The Religious Person's Attitude

Sun Myung Moon, 1959-03-29

The title of the sermon I am about to give you is “The Religious Person's Attitude.” I will speak briefly on this topic.

The World of Intrinsic Qualities of Faith

You have flattered yourselves that you are religious. We have gone forth not longing for this nation in the present state of affairs, but longing for the eternal kingdom. You have neither seen nor been to that kingdom. You simply proceeded forward, believing that the word you had heard was true.

We cannot consider that the intrinsic qualities of faith jell with all conditions of reality. I believe that, for those trying to lead a true life of faith, this only happens when the great infinite Heaven, the garden of eternal ideology that we cannot even imagine, has a reciprocal relationship with the being called “I.”

Heaven will press me constantly and warmly to try to attain the ideology in reality. The path of faith continues upon that basis alone.

The kingdom we long for cannot be elucidated by dreams or imagination or even by wise conjecture. That world is necessary for us. It is the limitless world of the ideal; the world of goodness, happiness, love, and the ideology of which we dream. That world is the heavenly kingdom of faith in which we wish to live. From a worldly standpoint, those who keep faith in the intrinsic qualities of that world might be considered extremely pitiful, terribly lonely, or ultimately sorrowful. It depends on how you view them.

If there is one who feels and experiences Heaven's heart, even in such a situation, and feels the shock and the stimulus of that realm of the heart, regardless of what kind of persecution, suffering, or death tries to block the way, nothing can stop him from going this path.

The Life of a Truly Religious Person

Letting this kind of heart stimulate the mind and letting that mind push the body to move, trying to feel and experience the life in which one unconsciously walks forth toward the endless territory, is the very life of a religious person in this world today.

Only when one can lead a life with this kind of stimulus and manifest the far-distant ideology as the power of real life is one a truly religious person. Going further, only when one cultivates the foundation of mind with which he can push out power, even the sweeping wave of death, from his surroundings, can Heaven acknowledge him as a truly religious person.

That is how I see it. What is felt through self-realization, when we cry our faces to Heaven, is greater than anything felt through doctrine or thought. The same thing can manifest itself as the value of light in our minds and bodies, and the heart of our life circumstances.

Religious life can be considered as going through the path of victory in such an important, decisive position. We know very well that throughout history, this path has been heaped with persecution, sorrow, the cross, and death.

Because we have this kind of history and tradition, today you are also placed in a position where you must not betray this historical course of faith. For that reason, I must stress that it is more valuable than anything else that we assume a correct attitude of faith today.

Gallantly Traveling the Difficult Path of Faith

To gallantly travel the path of difficulty, the path of persecution, and death while walking the path of faith, there is something you must feel first.

You must feel that your birth and your being of a particular nation or group were not the result of your wish. You will not be able to deny that you were born on this earth by having been drawn into motion that even you cannot understand. When we think again about how the motive of my being originated and was given to me, how I was to go through this kind of course and am a resultant being, we must not boast of ourselves or our beings. We must boast about the being who has something to show off within the ideological realm of history, the whole, and the future.

Unless you have this kind of conviction and feeling now, a more complicated matter than you might think will occur in your path of faith. Sorrowful and difficult things will take place. You will face undeserved death. You will easily abandon your ties with the heavenly principles. You will stand in a position where it is easy for you to betray Heaven.

Therefore, we must have a heart that is deeply sensitive toward God's ideology and reflect upon our lives in light of this ideology. We should live feeling that we are sacrificial offerings for the sake of glorifying cosmic relations, for the sake of forming a connection with the ideology of the infinite world of faith.As long as we lead a life of faith in which such an ideology does not disappear from our minds and in which such a feeling does not depart from our hearts, no one will dare intrude upon or subjugate us on this earth.

We know that this sense of being the chosen people established the history of the Jewish people. It was the basis of hope in the course of building a new garden in the land of bliss. It was the heritage of the history of the restoration providence. This applied not only to the people but also to the national leader who guided the people.

God sought Noah and raised him to let humanity, which had abandoned Heaven for 1600 years after Adam, form new ties of promise. Noah was not looked up to by the people of his time. He was of no importance according to those people.

However, Noah understood the heart of Heaven, which wished to resolve the great regret of choosing a man like him. That is why Noah proceeded forward, surmounting all difficulties for 120 years, holding on to Heaven's will and command.

Noah came to realize the preciousness of the relationship with which Heaven had raised him, called him, and commanded him. The deeper his understanding became, the greater his relationship with Heaven.

As days went by, he felt deeply about the greatness of the will of the internal heart of God. For that reason, although no one gave him recognition and numerous people ridiculed and rejected him, Noah did not abandon the building of the ark for 120 years.

