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Taken from the Sermons of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon Why has Christianity spread all over the world? Because Jesus' sacrificial spirit is the mind of the providence, and that is the basic spirit of God's providence-that is, to make oneself a sacrifice for other people. Christianity has received much persecution, but the more it received persecution, the more it prospered. Jesus did not leave any ideology like Marxism, but by the spirit alone he made such great effects in the world.
Jesus said, "Love your enemies" - but Jesus also said, "Love your neighbor." Who is a Christian's nearest neighbor? Certainly, it is another Christian. But are they doing it? Do Catholics love Mormons? Do Jehovah's Witnesses love Methodists? It doesn't matter who calls us heretics: whoever practices this principle of loving one's enemy is closer to God and is the orthodox Christian. That is my belief. Love can unite. If Christians practice true love then Christians can unite among themselves, and Christians can unite all the religions of the world. "Jesus' Standard of Goodness," from Danbury Prison, January, 1985 By what means can we unite Christianity throughout the world? By the Holy Spirit-hence the name "Holy Spirit Association." Not by fists or bayonets, but by the Holy Spirit. We cannot unite by human power, but by the Holy Spirit. "The
Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity" Without receiving the Holy Spirit we cannot understand or receive salvation. Why should we need the Holy Spirit to come upon us'? The Holy Spirit moves our mind to a relationship with Christ and eventually God, but why specifically do we need the Holy Spirit? What steps should take place as she helps to bring us to heaven and God? The first thing the Holy Spirit helps us to do is repent. "The Age of Repentance," September 1, 1978
Therefore, it is only through Jesus that we can be connected to the lineage of God; otherwise, God's lineage cannot flow through mankind. "True Parents and I," June 15, 1986 The
path of Jesus suffering on the cross was the same path of tribulations
that God Himself walked. In such a situation of trial and tribulation,
Jesus desperately prayed, "Please forgive them for they know not
what they do." Even in the place of death, he forgave Rome and the
group of people who opposed him, waiting for victory in the future. Therefore,
the life of Jesus did not end at the age of thirty-three. With God's help,
Christianity inherited his spirit. "The Path for America and Humanity in the Last Days," January 22, 2000 God has been working tirelessly to raise sinful men up out of sin into salvation. To do this God sent His only Son Jesus Christ. Even at the cost of sacrificing His Son, God wanted to save the world. God erected Israel as the chosen nation. The purpose of the chosen nation is also to save the world. And God raised up Christianity for the same purpose-to save the world. The Bible says in John 3:16, "God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." Remember: the world is God's goal. And just as Jesus willingly gave his life so that the world might live, God wanted all Christians to be willing to give themselves for the salvation of the world. However, today, many Christians of the world are not even close to realizing this heart of God. "God's Hope for America," Yankee Stadium, June 1, 1976
If Jesus lived in today's America would he advocate segregation of white and black people? White people may feel most comfortable with their own kind because they can digest that situation, but God would warn them that as long as they fail to follow their Christian ideals by failing to accommodate black people and bring unity, then white people themselves would risk their own survival. "The Way Of Prosperity and Defeat," March 11, 1979 Why is Christianity today divided into numerous denominations? It is because people have impeded the Christian spirit that teaches us to love our enemies. The Christian spirit that teaches us to love our brethren has been forgotten. From a perspective centering on Jesus, the Presbyterian Church, the Methodist Church, the Holiness Church and all other denominations are brothers to each other. "God's
Fatherland," Second International Hoon Dok Seminar We frequently hear that the church is the body of Christ. Does this mean that those buildings of wood or stone are the body of Jesus? What is the body of Jesus? Not the building but the people of the congregation are the body of Christ. When Jesus was crucified 2,000 years ago Jesus' body was in the position of the people. Ever since the crucifixion, Jesus' body has been represented by the people who have united spiritually with Jesus. All through the New Testament age believers in Jesus have served in the position of the body of Christ.
The heart of Jesus Christ is grieved when he sees that his own body has been so shamefully divided. Christianity today is in the position of Jesus' body, but when there is one mind, how can there be 1,000 bodies? There should be one mind and one body. **** Jesus wanted to give his inheritance to the Christian world, to his brethren. He wanted to give each Christian the conviction, "God is my God, mankind are my brothers. This land belongs to me and I am responsible to God to re-create it in God's way." Those people who are denominational and sectarian leaders and only interested in promoting their own sectarian purposes are outrageous. We must inherit Jesus' philosophy and ideology instead. Denominationalism is just a roadblock for God. We must break away all the barriers of sectarianism in order to really reach the people. "Living Sacrifice," May 8, 1977 Please Let us Go Forth Clinging to the Sorrowful Heart of Jesus Prayer of Rev. Sun Myung Moon
hearts, and they struggled and endured through several thousand years, and they anticipated wondering in which age the Messiah would appear. But we cannot help but recall that when that goal appeared in reality, they were fast asleep, without knowing the heart of heaven because they leaned towards the environment they were in and their own situations. If today we have the responsibility of resolving the enmity that has penetrated your heart, as we recall that there was that kind of lamentable history, please allow us to be able to cope with and resolve, in their stead, the sins of Israel which did not recognize Jesus who came. Please allow us to be able to take responsibility for the mistake of Israel which caused Jesus such sorrow and to repent in its stead.
There are Christians who know how to adore and attend the Jesus who wielded power, but there are no Christians who seek to hold on to and live the footsteps of Jesus who was stepped upon and driven out. Father, we cannot help but appeal with bitter tears that among the people of the world, many sons and daughters who are able to come forward will do so, holding on to the heart of Jesus who was so miserable. Now please let us be able to sympathize with the heart of Jesus, who should have gone before you, and bow our heads before that heart, and if there is something that Jesus wanted and which would make him happy, please allow us to become able to realize it for him. We earnestly hope and desire that you will guide us to become sons and daughters who are able to be filled with and form a relationship with the heart of Jesus who should have resolved the problems of life of humankind two thousand years ago. We have humbly prayed in the name of the Lord. Amen. (July 19, 1959) |
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