Sun Myung Moon
September 1, 1978
London, England
Translator - Sang Kil Han
When Jesus came 2,000 years ago the first thing he did was exhort the Israelites to "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." Repentance applies only to the sinner, the one who does wrong. As individuals, Christians have done well in realizing sin and repenting with deep prayer, but they never thought of repenting on any level beyond that of the individual. Jesus and the saints characteristically have repented on a level higher than that of just the individual, while most people don't think beyond themselves.
The mainstream of Christian thought teaches that without receiving the Holy Spirit we cannot understand or receive salvation. Why should we need the Holy Spirit to come upon us? The Holy Spirit moves our mind to a relationship with Christ and eventually God, but why specifically do we need the Holy Spirit? What steps should take place as she helps to bring us to heaven and God? The first thing the Holy Spirit helps us to do is repent.
We can partially understand repentance through worldly experience. In order for a man to be liberated from prison, for instance, he must take certain steps; he cannot just be freed unconditionally. No matter how fine a man he once was, if he does something grossly wrong he has to offset that by serving some sentence. Even though he may be powerful and influential and even though he may have the potential to be great in the future, if he does something wrong he must atone. The future and past don't matter; his immediate problem becomes how to liquidate his wrongdoing.
What wrong has mankind done? Mankind has committed wrongs worse than violating just the law of the individual -- man violated the law of the ideal universe and made it impossible to realize the ideal of creation and of love. The most important thing in the universe was violated, and without these two elements of ideal and love it is impossible to fulfill the purpose of creation.
Until now neither Christians nor people of other faiths knew what was wrong and why mankind should be religious and repent. People somehow feel better when they make a donation to church because paying indemnity in the form of money is a primitive form of repentance. A person might feel that his hard work is sufficient to reach heaven; in reality it is not.
Even in everyday life we can understand the need for repentance. For instance, if we hurt someone, perhaps our mothers, then we must apologize with tears. When a person does something wrong he is punished by being given some suffering and having his activity limited. By the pain of his suffering he must understand what he has done wrong.
Jesus wanted to establish true love on earth
In order to make an offering to heaven an animal such as a lamb used to be killed, but before shedding its blood the person making the offering was to have shed tears. The spirit of the offering lies in the repentance of the people, and everyone involved in making the offering should be immersed in tears, with water flowing not only from their eyes but from their noses and mouths as well. Even in the world's leading religions, when the priests made the offering uncontrollable tears should have flowed in appreciation of the sacrifice which was shedding its blood for mankind, even though it did no wrong.
Jesus made himself an offering for the sake of human sin. What was the difference between Jesus and the lambs which were offered? The lambs were ignorant and died passively, but Jesus was fully aware of the wrong mankind had done and what was necessary to liquidate that sin, and at the same time he felt acute pain as the offering. When he lived on earth he knew the history of mankind's sin and what man's situation was at that time, as well as what had to be accomplished in the future. Nevertheless, he gave himself as an offering to liquidate that sin. There is a great contrast in understanding between the Old Testament and New Testament days. Before Jesus, neither the offering nor man understood why an offering was needed and what was wrong with man's ancestry, but in Jesus' time the offering itself knew the totality of man's sin.
How did Jesus make himself into an offering? By showing in his own life the path all mankind must go. In fact, Jesus very much wanted to say, "What I am doing now is what you should be doing instead, but since you don't understand I must show it to you." What way did Jesus go? Was it his way of life to fight with other people or display his power? Jesus didn't teach the people through knowledge; his teaching was much deeper than that. Certainly he was not exhibiting wealth to mankind. Simply said, he was showing the way to heaven. What was the way that Jesus went? Can we go there by displaying power or wealth or knowledge? No, none of these plays an essential role. The only crucial thing is to sacrifice oneself and establish true love.
Why did Jesus sacrifice himself? He wanted to establish the love that could enable us to go to heaven. Jesus tried to show mankind that the way he was going was the way everyone should go. Then why are suffering and sacrifice necessary? It is for the same reason that someone in this world suffers after doing something wrong. Man has so grossly violated God's law of the ideal that the ideal became impossible, and to offset this wrongdoing man is required to suffer, even if he doesn't understand the reason for it.
Why was it necessary for Jesus to come to earth? We can say he came to restore what mankind had lost. The Kingdom of Heaven and the love within man had been lost and Jesus showed that it could not be recovered without paying a price; what he showed us was how to sacrifice. Why was it necessary for him and for everyone to sacrifice? At the price of his own suffering Jesus wanted to show mankind how to overcome sin.
Do you think sinners rejoiced because they had finally met the man who could free them from sin? Can sinners be allowed to freely embrace Jesus? Jesus brought with him all the love that was lost. But which response is more likely when the Messiah comes -- that people will be happy and forget what they have done, or that they have to overcome a great turmoil of feeling before they can feel worthy of going to their savior? Can a person ignore what he has done wrong and come to the savior, or should he feel so much remorse over the gravity of his sin in the past that he doesn't even know how to properly conduct himself? It is more likely that when he realizes the magnitude of his sin he would tremble at the mere thought of the awesome difference between himself and his Messiah.
