The Words of In Jin Moon from 2009
|
|
The Words of In Jin Moon from 2009 |
Good morning, brothers and sisters. How is everybody this morning? What a wonderful band, right?
We had an exciting week. Just last Thursday we had a celebration for the debut of the English translation of my father’s autobiography, which continues to be a best-seller in Korea. As you know, early in the spring we had a celebration for the autobiography in Korea with 3,500 dignitaries from all around the world, including titans of industry in Korea. My father truly showed his heart by digressing from the text and giving an extemporaneous, three-hour speech, standing as the True Father and true grandfather of humankind, cajoling, compelling, provoking the audience to be the kind of children that our Heavenly Parent, God, would like us to be.
Fast-forward a couple of months, and we celebrated his autobiography debut in Washington, at the Sheraton National Hotel with our True Parents again. On Thursday night we had 1,500 dignitaries and representatives from our community all across the states and all around the world. It was truly a magnificent celebration, together with our True Parents. Knowing my father’s custom to truly give his heart and soul to every congregation and audience that he comes across, I remember hearing my mother beseeching my father, “There are lots of VIP guests today. Is it possible to stick to the text?” My mother asked him several times if that was possible. Father said, “Don’t worry. Be happy.”
Our Lovin’ Life band did a phenomenal job of really creating the right atmosphere. Once Father got on stage, my mother and the family knew we were in for another treat. Lo and behold, my father went off on another digression for two and a half hours. The lovely audience really took it very well. Father, being 90 years old, not only is a prophet and teacher, but, first and foremost, thinks of himself as a true father and true grandfather. When he looks upon the beautiful faces of his children, he’s always trying to provoke us, trying to stimulate us to live a life of true love, to apply it each and every day, to practice patience. Sometimes the way he helps us practice patience is by participating with us, such as in the 12-hour Hoon Dok Hae that preceded the evening. He spoke from 5 am until 5 pm, taking only a moment of rest in his room before the evening. Then for his speech, he went on again.
Truly his heart is that of somebody who wants to wake the world up with the breaking news that our True Parents are here, that the son and daughter of our Heavenly Parent, God, are here. It is truly an incredible opportunity for us lucky people to unite in spirit and heart and work together to share in the breaking news that the Second Coming is living, walking, and breathing along with us.
I heard how this autobiography came to be. It was published by a company called Kyung Young Sa, which is the equivalent of Random House in the West. The CEO of that company happens to be Madame Park, a devout Buddhist. She tells how in one of her meditations Buddha appeared to her and asked her to seek out this man named Reverend Moon and to publish a story about this extraordinary man.
Because she had this revelation in her meditation, she reached out to our community and compelled our True Father to write his autobiography in his own words. That’s how it came to be. It is a phenomenal book in that we get a rare glimpse into a man in the form of different stories. The book unfolds almost like a mysterious Eastern fan, with a series of vignettes that give us glimpses into different aspects of my father’s life. It traces his humble beginnings as a little boy born in the hills of North Korea and sees him become the man whom we have come to know as our True Father and as the peacemaker of this new millennium.
In the book’s foreword, my father writes that, as he has been reminiscing about his life, his heart is filled with the love that he still wants to share with his sons and daughters and with the world. He tells the reader that it is his firm belief and prayer that his life and his path of love can become like a river of peace, saturating the drought-stricken lands and truly infusing the world with the new understanding of love and peace that he so longs to share.
When I think about this man, my father, I realize that he is the fulfillment of Luke 17:24 - 25, which talks about how the Son of God will come like lightning, flashing and lighting up the sky. Lightning comes in an unexpected fashion, right? We don’t know when it will strike, but when it strikes, not only do we hear but we see. We see our Father, and we hear him.
But in verse 25 the Bible predicts that the Son of God will first suffer greatly and be rejected by his generation. So when we look at Father’s life, we realize that it really has been a life of suffering, a life of being rejected by society, by established religions, by his brothers and sisters, over and over and over again. But Father has asked, “What do we want to leave behind as a community?” or “What do we want to leave behind as a father or mother, as a man or woman, or a son or daughter of God?”
This question has intrigued me and given me a lot of inspiration during my meditation. My father answered his own question in a speech he gave in 1976, but I think it’s still pertinent today as we march forward on our road of self discovery. My father has asked, “What do we want to leave behind?” He has answered it with, “We must leave a tradition behind, a tradition of living for the sake of others with the spirit of sacrifice.”