The Attitude and Life of Central Figures

Why was only Noah able to keep unshaken faith in God's will, while all people, including the people in his tribe and people on good terms with him, betrayed it? He knew that the ties he had formed with Heaven were greater than the ties he had with his brothers and sisters, his relatives, and even his life. When misery came, he longed for the infinite world with a bowed head, shedding tears with a deeply touched shimjeong. You should not forget this.

Abraham and Moses were in the same situation. The pharaoh's dazzlingly gorgeous palace was an environment of maximum freedom, in which Moses lived in splendor.

However, he gave all that up because he realized that God's providential hands were extended to him through historical ties and the flesh, blood, and bones of his ancestors.

As he became better informed of the culture of Egypt and more knowledgeable about everything in the enemy country, Moses became increasingly sad inside the Pharaoh's palace because he could not share in the historical situation of Israel, the chosen people. He might have grieved over his inability to understand the people's sorrow.

Though his environment was very free and comfortable, when he became deeply moved by the realization that he was a descendant of the chosen people, Moses became hostile toward the Pharaoh's palace and stepped forth, regarding the Egyptians as his enemies. We must be aware of this.

Moses put the royal court of the pharaoh behind him and proceeded forward, seeking the Israelites, the people with ties to Heaven. Moses knew of the will and embraced such a shimjeong.

However, the Jewish people, who were ignorant of the will, could not recognize Moses as such. This became a cause for penetrating historical sorrow and lamentation.

When the people whom Moses had sought abandoned him, Moses ended up leading the life of a shepherd for forty years in the Midian wilderness. Though he had to walk such a path, Moses kept his principles and the integrity of being Heaven's chosen.

Even if his body were to fall, Moses ardently wished to bequeath his faith to someone. The more intensely he wished for that, the more tears he had to shed, thinking of the Israelites groaning under the ruthless tyranny of Pharaoh.

While the Israelite people were asleep and in a state of ignorance, Moses prayed for their sake, raising his face and looking to the land of blessing, Canaan. Unable to sleep, he would pour out his heart. He led a life of contrition before Heaven with a sorrowful heart toward the people.

Because he led such a life, Moses was fit to assume the responsibility of the central figure of that period. He could become the representative of Heaven. Throughout history, we have learned that Heaven set up Moses in front of the Israelites, who were falling, to seek and re-establish the history of His relations with Israel and humankind.

What Jesus Felt on Earth and His Resolution

Numerous other prophets and sages walked the path that Moses walked. Four thousand years after the fall of Adam and Eve, the second ancestor of humanity, Jesus Christ, came.

He took upon himself the responsibility for all the faults of the fallen Adam, bearing in his body the sorrow of Heaven, the sadness of all humankind, and the grief of all things in the universe. He took charge of all conditions of deathly darkness that drew lamentation and sorrow from Heaven for the sake of breaking them down. Let us think about Jesus.

What kind of person was he?

Going back over the four-thousand-year history, Jesus pined for people who had not felt the fear that results from culpable acts and who had not perceived sorrow because of their sins.

Namely, he yearned for the original Adam and Eve whom God had created, having been deeply touched by the sense and shimjeong of goodness.

Jesus had to restore and replace the original selves of Adam and Eve, who should have been the good, truthful ancestors of humanity.

His belief that he had come on behalf of God's ideology of creation was greater than any circumstances society could present to him and greater than any other tendency in his mind.

Therefore, if Jesus felt loneliness, that loneliness was connected with Heaven. When Jesus came to fathom God's loneliness, he could no longer feel lonely. Every time hope or ideology sank deeply into his mind, he felt the responsibility to introduce that hope and ideology to humankind.

Jesus came to realize that he bore the responsibility of being the central figure who had to realize the hope for which God had wished. He had to indemnify all the guilt the ancestors had perpetrated by falling.

As this kind of understanding grew deep in him, he came to realize that the relationship between God and himself in the sorrowful four-thousand-year history of restoration was one of father and son, inseparable. This realization prevented him from feeling bitter toward the fallen Adam, the fallen descendants, and the archangel. It became stronger when such resentment was aroused.Jesus began to realize that Heaven was his father, that the earth was his mother, and that he was born as the son representing Heaven and Earth.

Jesus could not help feeling that God's internal character, the earth's internal character, and the internal character of all humankind should form everlasting ties with him. He felt the stimulus of those connections even in such a tragic situation.

What was it that touched his mind so deeply?

His relationships were not joyous; they were sorrowful. Originally, humanity was to form a parent-child relationship with Heaven by building the garden of eternal ideology.

The whole of man's condition should have provided an impetus to the Father's conditions of happiness and sung out of the heart of that happiness. However, humanity formed ties of sorrow, unable to form ties of happiness.

You must know the heart of Jesus, who had to weep bitterly as he became increasingly aware of such facts. Jesus knew that the ties his ancestors had formed for four thousand years were not ties of happiness but of sorrow.

Therefore, whenever Jesus was in a sorrowful position and having difficulties, he was determined to be the central figure of the sorrowful world. That was how Jesus was, and we must know that.

