Today, we do not know clearly whether God exists or not; yet, we have a destiny that we cannot help living.
As such, we always seek that which is better. This will continue until the end of history. Your descendants also will go this way. You will not be able to deny it.
Human Beings Lament in Ignorance
If we have to go toward a certain purpose anyway, we should think carefully about what direction we should proceed, how we should live, how we should act, and what opinions we should have concerning good and evil.
Although you may want to resolve all these complicated problems, one by one, considering the reality of the world, if there is an available road to retreat, you will feel a strong urge to take it.
You will feel that, if you look at the world, it is not the environment you desire. If you look at the society in which you live, it is not the society of well-being your heart desires.
As the flow of the social environment and the generations becomes more complicated, we cannot help worrying about our future in that society.
Since we are entangled in these complicated situations, we are unable to move, although our hearts and bodies desire to do so. We come to realize that we can grieve over ourselves because we cannot move in the direction of our heart's desires.
Thus, if people do not criticize themselves while they are alive, they will have to criticize themselves after death, in front of the whole cosmos. Religion explains that such a place is hell, where no one wants to go.
Since we are in a position where we cannot refuse to go, we have managed to walk this path and come to this place. When Heaven wants to see the value of your having come to this place by yourself, what do you have to show? You can only breathe a sigh of regret over your past life.
We are in such a position, whether we look at our past, present, or future. Our hearts are thirsty for the final ideal and the highest happiness. When will they come to pass, overcoming our contradictory selves and the world?
If there are true young people who realize such facts and are shocked in their hearts, they will become consumed with a sense of mission to resolve the contradictions. They will then enter into a realm where they even lose their attachment to life.
You cannot eliminate all the sins from your body and give up your sinful body and take the lowest position. How will you overcome this contradiction? Something is grabbing your heart and directing it toward a certain ideal.
All humankind stumbles on this point. You should know that all humankind and all things, all that exists in heaven and earth, are stuck in this process. You cannot deny that humankind is like this.
From the day you acknowledge this, you will hear the plea of your grieving and weeping heart, asking where you should go. Thus, the topic I want to speak to you about today is “Oh! Where Shall I Go?”
Our Ancestors' Hope in Us
We know that everything around us today has gone through a fallen course of history. The people who surround us today are living in a fallen reality. Based on reality, it is possible to predict that fallen history will continue.
How can we explain that the fall, which occurred in the past, exists in the present, and will be projected into the future?
You know well that, during the long period of 1,000 years until now, although our ancestors tried hard to avoid it through countless efforts and sacrifices, fallen history continued. You also know well that in the present age, many people are anxiously struggling to avoid the effects of this sinful world.
I have lived in such a world in the past, and am I living in it at present?
As I reflect upon myself, I cannot deny that the resentment of my ancestors lives in my heart. A sad feeling flows due to the shock of living in the present world. If there is a connection that arouses yearning in us, what will it be?
Now is the time to yearn for our ancestors, who fought their way through the fallen course of history with sad hearts. It is time to yearn for our comrades in the present, who are struggling with sorrowful hearts to escape the realm of death, suffering, and the fall.
Hence, if we are too nostalgic for the past, we should not long for the historical facts; rather, we should yearn for the shimjeong of the ancestors who were fighting with true faith against the historical tragedy.
What spirit did our ancestors possess that they could work for the sake of removing the historical tragedy?
What spirit do our ancestors seek to instill in us today? Who are the comrades fighting to establish tomorrow's foundation of goodness, carrying the hope of the future and overcoming all the troubles of the present?
It is undeniable that those who cannot revive such a heart will betray the connections of history and the age and will destroy the future. You are standing in such a position today.
When an ancestor appears and asks you, “Do you know me?” What answer will you give? On the other hand, when you face a brother fighting against this sinful world in this age, he will ask you, “What words can you say to me?”
He will say, “I am fighting under persecution for the sake of the path of tomorrow.
What words of advice can you give me?” The question is, what answer will you give to the voices of the past, the present, and the future?
Furthermore, although I hear the ancestors' words and understand their shimjeong, there remain things for which knowing is not enough.
