The Way Of The Spiritual Leader (Part 1)

by Rev. Sun Myung Moon

1) What is the Completed Testament Age?

God brought His providence of salvation, through 3 stages, out of six thousand years of human history. Through the Old Testament Age of servant to the New Testament Age of adopted child, we arrive at the completed testament age Completed Testament Age. The Completed Testament Age is the age when children are the kind which must serve, and prepare the place where parents will come. God has progressed through the history of restoration in this way. (16-178)

So what is the Completed Testament Age? Regarding this world, it is the time of the process of advancement towards a new world, which is without Satan's accusation. It is an ideal world and is centered on parental love and the family. The Completed Testament Age, principally speaking, is the place of parents sovereignty who have completed their personal portion of responsibility. If we ask what is a promise, it is personal responsibility.

The Old Testament Age is the old promise. New Testament Age is a new promise, and now is the time to achieve the completed promise. This achievement is what is called the completion of individual responsibility among all the world's citizens. It is the accomplishment of the individual portion of responsibility. (131-98)

The age of accomplishment. What is Completed Testament Age? It is Abel becoming one centering on parent's love. Then Abel and his brothers becoming one are able to make Cain surrender. The reason Cain did not yield is because parents were absent. Therefore they fell into tragedy and death. He even hated Abel because parents were absent. Centering on parents if Cain was forced to become one with Abel, he would have adapted. (131-75)

If we look at history, Old Testament Age is age of searching for God's people. New Testament Age is the age of sacrifice in order to serve parents of Completed Testament Age. It is the age of sacrifice in order to liberate God. For that reason today the unification church offers a white cross. Parents are bearing the cross. Humankind, because we fell in the top of the growth stage short of the completion stage, from these 3 stages, the one stage remaining we call the completion stage. From within this sphere teacher arose again out of the 20 year path of indemnity. (136-307)

"I" bear the resurrected bodies of all the offerings of the Old Testament Age, and the resurrected body of Jesus of the New Testament Age, and while becoming the resurrected body of the heart of Reverend Moon of the Completed Testament Age all of heaven and earth follow "me" completely without faltering. This is complete attendance. Ah, how wonderful "I" am. "I" am so happy. No matter how much others may slander me "I" won't speak any obscenity back. Wherever "I" go. That's the way it is. Walking the way of difficulty, even amidst persecution, "I" must go forward. For the sake of "my" happiness. It will be so great when "I" become the victor. (107-216)

Today we are looking for the hero of faith, and the hero of our hope, God. Also we are looking for our hero of love. God, who is the hero of this hope, faith and love, lets humankind go through the Old Testament Age of hope and the New Testament Age of faith, and will cause us to go through the Completed Testament Age of love in the future, in this historical process. So now is the Completed Testament Age. In other words, in the age of the Second Advent, what is the one important eternally unchanging element which we can keep? It is God's love. That is the central important factor of everything, and simultaneously even the ideal of everything. (1-90)

Old Testament Age is the time of searching for a nation of people. New Testament Age is searching for children and Completed Testament Age is searching for parents. In the age of searching for the family from the New Testament Age Jesus introduced us to love and established the way of love. (5-121)

So what was God's final hope? First, centering on God's love, He searched for the one family within which each and every individual is united. Then centering on the family which is able to love, from there He searches for the tribe which arises out of that family, and then He searches for the world of people which also comes out of such a family. This family is the completed place of God's will.

Because of that, today we at the time of our hope, before the time of faith passes, must restore faith and hope. Each one of us must be the fruit of God's completed providence of six thousand years. We must be the completely fulfilled Adam and Eve. So actually you must understand the reality of forming the new family centered on God's love. Jesus came to earth and promised the kingdom of heaven but couldn't completely realize that will. All the saints who have come and gone in the past testified to heaven, but they could not realize that will.

Accordingly we are today's people who will look for the victorious garden -- the Kingdom of Heaven -- which was sought for with historical faith and hope. Then what should you do? We should find people and families in whom heaven takes joy. If we look for such families we must search for true parents, true couples, and true brothers and sisters.