The seriousness of sin can be compared to a married woman forsaking her loving husband for no reason and then marrying another man. This may not be incompatible with Western values, but in a country where this is unforgivable it would be a horrifying act; her deed would destroy her household. Sin is an act of that magnitude or even greater, and mankind's fall is that great a crime. When someone comes to Liquidate this great sin is the sinner going to tell that person what to do? Instead of telling Jesus what he should do, our feeling should be that we couldn't even speak at all.
Upon seeing him, the first thing you must experience is the shedding of so many tears that you cannot even see around you. After the fall mankind found such darkness around him that he didn't know what to do, and so should these tears be. Yet at the same time we should feel hope within us.
Even if the one who comes to save you mistreats you, should you as the sinner revolt against or accept it, realizing the magnitude of your sin? Should you be grateful for that or should you challenge Jesus for not acting in an official way? That relationship involves not just you and your savior but also your many ancestors in spirit world. They will be looking down at the scene, and God as well will watch to see how you make out.
If the shepherd strikes a lamb it does not protest; it bleats once but does not revolt. This is traditionally what has been required of all men. Everyone must become like the lamb which does not protest. In Old Testament times people made offerings without knowing their significance, but Jesus made his sacrifice for mankind in the awareness that he was dying for them.
If a man is willing to die for his Messiah then actual death may not be necessary. This has been a traditional value in Christianity, but we can see that compared to this standard modern Christianity has deviated from Jesus' teaching. We can live again by being completely willing to submit ourselves and die without making any demand. If a man is willing to die then he lives and he can dwell in heaven. This is what Jesus taught mankind. When we gain our personal lives, however, that's only the beginning; then we have to die for the rest of mankind, which means winning spiritual sons and daughters. We must make such a relationship with them that they are willing to die for us if necessary, and on that foundation we can go to heaven.
What would have happened if all twelve disciples had volunteered to be crucified before Jesus? What would the history of the world have been like? Do you think God would have resurrected only Jesus and not his disciples? No, God is impartial and loves everyone and certainly He would have resurrected them all. Would the disciples have ascended to heaven along with Jesus? They would not have forsaken the world but would have returned along with Jesus, and helped to revive all mankind on earth. Before the fall the angels were continually involved with man's world on the earth, and the same ability would have been possible for the disciples.
Why did Jesus ascend to heaven by himself? It happened because there was no one who was willing to die with him. If everyone had been willing to die with Jesus, would God have raised the whole nation to heaven with Jesus? He might have, but since His purpose is to save the world God probably would have decided to create heaven on earth right then. The influence of Israel would have spread throughout the world in just a short period of time. If that had happened then human history would have culminated at that time and Christianity would never have gone through a history of bloodshed. God would have started the Kingdom of Heaven at that point and Jesus would never have had to come again.
Because Jesus went to heaven alone, it became necessary for the disciples also to shed blood and die before they could go to heaven. Only after that could they have some relationship with Jesus. For 400 years Christians literally had to shed blood. Many people have wondered why God should require bloodshed and martyrdom of religious people, and now it is clear that all mankind had to go the way Jesus went.
Once we know God's intention to work on earth through history and through Jesus, it becomes clear that the practices of many of today's Christians must be discarded as having nothing to do with God. Even now, 2,000 years after Jesus was on earth, mankind remains in ignorance. Right after Jesus' death many Christians died under persecution, praying for revenge on their enemies. Can you imagine the realm of spirit world where they are now? Did Jesus ask God to destroy the Jews for killing him? No, Jesus asked forgiveness for them because they did not realize what they were doing. That was what Christians had to do when they died. If someone dies asking for revenge he will never go to the same place Jesus did; he will end up in hell instead because he never loved mankind.
What is the Unification Church supposed to do? The Unification Church is going to revive Christians, teaching them the right way of thinking and allowing Jesus to be a savior of hope rather than the savior who died in misery and defeat. Jesus was in despair because he had no one to turn to and knew he should never have been crucified. Let us bring the hopeful, victorious Jesus to the hearts of Christians. Then they too can have a hopeful, victorious future.
We must establish the law and the love of justice
Put yourself in God's position, looking down on earth. He no longer has hope in Christianity, but He can have hope if He can turn to a group like the Unification Church. Can you confidently say you are worthy of God's hope? Are you burning with desire to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth? Do you have confidence that no matter what you go through you can give endless love and be a winner? Even if you should die? Are you sure you will not repeat the mistakes of your predecessors but will win and make righteousness prevail? Would you be willing to trade your life to put the rest of the world back in God's hands?
