Belvedere, New York March 1, 1992 Translator - Sang Kil Han
Can anyone read the title today? It is "Tongil kajong eui chegim kwang." "Tongil kajong" means the Unification family. "Chaghem kwang" means responsibility or authority. Responsibility is not liability but authority; it means your right. This is a new concept. The difference between authority and right is that authority implies an established system or foundation, whatever it may be, over which one exercises his authority. "Right", on the other hand, implies power."The Responsibility of Authority of the Unification Family" is the title of my sermon this morning. We often speak of sovereignty; we know what it is. Sovereignty has a center around which it administers its work. What is the Unification family? How does it differ from the ordinary family? The Unification family means the families of the Blessed couples. When the words Unification Church are written in the original way, it is very interesting. "Church" is comprised of two words and the first word contains two elements. The element on the left means "sons and daughters of filial piety." The element on the right side means "father." "Father of filial piety," in other words. The word by itself includes the meaning of education, or teaching. Also, "politics" is also written in Chinese characters in this way. So of these two words, the first is "correct, righteous father"; "politics" means righteous. Going back to "education", that is what education is all about; Father teaches all the historical and present parent/child relationships. That is what education is all about.
It is all one concept: education, religion, school. "Religion" means "primary teaching." The central pillar of teaching. The center of that teaching is the father. So teaching about the father is what religion is all about.
There are billions of people living in China and that nation has continued to flourish for thousands of years. How can they continue as a good nation? It is because they have this concept underpinning their society of education and politics. In our life, we live with our father, we become like him eventually, and follow all the traditions he established, and leave our own traditions behind for our own children. This is what life is all about.
Compared with this real meaning of human life, how long do you think the current democratic and individualistic way of life can continue? It is very recent on the world scene. The relationship between husband and wife is very weak. The world cannot continue without being connected in all different realms of relationship. No one can exist alone. The world is simply the realm of reciprocal, corresponding relationships. Once we become united within a family, then that family maintains correct relationship with other families, and on and on to form the larger community.
We each have two eyes and two nostrils. That pairing is reflected in other parts of the body as well. Reciprocal relationships exist everywhere in the human body. This is the principle of existence. In the West, there is no such concept. Therefore, as time goes on, people become more and more individualistic, creating more divisions and rifts. The Western societies have gone the other way from what is intended. I could not help but mention this when talking about our topic this morning. Teach about your own father, become a filial child and filial father yourself. This is the purpose of church.
In the so-called democratic countries, the philosophy of politics is not based on the father/son relationship as it should be. They are more aligned with the concept of struggle, similar to the communist philosophy. Within the democratic elections, there is much outright fraud and dishonesty involved. Special favors come about like bribery and so forth. The roots of all vices are connected with such elections. Power, money and greed; all the human vices come to bear on elections. Confusion is piled upon confusion. This is what we see in American society. No one can claim that this is an ideal form of society. There is so much deceit. Empty promises which are easy to make during campaigns. These things happen very easily.
We see these things everywhere in the world. The question is, how can we digest these bad things and turn them into good? Should we sweep them out, or digest them? Which one would be more desirable? Why should we digest them? It is because if you sweep something out, then you automatically create an enemy. This is the problem in American society today. Even though some forces may be righteous, when they subjugate the other side by their power, they cannot avoid creating enemies.
Those who hated Reverend Moon wanted to exercise their power and do away with him. Of course, it did not work. We all knew it was wrong, and instead of being contained, we expanded, developed and became bigger. We can now clearly see in the religious realm the meaning of Jesus' words: Love thy enemy. People have wondered, "How can I love my enemy? What can I get out of it?" We now know that loving our enemy came from this point. It is not easy to love your enemy. It is our responsibility and our predicament to digest our enemy; to understand and make corrections.
Is Reverend Moon a strong man or a soft and gentle man? Yes, I am very strong! But have you ever seen me attack or strike out at others? No, I am the one who is always hit first. How about God? We know that God Almighty is the truly strongest Being in the universe. Yet God has been struck, hit and hurt all throughout history. There has been no justice concerning God. He has always been hit. Yet we have seen that every time in history when the unrighteous side strikes out at the righteous side, including God, they have to pay the price eventually. In World Wars I and II, as well as other major wars, the ones who began the wars always lost. Everyone in the world who joined in the attack against Reverend Moon is now coming to the time when they are having to pay the price. Especially the power of world communism. They have been striking the free world, but at last they have failed. Humanity around the world joined in the attack against Reverend Moon. Now, who is rising up and who is falling down?
I wanted to make this point: the Unification family has a tremendous responsibility to change things but not through fighting, only through the Principle. I am asking you now to please make your families available to anybody who wishes to come in and out, as they please. You should have no fences. Keep your doors open. Suppose you build up your family and your home, and somebody comes along and says, "I want your house. You move out and let me move in." You should be able to respond, "All right, I have had the experience of living very comfortably. Now it is your turn. Come on in and live here." Then after such a person lives in your plundered house for three days or so, his conscience will most likely bother him so much he will say, "This is really your house. Come on back and live here. I will leave." That is the way of religion. Religion always has this concept.
There are many different denominations within the world of religion. How did this happen? It happened through the work of Satan himself. Instead of religious people thinking about God and mankind, which is the purpose of religion, they have become centered upon themselves and their own denomination. All the different denominations within the same religion came to exist in such a fashion. So the mentality of each person becomes centered upon himself and his country. He doesn't even think about anything larger than that and he certainly doesn't care about the world. Most great nations have repeated this pattern. They expand, become stronger, and reach a certain point which becomes their limit. Then that nation starts to pursue its own interests exclusively, the so-called national interests, and ignores any world interests. Nations always decline when they reach this point. This pattern has been repeated over and over again in history.
God's viewpoint is, as you know, to go beyond the individual and beyond the country. Consider the Roman Empire. That national power worked to become greater and greater, and ultimately was sacrificing all other powers and countries for the sake of its own greatness. Then what happened? Heavenly fate, which always moves toward embracing everyone on earth, started to exert itself. No matter how great a country becomes, it will fail before the power of heavenly fate. Look at Japan, for instance. It has become a great country but if they continue to expand centered solely on their own interests, they will be stopped somewhere along the line. Everybody can see it. But, if they go beyond their own national interests and want to embrace all of Asia and even the whole world, Japan will not falter. They will continue to prosper and people around the world will support them. If a nation puts all its energies into struggling for power and economic expansion, certainly they will be able to achieve it but only for a short time. It cannot last.