To find this is the purpose of God's historical providence. Therefore Old Testament Age is the age of the symbol of hope. The New Testament Age is the symbol of faith. In the future the age of the symbol of love comes and we'll call it the Completed Testament Age. This destiny will arise from the kingdom of heaven in spirit world and descend to the kingdom of heaven on earth. (5-110)

The Completed Testament Age is the age of love. So you can marry. Until now we couldn't receive permission to get married. You must know that we didn't have permission to marry in the age of love in religion. Religions which set a higher standard did not allow it.

The fallen world is the world under the control of Satan. This is not just an idea but is reality. If we look spiritually at today's real environment we have to agree that this is so. Why must you believe this? Because Adam did not believe in the fall. He didn't believe and didn't act, and because he didn't act he couldn't attend heaven. These are the three great conditions. Therefore the Old Testament Age is the age of faith, the New Testament Age is the age of action, and the Completed Testament Age is the age of attendance. Adam himself is not the way to go. Adam himself inevitably and historically must search for the place of the original Adam, because of the fall and because he entered into the realm of Satan's domain. So we must receive indemnity conditions and if we don't establish victorious conditions we will not be able to return to the place of the original Adam.

Why must we pursue the meaning of attendance, faith, and action? You cannot separate good and evil without righteousness. You cannot change the world of goodness nor the world of evil. What is the central point of goodness? The "righteousness standard point"? Whenever we ask this question the answer is always God. God's belief, God's action, and God's attendance always has as its center, God.

Why is it that way? Satan cannot falsely accuse one who is righteous as God. If you are placed in the environment of attendance which lives God's life, God's actions, and God's belief then Satan cannot interfere with you.

What we are saying is that it is not enough to just go through the Old Testament Age of faith, or the New Testament Age of action, or the Completed Testament Age of attendance singularly. Even the Old Testament Age needs action, and the New Testament Age needs faith. Even the life of attendance needs these things. The Completed Testament Age requires belief and action, as well as attendance. This is where the growth stage builds upon the foundation and similarly the completion stage builds upon the growth stage. You cannot remove or leave out any part. This is the reason why now we call the special meaning of attendance the age of the resurrection of heaven. So we must now understand attendance. If we ask, "What is restoration history?" It is the restoration of God's ideal of creation. (161-218)

What was the purpose for Jesus coming to Earth? It was to establish the kingdom of heaven on earth. What kind of place is the kingdom of heaven? It is the place one goes to whom he has passed the test in preparation for attendance and who is eligible to live the life of attendance. It is also the world which is able to take eternal pride in the cosmic life of attendance. (8-307)

How do we connect to the fruit of six thousand years of history? God and Satan, centering on humans, established what kinds of conditions? They are offerings. When we review the six thousand year providential history, in the Old Testament Age they made offerings through the animals. And in the New Testament Age, Jesus Christ was the substantial offering.

So then, progressing towards the Completed Testament Age what foundation is needed to make our offering? You yourselves, the saints of today, by offering yourselves you cross over the crest of offering. (2-111)

In the Old Testament Age all the animals served the purpose of conditional offerings, and in the New Testament Age the offering was through belief in Jesus, but in the Completed Testament Age individuals must be the offering. You yourselves in place of six thousand years of history must be the offering. In other words, if you want to stand in front of Father, you must make absolutely one united offering. That offering is all your material possessions, your beloved sons and daughters with your wife and even yourself Only through this way can you go the way of the historical offering, and you must know with certainty only after that can you enter into a relationship with God. (2-118)

1) Start Now

Start living the life of attendance now. (1960.10.1 lunar calendar: first children's day)

If you live the life of attendance who should you serve first? You first must serve God. What is the purpose in serving God? Ultimately it is so that you grow well. If you are healthy what must you then do? You must receive God's love. If you don't. It won't matter how much you try to develop yourself externally. You won't be able to become a person who can keep God's love and your life will not go well.

Until now, although the Unification Church walked a path of extreme difficulty amidst persecution, it has not perished but has been developing in accordance with God's will. Not only because of that but also because it has been in a position to receive God's love. When people belong to an organization which receives God's love they are said to be protected by God. Is that right? Ladies and Gentlemen, is that not right? Parents are always thinking of their beloved children even if children don't think of parents. Isn't that true even in the world? Consider a couple. When one, either the wife thinks of the husband or the husband thinks of the wife, even though they are not together, they pray for each others well being and want to go to a place where one can help the other. We know that such a loving couple has such a destiny.