Some situations cannot be resolved by age, and some situations cannot be resolved by the future. In other words, the sorrow of history remains, the sorrow of the age remains, and the sorrow of the future looms.
Realizing that such sorrow remains, we should keep in mind that we must speak representing our ancestors, the people of the present, and our descendants.
If our ancestors do not have a descendant who will take this responsibility, then they will lament, even if they have accomplishments.
The ancestors who fought for the sake of the Will, who were stricken with the shimjeong of sorrow, and who were consumed with the shimjeong of resentment for the sake of Heaven, have one hope in us today.
If we fail to possess this shimjeong, their sorrow will deepen. You should know that this will be the same in the present and the future.
Today's Believers Should Excel in Shimjeoung Beyond the Faithful Ancestors of the Past
The course of restoration speaks. The sorrowful history began in the Addams Family, and the ancestors who served the providence of restoration went through a woeful course.
With Noah, Abraham, and even Jesus going through a complicated history of misfortune, the misfortune of history has been sweeping the world.
Jesus represented Heaven, humankind, history, the age, and the future to prevent such a historical misfortune. We know too well, however, that since Jesus could not complete the victorious condition to eradicate this historical misfortune and was left with the promise of the day of hope, the history of sorrow has continued until now.
Where am I going today?
You should go beyond the shimjeong of Adam, beyond that of Noah, Abram, and Moses. You should go beyond the shimjeong of any prophet or individual, including John the Baptist and Jesus.
We also should go beyond the woeful shimjeong of the Christians who were killed and martyred in the historical course of the 2,000 years from Jesus until now. We are the substantial fruit representing all this.
Heaven will ask you what heartistic foundation you have to respond to the historical connection of shimjeong.
Heaven has been fighting throughout history. Heaven will want to establish victory in the end. Hence, we should win by experiencing the historical heart of sorrow. We should restore all the conditions for heavenly sorrow in history in this age.
If you have shimjeong, it did not originate in yourself. No one does through ancestral ties and the foundation of shimjeong. Thus, we cannot deny that your shimjeong belongs to the historical realm.
In which world of shimjeong am I wandering today? With what kind of viewpoint and sensibilities am I living? Before you think about this, however, you will want to say, “Heavenly Father, I want to live with the shimjeong of Adam and Eve before the fall, the shimjeong with which they fell, the shimjeong with which You expelled them, and the shimjeong with which You worked hard with humankind for 1,600 years until You established Noah.
I want to live with the shimjeong with which Noah worked hard on the ark on the mountaintop for 120 years, holding on to You even amid infinite mistreatment and abuse. I want to live with the shimjeong with which you have gone through the twisted and multifarious course of history.”
The Father wants to install one person as the living substance of history and the hallmark of victory. You can pray, “Father, can you extend Your hand and allow us to travel so that we can see the heart of an individual sharing joy with You before the fall to the tragic scenes of history after the fall?”
What is the essential reason God's sorrow and man's sorrow are not resolved?
It is because, although there are many people, none catch God's shimjeong; none seize the historical shimjeong. No one grasps the divine shimjeong and the future shimjeong and connects them to man's shimjeong.
Thus, you should know that among God's sighs, there is none greater than the sigh of not having fulfilled this Will.
For this reason, you should reconsider the course of finding Heaven. God has been reaching out to us to send us to the garden of eternal hope.
We Should Find the True Substance, the True Word, and True Love
As you know through the Divine Principle, we humans lost God's Word, God's substance, and His love by betraying His Word. What was God's heart like when He gave the Word, when He created the substance, and when He tried to love through this substance?
We are the ones who lost God's Word, lost the original substance and the substance of love. It is we who lost God's garden of the ideal.
Thus, we should realize that we are sinners who cannot be proud of ourselves. We cannot find the ground of peaceful rest in our hearts, nor can we be subject to events.
Although God wanted to come to us with substance and a loving heart, since humankind has lost the substance, love, and Word, God could not come directly as the substance. Therefore, Jesus came representing the substance, yet he left without completing the actions of the substance.