Rather than collecting money, let us invite good people, finding more and more able, capable people and love them. That is the idea behind religion. To embrace a nation is the idea heaven has. So embracing an individual, you will be successful in your lifetime for one generation. But if you embrace the whole nation, your success will continue forever. Beyond that, if you embrace the entire race, it will be even longer lasting. That is the terminal point. That is where we want to go.
Each one of our Unification families has to have a clear understanding of this concept because it is the base of everything. There is no other place in the world teaching this concept. Harvard University doesn't teach this. Even though many have attacked Reverend Moon the individual, the realm of family will support him. The universal power to preserve the family, or family fate, will support the individual who is attacked. Even if families oppose him, the power which preserves the nation, the national fate, will surround and protect him. Even when the power of nations comes against Reverend Moon, still there is a greater power, the world level, cosmic fate, surrounding and supporting him because that is the realm he is serving! The CIA and KGB-these organizations may have had great power, but they do not exist for the sake of the world's interests.
I have just laid out a very simple, general rule. Even though you may not understand it completely, do you believe that it is probably correct? [Yes!] You are smart! I don't know so clearly, but you sound so firm! You are very smart, otherwise you wouldn't be here.
Here is a classic example: There is a narrow bridge and two elements, whether individuals, countries or whatever, are approaching it from opposite directions. This bridge is too narrow for both to pass by, so what do they do? Usually, they would struggle, with one winning over the other and gaining the right to pass first. But that is not the way of religion. If you step aside and allow the other to pass first, that person will become grateful to you knowing that you yielded to him. Both of you will survive in that way, rather than the other way with only one surviving. Obviously the one who goes first benefits first, but later on, he comes and bows with respect to the other who yielded. If you are willing to yield and do that in every circumstance, then you will become the one who actually molds history. Not the other person, the one who goes first. So even in yielding there is authority and power.
Those who are in the families of the Unification Church understand how precious this way of life is. But I do not approve of anyone just holding onto this preciousness. You can't draw into yourself and family, saying, "Nobody can come into our circle. My family is so valuable, I don't want to be open. Everybody else has to be beneath us. They have to come and show proper respect to us." That is an attitude I will never approve. The person with that kind of attitude will not even be able to expand or survive. The other way is the correct way; to be available to others, to be like their servants.
Too many Unification Church leaders have had this kind of attitude: "Oh, we don't value any other church in the world. We are the best!" But I do not approve of that attitude. I never say such things. I always humble myself, even trying to encourage the growth of other churches and denominations, even those who oppose our church. Is that the right way or the wrong way? It is easy to say these things, but we have never seen a religion that has done this throughout history. Now as we have seen, even Muslims are coming around and paying attention to Unification Church. Never before have Muslims had good relationships with Christians. Likewise, Buddhism will come. Everybody will come, although shyly and cautiously in the beginning.
When a person is full of himself, his own denomination, and his own family, he is very loyal to them, but he is too full. He is so densely packed that he doesn't have any room for anyone else. There is no room for any other element to come in, including some other thought or religion. But Reverend Moon has been teaching, "Don't be filled up with yourself or your denomination. Empty yourself, go out and serve other Christians. Serve Muslims. Embrace and serve other people. Take them into your life."
America tried to destroy Reverend Moon, but I have never stopped investing and giving more and more to America. I emptied myself and gave out everything. Like a shell, I don't own anything, but I continue to give more to this nation which has been my enemy. We can compare this to the way the atmosphere works. If you have an area of low pressure coming into the range of a high pressure area, what happens? Does the low density go into the high density area, or does the high pressure area go into the low pressure area? Which direction does air move? High pressure moves toward low pressure automatically. Nobody has to make any effort to make this happen. It is natural. When the high pressure area moves into the low pressure area, they equal out, and then they move on to another area where the higher pressure fills up the lower pressure.
We saw the recent television broadcast on PBS. Under the guise of being fair and neutral it was an effort to make Reverend Moon look bad. Everybody knew what they were up to. When the American population watched the program, they silently took Reverend Moon's side. They could see through everything and say, "There is nothing wrong with Reverend Moon."
You might ask, "Father, we are doing so much! Where does it all end?" Of course, our ultimate goal is nothing less than to liberate God Himself. When someone hears such words, they shiver with fear because they know such lofty goals will make us winners. We have such a concept at the center of our Unification Church; to strive to liberate God. Do you understand just how precious it is? There is no other way of thinking that can compare with the value of this. We must have a clear understanding of history.
So, this is my question to you: Are you going to live for your own sake, or for the sake of your family? Why for your family? Of course, when your family is strong, then that also protects you. Are you going to preserve your family at all costs, or will you live for the sake of your clan first? Why will you serve your clan? The fate of your clan will include your family. It is the same concept. Even though we have to sacrifice our own clan, we work for the sake of the nation. We will even sacrifice the nation for the sake of the world, and world for God. Then God Himself will come to liberate us.
We have the necessary faculties within our body: eyes, ears, nose, and so on. Does each part live just for its own purpose? For example, does the eye exist for its own sake, or do both eyes live for the sake of the whole body? No one can deny that obvious fact. The world is comparable to a big human being. Do you understand?
Suppose you are exhausted, wanting only to sleep. Do you force your tired body forward in order to help somebody who is doing worthwhile work, like cleaning the streets? Would you really help somebody? Is it true? I thought you American youth were not able to understand that concept! The standard of Satan is to live for "me", for selfish purposes. In that respect, are you on Satan's side or are you on God's side? Particularly, you American women, do you want to be on Satan's side or God's side? I don't know! You know well! It is your business!
We must understand this clearly. I myself often think, "Nobody has lived such a life as I." I have been attacked so much, sometimes beyond my own understanding and I think, "Why am I being attacked now?" There has been so much turmoil throughout my life. But I wake up every day feeling strong and ready to go again. I sometimes ask myself, "What is protecting me and allowing me to continue like this?" Now there is a gigantic worldwide foundation which was "made by Reverend Moon" according to the PBS television program. I often think about it, "Who made that foundation? It wasn't me as an individual, but it was the protecting force of the entire universe which helped me to make it." It is the work of the whole universe. I have never considered the foundation which has been established as my own work. Rather, I know I have been protected by the heavenly fate and by God, and that is why it has been successful. We know that God has creative power, that He is omnipotent and that He can do anything. We must understand what lies behind history.