It's the same with a country. When a person's mind contains such love for their country. They receive such a deep sense of love. The citizens of that country will receive great blessings because of that person. Because of the person who loves their country so much the country will receive much blessing. So the citizens of that country should aspire to be such patriots. If a country has many of these patriots the country will definitely prosper. Why is it so? It is due to God's love. All the beings of a country are born within the grace of God's love, and consequently receive His protection.

Therefore even though a being does not know it, God's love is leading them on, closer and closer to His love. God's love pulls people and all created things towards Him. Of course this is true of this physical world and of the spiritual world. The more and more you receive God's love, the more an individual will automatically develop one center. From that center an organization can develop. Then through such individual citizens and groups, where you nurture a foundation to receive love, you form a nation which can move the world. \When we look at the question of why I should live a life of attendance. You should know it is for the purpose of receiving God's love. This is the reason why you should serve God first. (78-30)

What shall we do when we receive God's love? God has total love for us. How much is that? How much should we invest giving back? The saying, "Sincerity moves heaven." (also "faith will move a mountain") is a Korean proverb, but also it is truly the natural order of things. The words, "Do it with utmost sincerity," means do it with all your efforts, inside and outside, heart and soul. Also, "Practice everything with sincerity in your words and deeds," means to completely unite your body and soul in a conscientious life. This is a life of dedication. This is what we call "utmost sincerity" or "jong-song." In the Korean word, "jong" deals with your spirit, and "song" deals with oratorical power and elegance. Thus we call it dedication of will and achieving that which is inside and outside or mind and body. If you do everything with jong-song you can "move heaven." Heaven is deeply impressed by that kind of mind.

So what will heaven do? Heaven thinks of that person, not only thinks of them but also love searches them out. Love wants to be in that place. Love wants to connect to that place where the thoughts of all things remain. Don't you think so? In that place of deep thinking the mind of man is deeply moved. Therefore when you offer utmost sincerity, or "jong-song" you stand in a position to receive God's love. That's how you do it. just like God loves all humankind, if you dedicate yourself with utmost sincerity for the sake of God you will feel God's love from the very first moment, and then you can say you love God.

Due to the fall we have been without an ambassador who could love God. You should think, "I must dedicate myself to God with utmost sincerity because God's love has been searching for me." Through that love we can know God, and we will be able to love God. God is the origin of love. (78-31)

If we question the history of love, it started with God but where did it go to? If we consider the time of Adam and Eve, it went to Adam. We connect to the history of love through Adam. Well what does that mean? It means that God's love was originally supposed to connect to us through the father. Then it was to move to the mother, and extend to us through her. Because these two become one they would hold the position as God's representatives and stand in the place of God's deep love.

So the history of love is extended down through the children from the parents and ultimately from God. This original love was to have been identified as the original traditional history. (78-32)

We are eagerly anticipating the time of attendance. Attendance of whom? Attendance of the lord, and the lord wants to attend the father. This is the hope of humanity. Without this foundation there is no salvation. (8-293)

These days the Unification Church has faith because we want to receive God's love, but from where do we believe and keep our faith. (78-34)

Where does God's love come from? That mystery is not something you can easily obtain. You must demonstrate perfect sincerity to parents, and to God. Although giving of your heart to God can be a vague thing, giving your total sincerity to parents is definitive. Fortune moves across a flat plane, so from all aspects, there are many intuitive realizations you can have.(78-43)

What kind of life is the life of attendance? It is the life of utmost sincerity. A long time ago following God was a spiritual endeavor of utmost sincerity, but today in front of parents we can be filial sons and daughters. The beginning of the path to fulfill perfect sincerity to the greatest extent of a filial son or daughter is in loyalty and devotion towards the nation. It is a thing which deserves admiration.

God needs one person of filial piety to attend parents from the position of this physical world. One who can inherit the way of loyalty for the nation, and has the value of one who can inherit the way of saint for the world. For that reason the one with the name of the filial son who stands in front of True Parents and stands in front of God; the filial son who receives official recognition is really a great and wondrous one. If you stand in that position even Jesus will envy you. (78-35)

The life of attendance is not a far-away place. The history of God's love is carried through father and mother, and appears as the substantiated love when they unite into one. Through this subject, if Adam and Eve had become one, the fall would not have happened. However this relationship came crashing down. So centering on True Parents love, this relationship is revived and through the restoration history of the unification church the objective horizontal foundation is magnified and expanded. You should know that, to the degree that this could be done, provides the possibility of the actual establishment of the kingdom of heaven on earth.