God gave the representative of the substance to humankind, who had betrayed the Word. Yet humankind betrayed this substance. God gave humans love, and they also betrayed this.
Hence, today, substance, Word, and love remain in name only for humankind.
Humankind struggles to search for these things in reality.
Today we understand that history has come full circle. Since we have realized that we cannot be perfected by a genuine Word, we cannot be led to the substance by a genuine substance, and we cannot find eternal repose through genuine love, we should be struggling to search for this with the slogan, “Where is the true Word, substance, and love?”
Looking at humankind in this situation, Jesus said, "Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who seeks finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened." (Matthew 7:7-8)
Where are my footsteps moving today?
We are walking to seek, ask, and knock. Although humankind has been walking this way for 6,000 years since the fall, its destiny is such that it is still unable to stop.
Where will my footsteps go?
There are not only good things on the earth. On the contrary, evil outweighs the good. At such a time, it is a crucial question whether our paths are directed to the left or right and whether they are going toward goodness.
You wander, searching for a true teacher. What will you do when you find a good leader and true teacher? You will want to hear the word that can bring consolation and hope to your hearts.
You are looking for a new teacher to find some new words.
What will you do then when you find the Word?
You should achieve the substance by being united with the Word. This is why you are looking for the Word.
Hitherto, our ancestors worked hard to examine God's existence and resolve the fundamental questions of life. Such efforts continue today. Whether you have such a concept or not, many interested people are knocking, searching, asking, and wandering today.
When you see that, you should think about whether you, too, are struggling in such a position. Unless you are struggling, you cannot meet God, who has been ruling history.
Unless there is such a person in this world today, God's Will, the ideal of goodness, and the age of hope we desire will bear no relationship to heaven and humanity. We can draw such a conclusion.
Although you may not be aware of it, searching, wandering, and struggling people existed in the time of your ancestors.
They exist in the present and will exist in the future without end. We cannot deny this. From this standpoint, you should ask in what position you stand today.
Humanity Eventually Must Cross Over the Intricate Hill of a Showdown
These days, young students go to school carrying bags, but some students do not know why they carry the bags. I am going into society. Where shall I go? I am continuing with an important responsibility for the state.
Since the world is there, I am going to lead the world. You say these things, but where will you go? If there is Heaven, an X is before us. We cannot deny that all affairs in the world have such complications.
The external world is the same, just like the internal world. Although we want to extend ourselves infinitely, signs of complications are blocking us every time we take a step forward.
We go into the internal world to avoid this. We try to move in the direction of righteousness, morality, ethics, and religion. However, all kinds of complications block us there, too.
At such a time, you will be tempted to complain, “God, have You established religion? Are You Dominating History?”
If God exists, why has He created such a tragic history?
Why does He make us experience this?
Why are we struggling without the authority to break away from all the internal domains of the world? With a desire to resolve these questions, you should fight against the power of misfortune, shaking heaven, earth, the world, and your life. You should know that this is the hill of the showdown. Humankind eventually has to go beyond this.
When will these tragic complications be resolved?
In the world, some ideologies have split into thousands of chasms. There is even more darkness in the internal world. As your truth-seeking heart becomes increasingly intense, you will forget the earth, heaven, and yourself.
You will desire to understand the historical shimjeong with which our ancestors struggled, representing heaven and earth and the historical course. You will want to utter words of all the tragic complications of history with your mouth, in terms you do not even know. Yet, you will not find heaven and earth. You cannot help returning.
Although you want to say, “I will believe,” from the historical level of shimjeong, you will not be able to do it. If you have not felt this moment in your lifetime, you will encounter it right before death, but that is too late.
Why is humankind struggling today? If you would rather not face this trouble at death, you must have sincere faith while you are young. This is the hope of believers.
You cannot do anything about it if you encounter it right before death. Hence, Heaven drives humans into hardships to help them establish a view of life and the world centering on goodness, that is, to provide them a point of solution from which they can resolve all their problems.
Today's believers merely say, “I believe in God” and “I believe in Jesus.” Fine, but any person in the street can say this. Heaven does not want that kind of faith.