Would a white lamb protest being offered by a black priest or would he prefer having a white man offer him? How would the English members feel if a man of the African country from which their ancestors took the most slaves was brought to London to head the English church? Would they unite absolutely? That might not be a simple thing to go through. If you have to die it is more valuable to die under the leadership of a black man rather than a white man with whom you have much in common.
Jesus was killed instead of Barabbas, a man who deserved to die. Perhaps you would not resent it if you were murdered in place of a righteous African, but if he were only a common criminal how would you feel? That's exactly how it happened with Jesus but Jesus did not blame the man. Could you do such a thing easily? I think you are not confident. Jesus came as the son of God but he was killed in place of the worst criminal and not even by righteous men but by Roman soldiers who were only on a distasteful errand.
Would you be willing to die as Jesus did? What kind of value would result? It would mean that anyone on that level could be freed. By Jesus' forgiveness of Barabbas and the Roman soldiers, the lowest hell could be liberated spontaneously.
When this was the work that had to be done, do you think I wanted to live prosperously on this earth or was I willing to die at the lowest level? I went the lowest path. If I had gone any different way then the Unification Church could never have survived to this point. If we go this path and are ready to die but we survive then we sit in the same position as God. We have been persecuted by individuals, families and by nations and our enemies are ready to kill us, but if anyone asks why this is happening they will find there is no reason. You will be persecuted even though you do nothing wrong. Both America and Japan have come against me, and even nations that have never seen me oppose me, but if any rational person were to inquire what was wrong with me no one would have an answer for him.
Did I try to fight back when I was opposed? For 30 years I persevered just like Jesus persevered. I could not protest. Only after persevering for thirty years could I strike back. Only after the time was right could I speak strongly and proclaim that if America and Christianity continue the way they are going they will perish. I had to say this straight out, but I could only say it at the proper time. Christians want to hurt the Unification Church just like the Jews wanted to kill Jesus, but even at the peak of persecution I could not pray for God to strike America or Christianity.
Even when we go over the peak of persecution we will not come down smoothly but as we went up, in turmoil. We crossed the peak on September 18, 1976, at Washington Monument. When I sent missionaries to every part of the world in 1975, I told them to stay and be willing to die if necessary to establish a Church in their nations. I told them to take charge of the sins of their nations. Some of them were imprisoned and many have been persecuted by religious people and by communists. Some of them are here now.
My instruction for them was to stay in their nations for three years, even if they had to die there.
If I did not tell them that then I too could retreat to a country where there was no persecution. Even if I had to die under persecution, my determination was to stay in the country where I had to work. Now that the peak has been crossed, however, I feel free to go anywhere without being bound. I am free to go to any country which welcomes me.
Jesus struggled only at the national level, but now I am finishing the world level foundation. Is persecution increasing or decreasing? Are the members still willing to be beaten unrighteously? No, the time is different now and I have given instructions to stand up and go on the offensive in return. We never attack first, but now I give permission to attack in return because we have to establish the law of justice and the love of justice. The man of justice will no longer submit to wrong or evil. Before September 18, 1976, I would never consider suing anyone, even when our members were confident we could win. Always my prayer was to forgive. After 1976 the time came to establish justice, and I gave the order to fight back against attackers like the Fraser committee and the New York Times.
A church must bring evil under control by using evil's own laws against it. We didn't create the law on the evil side, but in order to persecute the unrighteous side we will now use that same law that was applied to persecute us who are on the righteous side. We will use the same law against the Anglican Church that is used to attack us. In order for us to do that, however, we must submit to the law of the ideal world; if that law requires us to die then we are happy to do so if necessary in our stand against evil. But we must think about the ideal world as we give love and sacrifice. Those are the three most crucial roles Jesus played. Once we live up to that standard of the ideal we can fight back, and even when people come against us we will never pray for revenge.
If one of our German members here does something wrong, the British never blame the fact that he is German; they blame me, don't they? Even if an Englishman does something wrong they blame me and not that person. They have never even seen me but their accusation has nothing to do with the person who made the mistake. Why do they come and blame me?
Their accusation seems bad at the moment, but what they are actually saying is that their country can be connected to me in the future. Satan knows this and directs their opposition toward me. How do you think I felt about all this? Am I just a gentle, ordinary person to whom anything is OK? No, when I see some injustice I feel fiery indignation, but if I can persevere even with that fiery temper then all the more value remains. Justice will finally win.
I have one simple question -- have you caused any blame to come to me in the past? Many American young people followed me, and if they had worked wisely with their own parents do you think those parents would have opposed me so much? Probably not. Our members gave up their families and school and decided to follow, but their parents blamed me instead of them! They even spent thousands of dollars trying to kidnap their adult children! Have you heard of parents coming to kidnap their own children? That's a phenomenon of the end of the world.
You can imagine what an irrational state those parents are in, with fire in their eyes over their own children calling Reverend Moon their parent. They prayed many times to harm the Unification Church and at one time or another they must have even wanted to kill me. Why would they feel that? Because Satan knows what will become of the evil world if I prevail.
