KCIA. It is a terrible crime to hurt someone's honor without even knowing the truth."
So far we have tolerated being beaten and criticized and persecuted, but the time has come to counterattack and educate people. We have to show them right and wrong, good and bad. What's wrong with fund raising? You are clearly not doing it to buy your own meals. You are doing it for the work of God. If you are a college graduate, show them your diploma. If you have a good family history, show the people that you are not just an outcast of society. You are decent, righteous, goal-oriented young men and women.
You are in the habit of eating three meals everyday, but have you ever thought much about how this nation is declining or about the destiny of America? You must determine to fight it out with the people who make the world miserable and show them what is right and wrong. You must be bold and strong. People may think that we are the crooks, but what happened to all the people who criticized me in the past? One by one they have been taken away to spirit world while I remain and our Church flourishes. If God is truly the world's judge then why did He keep me strong physically and spiritually?
The other day a fund raising member came to my car and asked for a donation. He had a big ID card on his coat that said "Unification Church" and I liked that very much. You have guts when you wear your ID. Open up and show what you are. God has written our ID cards, and if you are trying to hide anything, it actually means that you are trying to hide from God and the spirit world. That is impossible! From whom are you going to hide then? Nobody.
Go out and say, "I'm from the Unification Church, a follower of the Reverend Moon. " If you cannot say that with conviction then you are no good to God or me, no matter how many Ph.D.s you have. There are already many Ph.D.s who want to help. No one can compete with what I have done for the world and you can be proud of that.
All you beautiful American girls have been cleaned up since coming to the Unification Church. I get a headache when I am around women wearing lots of perfume, but you women wear heavenly perfume, the smell of sweat. When you fund raise, are you earning money for your own marriage? How do you know your money will go to God? How do you know that I am not going to spend that money for all kinds of foolish things? People say you are brainwashed because of your faith in me!
I have already become the central figure in your heart
The most clear-cut answer to your questions about me comes when you really pray, and the answer comes through direct intuition or spiritual communication. That is more than an explanation. The amazing thing is that when you pray and ask for the answer, I appear to answer you. There has never been such a thing before in history as a living person appearing in your prayers to give you guidance and answers.
If your faith is as strong as my faith then I can teach you any secrets. Without your faith and sincere desire, however, you would be real swindlers if you received heavenly truth. I cannot teach you cheaply, because if you receive truth but cannot accommodate it then I am responsible to God. If you are very sensitive and simply look at me and my attitude toward you, then you can analyze everything about me and about yourself.
No matter what, I have already become the central figure in your heart. Who did that? Did I put a computer program in your heart? No, God did it. Many of the missionaries to 120 countries are suffering and some of them are in jail, but I gave them instructions that no one should return before the three years are up. There is some mysterious power working which enables them to endure even jail during those three years.
Our organization is not a paper organization; it is the first such spiritual organization in history. Such an organization has only existed in the spirit world until now, and that is why I can boldly proclaim that the Kingdom of God here on earth is possible. That is our asset, without which we cannot win even one battle. The asset you are going to accumulate before you go to the spirit world is your relationship to me, and its value will derive from how close and alive it is.
I tell you to do things that look impossible, but take my instructions at face value and plunge into the task. When I say that you should do something, it means that I am already promising you support. If you really commit yourself, then my support is automatically with you. Heavenly responsibility is 95% of the task, and your responsibility is only 5%. That applies to everything. From a business point of view this is a most profitable enterprise!
Even though you may have come to the end of your rope physically, you will not say it is because I pushed you down into this misery. None of you will feel that you want to get revenge and kill me. Even the ax-members who are speaking against us are saying good things about me. They will say that they just couldn't stand the leaders of the Unification Church or their previous central figures, but they still respect me.
