The Way for Young People

by Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Section 3. The Completed Testament Age and the Life of Attendance

1. The Completed Testament Age is the Age of Attendance

1) What is the Completed Testament Age?

God has been conducting the providence of salvation through three stages during the history of 6,000 years. Through the Old Testament Age, which was the age of the servant, and the New Testament Age, which was the age of the adopted son, we have reached the Completed Testament Age. In the Completed Testament Age, children must appear and prepare a place for the parents and attend them. Until today, God has conducted such a history of restoration. (16-178)


What is the Completed Testament Age? On the earth, it is the process of advancing to an ideal world centered on a family and the love of True Parents -- a new world where Satan can no longer work. From the Principle point of view, the Completed Testament Age means a realm of parents who have fulfilled the responsibility. A promise is responsibility. A promise of responsibility left uncompleted is the fall. The Old Testament is a promise of the past. The New Testament is a new promise, and now the Completed Testament is the age to realize the promise. To realize means that all the people of the world fulfill their responsibility. A promise is fulfilling the responsibility. (131-98)


The Completed Testament Age is the age of perfection. What is it? Abel becomes one centered on the love of True Parents, and the brothers unite with Abel and make Cain surrender. Cain has not surrendered until now because there were no parents. Therefore, such a tragic death took place. Cain hated Abel because he didn't have parents, but when he comes to unite with Abel centered on parents, he will adapt himself. (131-75)


When we look at human history, the Old Testament Age is the age of searching for love, human beings searching for God. The New Testament Age is the age of sacrifice for the sake of attending the parents of the Completed Testament Age. Now the age of the Completed Testament is the age of sacrifice for the sake of attending God for the sake of God's liberation, centered on True Parents. Therefore, the Unification Church shows today a white cross. True Parents are shouldering the cross. Because human beings fell at the perfection level of the growth stage, True Father has had to go up again through the way of indemnity for twenty years. (136-307)


When you say that you have the resurrected body of all sacrifices of the Old Testament Age, the resurrection of Jesus' body in the New Testament Age, and the resurrection of the heart of Reverend Moon in the Completed Testament Age, all of heaven and earth will keep their eyes on you and follow you in a line. They will follow you wherever you go, however difficult and painful a way it may be. (107-216)

2) The Completed Testament Age Is the Age of Love

Today, we regard God as the Lord of hope, faith, and love. God, the Lord of hope, faith, and love, made human beings pass through the Old Testament Age of hope and the New Testament Age of faith. From now on, human beings will meet the Completed Testament Age of love. In the Completed Testament Age, or the age of the Second Advent, what remains as an eternal, unchanging, essential element? God's love remains, the center of all the ideals and all things.(1-90)


As the Completed Testament Age is the age of love, we are allowed to get married. Up until now, the age of love has not come to any religion. Higher religions, therefore, did not encourage people to get married. (96-117)

3) The Age of Salvation through Attendance

The fallen age is the age of Satan's dominion. It is not conceptual but a real matter and you can understand it if you look spiritually at the environmental realities. Why did Adam fall? It was because he did not attain faith, deeds, and attendance. These were the three major conditions for Adam. Thus Adam could not go through the Old Testament Age of deeds, the New Testament Age of faith, and the Completed Testament Age of attendance. Because of Adam's fall, humans have come under Satan's dominion. Therefore, it has become necessary for humans to search for the original Adam's position throughout history. We have to restore Adam's original position through setting up the victorious condition; that is, through setting up conditions of indemnity. Why do we have to seek the righteousness of faith, the righteousness of deeds, and the righteousness of attendance? It is because we cannot separate good from evil without righteousness. What is the standard of righteousness? It is always God, so we have to believe, behave and attend as God does. Why should we do so? It is because Satan cannot accuse those who are righteous like God. When you deal with your environment in the same way that God believes, behaves, and attends, Satan cannot accuse you. When such an environment where God can dwell expands, and the righteousness standard point is raised, Satan will retreat.

This does not mean, however, that the Old Testament Age of deeds and the New Testament Age of faith have passed away and that we are now only in the Completed Testament Age of attendance. In the Old Testament Age of deeds, faith was also necessary, and in the New Testament age of faith, deeds were also necessary. In the Completed Testament Age of attendance, deeds and faith are also necessary. It is because the growth stage is established based on the formation stage, and the perfection stage is established based on the growth stage. They cannot be separated.