The kingdom of heaven is not a rare event. The ideal is to live your life serving parents and serving God, and receiving love. Is there anything more? Attend God, and attend parents, is there something in addition to that? What's next? It is that you are then able to love each other. That is the kingdom of heaven. That is it. There is nothing else that you can call the kingdom of heaven.

You must apply this love to the relationship of husband and wife, and towards all your companion relationships. It must be the center of these relationships. Your desire should be such that you miss parents, and as much as you miss them, with that same strength of feeling you should want parents to love your brother more than yourself. That's all you need to know. That is reality. If you say to your parents, "I am your filial son," and then you fight with your brother, the filial heart cannot materialize. The mind of parents desires that children love each other more than they love the parents. If you say, "Mom, please wait. I will take care of my younger brother first," your parents will say, "My boy! Oh, he'll grow up to be a good man." Isn't that right?

In the same way, the person who will love their brother with the ideal of parents love will live within the border of heaven forever. We will toss out such a person who cannot love their brother together with parents. This is a simple idea. Very concise and simple. If we focus our attention to this fundamental truth, it is so plain and clear. And yet people haven't known this, and they didn't do it. However we know this, and our members are becoming one with each other.

If you don't do it, it will lead to big problems. If you stand in a position of not having the filial mind in front of parents, but you give such a mind for the sake of your family members in place of parents, offering utmost sincerity for the sake of parents in this way, then according to the ideal of filial action for parents, heaven will receive your offering. That kind of person most will certainly receive heaven's blessing. (78-41)

Ladies and gentleman, what is the age of attendance? It is the life of service, and support. Everybody. In the age of attendance, in other words the age of living a life of service, you must go and establish the correct center. In the place where you serve God there is law. When you break that law, God is such a person as to be extremely displeased. Parents who love their children deeply, just one word from the children can be enough to drive a nail into parents heart.

That is the same even for God when His beloved children fall away, it makes Him very hurt and upset. Because of that you will incur great anger from God if you make even the slightest of mistakes. For that reason I always want myself to be a reason for God's joy. Even when you dress you should dress well. When I see a person dressed well then it makes me feet good. Since I think like that, then as you can see, I wore a suit today. If I didn't think like that I would have worn a casual jacket. (17-287)

In the place of serving God, you have to be patient and wait your turn. There is a proper order. For whom or what do you have to wait? You must wait for the whole purpose. You must be patient and endure until you reach the point of central thought. With that kind of thought you must not complain, or you won't be able to live together. From there you can live in the very wide and expansive kingdom of heaven. (44-18)

There is no room for complaint. Absolutely you must never complain. Don't think of yourself. Don't set yourself up with the self-love concept or the concept of yourself based on your possessions. Force yourself to digest and absorb such a complaining mind and endure while thinking of God, and think, "If I complain how much pain I will cause parents! I understand their circumstances. I can inherit their tradition, if they stand in front of me for one instant I can inherit, and while following them, I will comfort them." Then if you shed tears of sorrow and regret heaven will share them with you. There is no doubt about it. These should not be tears shed for your own sake, but shed for the sake of parents, then heaven will cry with you.

Heaven does not share tears shed for your own sake. You should cry tears for heaven and tears for parents. This is the foundation of the Unification Church. You must know that this is what we call the life of attendance of the Unification Church. Do you understand? (114-281)

When you come to the point of being able to attend Father, at that time, what will you do? How will you convey a filial heart? You must think in what form will my attendance take? How will it appear? You could run into Father at any riverside. What kind of place will you meet him?

If you go to a remote mountain village and begin to live the lifestyle there, you should fervently desire to invite our Unification Church members. And if they came you would be concerned about how they are; how's their health; are they suffering any pain. How wonderful if you could see your closest friend. Also how wonderful to be able to greet Father, as well as the state leader and regional leader. You should have such a mind of missing them, and hoping for their visit.

Everyday you should have that longing, and if not then you cannot serve God. You must know this. You should always touch a part of your heart where you are missing someone. But there is always someone in the middle of the night crying out, "ya ya ja ja" giving God cause for concern. In heaven there is no day and no night. Embracing your own heart destiny, and pouring it out should not be a problem relegated to the nighttime.