We Should Meet and Serve the Messiah, Who Is the Substance of the Word
What kind of faith does Heaven desire?
When Jesus said, "Believe in me," he meant to believe in him as he believed in God. He could have said, "I am God's son, and I believe in God," because he was certain that God trusted him as His son, just as he trusted God as his Father.
Jesus said this from such a position.
Today, we are searching for faith. We are searching for the Word and the course of faith based on the Word. In Christian terms, the one substantial center that comes to humankind with the Word, centered on true faith, is called the Second Coming.
Humanity has been upholding God as the standard of faith. Analyzing faith as it has been held so far, God has been teaching humankind based on the Word. Now another battle is coming, since religions hitherto have not resolved everything.
Speaking in biblical terms, this is the age of the seven-year turmoil of the last days. You should know this.
We should meet the substance through the Word. Today, although many believe the words of Jesus, no one believes in Jesus himself.
Although many follow his words, no one utterly relies upon and follows the substance of Jesus. We must. However, when someone appears with the true Word, we do not believe him. We even persecute him.
What kind of person should we become today?
We should become one with the Word. The one who comes representing God is the only one from Heaven, the model for all people, the one who represents the entire ideal of humanity. When we compare ourselves with him, we should not be any different.
Thus, following the one who is good, righteous, and victorious to the highest degree, we should take the subsequent steps. This is the road humanity should follow.
Although humankind on earth has struggled for 6,000 years to rely on and live by the Word, no one has served and lived with the one who is the master and substance of the Word. From the time of our ancestors to now, there has been no one who authentically served and lived with such a person.
To have humanity find one center, God united and led a nation in one direction and promised to send the substance of the Word.
That person was Jesus. For this reason, Jesus said, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill." (Matthew 4:13)
Jesus could fulfill all the words given until his time and had something greater than the Words God had given in the course of history. He was the Messiah.
However, the people who had been waiting for the Messiah, the substance of the Word, did not recognize him when he came. You should know that they became the people who lost the substance of the Word.
Jesus, who appeared unexpectedly with the Word, went beyond all the historical conditions by engaging in a confrontation with God. There remains for us a condition also to engage in a confrontation with Jesus. You should know this.
What a Man Should Do After Meeting the Substance
What shall we do with Jesus?
We should engage in a battle as Jacob fought with the angel. After Jacob received the right of the elder son from Isaac, he tried to establish the condition of blessing centered on the Word.
After one establishes the condition of blessing, he has to restore the substance, which requires that he confront Heaven. This is the original path.
When we look at today's Christianity, it has not achieved the authority of the Word to rule over Satan. Rare is the believer who introduces Jesus as the substance of authority to truly rule over Satan and who prays for him. The Word captures you.
The exit is far away, however hard you struggle.
Six thousand years have passed. Where shall we go from here? We should stand on the Word and hold on to the substance.
As most of the New Testament books are letters, we should meet, not through letters, but through a sympathetic understanding of one another's situations.
There is not even one single person who has become one with God this way, who has gone on to the position of being the first appearance in the 6,000 years after the fall.
Let us say that there is someone who stands upon the Word and holds on to Jesus. Yet, there has been no one who prayed before Jesus, “Please teach me about the power of heavenly authority you carry, your authority as the Savior, and the method for eradicating the root of all sins.” No one has prayed, “Please tell me about the heavenly love through which I can eternally share joy with You.” There has to be such a person.
Let us say there is someone who can meet and ask Jesus for these conditions and receive blessings and benefits. Jesus cannot say, “Oh, as you wish, enjoy eternal happiness.”
This is how the heavenly shimjeong is.
Ever since Jesus died on the cross, the task remains for him to establish unity of husband and wife on earth, to go before God and say, "God, since You have established our substance, please give us the love hidden deep within You."
We should know that then Jesus can say, "Ye, since you have worked hard to come here, receive God's love through me as a condition." Today most Christians try to receive the love of Jesus alone.
Paul said that to be in Christ is to be in God's love. He was not talking about love within himself, but God's love within Christ.