Looking at the people and Judaism, which could not prepare the altar of happiness with the heavenly principles and rise, Jesus felt great sorrow. The more he knew about the religious denomination, the people, his tribe, and himself, the more sorrowful he became.

His knowledge became a condition for sadness. Nevertheless, because Jesus assumed responsibility for history, which was connected to sadness, we must know that he passed away with indescribable sorrow and lamentation in his heart. His mind longed for the infinitely glorious and good world of relationships. However, the reality in which he lived was such that he could not help being sorry about his lot in life, which was infinitely sorrowful. No one knew about Jesus, no one who stood at the intersection of two such different worlds.

The Right Attitude for a Religious Person

Jesus is the one whom we believe today and who sacrificed his life for this faith.

No religious people have known about this since history began. No one on earth knew how to grab hold of Jesus and cry over this. Carefully considering this matter in this light, the mind with which you can weep unrestrainedly for the sorrow of Jesus must linger in you and overwhelm you.

Otherwise, you cannot be considered a religious person who is proceeding toward the heavenly kingdom. That is how I feel.

As we come to look at these pitiful people now, we have to feel sorrow regarding their fate. As we see religious denominations fighting with one another and splintering into fragments, we must watch it from the position of being inseparably related to it.

Only when you know how to feel sorrowful, having a mind like that of Jesus on behalf of history, the present period, and future descendants, can you leave at least the condition of receiving the blessing granted to Israel to your descendants on the earth. You must know this.

Viewed in this light, the right attitude of a religious person is to deny himself completely. Only when he crosses the hill of death can he form ties of happiness with Heaven and say at the time of passing on, “Father, I have accomplished all that Jesus did.”

He should be able to end the ties of sorrow and bitter resentment that he has formed and embrace the moment when he can sing of ties interlocked with happiness. We should know that these people will possess the kingdom of eternity; they will live in the heavenly kingdom. God's will is to seek these kinds of people.

When I look at those of you who have sought the Unification Church and entered it, there are moments when I consider you pitiful. You sought and joined the Unification Church because you are connected with it through some unknown relationships. Despite trying to turn your steps away, you have lingering attachments pulling on you.

If this unconscious relationship was not caused by you, who was it caused it?

We must know that it was because behind us was the foundation of the accomplishment of our ancestors, who strove to dissolve the bitterness in the history of blood and tears. Therefore, whenever such a feeling comes into our hearts, from now on, it should be possible for the mind to call out, “Father!” to Heaven and explode within us, even if we have fallen, forgetting even the consciousness of our existence.

We will have to say that only when we become connected with the world of happiness after crossing the hill of history, bound with sorrow, can we become qualified to receive the Lord for the first time.

That is the case for you, and I cannot escape from it either. Why is it that unbearable and inexplicable sorrow wells up within us and penetrates deeply into us?

It is because of the relationships of historical han, which even I do not understand. It is because heavenly relations, earthly relations, and human relations that we cannot understand are bound with us today.

We must know this. What is it that Heaven wants?

It is the person who can indemnify all the sorrowful relations on the earth. He is the man who can say, “Father! I will indemnify all your sorrowful relationships.

Please guide me to become the central figure of history that is bound with sorrow.

Please allow me to become the one who can remain in the world of sorrowful relations and whom Heaven wants in that world.” If we have this kind of mind, we must know that even if numerous crosses come, it does not mean all is over.

What did Jesus mean by saying, “I have accomplished all”? Jesus had accomplished his mission only to a certain limit through his death in the course of indemnifying Heaven's sorrow.

In other words, Jesus knew that if he died, an indescribable sorrow would enter the heart of God and be connected to it. The miserable path of death would be left behind by the throng of people following him. Because he knew that the foundation of spiritual salvation would be established with his death, he was able to go beyond his death with a manly mien.

The Way of True Faith

If this kind of feeling bubbles up in your mind, you are the person who owns heaven and earth, even if you have nothing. Heaven and earth will appear as your comrades, even if you do not have any others.

For that reason, you must feel that the way of true faith is the way on which you proceed, linking the history of relations. It exists where you proceed to build the tower of relations with Heaven.

If we feel sorrowful when we part with a friend, how much more so should we feel when the relations we have with Heaven are disconnected?

You should be able to feel that this is the moment of historic sorrow, the moment of grief for heaven and earth, and the moment of sadness for humanity and the heavens.

If one felt this, he would have to feel his inadequacy, regardless of how much he might try not to, and he would not be able to control the outbreak of tears. In addition, as you have learned through the Divine Principle, the position in which we individuals stand today is one in which we have to dissolve the han of heaven and earth, even that of spirit men in the spirit world, and liberate them. You have been set on the altar of such a cosmic-level fate. You might feel infinitely sad if you let yourself think about being a sacrificial offering in this manner.