Now that we understand this much, do you think it would be wise or foolish for a man to say, "I will become a great man. I will live for my own purposes alone and become great before the rest of the world." Yes, it is foolish. What is your description of a wise man, then? It is the man who lives for the sake of others, for God, the world and the cosmos. He who lives that way truly lives forever because all that power protects and promotes him. That is a reasonable, logical conclusion. Now we have a clear understanding, correct?
Let us extend this point a little further. What about you good, handsome American men? Would you choose to marry another attractive American woman, or would you take an ugly black woman, or an Oriental woman, in other words, someone you never thought about? Which would be more in line with the Principle? Yes, it would be someone of a different nationality and a different race, too. That was an easy question. Because of the fact that you understand and accept this concept, then the so-called international problem is not a problem for us.
If you think you are making a great step forward in this world by marrying someone from a different nationality and race, you just wait until you go to spirit world. That is such a different world from this one. How do you adjust there if you don't learn in this world? The spirit world is a million times more complex. On this earth, people naturally want to find their own kind, so to speak. When you go to spirit world where the population is like an ocean, you will have a problem if you try to find "your kind." It is like going to a big stadium and searching for one particular person. It is impossible. You may push, shove and kick people aside, but you are virtually unable to get to that one particular person. That is the way it is in spirit world. But we already know what True Love does in the spirit world. With True Love you can travel from the North Pole to the South Pole instantly. You can come and go just like you are visiting your neighbors. Most people have this attitude: "I am here, so you come to me!" Will that ever happen? No, you have to go to others.
Who is the subject in the subject and object relationship? It is the one who takes the initiative. The one who goes to the other becomes the subject. The one who responds is the object. If you had the choice, which would you be, subject or object? Everybody shouts, "Subject!" Everybody likes to be the subject, but how can you gain that position? There is only one way, by giving first, going there first. Reverend Moon is taking the step and doing the work to even liberate God.
If he genuinely does that, day and night, then who do you think is subject at that point? Is God subject at that point, or is Reverend Moon? The one who takes the initiative should be followed by the one who loses the initiative. Even Almighty God has to follow when somebody else is doing something for Him. Why is the right hand subject? It is because the right hand has to work harder. Why is the patriot the subject? It is because he invests more into the welfare of the country than anybody else. We know this unfailing formula.
When a woman gets married in Korea, we say, "She is going to her husband's house." It means she is marrying. Does she go there to be loved, or to love? I hear some strange replies. Universal law and formula is the reason you go; not so much to be loved.
Those who are very confident they will never die, raise your hands, please. Then naturally, everyone should invest for the sake of the spirit world. People say that Reverend Moon is a foolish man. Everybody around the world has gone against him. Everywhere people spit at him, point at him and tell him, "Reverend Moon go home." But still I continue. Why? It is so that I can save that country, or that area. What about you? Would you prefer that I be living here and standing here with you, or that I stay far away? Why do you prefer having me near you? Do you want to use Father? It is because you always profit and benefit from being around me. What if I started to take things away from you, asking you to donate this and that? Then you would say, "Oh, I wish Father would stay far away." That's true! It's a natural phenomenon.
We know what determines the subject. It is the one who steps forward first. Like the North Pole. If the North Pole takes one step ahead of the South Pole, then the North Pole is subject. Who would be subject between the Eastern world and Western world? Why the East? It is because the Western tendency is to take away from the East. The Eastern world has always been the one to yield, not seeking to assert itself. When the high pressure and low pressure are equalized, then the position changes. When it changes, it changes quickly. Now is that time of transition.
Taking and acquiring are not all that bad as long as you use whatever you gain for the sake of everyone. Then it is just as good, even better. Do you follow? Have you received from your parents? Then from what you say, your parents are subject and you are in the object position. Have you ever taken the subject position over your parents here in America? Why not? In the parent/son relationship, the son is right below the parents in the vertical lineup. When these two become one centered on this point, everyone in these positions will come and surround them. All four corners will welcome this relationship.
But if he says, "I am self-sufficient, I don't need the subject," that is no good. Then all things will kick him out. So judging from this principle, should America be preserved or should it be kicked out by the force of Principle? It has to be destroyed. These are not Reverend Moon's words, these words represent the cosmic forces which are working in that direction. Wisdom preserves a man. Father has that wisdom. No one on earth or in history has had greater wisdom. No one has ever lived the way I have, let alone teach it to others. I know these things, I don't just talk about them. That is what determines wisdom.
Would the Unification Church members follow Father or Jim Baughman, if they had a choice? If you American members have a problem, why don't you go to the American man for advice. After all, he is a very smooth person and easy to understand. Why don't you go to him rather than Father? What is the difference between Jim Baughman and Reverend Moon? Well, Jim Baughman always receives a salary but Father never does. They are very different in that respect. Father never took money for himself. Rather, I sold my house and tried to use everything for others, even against the objections of my family. But I never heard of any American families who have done that. Isn't that the way you do it? If you find any money laying around in the church or in the business, don't you put that money in your pocket? Always you say, "Father, you have to support our company with more money. Please help me with my budget." But I am not a banker! I am a debtor! That is not what I am here for.
Nobody understands how Reverend Moon can survive living the way he does. While they were wondering, ten years went by and now Father is standing on top of the Himalayan mountains. Normal churches say, "A one hour sermon is enough." What about you? I must have spoken enough for today, right? In this short time, how many world level problems have we addressed? Now we at least know which is the sure road for perishing and which is the road where you will not perish, if you go that way.
I beg your pardon, you American women, for citing you once more. Let me ask you this question: Who is the principal cause of divorce more often, the woman or the man? So woman naturally is the bad guy or the good guy? [Bad guy!] [Father laughs loudly.] It is very simple when you come down to a solution. Ask your eye in looking at your husband, "How many times have you batted your eyes at him, smiling, and trying to entice him, to make him feel good?" Maybe your eyes would answer, "Ten times." That's not so much, so you should challenge to do it a hundred times. A woman may think a divorce won't hurt her, but what about her children? You don't think about the children, you only think about yourself when you divorce. By universal law, the mother is supposed to be the subject of love. Not the father, but the mother.