If you meet a person who received a lot of persecution and opposition from others, compared to them you should feel even more pain in your heart, and you should be more distraught than they, when you consider their situation. You should have such a heart and feeling for your members. In the same way if you meet a member who deservedly received praise for something well done, you should take pride in that and report it to your leaders. Report everything and allow everyone to take pride in the achievements of your members.

Therefore the person who does not feel longing in their hearts for their brothers and sisters likewise cannot live the life of attendance. The longing mind, in other words, longing for headquarters church, longing for regional church, longing for state church, longing for your local church, longing for your members, longs to see your brother. A person with such a mind absolutely should never feel alone. Based on a such a person you will most certainly break open wide the gate of multiplication.

A church built upon such a foundation is the most natural church. So what kind of church is ours? It is a chilly and cold church. If you cannot build such a foundation of longing in your heart you should at least speak comforting words to yourself while looking at a picture. Without saying anything you can write a nice and splendid letter.

In the midst of your tears, your feelings can connect with heaven. When shedding your tears and you call out to Father where does your voice carry to? When you see some difficult or painful situation, that situation may not be the same as someone else's.

Regarding humanity, loving God is the first commandment. So should you love God with your whole heart, mind, and soul or just on the surface. [With whole heart, mind, and soul.] So will you love God with your whole heart and soul or not? [We will!] Whoever promises to love God with their whole selves raise your hands. Now you must love God even if you get hit by a thunderbolt. You must love God completely. (37-25)

You must live a life of attendance. From the very first moment after rising from your bed in the morning offer your first words to heaven. When you step outside your home, your first step should be dedicated to heaven, and step first with your right foot. If you develop such a habit your life will become a life of attendance. With this viewpoint you should determine to take this type of life attitude from a principled foundation. (17-296)

How can you live a life in service to God? This is how: I must think as one body with God; all things which belong to God belongs to True Parents, and everything which belongs to True Parents also belongs to the country, and subsequently if I am connected to that country then everything belongs to me. You should have this concept. Even the universe belongs to True Parents. The house also is True Parents. Because all the countries of the world belong to True Parents and since I am True Parents son then these also belong to me. That is the natural conclusion.

If you work for a wage, you must work harder than someone else for the same wage. Don't think that you deserve the same wage for less work. It's not the same thing, but it happens.

When you go to spirit world you want a big reward, but while here on earth you should be concerned about smaller things. Pay attention to the small details. This is a continuous line. Common people are above the line. We will receive a small amount. The person who receives a small amount in the physical world, and sacrifices much, will receive a great reward in the spirit world. Do you understand? [Yes] When you hear that there are some very nice clothes hanging up somewhere, people in the world will run out to get the nicest clothes, but we Unification Church members don't really care about it and will get what's left.

If clothes are here don't think they are yours. Those are God's clothes. And parents clothes. You have to think that you wear those clothes representing your brother. You should not be proud. The food is not mine. It is God given food. It is food parents gave to me. And it is food my brothers gave to me. After the meal you shouldn't say, "Ah, I'm so satisfied." After you finish the meal you should think you are sorry to have eaten well. That's because somewhere there is a Unification member who is starving, and they are suffering. So when I eat and work I should think that I am representing them. The reason why Rev. Moon thinks that way is because such suffering members don't complain, and they have a grateful mind as they follow me. Whether 10 or 20 years, or even their whole life, they follow me, but they don't hate me, because I live my life this way. Even though their life looks like failure it surely will be a success.

What will you take? The thing that God likes or Satan likes? [What God likes] Which side do you want to live on? Satan's side or God's side? [God's side.] You must live all your life like that. When you go to work you should be with parents, and with God. You must think like that.

You have to think about the future, that you should work to build a foundation and establish a tradition which you can teach to others. Then can Satan attack the people, or not? [not].Without that you will enter Satan's dominion directly. (161-23)

How joyful God will be when you are joyful, and live your life in service for God. You should have a greater gratitude to serve God than the feeling which comes from eating when you are hungry. You should serve God when your wearing clothes, and eating, and when your sad and suffering. You should be able to place such memories into God's mind that He cannot forget them. (7-291)

The world of heart is not created through having things. It happens through your mind. You should create the destiny where you are always grateful that in happy times you can be really happy, as well you can be sad when you see someone who is sad. So then God can share your sadness and happiness. If you don't go through these levels you will not be able to meet with your leaders.