The age of attendance refers to the age of the Kingdom of Heaven in everyday life. The history of restoration is aimed at the realization of God's ideal of creation. (161-218)


For what purpose does our Lord come to the earth? He comes to realize the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. What is the Kingdom of Heaven? Those who have managed to prepare for attendance and those who have managed to lead a life of attendance can enter there. Thus, it is the kingdom where we can be eternally proud of our preparation and our practice of the life of attendance to the whole universe. (8-307)


We are taught that we will receive salvation through attendance today. You therefore have to serve True Parents, and you have to establish conditions, which God can remember, whatever sorrows and pains may happen to you. You should establish such conditions as will please God, however small they may be. (13-310)


2. What is the Life of Attendance?

1) Preparation for Attendance

What is the age of justification by attendance? Is it the age of showing authority? Some of you are confused between attendance and authority. In the age of justification by attendance, you should have the exact center. There are manners in attending God, and God will be very angry with you if you violate them. (17-187)


Endurance is of foremost importance in attending God. For whom do you have to endure? You have to endure to the end for the purpose of the whole, equipped with the leading ideology. There is no complaint there. Thus, the foundation of the Kingdom of Heaven will be expanded. (44-18)


When the time comes to attend the Father, how do you show your filial piety to Him? With what attitude do you attend the Father? Where can you meet the Father? If you live deep in the mountains, you will sincerely want to see our members and you will worry for some member, if he or she is sick.

You will be dying to see the dear members and church leaders. You will experience such yearnings. Without such yearnings, you cannot attend the Father. You have always to experience such a heart of yearning. If you say, "It's already twelve o'clock. Let's go to bed," you are giving God trouble. There is no concept of day and night in the Kingdom of Heaven. You should not worry about time when you are talking to someone with your hearts connected. (17-293)


The first commandment for human beings is to love God. Should you be dying to love God or should you just love God temporarily? (We should be dying to love God) Raise your hands, those of you that are dying to love God! You should love God even if you may die being struck by lightning. If you are dying to love God, nothing is impossible for you in your lifetime.

If you stay at the top of the Backdoo Mountain, do you want to cultivate the land full of stones to raise potatoes and attend God with an offering of potatoes? Will you do that or not? (We will) You should do that. If you make your wife cultivate the land like a cow as you have no cow there, are you to be struck by thunder? Do you stop when God says, "You must stop"? You should accomplish with all your heart and sincerity, shouldn't you? (Yes, we should) (37-25)

2) The Attitude of the Life of Attendance

You should lead a life of attendance. When you wake up in the morning, you should say your first word to Heaven, and when you go out of your house, you should move your right leg first in order to attend Heaven. If you live like this in your everyday life, you can lead a life of attendance. Your attitude of life should be based on the original standards. (17-296)


How do you lead a life of attendance to God? You have to think that you are one with God, and you are one with the True Parents. You should think as follows, "Everything belongs to God and to the True Parents. What belongs to the True Parents belongs to the Kingdom of the True Parents and then it belongs to me." You should always lead a life of attendance whenever you speak, wake up, or sleep, and in whatever you do. If you have such a concept in your mind, you will be protected from Satan's invasion twenty-four hours a day. (161-231)


When you were happy, how happy did you make God? You will be very grateful for receiving a meal when you are very hungry. You should be more grateful than that in attending God. You should attend God whenever you eat meals or whenever you are in difficulty. You should give God unforgettable memories. (17-291)

3. The Kingdom of Heaven is the Place Where Those Who Have Attended Heaven With Their Heart Can Go

You know that you cannot go to the Kingdom of Heaven without experiencing heart, don't you? The Kingdom of Heaven is the original kingdom that can control the whole world. If you are pulled by circumstances, you cannot enter the Kingdom. It is the Kingdom where you can enter with a connection of heart, which penetrates deep in your mind. A Christian Church, therefore, is not a church of circumstances; rather it is a church of heart. It is the purpose of God's providence to establish the foundation of heart that transcends various circumstances.

What is the human fall? It is through the human fall that we have become unable to communicate with God in His heart. God, who has searched for lost human beings, has tried to find those people with whom He could share His heart. Thus, history is the history of salvation and God sent the Messiah in order to find such people.

You should seek God's heart before you seek the Kingdom of Heaven, and you should think how you should live before you seek God's heart. Before anything else, you should have the heart of attendance. It is the original nature of human beings to feel longing and bow their heads when they meet a noble being. Even though you are fallen, it is your original heart to attend the noble heart of Heaven. You should know clearly that you have no connection with the Kingdom of Heaven if you have not experienced a life of attendance with your heart.

In order to attend, it is necessary to prepare for attendance. You can go to the Kingdom of Heaven if you have prepared for attendance and led a life of attendance. Those who have attended with heart can enter the Kingdom of Heaven. You are destined to go there through such a process. (8-290)


What is the Kingdom of Heaven like? It is the place where you are proud of what you have prepared and what you have accomplished through your life of attendance. Then, who can go to the Kingdom of Heaven? Are they those who have believed in the Lord and have sought after their own happiness? No, they are not. Those who have prepared to attend with their heart can go there. Even though they may die during the preparation while longing for the life of attendance, they will go there with joy. (8-304)

4. Examples of the Life of Attendance

1) Examples of Life

When I went somewhere, you used to follow me however far away it might be, didn't you? One day a member carried rice cakes containing mugwort on his shoulder and came to the headquarters to give them to Father. He had made rice cakes three months before and he had wrapped them up with white papers in order to keep the dust off. When he opened the gift in front of Father, the rice cakes were getting musty. Although the rice cakes were unfit to eat, they were worth hundreds of millions of won. It is because the rice cakes were brought to Father with all his heart.