So the eyes are a problem, the ears are a problem, and the mouth is a problem. I am not making up this Chinese character-it has been around for thousands of years. How do you write "Holy Man"? There is only one way. When you take it apart, you see the symbols for eyes, ears and mouth, as well as the symbol for king. So the meaning is that one must be the king of mouth, ear and eyes. How wise this is! That defines the holy man. King's ears hear straight, the king's eyes look at things straight, not crooked. His mouth talks straight, not crooked. Have you ever seen people wash their face like this, instead of this? [ Holding their hands still and moving their faces. Everyone laughs] You wash vertically, not horizontally.
In yourself, is there one vertical or two? There is absolutely one, only one, vertical line. Americans greet each other like this, horizontally, while the Orientals greet vertically like this. First they meet, then determine who becomes the subject, and then go forward in that order. In dancing, who leads? The man, of course. But imagine how unattractive it would be to watch when the woman leads. How unseemly and ugly it would be. No one likes to look at that. Often we see a man proposing love to a woman like she was a queen. When you see such a sight, that day you will have no luck. That is not a pretty sight. Woman keeps her horizontal relationship. Woman can often cling on to the man's neck. Then she is in the right position. I could go on and on citing examples. I want you to remember this point. You learn by humor and fun.
Don't ever think that you can come to Belvedere and hear Father just any Sunday at all, at any time. That is not the case. Hear my words while you can. When I come here, everybody comes here. When I am not here, not so many people come. I don't like that. You should jam-pack Belvedere when I am not here, as well as when I am here. Think about it. You are the subject of this country. No one else can take that position. You have to teach your fellow countrymen the same things you have been taught.
All of this talk started from the topic of "Unification Family." Those of you here who are Blessed couples, raise your hands. I would like to remind you again of the very simple fact that Jesus Christ could not receive the Blessing. He has waited for 2,000 years. That Blessing has been bestowed for the first time in the entire human history. So many countries have risen up and perished. So many sacrifices have been made: individually, family-wise, even by countries. It is a bloody foundation. The first Israel and the second Israel suffered so much and were destroyed. Now at the time of the third Israel, centered on Father, this Blessing could take place for the first time. Thus, how important it is! So many great men and women in history have never had this privilege. In the fallen world, how many billions of families have there been? Look at it, there are billions of families on Satan's side and on God's side, here are the Blessed couples. Now, would God trade the millions of families there for one family here? Satan would say, "Yes, trade them." But God would never want to trade.
How precious, how valuable is one Blessed family compared with billions of fallen families. Yet when you look at them from the outside how can you tell the difference? When I speak of this point, I immediately become angry. You are almost behaving like dogs. If you were to place monetary value on the Blessing, how much would you say it is worth, thousands, perhaps? Would you Americans say it is only worth hundreds of dollars? Do you think the Blessing is that cheap? I am asking you this direct question: How much value have you bestowed on your Blessing? Literally, God and Father would never trade one Blessed couple for one entire fallen country. I would rather maintain this one couple than trade them for one country. The Blessing is that precious.
What kind of things are these eyes seeing when they look around? God allowed everybody into the Blessing, including those who had engaged in free sex in the past. God never questioned. Forgiveness is His work. So God forgave them and let them into the Unification Church. Now Father expects people to change from one extreme to the other. If you were the worst in the past, then when you come here, you become the best. We have to occupy even the lowest places. Satan occupies the outside. Bad people stay outside in the fallen world. When we occupy even the outside then we will find the outside world turned upside down.
This is why Father tells us we have to go through hell in order to make our way up to heaven. Otherwise you can't get to heaven. What have you given up since joining the church? You are supposed to give up everything after joining the church, but what have you really given up? We should leave everything from the past behind. Never carry anything in your pocket or hand to the other side. Can anybody carry everything over to the other side. We went to grammar school in the fallen world, high school and college. We acquired certain habits and we carry those habits to the other side, as well. But if we do that, we are doing a great wrong to God. Especially you American members have that kind of habit which you carry with you. But the owner of those habits is Satan, certainly not God. When did you clean yourself up in mind and body? Did you clean up the atmosphere? Your country's atmosphere is controlled by Satan. American society, families and individuals are the same. How can you clean it up? This is the problem for you! You carried all the same concepts in with you.
Consider how many of your bad habits have you cleaned out from here? What is the percentage? Maybe you carried in five percent, ten percent, or perhaps you carried in eighty percent of your bad habits. When the world looks at you, do they say, "That is a Godly family"? Will God look at the Blessed family here and say, "Oh they are Godly," if they are still carrying eighty percent of the bad habits from the satanic world? Can God say they are Godly?
Reflect today after you go back home. Hand in hand, you husbands and wives should say, "How much have we cleansed ourselves to follow Father, who is doing the holy work for the world? How worthy are we of that?" Do you wish that Father could stop suffering from now on? What if your next generation has to indemnify the additional suffering Father is doing from this time on? God and spirit world have to work even harder if the fruit is not here. There is no hope. The iron hammer of heavenly punishment will have to come down. God watches you failing to change from the extreme bad habits you had in the past. If Father lived the way some of you are living today, do you think God could ever have helped me? No, everything would have had to be given up.
Then you all come before Father and expect to be forgiven so easily. Then can you continue with your assertions, your demands, and your bad habits? That cannot be. You might be forgiven, but what about your Blessed children; the next generation? Would you ever want them to have to bear a heavier cross than yours? Would they want to carry a heavier burden than the first generation did? No, absolutely not. You must understand this clearly in order to protect yourselves.
Am I saying the right thing or am I overstating it? After you take a thorough bath from the old evils, then you should be clad in a new cloak of white. Instead, you are picking up and putting on the same old ragged, dirty clothes after you take the bath. Are you still maintaining memories of the illicit love you had before? Are you still imagining his face after getting married and blessed? Or have you totally forgotten about him, never allowing yourself to even think about that for even one moment? Which one? Are you completely erasing your memory, or are you entertaining the memories? How much effort you must make! How painful it is to God, how angry He feels, when you entertain those old memories and habits. There will be a type of judgment day for the Unification Church families. You have to prepare for that. It is like the River Jordan. You will look at it and it will be only a few feet away, but you won't be able to cross it. In the same way, Moses came to the threshold of Canaan, but he could not enter it. This is a warning. You have to keep warning yourselves.