If you really think about it, what our True Parents have come to do is to awaken us to realize that our Heavenly Parent, our God, our father and mother up in heaven, is truly our parent, and that we are meant to be God’s eternal sons and daughters. What Father and Mother are asking us to do in this wonderful gift that we can call our life is to live our lives in gratitude, in truly understanding that we have an incredible eternal flame, like God’s divinity, within each and every one of us. God is just waiting for us to shine unto the world like an incredible light bulb.
How do we go about doing this? How do we go about living for the sake of others? My father is encouraging us to have an understanding of unity. We must be a community that symbolizes unity. Every time, every Sunday when I stand before you here, when I look out into the audience, I see a congregation that symbolizes unity of the world right here at the Manhattan Center. We have men and women, we have young and old; we have red hair, black hair, blonde hair, blue eyes, hazel eyes, brown eyes. You represent the world. In the spirit of unity, in the spirit of understanding that God is our one Heavenly Parent, we have come together to honor him, to honor our True Parents who have taught us who we are, to honor each other, and to appreciate and celebrate each other as truly the lucky ones in human history who share this incredible time with our True Parents.
Anybody who reads the Divine Principle will come to realize, after studying human history and especially providential history, that our True Father is the Second Coming; together with his beloved wife, they stand as the first True Parents of humankind. But we’re not the only ones who have this understanding. Throughout the centuries before us, different prophets, seers, and believers have talked about an incredible time to come when we can experience a thousand years of peace.
One of the key figures that I revisit from time to time is named Nostradamus. I read a book written by a gentleman named John Hogue titled Nostradamus: The New Millennium. I read it about 20 years ago, but recently I came across it again. In reading it I was astounded at the fulfillments of prophecies of Nostradamus that have taken place and are taking place, even as I speak. He was a phenomenal doctor, thinker, and philosopher. He was an herbalist and also considered a celestial scientist because he was so well versed in astrology. But he was really seen as somebody who was like a gift from God in the 16th century.
He was born on December 14, 1503. Throughout the course of his life he was able to help many people; he even helped cities that were plagued by the Black Death. He came to be known as an incredible son of God, a healer, somebody whom everyone wanted to meet and greet so they could better understand themselves and their own destinies.
He wrote volumes of predictions called The Centuries. What I find so incredible about his quatrains when I’m rereading them is that he’s talking about a man who will appear in the East and find his home in the West. He’s saying that this man will be like the Prince of Peace, will be the one who will usher in a thousand years of peace that we will enjoy here on earth. He gives us ten clues.
John Hogue, in researching and interpreting these sixty or so quatrains that pertain to this incredible man who will usher in this new millennium of peace, tried his best to solve the riddles of the words in the quatrains and created a grid of ten possible candidates who might fit the model of who this man is supposed to be. He looks at various teachers and even includes Ron Hubbard, the father of Scientology. But he says that Ron Hubbard doesn’t quite fit the fact that this man will appear in the East and come to rest and call the West his home.
He names my father as one of the ten candidates in his grid. He goes through the eight clues that Nostradamus gives as to who this man might be. He checks off most of the squares, but there are a couple that he cannot check off. But when I reread the quatrains and reread what Nostradamus was really saying, I felt an urge to write Mr. Hogue a letter because if he truly understood our church better than he did at that time he wrote the book, he would realize that our True Father and our movement are truly the fulfillment of the prophecies of Nostradamus.
Nostradamus talks first of all about how this man will be from the East, appearing and taking residence in the West. Then he goes on to say that he will fly through the skies and strike everybody with the rod of Hermes. In philosophy and in religion, the rod of Hermes can be understood as a new stream of consciousness or enlightenment, if you will. The rod has the power to transform and liberate one to experience the truth. So understanding the rod of Hermes in a philosophical and religious sense means that it’s a time when this new awakening will come and hit everybody like a rod of lightning.
For those of us who understand mythology, Hermes was the god representing also commerce and science. This Mr. Hogue did not point out, but I feel that it’s very interesting that my father was studying to be a scientist, an electrical engineer. Many times my father has been seen almost as a god of commerce, not as a religious figure. Many people have seen him as a businessman. Although we may look at this as something perhaps strange, and even if the world wants to persecute my father as a businessman, these are the clues that Nostradamus is pointing out as to how to find who this man is supposed to be. He comes with a new conscience; he comes from the East. He has the reputation of being a god of commerce, a businessman, and he comes from the area of science.
