Three Stages of Judgment

Sun Myung Moon
Circa 1973

Judgment of Words

It is our duty as fallen men to pass through three stages of judgment -- judgment of words, judgment of personality, and judgment of love or heart.

All through history, mankind has been in search of the truth, true words. The truth is the standard by which all the problems of mankind can be solved. We know man somehow fell in the beginning, and to fall means to fall into the bondage of Satan. So in order for us to return to the original position, we have to overcome the bondage of Satan. For fallen people, there is no other message which is more hopeful and desirable than the message of restoration to the position before the fall. To be restored is, in another sense, to be liberated from satanic bondage-and this is the gospel of gospels for fallen men.

Then, what is judgment? Judgment is the measurement of all our actions according to the original standard. If our acts cannot come into accord with the original rule or measurement, we must be judged or punished. With any government, there is the ruling party and the opposition party, with a balance of power between them. If one of the laws is set up to be amended, then both parties must agree. In the universe there are God and Satan. Between the two there stand men and women-some are more on God's side, and others are more on the satanic side. But in judging the people there must be a standard of judgment accepted by both God and Satan. People more on the right side can be claimed by God, and on the other side by Satan. In worldly matters too we have a certain standard or rule. If we compare something to that measurement, and if it is above the standard, then it is called successful, for example; but if it is below the standard, then we call it a failure. If it is a total failure, so that it cannot even be compared by measurement, then there can be no judgment possible. Neither God nor Satan can claim this total failure.

In the course of restoration there must be the standard rule. If you are going to find one in the Bible, which must it be? For instance, with any mountain there are peaks and valleys. Centered on one peak, there are two sides; God is on the right side, while Satan is on the other side. There is a difference between the high peaks and the low peaks. All through history, when we examine the courses our ancestors passed through, the process is something like going up a peak, then down, and then again attaining a certain height. In that way, mankind of the past have been generally climbing up. There are many peaks of various heights. Those who belonged to the Old Testament Age began to climb up, and on the peak they decided whether they were on God's side or the satanic side. Then they made another hike to reach another peak of greater height. The climber begins right at the foot of the first peak, and he passes on what he has attained to the climbers after him. The Messiah is the person who would be waiting on the highest peak, and those who have attained the peak will be welcomed and praised. But the Messiah himself has to know what way they have had to go through.

Jesus is the fruit of the truth, of God's Logos. He has attained the highest peak in the spiritual sense. Jesus said, "The Old Testament -came about for me; everything and every word from God is for me." (Matt. 5:17, John 5:39-40) He said on another occasion, "I am the way, the truth and the life." (John 14:6) The way is the truth and the truth is the way and life, too. The truth is something God exalts, while Satan is jealous of it. The truth belongs to God. God must love the law He has set up and He is going to love it through eternity. Then what must be the mission of the truth? The mission of the truth is to guide the people through their way. The Principle of Restoration is to connect all the ways trodden by the Old Testament Age saints with the New Testament Age saints, through the present. We are going to make the zigzag road a straight one, so that we can show to the people the standard of how to reach the highest peak. The shortest way is the straight line, and the mainstream and the final way. That's what the word "principle" means. What kind of principle is this? What is the Divine Principle?

The Divine Principle is the measure or the way -- the guide -- that will take us through the path to reach God, and to the original position before the fall. Without going through this way, fallen men cannot reach the original position. This is the measurement, ruler, and fundamental guide. Mankind has walked a tangled way away from God, and we must return through the same path. But we are going to straighten it out. Suppose you had a rope or string entangled with knots. If you just use your strength and pull hard on the ends, would the knots be undone? No. If you spent hours of your time, would that alone solve the problem? Time and energy poured out in blind, random efforts would not do anything. In praying before God, also, if you just pray blindly to Him to give you something or to help you to do something, He can never help you. There must be a rule or standard to be met.

Suppose again there is a very good man, but he is a blind man. Without his knowing how to use a sword, would God give it to him? There is the danger of his grasping the blade instead of the handle. God would not give it to him. If He did, He would be a blind God. Everything must meet its standard. The Divine Principle is the measurement by which God can liberate fallen men. You will be liberated into true words, the truth. You will be liberated from the darkness into the light, where you can see the relationship between God and yourself in precision.

