WORDS ON JESUS

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.

People of the world are dying and desperately suffering. If they are your brothers and sisters then you have to reach out to them and cry out for them. True Christians must be willing to sacrifice their own lives for the salvation of the world and all humankind. Many Christians are seeking for their own personal salvation; they are crying out for "my salvation" and "my heaven." This is contrary to God's truth and contrary to God's ideal. We must steadfastly give, love, sacrifice, and live for the sake of others.

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"
May 1, 1981

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

In the Bible, Jesus is described as the "only-begotten Son." What does this mean? Jesus was the only person who inherited the total love and total lineage of God, and the only person who could represent it. For that reason, he had the power of God's lineage flowing through him. That is why he is the Savior. We know that God is the Father of mankind; furthermore, Jesus is the only-begotten son of that God.

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

Jesus went beyond the limited concept of law when he lived love; he went beyond the concept of race because he wanted to belong to the world. He also went beyond his own religion, transcending the detailed tenets of Jewish law because he was faithful to broader principles. He loved not only the Jews but also even the enemies of his people, as well as the rest of the world. Jesus could even embrace the people who crucified him.

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
September 19, 1999

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.

If the believers are the body of Christ, then could there be more than one church? There are many different denominations and kinds of Christianity, which indicates that Jesus' body has been divided up. This is not acceptable in the sight of God. When we see the current situation from the viewpoint of God and Jesus Christ, the existence of so many denominations in the name of Christ is heartbreaking. It is just as though Jesus' body itself had been torn apart.

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.

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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

Today we know of and believe in Jesus who was born and died in history, but there is no one who knows of and believes in Jesus and his heart when he was rejected and driven out, and wandered to that town when he was driven out of this one and to that village when he was driven out of this one. We have not been able to find in history a person who knew Jesus, who appeared representing the heart of heaven. The people of Israel, who were awaiting the Messiah, had the hope of meeting the Messiah in their

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.

Jesus had a life of more than 30 years of sorrow. Furthermore, there were the three years of his public life, but who knew his heart and who knew his situation? There was not even one person. And more than that, the disciples who attended him as their master, who shared his joys and sorrows, who were sad together when he was sad, and were lonely together when he was lonely, they did not know, either. The disciples, who should have clung to heaven and appealed with earnest hearts, concerned that their master might go the path of death, were instead in such a state that they were asking who Jesus was. Therefore, if it is the case that there was sorrow in the heart of Jesus who felt that his three years of devoted work were in vain, where could there be sorrow greater than his, and if he felt pain, where could there be pain greater than his?

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)