Even the members who marry after they leave cannot forget the Unification Church or forget me. I am teaching the heavenly way of life and assisting you in your work, and even though some people think they can't stay in the Church and then leave, they try to live for one, two, or three years outside but their agony is very great. They can't forget me. In some cases they get a divorce and come back to the center, repenting for what they did. It is most tragic, and when they return tears run down their faces if they even just glance at me.
I have never betrayed anyone or cursed anyone who left the Unification Church. Instead I go after them spiritually to help guide them and comfort them. That's why they can't lift up their faces when they come back. If you want to try this, go ahead and get married. What kind of life can you lead? It would be impossible to have peace of mind. Perhaps some of our beautiful sisters think that the Unification Church is not the place for them to be fully appreciated and that they could do much better elsewhere. In the Church they can't be sure what kind of husbands they will have and they finally decide to leave. If anyone thinks she can do better on her own, then go ahead and do it. Find the most handsome man in the world and get married and try to forget your life here. Do you think you can do it? The situation is serious.
So far I have borne mankind's responsibility on my own shoulders
The Japanese were enemies of Korea for 36 years when they occupied the entire nation, and at that time the imperialistic Japanese forced me into jail. The Japanese here today are the descendants of those people who caused my suffering, but I suspect that if I asked if they could die for Japan, they would refuse. But if I asked, "Can you die for me?" they would all answer, " Yes, Father." I had an awful time with some of the Japanese here in America when I had to send them back to Japan. They all cried and petitioned me to let them stay in America because I am here. But if I went back to Korea, then all the Japanese would ask to go back to Japan.
Can a person be paid to act like that? Only God can make a person feel like that. I have a special covenant with God, and because I did a special service to God which no one else in history could do, God gave me a special power. I have an intimate relationship with God. Do you know what the spirit world is all about through logic and theory? How much does President Carter know about human history? He is having difficulty because he only tries to deal with problems one by one instead of seeing the overall picture from God's point of view.
What I am doing on the worldwide level in the face of opposition is far more difficult than the problems President Carter and his administration are trying to solve in governing this country. I will never seek to have an audience with the President of the United States, but in the future many Presidents will want to come and meet me after they leave office. The person they will want to see is the man you meet here every Sunday morning. When I enter the spirit world my dignity there will be overwhelming to see. Do you think I am worth living for?
As a human, I am a very dramatic person. No opponent could stand if I really pushed him. If I had not chosen to be a religious leader then l would have been a crime buster. I could break up any fight and demolish both of the fighters, and I would not be the one to apologize; they would apologize to me for causing any trouble.
I was a wrestling champion when I was in high school and no one could beat me because I was like a rock. There is no sport I cannot do. I can do exercises on the bar very well and I can box. I don't do that any more though, since I am almost sixty. I have a special exercise for my health, and when I have a bad cold or if I am getting the flu, I can get rid of it without taking any medicine. When my nose is stuffed up I don't need any kind of spray like so many people use. Instead I developed a special kind of massage which opens up the nasal passages. I slept less than three hours last night, but that's the way I always live.
I want you to be the kind of men and women who do things that are impossible for others. Do all of you women want to become captains of our fishing boats? No matter what, you are still women and your voices don't sound like captains' voices! Life on a boat is not easy; fishermen usually have beards and look very rugged, and it would not be easy to get those men to listen to you. Your voices don't boom like a captain's, but I accept your determination. If you want to become a captain but somehow you can't do it, then at least you can be the wife of a captain.
Yesterday I went to Norfolk and took care of many months' worth of problems in one day. I have to visit another place today, but already it is after 11 a.m. The only reason I am spending so much time here this morning is that it is slippery and snowy out and I can't travel too well today.
Would you like to hear one nice story? The most intriguing and interesting story under the sun is the story about the blessing, right? Do you just want to receive the blessing after making the smallest possible condition, or do you want to make the strongest possible foundation ahead of time? That means you might wait ten years for the blessing.