However, if you know that the sorrow of the numerous spirit men, the numerous people and beings of heaven and earth who are watching you, is greater than your sorrow, you would not allow yourself to be disappointed in the course of marching toward Heaven. You would not be able to sign for grief.

Knowing that this kind of feeling, this shock fated to be connected to my mind, is trying to form ties with an eternal ideology, we cannot deny that we have a mind within us that wishes to live in that world.

Accordingly, since spirits do exist, we will have to build a world in which those spirits can live in joy. According to the breadth and heights we have reached on earth, the authority to possess that world will be given to us.

When we think about this, it is impossible not to feel that we are sinners in our hearts, even as we live and breathe, in times of joy and sorrow. I understand this is the way of religious individuals who seek Heaven.

For that reason, I, who have been walking this path for forty years, also besought Heaven when I made up my mind and stepped onto this path, saying, “Heaven! Since I am trying to go searching for you, please do not let me abandon this relationship I promised to keep until I die.

Please allow me to know how to live and die by this relationship, even if the heavens, the earth, and this body all disappear.” While living in a period of such a swirl of history, you will be faced with difficulties, with the cross, and with persecution. Every time you are faced with such moments, you too will have to cry, holding on to Heaven, longing for the selves who promised heaven.

You must shed tears before Him, even under such circumstances, and lament your insufficiency, your imperfections, and your enervation with bowed heads. I consider this the path of the person who marches searching for Heaven.

Please do not think that all that I have belongs to me. I want to link all that I have to you. God wishes to leave behind everything Heaven has as that which is historical, current, and of the future.

We must not forget that we are a people, a tribe, and individuals who are connected through such a shimjeong. Since the God I speak of is not fictitious, and the ideology for which I long is not false, I am worried that you will be judged proportionally to your denial of the will of Heaven. Because Jesus had such a heart, he had to march on, regardless of life or death. Because Jesus was in such a position, all humankind can sympathize with him.

The Teacher's Thought

I know that you are trying to follow me, attend to me as your teacher, and make every effort for me. However, you must know that I am hesitant to receive such devotion and attendance. The reason is that Heaven has not had such a day on this earth, and I cannot offer my bows sincerely before the Father day after day with a joyous mind.

Because I knew too well that I was unable to relate to Heaven in joy, there have been numerous times when I rejected your devotion. Many times, I seemed to knowingly cut away the anguished heart with which you cried out before Heaven. I did not do this to satisfy my desires. I did it because it was unavoidable when I thought of the bitter resentment of the world of relationships and the actual world. Therefore, whenever you look at any aspect of things, I want you to become people who worry about Heaven with a heart teeming over with sorrow.

Even if we take delight in meeting Heaven, this is not an end in itself. If God's hope and joy existed with us, it would be indescribably great. If there were sorrow, it would be inexpressibly great.

When will the central figure appear on this earth who knows how to dissolve such grief on the earth and comfort the Father for His sorrow, who knows how to reveal the happiness buried in the Father's heart by singing the joy of the earth? You should not ignore the relationship of meeting such a central figure with a heart like this. I cannot ignore you, and you cannot ignore me.

Your relationship with one another should be that of meeting one another after six thousand years of tears and sorrow.

Heaven has longed for the heavenly family, the heavenly home, the heavenly people, and the heavenly kingdom. For that reason, unless people long for the heavenly kingdom, they will die away; unless a home becomes a home that wishes for heavenly people, that home will vanish; unless a person becomes one who impatiently awaits the heavenly home, that individual will disappear without a trace.

The Place Where Your Status as God's Son or Daughter Is Decided

You should know how to establish a national standard, go beyond “me,” rise above the family and the people, and indemnify the sorrow within the realm of that ideology.

Only then can you become individuals with the qualifications to comfort the Father, who has labored for six thousand years to seek and establish His ideology in the form of a nation, who has hoped for a nation that goes beyond the sorrowful relationship.

In such a position, you will for the first time be affirmed as sons and daughters; in such a position, the relationship with Heaven will be restored for the first time; in such a position, the history of joy will begin.

No matter who they are, unless a people has sovereignty, any passerby can cajole them and laugh at them. However, from the day sovereignty is established, no one can pass by freely or cajole them as he pleases.

The Christians scattered around the world today have not become the people of the Kingdom of God. They have not become the heavenly people with the heavenly sovereignty.

Unless the heavenly people have the sovereignty to take care of them, those people can then be cajoled and abandoned. You should know this.

God did not attempt to restore the heavenly sovereignty in Egypt centering on the 600,000 Israelites. Why did He drive the mass of 600,000 people out into the wilderness toward Canaan in the hope of establishing a nation with heavenly sovereignty?

It was because He had to establish a sovereign nation Heaven could direct, even if He had to receive all kinds of persecution and go over the hill of death. We must understand the heart of Heaven, which drove the Israelites out into the wilderness in this manner, where death rolled in upon them.