Nostradamus goes on to say that he will be seen as an outlaw. The quatrains talk about how he will be charged with the destruction of temples and religions. The quatrains specifically say that this man comes to harm the rock but not the living. What are the rocks of society? They are the established organizations, the established religions, the established dogmas that have kept our societies in check. But truly this man comes to usher in a new understanding, a new time.
The quatrains are amazing, going on and on. Mr. Hogue forgot to check off the square regarding the color red. Now anybody who knows the Unification Church and understands the symbol that represents the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity knows that our symbol is the color red. Nostradamus also goes on to say that the rose will appear in the middle of the world’s scene, in reference to this group that will be symbolized by the color red.
I thought it was extremely interesting that my father has professed to a group of scientists that his favorite color is pink. At the same time this is a new religion that puts women in the forefront because of the success and completion of our True Mother in restoring the position of Eve so that we are no longer standing behind our men but standing together, and maybe even forward, encouraging our brothers to understand this incredible time.
Many times the rose, or the flower, represents the feminine touch. This is a new religion that will be symbolized by the color red but will carry forth into the world’s scene the feminine touch, this sense of a beautiful flower blossoming. Our church symbol can be seen as almost like a rose, almost like a flower.
Then Nostradamus continues, saying that this man will be under the protection of Mars. The planet Mars symbolizes the passions, the outward manifestation of things. When Nostradamus says that this man will be under the protection of Mars, he is basically saying that this man will be embraced and loved by the people who have had a new awakening of their passions, in knowing who they are, in knowing they are the sons and daughters of God, in understanding that God is our Heavenly Parent. The people with those passions are us, brothers and sisters. It is under our protection that our True Parents will be embraced, comforted, and loved.
The quatrains talk about how this new man coming from the East will have somewhere in his name the word Moon. How more obvious can you get than Reverend Moon? I don’t think I need to expound on that clue, do I?
Then it also talks about how this man will travel through the skies. When we read the Bible, we see many references to the Second Coming arriving on the clouds of heaven. Daniel 7:13 says that, and we hear the same words repeated in Matthew 24 about the Second Coming coming on the clouds. We know that this figure has something to do with the sky, flying through the sky. I’m sure a lot of us have wondered, Is this guy going to be like a superhero, coming the world stage with the letter S and a cape like Superman, saving all of us from our sins and our evil ways?
But if you really think about it, imagine living in the time when the book of Daniel was written, or imagine living 2,000 years ago when the biblical writer said the Second Coming would come on the clouds. Just imagine being one of the people who lived in the time of Nostradamus, trying to explain something called an airplane. Would you not think it was something coming on the clouds?
One of the clues is that this man will travel far and wide, igniting the world with his words as well as igniting a lot of anger and resentment because people don’t understand what he’s all about: again, the reference that this man will be misunderstood, as the Bible tells us in Luke 7:24 - 25; again, this feeling that he will suffer, be mistreated, be maligned, be blamed for harming the rocks.
As a daughter, I watched my father travel all around the world, keeping an insane schedule, flying from Korea to America, to Europe. He is an incredible man who is traveling and flying through the skies to deliver this new and breaking message that our True Parents are here and that God is our Heavenly Parent.
Mr. Hogue forgot to check another box, which includes the quatrain that talks about rare birds that will give a clue as to who this man is. It’s interesting that when the prophets and various teachers talked about the Second Coming, they spoke about a male figure. But we know that our Heavenly Parent’s desire in creating the world was not just to have a first son but to also experience the beauty of a first daughter. In our True Parents we see God’s reasons why he created the world and all of us.
The interesting thing about Nostradamus’s predictions is that although he talks about a man, the more he talks about the religion, he very much references the feminine touch; for us, that comes in the form of the Holy Spirit manifested physically in the body of our True Mother. It’s interesting to note that her name means “heavenly crane.” Is she not a rare and exquisite bird? Nostradamus goes on in his quatrains to say that these rare birds -- it’s a plural -- will fly through the skies, proclaiming to the world, “Now, now, now is the time.” Now is the time of breaking news.
If you really think about it, isn’t it our True Mother who is leading the way at the dawn of the new millennium, to challenge and inspire the sisters of the world to say, “Let’s bring the message forward, let’s empower our families, let’s raise decent children. Let us be the guardians of peace and love.” Our True Mother is the one bringing this spirit, bringing the feminine touch, the mother’s touch, to the world.