So far I have borne the sole responsibility, lessening the burden of all the people of the world by bearing their burden upon my own shoulders. In order to receive the blessing each person needed to have three spiritual children, but from this point on you need twelve, and later on 72 and then 120. Twelve is the formation stage, 72 the growth stage and 120 the perfection stage. Why has the rule changed in one years' time? The reason is that 1976 was the ultimate turning point of heavenly history, the year in which the highway was laid from the bottom of hell all the way up to heaven. Bringing 12, 72, or 120 spiritual children now is much easier than bringing three people in the past.
You must love the world before you can love your own family
Your witnessing so far has not been concentrated on your own family because God's principle is always to sacrifice His own son to save others. In following that principle we have reached out to others before witnessing to our own families, which is like witnessing to Jesus and God; they are the last priority.
Jesus had to go out to save his country and continue on to win the entire world represented by Rome at that time, winning a certain condition of victory before coming back to settle in his original home. By doing so, the entire territory would have been totally restored.
The 20th century dispensation is developing in Korea as it did in Israel of 2,000 years ago, and in the United States as it did in the Roman Empire of 2,000 years ago. Judaism came to oppose Jesus and today Christianity takes that position in coming to oppose the Unification Church. Judaism and Christianity together are trying to cooperate with the United States government to somehow crush the Unification Church, but they are not succeeding.
Imagine Jesus going to Rome and proclaiming a Day of Hope rally at the Roman Coliseum. Suppose Jesus had said that the Romans must change themselves and follow God's principle instead of the ugly gods they worshipped. That did not happen 2,000 years ago, but that parallels what I did here in America. Jesus was meant to leave his homeland, or nation, for the sake of the world because the greater Cain should be given first priority in restoration.
Opposition in the Western world represents a wider level of opposition than in Japan or Korea. If the United States opposes me, that means the entire world is coming against me together with America. There is still an enormous amount of work to be done in Korea, and the only reason for me to come to America would be as part of God's strategy or overall plan. Abel goes out to restore the greater enemy and give the blessing to the greater Cain first. Then automatically all lesser degrees will be covered. When you examine God's history in the Bible, you can see that God always uses the ones closest to Him as a sacrifice to save the greater Cain.
That's why Jesus had to give up his home. When his own mother and family scorned him he reached out to the world, and after finishing that mission could have come back to the original starting point, his own home. God has not finished that providence yet. For the first time in history, God's representative has taken the providence of God upon his shoulders and has come out of his homeland to consummate the worldwide level of victory. Now he is ready to go back to his beginning point.
Do you know why your parents oppose your being here? Through their negativity God is assisting you to automatically obey God's law, which is to give up your own clan first and go out for the sake of the world, returning later to your home. First you must love the world more than your own parents. Your parents' opposition automatically sets that condition. I'm sure many of you have experienced how totally unlike their former behavior their unreasoning opposition is.
That is not the end of it, however. Once you love the world first and God can claim you as His son, you will then participate in the universal dispensation. Afterward God will let you go back to your own family and restore them. I came to the world and established myself individually, then my own family, tribe and national and worldwide foundations. In doing this I gave up everything I conceivably could and gave it all to the American providence. I love the American providence to a foolish degree, without any reservations.
That providence was finished victoriously in 1976 and now the time has come that I can leave America at any time and go back to my homeland. I would not go back to Korea with a complaining heart, however. I would glorify God, and I can leave this country without regret because I have done my job. When Jesus left this world he said, "I will return," but when I leave this country, my final words will not be "I must return"; I will say, "I have done my mission. lt is now yours to take over."
The physical environment in Korea is hell compared to America, but your heaven is half occupied by Satan. If I had been defeated in this country then everything would have been taken over by satanic power, but by my proclaiming this victory, the physical heaven will be returned to God's side. Because I finished my job here in America in 3 1/2 years, I can leave freely without any regrets and I will leave the mission to you.