Today in America the IRS, Justice Department and Congress are probing the Unification Church. If they had found even the slightest thing wrong they would have destroyed me. The fact that I survived means there is nothing wrong in our Church. Even that vicious investigation by the Fraser committee must end in this month of September, one way or the other. Jesus was accused and killed, but the Lord will not be destroyed at the time of the Second Advent.
I have gone over the hill of persecution, but not every one of you has. Different people stand at different places along the way. I make a point of saying this because some people try to do as I do even after they are in the Church only a short time; if I go back to Korea or America they think they should go too. The difference is that I have already gone through the path of indemnity and I am on the world level dispensation, whereas the individual must still work in his own nation. Because I flew to England on the Concorde, the members think they should too, but that is a mistaken idea. One person who was a member only a week thought he should come to England because he wanted to be with me.
When guests come to see me I take them shopping, and then the rest of the members think they should have new suits too. When I take someone to a restaurant others think that they are free to go out also. I have worked literally all my life, not even counting any other dimension, and that alone qualifies me to do those things. I spend money and some others think they can too, without thinking how hard I have worked to make much, much more than I spend now.
What should someone who joined yesterday do? Before anything else he should repent. That is the first step and if after that he perseveres through persecution on each level, taking all the blame and surviving victoriously, then he can stand at the place l am now. Do you recall repenting? We shed two kinds of tears-one is for forgiveness of our mistakes and those of our ancestors; after that is done we shed tears to have the rest of mankind repent. Only after this can you be freed from the realm of repentance and gain the actual result of repentance.
How will you know whether you have repented enough?
Have you done enough repenting? Are you in the process of repenting now? Without recognition that you have repented enough, how can you ever hope to help or save others? How can you help others if you are not completely forgiven for your sin? You can't judge others if you are still guilty. Have you ever felt that you are a sinner? You must realize that you hear the historical sin, not just your own or that of your family. Also, you must feel you are bearing the sins of today and the possible sins of the future. We must bear these three levels of sin on top of our own.
That is a very practical issue. What state will a man be in if he repents? In true repentance he will not only shed tears but feel as though a knife of regret is cutting him inside. He not only repents for original sin but also the sins of the biblical figures and of the country he is responsible for, even to the extent of sorrow for God's own feelings of pain. Once you reach that state of truthful repentance then even if God brings you into disaster, you will still be happy because you feel He is giving you a chance to redeem yourself.
When all mankind revolts against us we can tolerate it; because of our real repentance we even feel relieved that they cause us that pain. You can say, "If having the world come to trample on me is enough to forgive my sin, I will be only too happy to receive it. I will even go out looking for it." If you find people from 120 nations lined up with clubs you would be anxious to jump in if it meant your sin could be forgiven.
Then you will shed tears -- not of regret or pain but tears of gratitude, crying out, "Now my sins and those of the people I am responsible for can be forgiven." This is why I welcomed people around the world coming against me all at one time. Have English people opposed me in the past? Yes. Now that we confront them and say, "Let us talk about this," people are realizing that injustice has been done. When no one challenged the accusations made against us no one paid any attention to the situation, but now that people are wanting to find out the truth, everything comes to light. Now the accusers will be ashamed and will stop because they have no good reason to persecute you.
How do you know for sure that you have repented? You must know for sure what persecution Jesus had to go through and then go through it with gratitude for participating in Jesus' work; when you have done that and yet repent even more, then you have proof of your repentance. Then the people around you and in heaven above will say you are overly persecuted and it will stop. One way to know whether you have repented enough is to win heaven's sympathy; then you can be sure the repentance will begin to lift.
When you visit black people as you witness to your 360 homes they may well persecute you, not as an individual white person, but in order to offset the historic resentment of blacks who have been persecuted by whites. Your motive is innocent but they will remember the exploitation of the past when white people came all the way to Africa and they will think you come to their homes for the same purpose. Their lips may even tremble in their anger but you must be grateful for that chance for atonement. You can confidently feel that this is proof that you will feel love from these people in the future. They may even want to pick fights with you, but still you can be grateful because that will condense the time of indemnity. Has this happened to you? Without such experiences you cannot win the sympathy of heaven.
Even people in jail will talk ill of Moonies, but how could they know'' It was my destiny to go to prison and be persecuted by the prisoners, but by overcoming that one part of hell could be liberated. 1 went to America to be called names and be persecuted, and I came to England for pretty much the same purpose. One thing I must commend is the British sense of history; they have given me much less persecution. The time is coming when the Prime Minister will invite me to lunch but I will send you in my place.
The course of the Unification Church is such that everyone has a course of repentance ahead of them, and this is why I tell you to go in my place to your country and bear the sins of the people. I am sure that if you go this way that you will live; if your family takes this path then they will live again; if your nation eventually repents and accepts me then the whole country will live the same as I do. This is how things are.