Those who are Blessed couples, please stand up. Do you think that my intent was to bring all your families to the same level as my own? Or do you think I wanted to stay at a higher level and keep all of you at a lower level? Did I do that? Think about it. You all know what level your own family is standing on. You know best whether you are providing a condition to glorify the name of Blessed couples or disdain the name of Blessed couples. Father is now saying, don't follow any leader or any leader's family. Do you understand? You have to repent. That is the only way to get back.
Before you attend Belvedere on Sunday or the first day of the month, do you always do the Pledge Service in your own home? Those who don't, raise your hands. I believe there are many. Instead of doing it at home, come here and do it with your sons and daughters. Can you educate your own sons and daughters? Perhaps not. It is very difficult. So bring them here. They all go to secular schools, schools which are not our own. You can never rest assured that they are going to follow the heavenly way.
When you go to spirit world, there will be a playback of your life, like a video, which will show clearly where your family is and what they are going through. With Father's standard, you give yourselves a grade. What grade does your family deserve? Father gave you the Blessing not for your own enjoyment, or for you to position yourself a certain way, but for the sake of your preparation for spirit world. What if you don't get the Blessing here? You have no place to belong in the spirit world. Do you understand? To give you an eternal position in the spirit world, I gave you the Blessing on earth. God wants the family system in the spirit world. That is the simple purpose of Blessing. How much different are you from that? You know better than anyone else. Every person understands clearly. American people cannot lie. Your mind always testifies clearly. Your standard is not so good. Your own mind accuses you all the time. Now you understand.
The Blessed family must go through the center point so that you have no relation with Satan's side. That main center is God and True Parents through which you pass from one world into the other world. The original point of all concepts must be God and True Parents. From there, they extend into the future, making the spirit world. You have to make your family system centered on true love; that is God's and True Parents' central starting point. Persecution condition. Those of you who clearly understand me, raise your hand. From now on, let us clear up family situation. Otherwise, there is no hope. Now the time is at hand when the whole world will be welcoming us. How can you stand in the subject position?
Today I wanted to place the utmost stress on the Unification families and their responsibility and authority. There are three most important points which God has established in history. The first is the authority of the selected people; the realm of Israel. That is denying the elder sonship for the younger sonship. It become upside-down. How can it be permitted for Esau and Jacob to change their positions? The one who is below should go up, and the one who is already up should come down. This is where the transition and restoration has to be. This is the same in an individual case, too. Before he became Israel, the individual had a body which commanded his mind. The body, in the elder's position, represented Satan. But it has to come right side up. Mind has to take the subject position to the body which has to take the object position. Centering on the mind, that body has to be controlled. The body must always follow the mind. This was the Israelite's requirement. Now the question can be directed to ourselves; each one of us: Have you won over this Israel authority on the individual level? Do you have it or not? We must understand how bad we are. We must be able to measure that.
All the Blessed children don't understand the Israel concept. Why? Because their parents didn't teach them, didn't show them. So the most important thing God did was establish the authority of Israel. The Israelship of man and woman is that they should get married and become a family. To put the question a different way, have you become exactly one with Father's criteria or standard of Israel-ship? If not, if you fall short of it, you cannot become church Israel-ship.
Within these Unification Church Blessed families, if there are still factions. Faction is a bad word, but let's face reality. There is a tendency for the Japanese families to get together speaking their own language. Americans have the tendency to do the same and Germans do the same. We cannot say we are the unified family. We abhor that. We got married to go over that, not to promote that. It is difficult, but our responsibility is to go over that difficulty. You know how hateful Japanese and Americans can be in the outside world, but when an American and Japanese are living together with such beautiful harmony and happiness, everybody in America looks at such a thing and asks, "How can they live like that? Japan and America have been enemies for forty years, how can they make such unity? They are strange people!" We should show a good example to the outside world.
So you must show the Israelite authority in your family, tribe and nation. Have you taken up that authority? If you don't do that, you cannot be liberated from Satan's world. This is the Principle viewpoint, God's viewpoint. There is no other way. Do you understand?
We have the responsibility of authority. We cannot ever, even to the death, give a bad name or make dirty the name of Blessed couples, this Israelites name on the family level. That is something we have to resolve right now. If the Christians are the salt of the world, you are the healing drugs; the prescription for health, for the rest of the world. If you graft into that, then love will win out. When you are firmly grafted into Father, into the Blessed couple, then your love will come about. Have you become the real olive tree as a result of grafting into the true root, or do you still remain as a wild olive tree? First you were a wild one, then you grafted into the real one. Gradually you get nutrition, little by little becoming perfect, true olive trees. If you remain as a wild olive tree, then you are the same as the satanic families of the world. Even if you get to spirit world that way, you will be seen there and people will say, "They are not the true olive tree." That will be worse than the wild olive tree which never had a chance. You had a chance. That means spirit world will accuse you.
You have to take responsibility for your own result. You will be judged if you don't take the correct way. How can you escape that kind of phenomenon? This is not a playground. This is judgment court which you are in. Do you understand?
The second most significant thing which God has done is the establishment of authority of lineage. Do you have the authority of lineage? Is your lineage all cleaned up? How is it possible that True Parents are making that pure lineage? Because you have had cleansed blood, your clan needs to be connected with you so that their lineage can also be cleaned. Everyone has a lineage, whether bad or good. Which side is yours on, God's or Satan's? Can you now proudly proclaim, "I have absolute confidence that my lineage is clean"? You should be able to do that. If not, Satan can come in and out of you. He can claim you any time he wants to. Have you tightly closed up all your doors to evil, locking them and sealing them? Or have you left one door unlocked so Satan can come in when he wants to? If you as a Blessed person see someone you like and think, "I wish I could have been married to someone like her or him," then you have already opened your door to Satan. Have you closed and locked that door?