There is no physical danger for you now, but throughout my entire life I have been in danger. The Yankee Stadium rally was a most critical campaign and I knew there would be danger, but God sent a storm that day. It seemed like a tragedy, but it was not; it was a blessing. By sending that storm, God prevented the worst kind of tragedy. The evil people who plotted certain things felt the meeting had been called off and they didn't come. Many people with guns came to Yankee Stadium and several were apprehended. No matter how difficult it may be for you, no one will kill you for being Moonies. Since Cain slew Abel in the garden of Eden, the Cain side on the worldwide level is trying to repeat that. Threats follow me wherever I go, but that particular providence will be indemnified by my winning over the negative plots.
I have many brothers and sisters but I never spoke about the Divine Principle with anyone in my family, even though I had the opportunity. I knew that in God's principle I had to reach out to the world first, to the people on Satan's side. I am giving you this historical background because you are connected to my own destiny, and the universal dispensation has come to the point of returning home. Soon you can do the same.
After 1980 you can be ambassadors of God to your own homes
You have been away from your homes because you went out to love the world. Now the time has come for you to teach your own clan the Divine Principle and restore them. When you go home, you should be welcomed because by now your family should recognize your true value and true future. We should create the kind of atmosphere for them to understand and respect you. From 1980 on, I will send you to be ambassadors of God and the True Parents in your own homes and bring your families into the movement.
After you have lived an official, public life for more than seven years, I will send you back for a home ministry. Giving your testimony and witnessing to your own clan is ten times easier than dealing with strangers. They would not kill you because they are your brothers and sisters. It takes incredible energy to win one spiritual child outside your family, but one-fifth of that energy would be enough to win your own family. Your parents will remark at how you have changed and how your ideas make sense.
I Then your parents will have a family banquet and gather all your relatives and tell them to listen to you. Teach them with dignity the power of the Divine Principle, and al] of them will be turned around in less than seven hours.
Until now, having three spiritual children was condition enough for you to receive the blessing because so far we have been going only in one direction, pioneering the first highway up to heaven. Once you emerge from this hellish area up on top, however, you are free to deal with all four directions. You need only one door to get into the Kingdom of Heaven, but after you get in you must deal with four directions and with all kinds of people. That is the meaning of the twelve pearl gates; each gate represents a certain human character.
Jacob had twelve sons and Israel had twelve tribes, and now each of you is forming a new tribe, a new Israel, and you are in the center. Each one of your twelve spiritual children represents one tribe of Israel. From this time on, it is not Reverend Moon who is on the front line, but you; you are Reverend Moon. You are going to create your own heaven.
My work thus far has been to set the condition for the entire world, but it has been like sprinkling seeds all over the world. I have been the sower thus far, and now you must sow. You are going to create your own visible, tangible kingdom surrounding you. If you go back as Jacob or as Reverend Moon in your own home, then you will be surrounded by twelve disciples or spiritual children and in time that will expand to 72 and then 120. That will be your kingdom eventually. In this way you should be better than Jesus.
Was Jesus able to unite his twelve disciples in harmony? Can you unite your twelve spiritual children into oneness? In my own lifetime I am bringing 120 nations into one family. That is really a universal age. If I had not gone to all those countries, or had not sent my representatives to those countries, then all the people there would come to me in spirit world and demand, "Why did you ignore my country? We wanted to participate in the spiritual New Age, but you didn't even send a representative to us." I prevented their complaint by setting the necessary condition. We even have members behind the Iron Curtain. There are many people who are risking their lives daily in order to spread the message of God, but since you have far better conditions here in New York, shouldn't you be more productive than they are? This is a new age and a different time. In 1978 we are really swinging into a new era on the foundation of the 1976 victory and the 1977 preparation. You can reach out to your own parents and really cry out your love for them because you need them to be restored into heaven. They will listen to you.