Unless a people equips itself with the form of a nation and then restores the sovereignty with which it can attend to God, that people cannot escape being ruined and trampled upon.

Seeing the providence of Heaven from this standpoint, it is not the time for the Christians scattered around the world to put their denomination first. They must consider the thought of a heavenly people, going beyond chosen-people-type thinking. This is the thought of Heaven.

An altar must emerge with the pride and integrity of being the people of that nation, and it must form heavenly ties, earthly ties, historical ties, and human ties and unite itself centered on Heaven. Unless this type of altar emerges, talk of realizing the heavenly kingdom on the earth is nothing but a dream.

You must know that each of you has a historical relationship with numerous enemies and numerous prophets and sages being made fools deep within you. You have the relationships of a keenly sorrowful history deep within you, Heaven's grief because of Satan.

You may meet an individual, and he or she may seem to be a mere human being to whom to relate, yet there may be very complicated relationships and circumstances of Heaven involved with him or her. You must know that there have been cosmic-level events in the background of that relationship.

Heaven has wandered for six thousand years searching for sovereignty, searching for one “ism,” one relationship, and a comrade with a true heart. This historical relationship cannot be denied. Living a life that inherits and crosses the historical course of integrated relationships is a life of faith.

That being the case, no matter how much deficiency a comrade has, no matter how insufficient a family member is, and no matter how much a family member shocks you, how could your chagrin be greater than your wish to form ties with Heaven?

Where would there be a greater sorrow than that which you would feel if you forsook that relationship?

We know that the person who renders unselfish, devoted service for the sake of the nation is called a patriot. The man who forsakes himself for the good of his family and relatives is called a filial son. A woman who lives unselfishly as a sacrificial offering for her family is called a virtuous woman.

If you look at the history of relationships today, our relationship with Heaven is that of a bride and bridegroom. You must know that throughout history, we have gazed steadily at each other, and our wailing has reverberated in this reciprocal relationship.

The moment I can call God “Father” after feeling this kind of shimjeong relationship, although “I” am a being of today, I am not limited to this earth. I am assured of being in the realm of the ideology of the eternal world. Heaven will name such a person of perfection.

According to my understanding, a true person of faith must feel the heart of such a relationship above all. That is the proper attitude. The grace you receive is not affected by today's happiness. It is the grace resulting from your having inherited the historical relationship.

Heaven Must Be Able to Give Commands with a Sense of Relief

If we wish to give our fealty to Heaven, we should, firstly, be able to bow our heads before the mind within us that wishes to do so. That mind did not originate with us. It did not come about of its own accord.

It came about through some kind of truth, through some kind of reason, and the relationships established in heaven and on earth. We must consider this valuable: what we have decided in our minds, what we have pledged.

We should not allow that determination, that pledge, and the shock of the heart to end on the same day. We must bring them to a conclusion with history, and we must resolve them in concert with history.

The grace of Heaven is present here. Because we have such relationships, the determination we made should not disappear along with history, nor should the pledge we made.

Only when a person feels responsible for a mission like this can Heaven be relieved and give commands. This is how I see it. We say that we are deeply imbued with sorrow, but how great would the sorrow of Heaven be when relating to a wicked person who has a mind that forsakes the heavenly relationship several times a day?

You should realize that Heaven is weighing such a person, putting him on the scales. This is a relationship we cannot help having; this is a relationship from which we can never escape. It is a relationship we cannot free ourselves from, whether we go to the heavenly kingdom or hell. That is why we feel pain when we go to hell.

We Must Live within the World of Original Relationship

If you have a short history of having received the grace of Heaven—two months, two years, three, or even four years—you still should not consider that you have received grace only for that time.

You should feel the emotion with which you can say, “I have received Heaven's grace for six thousand years.” When such a mind springs up, you will be overwhelmed with awe toward Heaven. You should not become so evil as to rejoice in yourselves after Heaven has made efforts to seek you and raise you, you who should be dead ten million times over.

For that reason, you must know that the throng of people who live in the original relationship, cry in the original relationship, and die in the original relationship are the central figures of history, the central figures of the period, and the pioneers of the future.

You must not forget that Heaven has unfolded the dispensation without giving up the relationship, making history to gather people like this, to call upon and raise people like this. If there were going to be judgment, there would be no one who would receive more fearful punishment than the person who forsook this relationship.

Do you have a mind that thinks of the Unification Church? Such a person does not think of this building here, some truth of this world, or this throng of people gathered here.

The person who knows how to recognize the Unification Church as it is connected with God knows how to put aside his pride before the truth of such a Unification Church. He knows how to become acquainted with the feelings of the members of the Unification Church. This is a veritable member of the Unification Church. I am not going to speak any further on that.

Humanity, for Whom God Waits Impatiently

What should the attitude of a person of faith be? He must have a heart that feels impatient. Because you have the connection, you must know that you cannot help being impatient.