In America you ride in cars every day. When you are in a hurry, you want to speed up. When you go at full speed, there is danger. If you want to speed without danger, then you have to have had good practice beforehand. In handling the steering wheel, is there flexibility? Can you move it just as you please? Not an inch of freedom is there. The wheels of the car must be round; if they are bent, driving will be dangerous. If the four wheels have a will of their own, and some won't turn as they should, what will happen? The air pumped into all of those four wheels must be the same amount or they will not move together properly. If you want to go at full speed, it means the wheels will have to make many revolutions. I know that you may dislike repeating things, the same old things. But when you want to keep a diamond glittering, you have to polish it. If you want to keep this room clean, won't you clean it once, twice or more each day? The same applies to learning the Principle. You must learn the truth well, in every particular.

Have you ever stopped to think how many times in your life you will be talking with people about the truth? When you eat food, it becomes more delicious as you chew it fully. If you just chew once or twice and swallow it, do you know the real taste of the food? With a thing of value, you must repeatedly practice with it and try to know the taste of it, and it will give you more and more. So repetition does not fatigue you. You must know the truth well. The first standard of judgment is that of words. If you do not pass the standard, you cannot be released from bondage.

Judgment of Personality

The second is the judgment of personality. However hard you may struggle to walk fast on a certain road, if you are going the wrong way, you have to come back. Where does Satan lie in ambush? He is always close to the main road, the true way. Because he wants to snap you up and stop you from going along the right road, he comes to attack you without warning. So, you must prevent him from stopping you from going on the way. However well-practiced, however well- equipped you may be, if you are attacked by Satan on the way, that is the end of it. You must have a technique to prevent Satan from stopping you. You must have the personality to win over satanic temptation. You must be more able, stronger than Satan in every way. You must be alert to see where Satan lies in ambush. Have you ever stopped to think of that? Satan is everywhere -- and you are vulnerable to his attack. You must know how to locate him and find him out. When you are strong enough not to be tempted or fall into the hands of Satan, you can win over him; but you must know Satan waits for the time when you are about to fall into the pit, when you are in the most difficult situation. That's the moment Satan comes to press on your throat.

When you fight on the battlefield, the enemy lies in ambush. Most likely, he comes to attack you during the night -- when you don't expect him. Spies will come, but if you have wide-open eyes, they will run away. When you are in slumber or relaxation, or when you are in distress or despair, that's the time of satanic attack. For instance, you are frustrated and say to yourself, "Oh, I have worked one year on the mobile team, can I go on like this?" That's the very moment Satan will attack you. Satan would say, "You are my prey at this very time." All you have accomplished before will be gone. It would not take one of the strong Satans [evil spirits] to attack, but the smallest and weakest one can press on your throat and you will be spiritually killed. Isn't that true? When you are in distress, frustrated, you must remind yourself of the fact that this is the very moment when the weakest of Satans can attack you. When you are not witnessing, not doing church work -- when you are thinking only of good food, fine clothing -- when you are in that kind of mood, that's the very moment you are liable to Satanic invasion. When you miss your sweetheart, that's the very moment Satan attacks you. Those are the hooks on which Satan can drag you back. When you doze off, that means you are in a lax mood. That's the very moment Satan will come and snatch you away. When you cannot help being tired and frustrated, try to go somewhere away from the observation of others. Meditate, pray there for three days, and after doing that you will look at your brothers and sisters working so hard and think, "What am I?" In distress you will think, "Can I be loved by God? I must work." Your conscience will tell you. You will be aroused to new vitality. You pray in repentance, and feel again like going out to work. That's better.

Many times when I was in prison [in North Korea] I would appear in handcuffs before the judge; and on my way from prison to the court, on the street I would sometimes meet members from my church. I would wave my hands at them in hilarious joy. And when I waved my hands, the handcuffs jangled -- the noise of it still resounds in my ears.