Serving has several different levels. So all Unification Church members must go through a seven-year course. Fallen man must go through this process of seven years in order to be able to prepare for a life of attendance. Most people don't know about that. They forgot everything. What about you? What seven year course? You should not think that it doesn't matter. Let's think about the family. You have parents, yourself, and your son. You must serve your parents, but you must also serve your son.

You should not only serve the parents, but for the sake of the restoration of the four position foundation. You should serve your son. You must make every effort to connect with that foundation.

You should serve parents for three years. Why three years? In order to restore three levels at one time. Therefore when you live centering on the family, you should prepare a sleeping room.

That place should be prepared with utmost sincerity. So even if you live in a one room house you should always have prepared that special place. You should prepare, for yourself, special clothes and shoes, which are Clean, for that special day when you have the opportunity to serve parents. You should sweep the courtyard one more time. You should always keep parents in mind. Have you done that? If you are active in the church you should be living in this way. (17-291)

You know that we cannot go to heaven without connecting to the heart. Heaven is the natural and original country within which everything falls under its sovereignty. In that country the only personal possessions you can have are those which you have absorbed deeply into your heart. Christianity is ultimately not connected to personal feelings, but connected with heart. The purpose of heaven is bestowed upon the earth to build a foundation where the song of the heart can be sung.

Can all of humankind, who inherited the fallen blood lineage from the beginning until now, in one day serve heaven with that heart. No way. Our original ancestors, Adam and Eve, should not have fallen, but should have grown up according to the original ideal of creation; but they did not serve God with their hearts. (8-290)

When you connect to Jesus you have to connect to Him in this way. You must live the life of attendance for Him. The people on earth must do that, not people who have already gone to spirit world. Have you served Jesus? Do you know the body and face of Jesus? Do you know his nose, eyes, voice, mouth and hands? And do you know everything about His attitude? (8-304)

We have to cry with our minds and our hearts. Everywhere you look you have to look with tears. If you look up or down, front or back, left or right you should have tears in your eyes.

The person who has sin should think about God who works so hard for me. You should not think at all about what is inside you or outside of you. You should not be concerned about your own thinking, or what food you will eat, what clothes you will wear, your position or any situation. You have to make time to kneel down and shed tears for heaven. You should know that this is the first step in going the way of a minister. You must feel deeply in your mind this path, so that you can never forget. The person who is without this and cannot handle a shock to their faith, cannot have such a deep relationship with Jesus. (8-303)

We have to know God's circumstances. What are we going to do after we know that? We have to know God's heart. Then what are we going to do? Next you have to call Him "Father." My Father! Our Father! For what reason is the life of attendance, and why should we learn and listen to this? What is the purpose for six thousand years of suffering? It's for the sake of understanding God's heart and circumstances in the Bible. The nation and the people who make the nation must exist together having the heart of parents.

Heaven is waiting in anticipation. It doesn't want gold, silver, precious gems, or pearls of the world. You should know that heaven only wants a person who can love and embrace all the world with heart, heart, and more heart.

That person should be a person who has such heartistic preparation. What about your eyes, ears, mouth, and body? You have to look with heart, listen with heart, speak with heart, and act with heart. You must live with the destiny of heart. The time when you are able to serve while together with Jesus looking through eyes which can see with heart; the time when you are able to be happy together with Jesus and listening with ears that are connected with heart; the time when you speak with heart, and act with heart, that is the time for which heaven has been waiting six thousand years.

Do your eyes, ears, mouth, and body have hearts' destiny with heaven? These eyes must see with this heart, the ears must hear the voice of this heart, the mouth must speak the words of this heart, and the body must live the life of this heart. Before we cross over to the place of attendance, we are in the process of preparation. You can but think about to what extent you have heartistic preparation.

This is not God's desire just for me, when I think about God's desire connecting heaven and earth, I belong to God and I belong to Father. I cannot deny it. Therefore my mind belongs to Father, my heart belongs to Father, my thoughts belong to Father, even my sense of intuition is connected with Father. All my senses belong to Father. I must decide all of my thoughts and feelings belong to Father and Father's viewpoint. (8-294)