Your witnessing is to bring not only truth but repentance
My topic is "The Age of Repentance." This is the age of repentance. Would heaven want only individual repentance, or would it like to see all families, churches and nations repent? Of course, heaven would like to see the whole world repent. Do Christians today around the world gather to repent? God would like very much to see this so He could begin the new history, but God sees no hope for this. The Moonies are the only ones who want to take this seriously. Because we are not great by worldly standards would God say we are not suitable for that? Would He be surprised to see that so many in the Unification Church are willing to repent?
We may feel we have met enough persecution, but what I am saying is that if it becomes more intense then the time of suffering will be shortened. It is not at all easy to do, yet would you still welcome this difficulty? Give me one reason why you should. It will make you experience the pain necessary for repentance; that is the only reason you welcome it. It is a better position to be in than being complimented often. By passing through tears and suffering we can welcome the possibility of true repentance. This sister here looks very complacent: she might go through her entire life never being persecuted for her sin or her ancestors' sin, but it is better for her to experience the pain of repentance.
God only made individuals suffer so they will repent. The greater the persecution and suffering, the greater the blessing that will follow. Persecution will make you repent from the very beginning, and your perseverance through that suffering will be a source of reward in heaven. This is why God allows our persecution. By receiving persecution from the established churches and communities' you are buying the right to undertake the cause of the Unification Church yourself. By persecuting us they are selling their right to repent, and the Unification Church members will repent in their place. You have to see this point and be grateful. It means that their right to the blessing is connected to us and whatever they don't take will be given to us.
Since the right of repentance will come through us, all the blessings will also be distributed by us. No matter how fierce a person's persecution, it is nothing, even if hundreds of his generations come to clobber you. That's what you are anticipating and you will have room to be grateful because you know the facts of the matter. Then you will be able to laugh at the persecution of others.
Those who think they have met painful opposition, raise your hands. Now those who have never experienced persecution, raise your hands. Those people probably kept silence about the Church when they came into contact with others, but that's not the tradition of the Unification Church. That's actually a betrayal of the Unification Church path. When some one joins the Church, I send him out to receive persecution. Even the children of the Queen must be persecuted, and then repent and come to understand the heavenly heart.
Is repentance good or bad? Imagine a beautiful girl from a good English family who has never worked hard or had difficulty. She has beauty and wealth but when she comes into the Church she experiences persecution like other brothers and sisters do. White people give her persecution as well as Orientals and black people. She will cry and cry but she can be happy because that gives her an opportunity to repent. If she continues going to every home and repenting with tears, what do you think she will be like in the future? In the future when people can see more clearly, wouldn't the person who persecuted her be ashamed and try 100 times harder to help her than he persecuted her?
What about the brothers and sisters who didn't meet persecution head on but were successful in avoiding antagonism; do you think as many people will come to help them in the future? If one person kept silent when she was persecuted but the other diverted persecution, who will have more support ten years from now? The one who was persecuted more will have more support. God already knows this and the time will come when all men on earth will know it as well. To reveal or hide the truth of a situation is up to God, and when the time is right God will take away men's blindness.
If you meet one person full of hearty laughter but another who is sadly crying, who will attract your attention most? Only a few people are drawn to ask why a person is laughing, but when you really cry many people will come to inquire. Many people have something inside to cry about too and they will come to you as a friend in sorrow. Everyone has something in common with the person who cries and will feel close to him. When a righteous person is opposed and leaves with tears for the next place then heaven must follow him wherever he goes.
If you gather someone from every country in the world to cry with repentance then will God have hope and say you have done well, or will He blame you for making so many people cry? Would God rather see just English people crying in repentance for England, or would He like to see people from many nations coming to take responsibility for this nation? History has never seen people coming from many nations to work for the good of a foreign country. The people of a nation may have cried for their own country, but not for others. Did you come to make people here repent or to repent yourself? Which step must come first? When you knock at someone's door but you can't even speak their language, they don't know what you are talking about; will they be angry that you came to their country to bother them? I'm sure they wonder what you think you could possibly accomplish. Do you get angry and persecute them back?
When you are persecuted do you redouble your energy, thinking that you need to be persecuted? Do you think, "I would probably do the same thing if I were you"? Or do you think it is unfair for people to oppose you when you only want to do God's work? Are you happy if they persecute you or are you disappointed? Have you ever felt happy for persecution because it would lead you in God's direction? Can you feel you have enough grounds for repentance after you are persecuted by ten homes in one day? Do you reason this way? Do you feel that at this rate you will only have to work three years, or do you come back all discouraged?
Some people oppose you in a small way while others stab you from behind with a sharp weapon. In receiving great persecution you will actually be inheriting much treasure, but if you don't realize what you are receiving then when you are opposed you will sag with disappointment. When a member is proud of the persecution he received then his leader will welcome him with both hands, but if a member comes back disappointed that leader should shake that person to wake him up. When you survive persecution it becomes your own treasure, not the Church's treasure. After a hard day's work do you want to come back and be warmly received by your brothers and sisters and then have to give your treasure to them? If they are cold to you then you can keep that treasure all to yourself. Many of you are smiling!