Fallen Adam and Eve could not restore themselves, but should have been assisted by their children. Children must come back and help their parents to be restored. The important thing before you go back to your own parents, however, is that first you set the condition for Cain and Abel to become one. Then together they can go back to the parents and help them to be restored. This providence means that the elder brother must take the position of younger brother, and the younger brother become the elder.
Originally the elder son was to be the master of the house, but because of the fall of man Satan claimed the first born to be on his side, with the second born on the side of God. In restoration the birthright should be restored to God's side through the younger son. Right now America is in Cain's position, really opposing me, but the positions will be reversed soon.
Once parents and children unite on the side of heaven, Satan will be immobilized
By setting the universal condition, I can restore and resurrect my entire ancestral line at one stroke. The son can save the parents and then the parents can save their own parents, and so forth, right back to the beginning. Then the entire spirit world has a right to descend to earth where true parenthood has been established and can be restored at once. For those in spirit world this is a revolutionary event. The necessary conditions for restoration have been made spiritually and reach to the highest heaven, and anything of a lesser degree is automatically included. Furthermore, under this condition Unification Church members can easily restore their parents. The children here have made possible the restoration of their spiritual forefathers, and now as physical sons and daughters you can restore your physical parents.
As the children and parents become united into one, the rest of the world will automatically be restored. We can command Satan. Once the world and the spirit world are on our side, Satan will have no right to move anywhere. There will not even be room for Satan to stand and he will have to leave the world entirely alone. This is perfectly logical. The condition of indemnity is being set step-by-step, yet in the end it will accomplish a formidable thing.
Now God can see children physically restoring their own parents, and rejoicing together over the one true parenthood. This will literally be the Kingdom of God here on earth. Certainly God will take delight in looking down and seeing all this. A brand new family system will be established and the registration of heavenly citizens will begin.
Spiritually speaking a formidable condition has been fulfilled and an astonishing revolution is developing, but you don't happen to see it yet. Most of these things are happening spiritually and are invisible to human eyes, but you will see it all in the spirit world.
At one time we departed in sorrow, but the time of joyful reunion is at hand. When you meet God and meet the spirit world, you will be entitled to return to your families and restore them. After 1980 all the missionaries will be withdrawn from their countries, and they will go home to build their own kingdom with their own clans. Until 1980, however, we have a formidable mission to be finished-we have to take care of communism.
In the next three years we are going to lay a solid foundation to really tackle and digest the communist power, and as we do so internal squabbles and difficulties will be weakening them. All sorts of tragedies will hit the communist world, like a great famine in China and another in Russia. Already there has been a great earthquake in China.
The second generation in Abel's position is on my side, which is why mostly young people have come to the Unification Church in America. Our history is equivalent to the forty years of wandering in the wilderness during the Exodus. During that time the first generation passed away without seeing the promised land; this is what is happening on the worldwide scale as well. Because you now have hope and have found the heavenly solution, any parents who have a child in the Unification Church will not perish. They will be deeply grateful to you. You can finish the worldwide dispensation and then go back to your home in time to restore your family.
You are going to lay that foundation here in America and in the next three years you must show America and the world how you can love God and humanity. You are actually like hippies, but on the Abel side. The Cain-type hippies are morally degraded and corrupted by free sex and drugs. They are spiritual anarchists, but the Abel-type hippies are moral and God-centered, trying to bring back a family tradition and to live unselfishly. You are the ones who will take care of communism. There are similarities in the life styles of Cain and Abel hippies -- you both live communally, for instance, but here we have a strict moral discipline. Instead of living for personal happiness, you get up in the morning and are busy all day. You are creating an environment for your blessing by restoring the society, nation and world.
Let's fulfill the Cain and Abel dispensation in these three years, uniting Cain and Abel hippies together, cleaning them up and bringing them back to the heavenly restoration. After that you will go back to your own families and take care of them. The Divine Principle is not just a theory, but a timetable through which you can know precisely where you are standing.