What is Heaven waiting impatiently for?

Heaven longs not for a person of faith but for a person who practices the truth in life. I long to be a person who practices the truth in life rather than a person of faith. Heaven longs not for the kingdom of hope but for individuals who can live in that kingdom.

Today, we hold up a word called faith and wait eagerly. However, we must lead a life of faith beyond that. In other words, we must become members who live with Heaven, people who live with Heaven, and the church that lives with Heaven. We must lead a life of faith in which we can enjoy ourselves and sing and be able to return the glory. Heaven waits eagerly for this.

What was it that God impatiently anticipated from our numerous ancestors in the course of history, after establishing a word called “faith” in front of them?

You must know that He longed not for the individuals of faith themselves, who were fighting in their respective places, but for people who could live with Him, having remained until the last days.

God waited impatiently for one who could fade away for the sake of faith, who could resurrect after dying for the sake of faith, and who could escape the realm of death and sing of the joy of resurrection in the realm of life, calling God “Father” in the everlasting world.

God waits eagerly for such an individual. Thinking of this, you must become the people who know how to long for the self within you for whom He eagerly waits. You must strive to seek such a self and meet him.

Although you are standing here today, you know very well that you are not those for whom Heaven waits impatiently. You are not all for whom Heaven searches.

For that reason, if you have a mind that thinks of and cares for Heaven and has a connection with Heaven, an ardent mind that waits eagerly for the original you, that mind should be established as your standard.

When we seek such a self, we will be able to live attending to the Father who has been seeking such a self, bragging about “me” as such, and singing of my value. You must become the people who long to be such selves. If you lose this shimjeong, you will not be able to go the path of faith.

The Original “I,” the Foremost Standard of a Person of Faith

To be centered on himself, to bring settlement centered on himself, and to pass judgment centered on himself is the most effective way for a person. Therefore, rather than pursuing the relative self, you should pursue the self who has a direct connection to Heaven, the one with the mind that pursues value.

The stimulus to cry out for and to fight to seek such a self should begin with “me.” Thus, it should test my mettle. Only when that self is stimulated do I and the hoped-for “I” form mutual ties with which we surmount the difficult path of faith without problems. You must know this.

The teacher you follow has limitless feelings regarding humankind today. While I feel like cursing endlessly, at the same time, I feel like singing about that self that is hopeful.

You must know how to feel such a mind each hour throughout your lifetime. Since this is a path we take to seek such a self, without caring at all about the circumstances and situations relating to individuals or the church, you must feel that you cannot abandon that path, nor can you loiter.

You cannot hesitate and merely watch. Any person who retreats from such a course will not be able to own the hoped-for self. We will sign for grief from that time on. You must realize that if you keep continuing life as it has been up to now, you will fall into a state of lament, desperation, and self-destruction.

We cannot help lamenting about being incompetent and enervated.

Seeking and impatiently waiting for such a hoped-for self is the best standard for the ideal person of faith. You must be deeply imbued with the shimjeong, wishing to meet such a self someday. Only then can you know how to look at Heaven, and you will fight to find that self.

To Be Able to Stand Before God

The person for whom God wished after establishing the ideology of creation has been hoped for throughout history. Yet, he has not been able to appear as a substantial being.

Because God wished for the day of hope and a person who had that hope, He has been able to fight with endurance for the six-thousand-year historical course. Because His mind is strong because He knows that the day will come when He will meet that person, Heaven has endured until now.

Jesus equipped himself with the grace of resurrection, yet after passing beyond the cross, he left this world after establishing the day of hope with his promise, “I will come again.” He was unable to boast of the day of hope at his resurrection. Since that time, longing for the day he promised to come again, Jesus has fought for two thousand years. Since Heaven walks this path, we today who are on this earth also must walk such a path.

Furthermore, we must know that there is a history of toil in which Heaven has labored to establish the beings of the original character created on this earth, our original selves. We must have the mind to feel concerned about Heaven's honor and dignity. We must know how to march forward singing of the historical day of hope. “I” am going to meet the Lord of Resurrection, who comes in glory.

I must have an unwavering standard for such a self, and we must decide and vow that we will keep to our journey no matter what, until the day we find the answer. Otherwise, we cannot deny that our life of faith has violated our true self, rather than otherwise.

Coming through the two-thousand-year historical course after Jesus, Heaven has endured, looking forward to the day of hope that is to come again. Considering that such has been the course of history, that I serve the family members, and that I find the family members and give them counsel, is not strange.

In going forth searching for the day of receiving the central figure, the bridegroom, you must know that decoration and ornament must be prepared as a bride. You must be able to shed tears before the Father, thanking Him and taking delight. The heavenly world is vast and infinite. When we go forth to the position where we appeal to Heaven, deeply moved, thinking of the Infinite Being, Jesus will seek for us and welcome those of us who came seeking with hope.