Millions of people in America haven't met me or read anything good about me but when they opposed me I never got run down or exhausted. I felt really good about all the turmoil. I am confident that if the people don't welcome me then they will welcome my children. The way of indemnity will yield much greater result in the future; now if I work a certain amount something good can happen, but in the future the same effort will bring 100 times more result. Even though God's will may not be completed in one generation, as time goes on it will he will be hundreds or thousands of times more effective. If people don't respond to me, they will respect my next generation. If we are willing to go this way then in no time at all the entire world will come to the Moonies. The only thing we have to be careful of is never to get exhausted or knocked out. We have to keep going until that time.
This is an age of repentance, not just for Britain, but for Britain and all her former enemies together. When all repent together would they stand back to back, facing in different directions, or face to face, holding hands? When tears are flowing from French eyes and German eyes and Japanese eyes, will one person stop another person's tears from flowing into his territory, insisting, "Our ancestors were enemies so your tears are different from mine"? Will God exclaim, "You were enemies before. How can your tears run together?" Or will He applaud your mutual repentance?
Satan will encourage you to fight with the people but God will work differently. Christians often interpret God's point of view wrongly, and in this matter you must know that when you go from house to house it is not just for witnessing but more importantly, for repentance. It is better to painfully visit door to door and repent and then later help the people to repent. Just making them understand the truth actually has little meaning. If you have done enough repenting then they can't persecute you even if you beg them to. Once the people stop persecuting you they will start following right behind; that is actually the way for you to win spiritual children, not just witnessing to people and bringing them right into the Church. It is closer to the Divine Principle for them to oppose you, then repent and follow.
When someone persecutes you, rather than pushing them away, think that there is something in yourself that needs persecution. This is a wise attitude. So far you may have thought you were right and the other person wrong, but now it is clear that each person here still has to repent and that's why you are persecuted. Then it becomes a welcome thing without which you will never survive. When Satan attacks, what he is actually saying is, "Repent quickly so you can go to God quicker and bring me quicker too." This is why I tell you that your eyes should not be dry when you meet the people. We are always grateful that God is desperate to liquidate sin in our ancestors, and ourselves and that we are sent to liquidate the sins of this country. "God is in earnest for me to repent; that's why He sent this persecution to me."
History will record your tearful trips from house to house and town to town. God will keep a record of where you have shed tears. If you must leave your area without seeing result there, you should not blame the people. [Instead you should shed tears on the last day of witnessing there and say, "Father, do not blame them; please give them your blessing." If they do not receive God's blessing then it is not wasted but comes right back to you permanently. Spiritual law governs these matters. Jesus said to love one's enemy and this is the same principle we are following now.
Do not condemn anyone
Now September has come and this month I will leave England. The most precious thing I would like to leave here is the new age of repentance. If we can set the pattern of repentance in England then this country will revive; if it is done on the world level then the whole globe will revive. Are you exhausted by the persecution up to this point? How many will never be exhausted by it? If you are not yet exhausted I will drive you out until you are. If you can tolerate the opposition you have received then I will push you out maybe ten or twenty times more. If you can do that then you will inherit all the blessings of the world, and not only that, I will add my own blessing. If someone perseveres when I drive him out then I will give much of my own blessing to him.
Why do I have such a fierce feeling to drive you out all the time? Is it because I am bad? It is because I know clearly that it opens the way for one hundred times greater blessing to come to you. You may think that everyone ahead of you will get everything I have before you are qualified, but this is not so. God will even create more blessing for you; He will certainly never run out. This is an iron law. If this were not true then the ideal world would never be realized.
I never pray to God asking Him to give me things, but I do ask Him for the power to tolerate the worst persecution and remain as His champion.
I never asked to be famous. I only wanted to remain firm on God's front line and then suddenly one day I found that I was famous. I never look at you and think that I want you to like me; rather, I think I will chase you out and make you suffer, and even though I feel that way you come and love me. Inside you know this is the way to greater blessing and therefore you tag along.
As long as we center on God's Principle there is nothing to worry about, and even though we forget about the blessing, it is sure to come. This is how God works. There are many faiths and religions in the world and God wants to see which will be the champion in repentance.
I am confident that once I speak on worldwide television the whole world will cry when they hear me. This is so because each country has persecuted me in the past, but when the people know the truth they will cry out of regret and out of repentance. Once this happens you will quickly win the people, even thousands at a time.
You must know the sequence of restoration. Wherever we go we repent and there is sacrifice. Wherever there is sacrifice there is love, and wherever there is love the ideal world starts to unfold. This is the sequence of events in our work. When I tread on England or Japan or America on the way to heaven, those countries will welcome it once they understand the meaning behind it. Then heaven on earth will quickly be fulfilled. Most of all, people must someday know how hard I prayed and worked to clear sin away. God knows, and that alone makes it possible to accomplish this. How many of you have some complaint toward me? If so, it is because you don't know me.