If a handsome man comes by and tries to entice you with lots of money and nice things, and you are interested in him, then your door is only closed, but not locked. You know that. But that door must be locked, absolutely and forever. Then the court of judgment will not be harsh. You have to go through your mission and your responsibility. Do you understand? Father's mission is not enough. You have to make your own result. That is your mission, not Father's mission. In the future, the court of judgment is waiting for you. So how pure is your lineage? What is the percentage of purity that your sons and daughters can inherit? Can you say they have on hundred percent pure blood lineage, or only fifty percent pure, or what? How much pure content do you have?
You didn't expect that on the first of March, the beginning of Spring, to receive such a strong sermon from Father, did you? Spring is such a beautiful season, why does Father have to speak so harshly today? You need an injection, a strong dose of medicine. A good drug is always bitter to the taste but it is very effective. If it is sweet, it won't be effective.
I am perfectly capable of giving a sweet talk, isn't that true? I enjoy doing that too, but if someone gives you sweet things when you are sick, then he is a bad person. Anybody can say sweet things. Unless you go through the Israelite-ship, there is no way you can inherit the lineage. The Israelite-ship means that whoever is up above must come down, whoever is below must come up. Otherwise, the condition of restoration cannot be fulfilled.
That is what Jacob had to go through, correct? What do you think Jacob had to endure all night, fighting the angel at the ford of Jabbok? Don't you imagine he sweated a lot? He shed a lot of tears, too. It was life and death. "Let me go back to my homeland now," he pleaded. It was a very tearful situation. The angel hit him so hard, he dislocated Jacob's thigh bone, and then he released him a little bit after that. The angel saw that Jacob would rather die than be held back, so the angel finally gave up and let Jacob go. It was that difficult. We have to go through that kind of difficulty, but it is well worth it.
Jacob's victory was on the individual level. He brought the victory up to the family level. To go from the individual level to the family level was so difficult, you can only imagine the difficulty of any level beyond that, all the way to the world level. All Blessed couples have to go through that. God expects that. Father expects that. Do you think this just something I am saying, or are my statements based on the course of God's dispensation? This is our mission. It is a heavy burden. Father understands every time and everything you go through. Don't forget that for one second.
Can you give birth to sons and daughters who are worthy of going directly to heaven without relying on Father? Yes or no? Why don't you say yes? Why haven't you reached that position? That is your mission. Now you have to shift the responsibility to yourself. Take heed of Father's teaching, but do it yourself.
When the Blessed husband beckons to his wife, she must ask, "Is your blood clean enough? How clean is your blood lineage to take that position with me?" even though they are married. That is something you should question deeply. Don't just get together because you want it. Ask if your blood is dirty or pure. First you have to question. You have to take that position every time. Look from God's viewpoint. From God's sight, how much purity do you possess? You have to have confidence in that, then sexual intercourse is good. Otherwise, it is a problem. Bad fruit will be borne for the future. You have to take responsibility for the next generation's purity. It is not an enjoyable situation. It is a serious situation. The judgment place will be very low, like a deep hole.
All the elder members here are no exception to this point. Don't think, "Uh, I'm an elder member and a leader of the Unification Church. How wonderful it is to be in that position!" No, no. God looks down at those people and His judgment is not so good. You are going closer to the dungeon of hell, not to the heavenly throne. You always have to maintain that concept about the family system. Family relationship, husband and wife, parents and children. Do you understand? Are you standing in the real parent's position or not? From the Principle viewpoint, are you standing in the real husband's position or not? You must constantly compare yourself with God's viewpoint every time you take action.
Do not leave a bad lineage behind you. Look at the dreadful and dishonorable disease of AIDS. Has that disease been spread from America or from Korea? America. And it did not only happen here, it has become widespread around the world. The policy should be that those people who have AIDS should wear a sign on the back of their clothing; a big letter A written big and bold, to let the rest of the world know who has AIDS. It should not be covered up and protected. We should never allow them comfort, even to ride on a bicycle, because once they become comfortable then the only thing they can think about is what? We already know. So we should give them a hard life.
How would the American public respond to such a policy? Would they welcome it or not? They would welcome it in order that they could protect themselves. If the government doesn't do that, then it is a bad government; the worst. Think about that.
[Father writes the letter A with chalk on Col. Han's back.] You have AIDS-I kick you! Father does that display so that you cannot forget. [Laughter] It will leave a lasting impression with you. People will say, "Reverend Moon kicks his interpreter while he is giving his sermon." I know that people might criticize me for that. When Mr. Han becomes an ex-Moonie, he will bring a suit against Reverend Moon, "Oh, you kicked me so I am suing you. I can't forget that!" But the reason I do these things is to make an impression on you so you won't forget these points. Do you understand? These are serious words and serious points.
Sometimes you have to test yourself. Imagine yourself in certain situations. Imagine you are going to a dance where you are well dressed, looking your best and having an enchanting evening. Ask yourself, "Would I falter, or am I confident that I wouldn't?" You have to check yourself, "Am I going to fall if I go to this point or beyond this?" It is necessary to foresee possible future situations in order to test yourself.
I have done the same thing. I have often imagined difficult situations, saying, "What if, knowing what I know, I was cast into a room with hundreds of beautiful naked women. What would be my response? Is my organ going to be excited or not? Will it take a resting position or not?" In all seriousness, I have imagined such a thing. What if they represented the beauties of all different races, from East and West? The temptation would be very difficult, not easy. You can only imagine that degree of that temptation. The difficulty is comparable to giving up your own loved one to your worst enemy and allowing her to be embraced. He would sleep with her, and you have to give your blessing to that enemy. You have to go beyond that. That is God's situation, God's position. When we talk about God's heart, we don't know what we are talking about. Only when we have reached that point can we say, "I understand God's heart."
If you go beyond that limit, there is heaven. Before you go beyond that, it is not heaven. Why would God allow free sex to happen, knowing how serious it is? Because it is not as serious as the position where God is sitting. Do you see? They have one step beyond to go which is not as serious as God's own situation. That's why God is allowing that to happen. Do you understand? God is allowing that to happen because they are not as bad, yet. One time. It will get worse, but then you have to go over that. You are expected to go over that. Then you reach to heavenly world. Do you understand? This is Satan's barrier here. This is horrible, as it is, but not quite as horrible as God's situation.