I swore then I would never die before realizing my mission. I would demonstrate my determination, and I would never stop before that day came. I would be strong enough to endure all difficulties. And when I was released, I would work again with more zeal. I thought even prison was my training course, and that afterward I would be a stronger worker for God. When you picture the prison life, don't ever imagine the prisons in this country. That prison was far below your level -- untold misery -- almost like animal life. If I were to describe it, you wouldn't understand. We had a handful of rice, almost rotten, each day. We missed good rice and food, and yet we had to work on, mining and loading heavy bags of chemicals. And after we were exhausted and were to receive our handful of rice, on the way to eat some of us would die. Others were so anxious to get rice that they would even take it out of dead men's mouths to feed themselves. At those times I would say to myself, "Even if hardships are doubled and tripled, I will never fail." Even in the Communist prison, I worked so hard that they had to give me a prize for achievement.

I am sympathetic with you. You are in the prime of your life. You want to dance with your sweethearts; you want to enjoy your life in the worldly sense. There are many good things teeming in this world for you. But you have been awakened to the fact that someone must do this job, not just myself. This heavy world is falling to destruction. Some power must stop it. The whole earth is covered with war and misery, and you are living on that earth. Along with it, you know you are going to come to destruction. The merry-makers -- those without the knowledge of what is happening -- may look happy. But those who know that the world is collapsing cannot help but want to stop it. Some people are indifferent. But would you just stand by and watch the world end? Wouldn't you want to do something about it, even if you had to die or be killed to do so? There may be many casualties, by tens and hundreds of thousands, but if you are not prepared to die for the cause, you cannot live to save the world.

If you are ready to die ahead of others, all of you; if you have that attitude, you will not die and you can save the world. But if you are like the disciples of Jesus who denied him upon his death, you will fall away and the whole world will be left unsaved. Would you become like Jesus' disciples? Jesus' disciples were in fear of Satan and they were overwhelmed by satanic power. Satan took them away -- all twelve disciples, who in Jesus' lifetime had served him. Then, what happened to Jesus? Satanic hands were on him, but he died a physical death, not a spiritual death. If your spirit is not dead, if you have the same zeal and ardor upon your death, there is a way to be saved and resurrected again.

If you have to die, and if you die a courageous death -- without leaving shame to your descendants -- then you have the chance to be resurrected and work through your descendants. Jesus was attacked by satanic hands, but he was not defeated by Satan. God, who is more awesome than Satan, was on his side, fighting for him. You must know that. God is on the side of righteousness. Have you ever stopped to think, How long can I work? Will there be a time when I will be utterly frustrated? " To be shot to death is a simple thing, but to be tortured spiritually, to have Satan cut off every limb arms and legs -- would you bear that torture?

If you are resolved to live for the cause and die for the cause, you are already being resurrected. You are transcending life and death. In that case you are on God's side and God is on your side, because God is also the being transcendent of life and death. God is our Friend and our Co-worker. Those who have God as their Co- worker must be courageous. God is not only your friend, but your Father. You are going to be the incarnation of God. God belongs to the whole universe, to all humanity. He sent many saints and prophets to work for the great cause and they were killed and martyred. That means God's hands and arms and all limbs were cut off. He has been enduring pain all the way. But He is still intact from satanic invasion; He is sane and whole and all-powerful and almighty. He is living in me and I am the incarnation of Him. Would you not be proud and stand as firmly as He is standing? Then, with that quality, will you say you are tired after a year, after five years, ten years, twenty years? Will you be tired of doing this job? When will you be exhausted? Never? In a word, you must think you are born for this life and this is your destiny.

You cannot but go this way. Then, your attitude must be different. You must be accustomed to eating humble food, being clad in poor clothing, being sheltered in tents and outdoors -- you must know the taste of enjoying your life in this way. I began my work while you were not yet born. At your age I had accomplished much. But I thought there was a tremendous amount of work that I must accomplish during my lifetime. I knew that. I was never proud of my having done as much as I had. I was always anxious to accomplish more and more. I was in haste every moment. Do I look frustrated? Do I look tired? I am not tired. The farther I advance forward, the more strength is accumulated.

People think, "If I live this way or that, I will be happy." We think we are happy because we are living a certain kind of life. Then, who set up the standard? The definition of happiness -- can it be right? You must say, "I did not set up the standard of happiness like that, so it has nothing to do with me. I have to create a new standard or definition of happiness." If you define happiness to be eating humble food, being clad in rags, being sheltered in a humble place, that is your standard of happiness for the time being. The people whose definition of happiness is like this will never fail in life -- and in the end they can enjoy the utmost happiness.