Col. Pak reported to me about the Fraser Committee saying that now after three years of work Mr. Fraser had to conclude his investigation because he has no evidence of wrongdoing, and now was the time for him to reap the consequences. I asked Col. Pak if he had ever prayed for Congressman Fraser. If someone has prayed with tears for a person, then it might be excusable for him to offhandedly say that a person deserves some retribution, but if he has never shed tears, then he must never denounce even an evil person. Otherwise, he will be racing straight down to the lowest realm of spirit world. Do not condemn anyone. Man's fallen history has been prolonged because of that attitude. When we have a good and loving mind towards even an evil man, God will certainly bring a positive result. You are distributing God's blessing to everyone, and if an evil man makes even a small condition of goodness, you want to give him much blessing as well.
Much time has passed already. Let us review how God has worked through human history. After the fall, man tried to dominate history by using power. When you visit places like Buckingham Palace and the great estates you can see that it was the people who had great power who ruled this nation. In the museums are many weapons and it is clear that men have tried to rule the world with power. England was once a home base for many pirates and selfish people, so how could God bless this nation? It was because of Christianity that the English had a sense of justice and tried to curb those bad elements.
In addition to their spiritual foundation, the English sustained themselves with the scientific power which was developed after the Industrial Revolution; without that knowledge the English couldn't have survived. Recently, I saw thousands of rare books in the Cambridge library which seem as though they should be a source of wisdom, but there was no one diligently studying them. Only the librarian was there. It shows that there was once a time when knowledge was more effective than brute power and the pen was mightier than the sword; people studied in order to gain another form of power. Now that age has passed as well, and money plays a more important role in society than knowledge. Now young people study for the career which pays the most, and people emphasize making money more than acquiring knowledge. They think that a person only loses his hair by studying, but if they have lots of money they can take it easy and enjoy life more. Now money is more powerful than knowledge or even might.
Money is the element through which Satan rules the world today. Before finding the deeper knowledge which leads to God, mankind left the search for knowledge to seek for money. The philosophy and theology, which form the backbone of human society, have come to the point of extolling materialism and saying that God doesn't exist. It is as though the head was cut off from the body, even though the arms and legs are strong. Man is reduced to concluding that he is inseparable from the material world. Instead of saying that man is descended from God, he now says that mankind is descended from the apes. Will that make God happy? Because of ideas like that God would sometimes like to smash the walls of the universities.
God would like to clobber religious people, who should be the best of all but who have become more closely involved with government and with money instead, thinking more academically than spiritually. Does the Anglican Church have a burning desire to take responsibility to lift up this country? Is there any yearning to understand Jesus' message or see the Second Coming?
God allowed man to have power, hoping that he would use it for God's purpose. God also gave knowledge and money, but what God found was that man used it for individual gain, or at best national gain or to make his race supreme. God is ready to destroy all the historical achievements of individualism and nationalism. Individualism has nothing to do with God; likewise, nationalism has nothing to do with God. If England insists on brother-ism then God will help it prosper, but if England does not meet this standard then no matter how good it has been it will perish. If Christianity does not live up to this standard and it perishes -- what about the Unification Church? The same law applies. We are destined to do away with this old way of thinking.
I give our Church leaders reasonable authority in their positions and I watch them to see what they achieve. If they follow God's way then they will accumulate blessings and their centers will prosper, but if they center eventually on themselves and neglect the important areas then they will decline. The only way we can justify the money, knowledge and power we have now is to abandon individualism and nationalism and go to brotherism. I am the leader of the Unification Church, but I have no excuse for doing things just as I like. I cannot favor Korea over other countries and do as I please, but if I act on what I see is best for the world then whatever I do will prosper because God will back me up. This is what is happening. As long as you continue on the way God has shown man, you will never perish.
One hundred professors together could never equal what I have in the way of knowledge, but I never swagger about it and demand respect for that. Knowledge does not belong to a college or institution; it is everyone's because it is God's. Money is the same. As long as it is used for the world, it doesn't matter even if I have millions of pounds here in England; it is not just for England or Korea. If you spend your money for the sake of the world and still there is a chance of going wrong then we must say that God's will is too difficult to do. This is how money is meant to be used.
Even in the Unification Church I must first break up that tendency toward individualism and nationalism before I can really accomplish godly work. What is the best way to do this in your opinion? Some people are bound by chains of individualism or money; thinking about your country its certainly better than thinking about yourself, but if you stop there it is just as bad. Making money is difficult so we adopt the rock-bottom level of human existence and in that way raise money to be used for God's work. Doing that is the best way to overcome individualism Fund raising and witnessing are the standard Unification Church ways to clear away undesirable traits.