Imagine how difficult it is to bear this. We must understand that this authority of lineage has only been established through going through this situation, which Father just described. It didn't come easily. We must understand that, happy or unhappy, comfortable or not, this world is only a transient life. Relatively speaking it lasts only a short time. This is why we need to go back to our hometown. When we go to our hometown, we don't take with us all our bad accumulated habits. We must shed ourselves of these, become cleansed, and then go to our hometown to establish heaven. This is why Father is giving this sermon today.
Now this Israelite-ship; what used to be the wild olive tree now became the true olive tree. In this time of history, we have to understand how important it is. What about the first generation Israelites? The world knows that the first Israel was supposed to save the rest of the world but they never did. Even today, they are very busy minding their own foundation. So nothing good is happening to them. America is the realm of the second Israel, correct? It is a Christian nation. At the end of World War II, the whole world could have become a Christian domain centering on America. But America didn't realize this, so they literally threw away the opportunity.
Because of not being able to fulfill their responsibility, the third Israelite-ship has now moved to Korea. That is the unification of the new nation. Here the new Israelites must become a new nation nor for their own sake but for the sake of the world. When the country lives for the sake of the world, then that Israel will never perish the way the first and second ones did. We are not speaking materially but spiritually. Lineage has to do with the blood. Within the Blessed families there should never be racial discrimination. White people find that it is hard to throw away their old habit of discriminating against blacks, even after Blessing. But if you do not correct that quickly enough, you will surely go to hell in spirit world. You will perish. That sense of belittling another and feeling superior to them is like a cancerous growth within your spirit.
We see in the Bible the story of the Prodigal Son. He comes back and repents and receives all the blessings of the father. So his position becomes even better than the elder brother. That elder brother was saying, "My younger brother was a bad person but I was good. Why did you give all the blessing to him?" So if there are many brothers like that for this elder brother, do you think he would leave that elder brother there? No, he will not. So it's the lineage.
So making a sexually-related mistake in the Blessed couples is not only detrimental, it is deadly, literally. You have to stand straight. We already know this. It is true.
Literally, what the Bible expresses as the serpent in the Garden of Eden, is the sexual organ. The snake gives poison. From a one time connection with the woman's sexual organ, the heavenly world was destroyed. One time. A snake slithers around and when someone comes too close, it strikes out, attacks, and that person is poisoned. Woman is so fearful of that snake mouth. That serpent symbolizes both sexual organs, mans and woman's. The organs that have poison. Once one bites the other, then that is the end. This is what the Fall of Man was about. But now this is the lineage which does not have that poison in it. Once we re-introduce that poison, then everything will perish; it will be contaminated. So what is the snake in the Garden of Eden a symbol of? It is not Satan, it is the sexual organs of both sexes.
A woman's sexual organ is like an open mouth, showing fangs. It wants to bite. You think about it. It is worse than the AIDS disease, a one time connection there and everything perishes. Do you understand? It is most fearful. A one time bite there leads to Satan's world, the dungeon of hell. it is serious. You have a snake, a poisonous snake! Every fallen person has experienced that kind of concept, it is the same for man and woman.
Like opening the mouth and showing all the fangs. Every woman, every man wants to bite. Think about that. Worse than that AIDS disease a connecting there destroys everything. After sexual intercourse everything heads toward perishing, not prosperity. It is the worst, worst situation. The most fearful guy is that one, more than a tiger or lion. From a one time bite there, history was torn down. This is serious. Do you understand? You have a SNAKE! A poisonous snake! Every fallen person experiences that. It is the same for man and woman. It is worse than a snake bite.
America's situation is full of that poison. Therefore, America is completely perishing. Both eyes are like snake's eyes. That place is Satan's world palace. If only one time a man and woman took that poison, only one time making mistake, all disease is afterwards passed on.
When there is a sense of snake, then the pure traditional blood is not there. Hands, eyes and ears which have the senses of a snake, are twisted like a snake's. Snakes twist around each other in a snake dance. The Twist symbolizes a snake, not something favorable. Do you understand? There are worse snakes than AIDS.
Blessed couples raise your hands once more. Those who are second generation, raise your hands. They too must be very much aware of this.
The third point is the love authority; God's love, True Parents' love, and the true family love. This is the total realm of authority of love which God failed to achieve, which is very much God's regret. God failed to establish true son and daughter. God did not have the chance to educate the true husband and wife, true children, true parents, and true family relationship. Number three, which is the authority of love, is the most significant thing which God has been striving for through the history of the dispensation. Only by going through all three of these steps can liberation take place. Liberation now takes place.
So each one is a fight which must be won. Even though the Russian KGB, North Korean intelligence, and even the American CIA regarded Reverend Moon as their enemy, trying to kill him, they are no longer my enemies. In Russia, already many students of high school and middle school are pleading for Reverend Moon to send over teams to educate them. I have been getting reports about the Bureau of Education. When that happens in Russia, then what happens? Those Russians must come to America and start witnessing on American soil. By the time that happens, I will be able to freely turn everything over to them and I will go back to my own home. Already now there are Ivy League students who are going to Russia and undergoing training there. The second team already finished and the third team is now in progress. You didn't know that, did you? You don't know everything Father has done. While you are taking rest, Father is doing these things to achieve God's will.
One thing you don't seem to feel is shame. How ashamed you will be if somebody from another country, even those atheist youth from Russia, come over and teach here about God. Just one year ago, they didn't know anything about God or spirit world. They believed material was the only reality. And look at your background of religion and Christianity. It is becoming upside down now. How shameful your situation is when you consider all the advantages you had to know about God. Yet those young atheists are learning so quickly. The past 2,000 years of history will bring judgment upon you. How can you escape that? Do you understand? You young Americans think about that. How proudly Americans assert themselves, yet the truth is that America is losing everything. This is becoming a vacant country. How shameful this nation is. America is in a beggar's position. That is the very real truth about this nation's modern situation. Think about the future. How can America escape the drop down to hell? Nothing can help America, not her power, her armaments, all her knowledge or sovereign power; none of that can save America from losing everything. The only hope is the small remnant of Unification Church members. How heavy a burden, what a big load you have. One member has to take on the mission of thousands of members.