You must inherit my responsibility as well as my blessing
I have already laid the cornerstone. The people who think they don't have to do anything except hang around are thieves and robbers. They are trying to steal everything I have accumulated, and inherit it for free. If you really want to inherit my blessing then you must inherit my responsibility as well. I am willing to give you the most difficult responsibility.
Can you take care of it? You can't take a little bit of each for the time being and come back for more later. I will only give you the total package, once and for all. The forty-day condition which began on January 10 is one condition you can set to deserve that gift. My condition of indemnity is already paid.
So far I have provided all the resources for the sake of America, but the time has come for you as mature children to say, "Father, you sit back. We want to bring everything you need for the rest of the world." You are going out to be front-line soldiers just like I have been doing all this time. The time has come for a change of command.
Since I have paid all the indemnity of the past, whenever you engage in battle and gain your result, it shall remain as your credit and your accomplishment. I really want to ruthlessly push you down to the scene of the battle so that by being strong and bold you will be entitled to the blessing. Remember that the accomplishments you must have now can be obtained much more easily than in the past.
You fundraisers have to write letters to the people you meet, and in that way you can win spiritual children. It won't take three years to bring twelve people because now the spiritual atmosphere is right. You are creating your own heaven and to do that you have to cover four directions, bringing spiritual children of twelve different characters. That is the foundation of your own tribe, your own heaven.
When you bring those twelve people from among your own clan there won't be a Judas Iscariot to sell you out. In that respect you can be better than Jesus. You don't have to pay all the necessary indemnity because I have already paid most of it for you. Now anything you build will remain to your credit, and with much less effort you can do these infinitely more than Jesus.
Bringing twelve spiritual children will complete the formation stage, 72 the growth stage, and 120 the perfection stage. This is exactly what I did. The first blessing of 36 couples became my own tribe, with twelve couples each representing the formation, growth, and perfection levels, as well as the Old Testament, New Testament, and Completed Testament eras and Adam's family, Noah's family and Jacob's family. On that foundation I blessed 72. 120, 430, 777 and 1800 couples.
Whether you receive the blessing or not is really secondary. Don't you want to have your spiritual children here and in spirit world? You have an advantage over me in that I did all this through strangers, but you can do it through your own family because the dispensational time is right. I envy you in that respect. I was not able to teach my own family and restore them first, as I already explained. There was always danger around when I had to deal with strangers, and many people tried to kill me. It is different in your case because you can return to your families, which provides a far better atmosphere for you to work.
Do you understand the time in which we are living? Even if I were now taken away you could go on because you now have the guidelines, direction and power to do it. Your 3 1/2 years from this time on is your golden opportunity. These principles will be followed by the entire Unification Church membership around the world, and if your responsibility is fulfilled then I can have total freedom.
I want to buy a walking stick and go around the world to visit one blessed couple after another. All kinds of invitations will come for me to visit everyone, and I want to distribute the plane tickets, money and invitations one-by-one so that you can come together with me. There are so many houses to visit that it would be physically impossible to go everywhere, so I will pick out several homes where there is an international marriage and go there. The international couples will have the privilege of receiving me in their home, because that is where the greatest revolution of love is being undertaken. Do I hear any protests?
Once you go over the dividing peak you are free to come and go anytime. January 15 is a special day, and that is why I have kept you here so long this morning. Go out and be proud to be Moonies. You are the princes and princesses of the New Age. The time will come for you to shout out to the entire world that you are Moonies, and people will respond with love and admiration. We'll make the time come. I want you to go into the year 1978 with no regrets, and this is why I set up the forty-day condition. I actually did everything in forty years, but I want you to do it in forty days. You cannot beat this kind of discount. The forty-day condition will end on February 23, which is the anniversary of the True Parents' birthday last year, the day I declared the Year One of the Kingdom of God on earth. In the future all heaven and earth shall use this calendar. This forty-day condition is linked to that anniversary. Shall we do it? Let us pray.