Longer life on earth does not promise you happiness. Even though your life may be a brief one, if you have worked hard and have been recognized by God, upon entering the other world you will be welcomed and you will enjoy the flourishing and glorious life there. So, in this life, the question is how hard you work and how much wholesome fruit you produce. So, you must work at the risk of your life and at the cost of your life. If you go on like that you are sure to achieve victory. If you die without succeeding in your mission, God will be sorry, because He knows that you have been doing that at the risk of your life. Wouldn't God, in the position of Father, if He knows His son is going to die soon, want to give him something to help in any way possible? If you have that attitude, God is anxious and ready to help you. If you are confident enough to carry out 100 things, but you are qualified to carry out only 30, God is anxious to fill in the other 70. If you are doing this for your Father, wouldn't your Father be ready to help you? Our Father, with love, is, in a way, weak before His children. With love, He is ready to do anything you ask.

Then, what is the judgment of personality? If you are well-equipped, and you are the incarnation of God's Word, then you will be intact from satanic invasion. Satan would attack you on the individual, family, national and worldwide levels. If you are attacked on the individual, family or national levels and you do not fall, you can advance more rapidly. If you are always on your toes, going forward all the time, when he beats upon you, the moment his hand is gone you will dash ahead with even more speed. So Satan will have to give up. Then he has to retreat and leave you. He will say, "However hard I try I cannot defeat this person." Are you like that? Would you want to be like that at least? If you want to be like that, can you accomplish it standing still? You must try hard. Satan will use on you the same cunning methods he has been using on our forefathers, past saints and martyrs. Now he is attacking you with that same power, but you must be more powerful and wiser. Then he will give up and leave you. After going through all these difficulties, when you attain the goal, God will find you there and will tell you, "Now I have found one who resembles me. You have gone through all trials and are here intact from Satan. As the victor, you resemble me, and you are my son." In that way you will pass the judgment of personality. That's the standard. God made everything a success, from the very beginning up to the present moment. If you resemble God, you will continue successes, and you must attain the goal and render glory to God.

You must have such a personality with which you can never fall prey to satanic temptation. Before death, in the face of death, Jesus extended his arms and said, "Kill me," and at that instant he was not killed, and spiritually he was resurrected. If you are determined to lose your life for God, no Satan can kill you. You have eternal life there. Are you like that? If you are not like that, God cannot bless you. If He does, the blessing will be snatched away by Satan. But if you are so determined to face death without fear, then God will bless you and it cannot be taken by Satan. That is how to win in the judgment of personality. Win over all the temptations coming from Satan, and go to the standard where God can bless you. That's how it was with Jesus.

Judgment of Heart

The third judgment is that of heart or love. Have you ever loved a person in the true sense? Without that kind of love, you cannot be proud of yourself before God, before the past, present and future. You yourself must have loved to that extent.

The term "to love" means to love someone else in the object position. Love starts only when you have a person in the object position. What is the true standard of love? There are many kinds of love in the world: love between friends, between husband and wife, between parents and children. The question of love often brings a quarrel in the family. The wife may think her husband is loving her less than he used to, and that's the seed of the quarrel on her part. On the husband's side too his wife seems to be reserved in devotedness, and he is so greedy as to want utter devotion from her. Why is it so? It is because love should be unreserved. And if you are self- centered, if even a little bit of ego is there, we cannot call your love total. You must deny your whole being in loving your spouse. If a particle of you is left there, your love is not a wholesome one. Love must be like that. So if you find yourself self-centered, you must shake off that particle of yourself in your love.

How wonderful love must be if it is as pure as that. So true sacrifice [of oneself] must accompany true love. That sacrifice will be willing sacrifice. With this standard of love, you can win any individual, family, nation and the whole world. I must ask you again, have you ever loved a person with that kind of love? If not, you are not qualified to receive God's love. You cannot dream of receiving His love. Before wanting to have God's love, you must practice loving other people to that standard. You must long for not only your sweetheart, your lover, but you must miss every lost child of God with love of that kind. Until you are worn out in tears, until your legs are fatigued, until your whole energy is exhausted in search of that person, you must long for him. You must invest your life in that person; and your life will be multiplied in that person. You must plant your soul in that person and your heart will be multiplied. You must be loving people with that kind of love. Have you ever loved God with that kind of love? Without that kind of experience you cannot call yourself a whole human being.