Thus, you who are searching for the ideal of the bride, even after finding the substance through such Words, still have your portion or task to say to God, “Father, bless us with Your love and Your entire authority of love.” We should go on to this position today.
In other words, we should go beyond the Word, beyond the substance, and come before God, saying, “God! Bless me with love.” What is the reason for this? God can praise the one who comes to Him in the course of winning over Satan and in the process of coming to know God.
God can say, “You worked very hard, going through the trials of countless satanic forces until you found Me.” Yet, He cannot bless him with the loving heart through which he can live intoxicated in the ideal garden desired by God.
Heaven will say, “If it is your desire, go out to the sinful world.” He will say, “Since you are descendants of sinful parents, you should go through the process of restoration. Find the lost True Parents to become My true sons and daughters.”
We thought that everything would be settled once we met God, yet areas of error remain. Since our human ancestors failed to become the true ancestors of humankind, we have not had True Parents and have not become true children.
Thus, although you have won over Satan by knowing God as an adopted child, you should meet the True Parents to make a relationship of direct lineage. This is the way it works.
To Go Over the Whole Process of Restoration
Every brave person of faith will struggle. Finally, he will have to go to God and ask, “Are the Parents on the earth or not?” God will then say, “They are on the earth.”
What can you do if they are not on the earth? You should take responsibility in their place. God will say, “You try becoming the parent.”
This courageous individual of faith will then move to another place. He will visit all the believers on the earth and ask them. You may find the True Parents and plead with them, “Oh, I have come to you, overcoming many pitfalls and hills.
Please console me in all the historical sorrows I have felt so far on the road. Give us the authority to live in Your eternal blessed land and the authority of the ideal garden.” That plea will not work.
The Parents will say, “A path remains for you to walk. You must find and bring back your brothers and sisters.” The person will leave the Parents, looking for the brothers and sisters.
When he encounters a brother after roaming the earth, he will say to him, “I came to you with the knowledge of the Will concerning you and to find a brother. Without you, I cannot do well, nor can you do without me.
You must be my brother with whom I can live and die, who cannot be separated from me. You are a core part of my body, sharing my bones and flesh. If the sorrow of 6,000 years can be resolved through us, let us enjoy the happiness of the resolution together as brothers.”
The true brother of faith will say, “Oh, I am grateful for your coming to me, but God's entire Will has not been completed through us. Another path remains.”
What path is this? It is the path of finding a tribe of goodness. Thus, the brave individual of faith will again move on.
When he meets a tribe, he will say, “Since I have met you through such and such a historical course, I want to realize the heavenly hope through you.” The tribe will say, “We welcome you but cannot dance with joy.”
This is because Satan, who destroyed the tribe, remains. There is also a nation connected with the tribe, which has been destroyed by Satan. Furthermore, there is a people of goodness, as well as a nation.
Thus, again going over the hills, the man finds the people and says, “Oh, now that I have found a people who can realize joy, happiness, and hope, let us enjoy together.”
This, again, is untenable. There is even more to do. Joy can be realized only after we go beyond the world. Our True Parents, true brothers, true tribe, true people, true nation, and true humankind will then all come together and bow down to God.
This is the accumulated sorrow in God's heart. He has been moving in the background of history. This is the purpose of history, for which we have lived. You should know that the sinful world has been tangled up in a reverse direction.
Satanic works block the way to establishing the ideal. This is the inevitable path of life.
Jesus came to the earth as the original substance of the truth, the substance representing God, and the substance of love representing God's shimjeong. Above all, he came as the substance of the True Parents and the father of humankind.
Jesus came as the True Father. That is why we are true brothers and sisters. Jesus also said that he would call humankind “his children,” not his servants, in the last days. We are his children.
The intention was to start as brothers and sisters centering on Jesus, the Parent, and form a tribe. The basis for this was the seventy and the 120 disciples. Jesus tried to move the nation of Israel, centering on these people, but in vain.
As a result, the first Israel was shattered, and the history of the second Israel was launched. This is the history of Christianity.