One day, an old man who lived in Young-do Island near Pusan went to the Jagarchi Market (Jargarchi is a type of fish) on board a small ship. He saw a large ship sailing near his small ship. He said to himself, "How wonderful it would be if we could receive Father on that ship," and he sincerely wished that it could be realized soon. He had tears in his eyes, with his hand on the tail of a fish. The old man looked somehow foolish, but he had true love within him. Love sometimes looks foolish, as one does not care about his or her appearance when he or she loves. When you love someone truly, you don't mind being watched by others, do you? If you care, your love is merely love within a limited circle. With true love, you sometimes look foolish or are foolishly honest.

One day, another old man brought the roots of bellflower which he dug out from a remote mountain and offered them to Father with tears in his eyes. These are the examples of a life of attendance. With such lives of attendance, those people will be liberated and go to a higher place when they go to the spirit world.

You may not imagine how much the members of Ho Ho Bin group did their best to attend heaven with their sincere heart. With their sincere attendance, they had to liberate the 6,000 years of sorrows and resentment in the prince of heaven, the True Parents of humankind, whom all of humankind had waited for through history. They were given such a mission, and they were taught to do everything by God. Thus, they prepared breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day so as to receive the Lord whenever he came. Their sincerity cannot be expressed in words.

How many bows did they make? Usually they made three thousand bows, sometimes seven thousand bows a day. It took ten hours to make seven thousand bows and they did that from dawn, without meals. The Ho Ho Bin group, however, could not follow God's providence to the end and finally collapsed.

Thus, the historic foundation that God prepared collapsed. It was God's hidden providence behind history. You should not forget such historic attendance, and you should attend God by inheriting their sincerity. Father walked the way of restoration with all his sincerity, and you also should walk the way of restoration, paying indemnity ten times or a hundred times more than that. You should attend God with such determination as to invest all your flesh and blood, cells and bones. This should be the way of life for Unification Church members. (23-301)

2) You Should Carry True Parents' Picture With You

Whose picture is this? (It is Father's picture) What is this? (It is the ID card of membership of IFVOC with Father's picture on it) Why do you carry Father's picture with you? It is because your ancestors in the spirit world will help you as we are in the age of God's dominion now.

When the Israelites went out of Egypt, they could avoid the calamity of the smiting of the first-born with the blood of a lamb painted on their door-posts. In the same way, you can avoid evils if you carry Father's picture with you. Spirit world can recognize the picture even if it is in your pocket. If the picture is very small, it is the same as if the Israelites did not paint the blood of the lamb or stopped painting halfway. Then, which do you prefer, a big picture or small one? (A big one!) The big picture of Father embarrasses Japanese people.

They are suspicious and say, "What on earth is Sun Myung Moon?" Japanese members, however, think that Father's smile is as mysterious as that of the Mona Lisa. They are confident that the mysterious figure of Father, who looks different in hundreds of thousands of ways, helps them spiritually. They have actually such spiritual experiences. Spirit persons know Father well. Are they glad to see Father's picture or not? (Yes, they are) They will come to the picture. Thus, your ancestors are united with you through the medium of the picture.

If you carry Father's picture with you, you will not have an accident, but, if you don't, you may have one. Such a thing will often happen to you. If you put the picture by your bedside, you will dream a happy dream. Do you believe it? (Yes, I do) Dr. Joseph said, "God works in mysterious ways." Father is a mysterious man. Nobody can fully understand Father, however deeply he or she may study him. What kind of man is the Reverend Moon? (He is a mysterious man) That's why God accompanies the Reverend Moon.

You have learned that Father is the mediator between spirit world and this world. When a woman sees Father's picture, sometimes she does not want to see her husband. This does not mean, however, that she has been separated further from her husband. Rather, she has really come closer to him.

Then is it good for you to carry Father's picture with you or not? (It is good) Do as you like. Thus, I ordered our members to carry the ID card with them. Do American people have such an ID card? Do the American people have an ID card with the president's picture on it? This kind of ID card as has never been seen in history. Did Jesus see it? (No, he didn't) (132-190)


Now, the Reverend Moon's fame has reached the four comers of the earth. I heard that many people put the Reverend Moon's picture on the wall of their room and pay respect to it. Do you put Reverend Moon's picture on the wall of your room, Dr. Se Won Yoon? Do you make a bow to it everyday? Do you kiss it everyday? You should kiss it passionately. It is not impolite for you to do so. When you kiss the picture, you are doing so on behalf of your father, your mother, and your ancestors. Then they have the right to participate in the same place as you are. If you want to establish such a connection through kissing the picture, God will not blame you. Don't you think so, Dr. Yoon? (Yes I do.) (171-239)


It is good for you to carry Father's picture from now on. It will protect you, whatever difficulty you may encounter. In the Old Testament Age, Moses led the Israelites away from the Pharaoh of Egypt by showing three great miracles. At that time, all the first-born of the Egyptians was smitten while the Israelites avoided the calamity with the blood of a lamb on their door-posts. Thus, spirit world is watching you, and it can protect you. (1984. 2. 7, 130-290)

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