In that case, you must be very humble and say to God, "I am not qualified for your love. Please don't come near me. I am not pure." If you are self-centered in love, you will just want to have God's love for yourself, and you would want to possess love of others. Then you are a robber of love. In order to love in the true sense, you must purify your love. As Jesus said, if your eyes would sin, if your nose, mouth, ears and limbs are used for impure love, you must feel like plucking them out or cutting them off. You must know that you are not qualified even to love the most unlovable man or woman. It is a very serious question.

I will become more serious. And you will have to cry. When I think of God, I am truly sympathetic with Him. Wholesome, perfect, absolute God always has to look at a world full of people who are spiritually disfigured, disabled, and crippled in heart. He is ready with beautiful, pure love to be poured down on us, but we are not ready to receive that kind of love. We are not ready vessels for the love to come. But He is ready to give us more and more love. Thus, He is a Being to be pitied. He has that pure kind of love for men; He is ready to save mankind despite all the hardships and disillusionment. For God to meet one man, the Messiah, to locate such a person as His true son, has been His desire throughout history. There have been multitudes of persons in the world who have been willing to receive God's love, but there has been no one ready to love God -- except the Messiah. Our heavenly Father has been betrayed even by the many saints He has sent to the world, and by individuals, families and nations -- by the whole of humankind, the whole world. His heart is aching and torn to pieces. We must restore Him to happiness. We must never cease to work until we return to Him with joy and happiness.

I would tell Him not to worry about anything. I am in His place to work for Him until the last one of all humanity has been turned back to Him. I feel that I am responsible for the totalization of all the betrayals committed by past humanity and all those saints who failed their missions. Thus, I have to return glory to God, to clear away His resentment and sorrow and disillusionment.

All through human history, God has been planting His love in human hearts, on the individual, family, national and world levels. God has never been able to reap all those loves; but we are here to reap, and by harvesting them we can return all He planted to God. You must be awakened to the fact that you are the totalization of the fruit of history. When you are harvested into God's hands, with all the rest of humanity, God gains your fruit. You must plant the heart of God into many people and have them multiply it to embrace the whole world.

How many people have you been loving with true love? Have you ever loved people with the heart of the Father, in the shoes of a servant, shedding tears for the people, sweat for the earth, and blood for heaven? Do you really understand what I mean? You must ask yourself always, "Am I loving people with that kind of love?" With the love you have been receiving from God, you must go on loving all the rest of mankind. That's the heart of love. Unless you reach that standard, you are liable to the judgment of heart or love.

When you meet a person, you must think of the person like this, "I am here for this person." You must feel that what you have gone through, all difficulties and hardships, are for the sake of this person, will bear fruit in this person; and you will never let him go until he has returned to God. If you are in the position of absolute plus, then absolute minus will come about. So the question is always you, yourself. Have you ever awakened during the night, opened the window and looked out in meditation, thinking of your brothers and sisters, missing them and feeling compassion for them? Have you ever climbed up a mountain in the early morning and prayerfully looked down at the whole world and asked God to save it, feeling that you yourself were responsible for all mankind? You must be ready to help the people, save the people, and die for the people.

Are you qualified heirs to God? Can God rely on you, to leave everything in your hands? That's the measure of love coming from God, It's a grave question. There is a set standard of love from God, and you must reach that point or go beyond it. Otherwise, you cannot come to God and embrace Him and call Him Father, and you cannot be received by Him. Unless you reach that standard, you are liable to judgment in the heart or love of God. Are you qualified to be received by God? He will wipe away your tears, your agony and the rest, and He will take you to the most sanctified place to change your clothes and give you all the glory He has. In the end, there will be a day in which the whole human family will be restored under God as the Parents.

The kingdom of heaven on earth is the dwelling place of those who have won in the judgment of heart. We will erect the heavenly kingdom on earth with our own hands. If we have that kind of love, God will come and abide in us and live among us. If every moment, in the process of loving, you feel that your love has not been enough, and if in repentance you want to have more love to be distributed to others, then the heavenly kingdom cannot but come through you. If you feel that your love is not enough, and you are tearful and struggle harder, then in the world of that kind of heart, the kingdom of God can come.