Christianity has been forming a worldwide nation, centering on Jesus. As for humankind facing the last days, unless they make a victorious connection in going over the tragic hills of history, they cannot join the 144,000.
It says in Revelation 14, "There was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion! And with him were 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads." (Revelation 14:1)
Ladies and gentlemen, have you received the seal of Jesus? You should first receive the seal of Jesus, then that of the Father.
Do you think it is enough just to have the seal of Jesus?
No, you should receive the seals of both Jesus and the Father. This is why fallen people have been seeking the completion of their repentance.
What Jesus Must Do After His Return
The purpose of a good and unfallen individual who can receive God's love is to be sealed by God and then to seal his brothers and sisters. Furthermore, he should be able to seal the tribe and nation.
Considering this, you should understand how great the heavenly woe is. You have never heard about such sorrow of Heaven in any dream, from any friend, from any teacher, or from any religious individual. This is truly serious.
Where will your footsteps lead tomorrow?
Are you in the realm of God's love now? Are you in the realm of True Parents' love?
Are you in the realm of true brothers' love? Are you in the realm of the true tribe's love?
Are you in the realm of the true nation's love? Are you in the realm of love where, when you unite heaven and earth and bow down to God, He embraces you? There is not even a single person like this; even Jesus has not been able to do this. This is why he is in Paradise in a state of waiting.
What must Jesus do when he returns in the last days? He should restore these matters. Jesus has already stood upon the Word. Yet, Jesus, who was resurrected after the cross, had to turn Mary Magdalene away as she tried to hold him. He was not in a position to say, “Bride, let us go to the Father together.”
He has been working hard for 2,000 years, looking forward to the day when the ideal of the bride could be realized. Originally, Jesus was to go before the Father with a rejoicing bride, be blessed, and become True Parents.
He was to embrace true children and a true tribe and build a true nation. God wanted to bless Jesus to become the true ancestor of heaven and earth.
Jesus left without receiving the blessing from the position of the true ancestor of humankind. You know this well. This is the sorrow of God and Jesus. Now this tear-provoking, woeful shock of shimjeong should be aroused in your hearts: “I have betrayed the heavenly Word, the heavenly substance, God, and my heavenly brothers, tribe, nation, and people.
Furthermore, I have abused heavenly sovereignty. How can Heaven forgive me?” Heaven desires for many young men and women to appear who realize that they are unforgivable sinners and who struggle anxiously.
Having realized this, our shimjeong cannot help but burn. Affections will come through, and hearts will move. The desire to express anger against history and the age will well up in our hearts.
As the anger becomes stronger, you will wonder how it can be resolved. Since this historical sorrow was caused by Satan, we must wage an intense battle against Satan.
You should know that we can restore the parents, brothers, tribe, nation, and heavenly sovereignty only when there are many young people with such determination.
The Final and Inevitable Destination of Fallen Humankind
We have been living a comfortable life thus far. Although we have had a consciousness of existence, we have had no value. Unfeeling as worms, we walked a tragic route; yet, we are shamelessly proud.
At least at this time, we should recognize that we are sinful. Those who do not know this deserve to receive heavenly punishment and be thrown into a pit of fire on judgment day.
Realizing this, you should not be afraid of receiving judgment. You should know that Heaven has a more sorrowful situation.
We should know that the footsteps of our ancestors were more rueful than ours and that the truly determined people of this age are in more pain and shedding more tears than we are. We should, at least, become people who can understand this.
We should go on today and tomorrow; if not while alive, then even after death. We cannot complain about such a hill of fate and such miserable intricacies.
Heaven is searching for young men and women who can shout commands to heaven and earth as brave soldiers who fight violently against Satan, the one who caused these complications. We long for the people who cry out with the shimjeong to run headlong into battle.
Now you should be able to connect with the shimjeong of God. Furthermore, we should become children who receive blood from the True Parents, the nation, and people who are connected with that blood.
Through our unity with the Parents, their joy should become the joy of the whole. The joy of the whole should be my joy. In this way, all people should be able to sing and bow down before God. You should know that this is the inevitable, final destiny of fallen humanity.