Such will be a time of spiritual experience for you, the time when you meet Jesus spiritually. For that reason, I wish you to be deeply imbued with a mind that wishes to meet him.

The one who does not have that mind cannot find the second “I” that is to be raised in front of the Father. He cannot stand before the Father. This is the conclusion to which we come. We must know this.

Why Patience Is Necessary for a Religious Life

Next, we ought to become the people who know how to be patient. God has been patient. The historical course from the day the sin was committed to this day has been one of forbearance and patience. No one would deny this.

By merely tracing the footprints of God as He related with people, we know that it has been a path upon which He shed tears and blood, forbearing with patience. Look at the history of Christianity.

Even though enemies lured the beloved begotten Son and made him disappear as a sacrificial offering of death, Heaven had to forbear with patience.

Coming through a long history, the Israelites, chosen by Heaven, have always been left at the mercy of various peoples of the world. They were pursued throughout all the ages. Despite being the God of that nation and the God of that people, why has He foretold their suffering with patience until now? Humanity fell because it could not forbear with patience; therefore, fate decreed that God cannot help forbearing with patience until a person forbearing with patience establishes the day of victory.

Since humanity acted against God's will, unable to forbear with patience until He finds a patient person, God's resentful heart cannot be healed. In other words, you must know that until after God meets such an individual, such a family, such a people, and such a nation who can heal His resentful heart by forbearing with patience, God cannot end His history of suffering.

They must provide hope for the day of happiness after dissolving the resentment of the people and the cosmos by forbearing with patience, even on the path of struggle, the path of persecution, and the path of death. Otherwise, God cannot put an end to His suffering history and cannot pass judgment. Although the Father has been mortified and has had the authority to judge while suffering for six thousand years, He forbears with patience, unable to pass judgment.

Since the Father's sorrow, the Father's bitterness, and the Father's mortification are attributable to this, we must begin and end forbearing with patience.

Christians use the term “judgment.” What do they mean by that? It indicates the time when Heaven can put an end to His history of suffering. Heaven has suffered, eagerly waiting for such a time.

It is not a matter God Himself can solve. It is a matter that must be solved through humanity. We ought to be the Christianity that can step forth onto the judgment stand with the authority to judge Satan. In addition, we should be backed up by having foreseen the patience of God, who suffered for six thousand years. By feeling, experiencing, and inheriting the heart of the Father, who suffered in the historical course, we should become those who step forth with the determination to say, “Father! Please ease your heart and let your resentment be dissolved by me.” Heaven set an objective and has forborne with patience, coming through each age, a history of unspeakable ignorance and rough struggles. Adding the whole of your mind to the heart of God, who has suffered in this manner, you must emerge with the serenity of mind that can easily be borne with patience. Otherwise, you cannot go beyond the standard of shimjeong with which God forbade patience, and you cannot hasten the judgment by having set the standard for the dissolution of resentment.

Heaven warned us that there would be a great seven-year tribulation in the last days. Speaking for the sake of the believers, God also said that even the chosen ones would be deluded in the last days.

Additionally, you know very well that God has said that the one who endures with patience to the end, amid this tribulation, will acquire salvation in the last days.

The Termination Point of Forbearing with Patience

Where is the last stop of forbearing with patience? Where is the terminal point of forbearance? Have you ever wondered, feeling your way to that terminal point?

Was that place Adam's home? No, it was not. Was it the home of Noah? No, it was not. When I come to think that the history of forbearance remains for me, for this society, and even for posterity, I must present myself before the Father with the qualifications of a prince of forbearance. People must step forward in front of Heaven with a mind to comfort Him, He who has endured for six thousand years.

Even though you have forbearance, you may realize that it is far from the terminal point of the forbearance that had to be undergone throughout history.Today, people in our church say, “I cannot go any further because I am too exhausted.” We hear people say, “I like the Unification Church, but it is too difficult to follow the path.”

He who says that might be called a happy person from the Earth's standpoint, but he is a miserable person from Heaven's standpoint. It is indeed difficult to go the path. The path to be gone is the path of tears. It is the path of tears where we look and cry, where we feel and cry, and where we cry while we give. You may have thought it was time for the tears to stop flowing, but it is not.

When we come to realize that tears must continue to flow, that is, when we come to know that there is the shimjeong of Heaven longing for the tears of further forbearance, waiting for us lowly ones, even the fact of my having endured cannot win honor for me. Though the teacher has endured until today, since the (Korean) liberation, I have never thought about the limit of my patient forbearance yet. I do not even wish for that time to end. Once we start wishing for it to end, we will start to look after ourselves. From that time on, we will feel fear. You will have to experience this in your life of faith.

Have you ever thought deeply in your mind that the Father who endured is my Father, who is to live with me forever? The figure who endured is the bridegroom whom I am to attend.