Who in this nation has taken on that burden of responsibility? Only the Unification members. Now the Unification Church members are thinking about taking the easy way! The easy way is the path America has taken to destruction. This is not something in the future. This is the situation now. How can this nation's situation be changed? There is only one way; through the work of Reverend Moon and the Unification Church. You have to put on the brakes and change this nation. Serious situation.
Now we have to understand that by going over this, we become full of love and compassion just like God Himself. On behalf of God we try to create a whole new world. With that kind of heart, we can live with the entire history and all mankind, and in that way we become the unified family of love and compassion, encompassing all these traditions. This is the responsibility of the Unification families. How many different nations are represented within this country of America? Nobody can tell. Probably all the countries of the world. What do you guess? Probably more than 200. Have you loved all of them, not just a few, but all? Have you ever embraced all of them in your mind? Why did Reverend Moon settle down in New York rather than Washington, D.C., which is the capital of the country? I was determined to spread all the seeds of love here in New York, where all the world's immigrants have come.
Have you ever decided, "I will live my life here in New York to disseminate the seed of true love, just like Father did"? When the big wind rises up all over the world, brought on by spirit world's influence, to bring together people from all different countries, will America follow that direction and find life, or not? "I Love New York" needs to be re-written to New York Under Love Authority. On all the street corners of New York, we will talk to all the different nations, embrace them, and then see what happens. When you win over 120 people in New York City, and then you go back to home town in the providence of clan messiahship, do you think the people will come around you? Do you think your relatives will change overnight? When there are 120 people devoted to you as their savior, then you can show that to your relatives. Do you think they will be influenced to follow you too, or turn more against you? They will be proud of you and say, "Oh, what a great guy he is!"
Reverend Moon's course is the same thing. People from 120 countries gathered with me and went back to my country of Korea. All of the sudden the Koreans were stirred up! Kim Il Sung was surprised to see that kind of foundation. "Oh, you are more than great!"
Why don't you follow my own course of action? America will have no future otherwise. You must testify clearly at this time. You have to save your country, don't you? It is your country! You have to know this more than me! Shim jung-authority of heart is what you are given.
We have to finish these three steps. This is the responsibility and authority of all Unification Church families. This is what the Blessed couples exist for. If we don't do this, then we are not living our mission. Who laid all this foundation? Father has done this and it is your mission to finish it. When I spoke about these same things fifty years ago, people said I had an overactive imagination. But then Reverend Moon established a religion and did all the things which religion had failed to do in the past. Accomplishing these means accomplishing the purpose of religion.
Of all the religions, the most painful was the opposition of Christians against Reverend Moon. Of course, the Jewish people opposed him. They were only concerned about themselves. Even God was amazed to see what Reverend Moon accomplished. You ought to be proud of having such great parents as your True Parents. Be proud of one's parents is the tradition of the Unification Church Blessed families. We know that tradition, don't we? To be proud of the traditional training. Father never sleeps before midnight, no matter how tired he is, and he never spends idle time. He always speaks to people about God; about the things which you have heard a million times before-still Father continues to speak. When everybody goes to Heaven, there will be a great competition for the best mouth. A great prize will be given to the greatest mouth in history. Whose mouth do you think will win, Confucius, Jesus, Mohammed, or Reverend Moon's mouth? You have to inherit that same tradition, as well. You should be constantly teaching and teaching, just as I do.
When I taught others, do you think it was easy and pleasant, or was it with deep tears? You must understand this fact. When I went to Japan from Korea under severe persecution, I made a promise to God, "I will save this nation, Father." That is why I brought so many Japanese here-to fulfill that promise. The same is true of Korea. In the prison of Japan, I thought, "I will go back to Korea and save the people there." That is why I went to North Korea and was put into prison. I pledged to save South Korea, and I went there and was put in prison there, too. I pledged to save America, and I came here and I went to prison in America, as well. What would have happened if I had gone to prison and lamented my situation, saying, "I'm not going any further. I did what I could and they didn't listen." What would have happened? I could not do that. I had to stand up once again, take on my impossible job, and continue to love America.
Even though I was confined physically and had to sit in one place in the prison, my spirit was travelling all over the world, reaching out for the people. That is what I told you, too, "Don't pity me for being confined in this location. You don't understand that there is a world beyond the prison wall." After I came out of the prison, of course, the world changed. This nation of America was defeated.
Have you ever imagined yourself going to prison and paying great amounts of indemnity in order to save this country? You have not even thought about that. There has been no individual American who has decided to do that; no family and no clan. Now I have accomplished everything and I have passed everything on to you. Now I am telling you that everything is prepared. All you have to do is go back and do your clan messiah work and, with all that, you say, "No, Father, I can't do that." What hope can I have for American youth?
You must understand that I expect all of you to take seriously what you have received today and to fulfill the little bit you are expected to do. Do you understand that? What are the responsibilities of the Blessed couples? Now you know the responsibility and authority of the Unification Church families.
Today is a special day, March 1. What is so special about it? Seventy-three years ago in Korea, the people did an incredible thing. They sprang up for their own independence from the oppression of the Japanese. They faced down their guns. Literally hundreds of people went out and shouted "Mansei for the independence of Korea!" which greatly symbolized the independence of the heavenly nation, today, the world-wide, cosmic heavenly nation. Hundreds of people lost their lives that day in that uprising. We call that the 3-1 Movement, or the March 1st Movement of 1919. So we now should begin the 3-1 Movement on the cosmic level, the worldwide level, for the liberation of all the families; the families that have been fettered and gagged and bound. We've got to liberate these families with True Love. That is why we are the messiahs to them. This is the time which has come.
A tribe includes many different houses, correct? We have to teach them and revolutionize their thinking. Today is exactly the end of six months since September 1, 1991. That number six signifies the creation of man. God created man in six days. After making man, the family was supposed to be established but it was lost. The world lost the real family. Now we have to restore that real family. That requires action, this new action. We must bring about a great reformation. The revolution must come within the family and their concept of love and relationship.
I am now launching a great campaign for the World Federation of Women, as well as the world reformation of families. Those who say, "Yes, Father, I will join this movement which has been started in Korea, bringing revolution and reform to all the families, centering on women. We will go until we have fulfilled its purpose," raise your hands. By doing that, the responsibility will have been done as a blessed couple. God bless you.
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