Individualism is the strongest chain hindering a person from going to heaven. We can never place too much importance on killing our own sense of individualism. We may be despised but we know that persecution is something to be grateful for. The IOWCs were formed to combat nationalism by bringing people from many nations to work for the sake of another country, loving that country more than their own nations. Once we are successful in England, when the teams go to other nations the English will love those nations more than their own. The only hope for world peace is for people to receive this message of abolishing nationalism; looking down at us, God cannot help but send all kinds of aid for our cause.
No one will eternally respect power, knowledge or money, and without an absolute ideal for England, what will this country do? Nationalism has no place in England now, and holding onto the Unification, Church is the only way for England to survive. To be I fair, God has to send missionaries to every country, giving everyone the opportunity to run this race to see
I who will be the champion, not just Korea, Japan, America and England. I am sure that the status a country holds will never decide whether it will win; if a poor country accepts this teaching of God then it will he the center of the world, and even nations like America and England will he humble to it. God can do that. England has tried using power, and in America young people are trying absolutely everything like drugs and sex, but God is blocking every way except the one true way.
Individualism and nationalism must be completely cleared away. How can we do that? Sacrifice and love are necessary, but they must have an objective. We must always have an image of the ideal world, for that gives us a purpose and direction. The English tried through Christianity and with weapons to dominate the world, and other people have tried in other ways, but no one tried sacrifice and love. It is time we practiced this. Every person of heart has to agree that this is the only way. That's the only way to do away with the concept of having enemies.
Even under incredible persecution I have laid the foundation for the sake of the world. Now persecution hardly exists any more, so how can you say this is too difficult for you to do? We must go beyond loving only our own family and nation or else we cannot go to heaven. Jesus' concern was not just for his nation, but for the world, and he was adamant in living sacrifice and love.
We have to fundraise so we can get rid of individualism and we do IOWC activities to free ourselves of nationalism. I am heading toward the heavenly homeland and so are you; we are in a great movement traveling from one continent to another, spreading the message of God and culminating human history. When we go door to door we embrace the people as if they were the world, not just the citizens of their particular country or isolated individuals. A miracle which can change the world is possible in this way of life. Don't you feel we are reaching heaven step by step?
The stronger our communist opposition, the quicker the Unification Church's identity will become clear to the world. In a situation where ordinary people would be in despair we gain power. When you shed tears and sweat, understand that you are doing it for the world, not for yourself. Once you come into this movement which God Himself is leading, what justification do you have for referring to yourselves as English, Dutch or German?? There is no room for that.
None of the couples who married internationally in the last blessing here finds it unnatural. They can't say they want to quit simply because they need an interpreter to talk to each other. You know you don't want to quit because you want to advance to worldism. Here Europeans married other Europeans, but when we really advance to worldism then white should marry black. What if everyone did that? If I were to have married in the future when worldism is prevailing, I am quite certain I would have married either a white or black lady, not an Oriental. If I were not willing to marry interracially but told you to do so then I couldn't be a genuine leader. What about my own children? It is inevitable that they will marry men and women of other races. Race has played an important role in assembling the foundation for me to work in Japan, America, England and eventually the rest of the world.
I am very serious and practical in thinking of these things. Which citizenship do you have now-are you British, German or French? No' You are citizens of the heavenly kingdom. Your characteristics are to love the world and sacrifice for the world, not the individual or the nation. Now you should not cry centering on me but for God and mankind. Your prayer of repentance includes, "God, give all the responsibility of the world to us." Pledge with tears to work to free the rest of mankind and tree God from the bonds of His sorrow and disappointment. You pray with your right hand for God and the left hand for mankind and never let go of either one of them.
When we talk about grasping mankind we don't mean holding onto an individual or even just a country; we mean all mankind. If we are the kings and queens of anything we are the nobility of repentance.
We have to feel that no one can out-repent us. Wherever we go we have to make it our chief business to embrace the people and repent until persecution is gone. If you only come to misery and death because of that then you can protest to me; if I have made you a false promise than I am a swindler. Are you going to venture to see if I am or not?
From now on the criterion for a nation to be outstanding will never be how big an army it has or how rich it is or how many Nobel prize winners it has educated, but how many kings and queens of repentance it has produced. In Korea, believers and nonbelievers alike are proud of having produced one such king here on earth; they say I am really a patriot and hero. There is no such thing as an enemy to such a person and people will never be jealous of a king of repentance.
Now I find myself giving commands to the young people of the world. If anyone else ever tried it people would think he was crazy, but I give commands to thousands of young people. Can you imagine how much persuasion it would normally have taken to make one individual respond like you do? When I tell you to fund raise you are only too happy to do that; when you come back you might have raised much money but you don't have one cent in your pocket. Nevertheless you are grateful. Understandably the parents of such members are jealous. They think they could be rich if their children brought that money home instead of giving it to Reverend Moon. Certainly I would never try to use that money for any other purpose than for the world, and even then I would bring my own money out first.
Even after I leave this month, if you shed tears and sweat with England and the world in mind then London and England and the world will prosper. That is the only way to prosper. Those who are determined to do that raise your hands. God bless you.