You may never have thought about it. Let us say there is a person who has taken delight in and enjoyed glory. Rather than envying him, you should be on your mettle in forbearance and be able to be perfectly calm and collected in forbearance. You must feel that the person who appears as the figure of forbearance before Heaven is more precious in this confused history today than the blithely happy person. The person who does not know how to go beyond this confused age today with such a shimjeong will become a traitor toward Heaven.

Do you suffer pain caused by material lack?

You must bear this with patience. Do you feel the pain caused by knowledge? You must bear this with patience as well. To not become a traitor to the six-thousand-year history of forbearance, you must continuously forbear with patience.

What has remained, despite humanity's expectations to the contrary, is the history of Heaven. Humanity used to think it would meet with destruction, but the history of Heaven has sprung back.

You know very well about the Sayookshim, the six loyal subjects killed during the time of King Sejong of the Yi dynasty.

When the spirit of this nation was about to be broken, what could lead the nation to new hope again?

That was the Sayookshim, including Sung Sam Moon. Because our ancestors endured even cruel spears and swords on the path of forbearance, the path of death, our national spirit was upheld.

Who is the one to inherit the spirit of heavenly tradition today?

He is the one who upholds the altar of forbearance. You must know that it is the throng of people who are waiting eagerly, facing Heaven, upholding the altar of forbearance.

This has to be felt with real emotion, with real touch, not in a fictional or imaginary way. You should be able to scoff at whatever else you feel, saying it cannot compare with what I promised and pledged in righteousness. You should be sure of this viscerally, to your very cells. Unless there is such an impulse, how can you surmount the remaining tribulation? How can you go over the hill of tribulation that the nation has to go over? How can you go over the hill of tribulation that the world has to go over? How can you go over the hill that Heaven has to go over?Unless the blessed land appears after passing through the course of forbearance, building a castle of tribulation and death, God's patient forbearance will not see its end.

Where to Find the True Leader

We speak of ourselves as faithful people. We flatter ourselves that we are going forward, searching for the ideology of Heaven. Singing the hope of tomorrow as the standard, we go searching for the nation and people of tomorrow, the race, the family, and the self of tomorrow. This is the path of faith. However, there remains some distance between me and the future me. I am not there yet. If we look for that self here, we will be disappointed. You must first finish walking the path of tribulation and raise the standard of ardent shimjeong.

As long as the new history remains to be built, the day of fruition will not come. Since we began our steps, having readied ourselves as the elite soldiers of Heaven, we must proceed, looking forward. We must not look back, saying that we hear something behind us. That is the sound of enemies. You must not relate to one because he is affectionate toward you. You must know that he is the enemy who has an eye on your life. In the environment you live in, there is no true friend. There is no true leader. Only in the place where you seek the real truth and the true leader will the true heavenly leader appear.

Even if one had a great relationship with true life in the course of history, there were reasons for him to appear with a relationship of false life. You must seek righteousness; you must find it in your mind. You must seek a teacher of righteousness; you must find him in your mind. You must seek a home of righteousness; you must find it in your mind. You must seek the homeland of righteousness; you must find it in your mind, and you must seek the nation of righteousness in your mind. You must consider the ideology of hope as the point of unity and oneness. Going further, by fighting with the environmental darkness, you must boast of that relationship and wait eagerly with an impatient shimjeong for the desire to be fulfilled. Only when we make our way through the surrounding environment, boasting of the appearance of our true self, will heavenly history begin for the first time.

Only when you cross the finishing line of the final victory will new hope appear to you. You will receive a new day. You will own a new ideology. To make that new ideology your own, you must realize that the heavenly condition remains for you to follow such a path. Accordingly, we who are going, having put this historical fate at the forefront, must have a firm determination.

Now, reflect upon yourselves from this viewpoint. Do I have the right attitude of a person of faith? Has mine been a faith for the sake of establishing a mind of hope? Have I been wishing for that? If you try to solve everything, expecting that your old faith will fix everything, you will not be able to follow the path.

Because we must go with the right attitude of faith; even if the influence of death comes crashing over us now, we should rebuke that influence more. There should be a trace of surplus.

There should be areas where all things belonging to me exist in surplus: surplus in my passion, my loyalty, my effort, and my patient forbearance. You must know that this becomes the first standard for inheriting Heaven.

To go through this complicated reality today, we must go forward seeking that hope. Waiting impatiently for myself, I hope to embrace the historical relationship, the relationship of the current period, and the relationship of the future. You must go forward seeking this. Although an infinite number of Satans will be blocking your way, you will have to fight them. You will have to keep marching on and on, running against them repeatedly. By doing so, you must become the living sacrifice determined to go over the hill of forbearance, holding up the altar of forbearance with your shoulders, your feet, your hands, your body, and your head.

Otherwise, you cannot have the proper attitude of true individuals of faith. You cannot be considered the ones who seek the will and truth of Heaven.

https://n2t.net/ark:/68749/the-religious-persons-attitude