Just as throughout the Bible the dove symbolizes peace, when Nostradamus is talking about these rare and exquisite birds flying through the skies, chirping, singing, “Now, now,” what he is envisioning is a time when these birds, our children, understanding themselves to be a generation of peace, will be the ones flying through the skies and sharing the message of true love with our brothers and sisters all around the world that our True Parents are here and that it’s high time to graft onto the true olive branch.
The Bible teaches us in Philippians 2:3 - 5 that we must be of one mind; in verse 4 it beseeches the children of God to live a life thinking about the interest of others more than the interest of themselves. What the Bible is pointing to is this new stream of consciousness that Nostradamus predicts will come at the end of 1970 and will peak during the 1990s.
If you look at the history of our movement, our Father and Mother arrived here in December 1970. There was a lot of excitement, and Father was given the key to cities in each state. It was an incredible time when he was emerging on the world scene in the West, which he would call his home for the next three decades. What Father and Mother are reminding us of is that not only are we here just to share in the good news, but we are here to live the breaking news. This is not a call just to believe; it’s a call to apply, to realize, and to substantiate.
The best way to start on a life of faith and a life of applying this wonderful thing called true love is with understanding who we are and believing in ourselves, just the way the band sang. We need only to look around us and realize that the one thing we need to change is our heart. That’s something that we all need to learn sometime in our lives, brothers and sisters. If we can do that, we will fly through the skies, not with the speed of sound but with the spirit and on the wings of true love. In that way we will come together as one family under God, our Heavenly Parent.
Brothers and sisters, this is an incredible time. This is the time of breaking news. Let us not be confused. Let us not lose heart. Let us be vigilant in knowing who we are and realizing that every one of us here was born with a divine purpose and that every one of us here is incredibly and extremely important in weaving this incredible tapestry that we can call one family.
I want to wish all of you a wonderful Sunday and a wonderful week. God bless.
1: And he said to his disciples, "Temptations to sin are sure to come; but woe to him by whom they come!
2: It would be better for him if a millstone were hung round his neck and he were cast into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.
3: Take heed to yourselves; if your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him;
4: and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, and says, `I repent,' you must forgive him."
5: The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"
6: And the Lord said, "If you had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this sycamine tree, `Be rooted up, and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.
7: "Will any one of you, who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep, say to him when he has come in from the field, `Come at once and sit down at table'?
8: Will he not rather say to him, `Prepare supper for me, and gird yourself and serve me, till I eat and drink; and afterward you shall eat and drink'?
9: Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded?
10: So you also, when you have done all that is commanded you, say, `We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.'"
11: On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Sama'ria and Galilee.
12: And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance
13: and lifted up their voices and said, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us."
14: When he saw them he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went they were cleansed.
15: Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice;
16: and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.
17: Then said Jesus, "Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?
18: Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?"
19: And he said to him, "Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well."
20: Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, he answered them, "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed;
21: nor will they say, `Lo, here it is!' or `There!' for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you."
22: And he said to the disciples, "The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and you will not see it.
23: And they will say to you, `Lo, there!' or `Lo, here!' Do not go, do not follow them.
24: For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of man be in his day.
25: But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
26: As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of man.
27: They ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
28: Likewise as it was in the days of Lot -- they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built,
29: but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom fire and sulphur rained from heaven and destroyed them all --
30: so will it be on the day when the Son of man is revealed.
31: On that day, let him who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away; and likewise let him who is in the field not turn back.
32: Remember Lot's wife.
33: Whoever seeks to gain his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it.
34: I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other left.
35: There will be two women grinding together; one will be taken and the other left."
37: And they said to him, "Where, Lord?" He said to them, "Where the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together."
1: In the first year of Belshaz'zar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head as he lay in his bed. Then he wrote down the dream, and told the sum of the matter.
2: Daniel said, "I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea.
3: And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another.
4: The first was like a lion and had eagles' wings. Then as I looked its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand upon two feet like a man; and the mind of a man was given to it.
5: And behold, another beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised up on one side; it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told, `Arise, devour much flesh.'
6: After this I looked, and lo, another, like a leopard, with four wings of a bird on its back; and the beast had four heads; and dominion was given to it.
7: After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrible and dreadful and exceedingly strong; and it had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.
8: I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots; and behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.
9: As I looked,
thrones were placed
and one that was ancient
of days took his seat;
his raiment was white as snow,
and the
hair of his head like pure wool;
his throne was fiery flames,
its
wheels were burning fire.
10: A stream of fire issued
and came forth from before him;
a
thousand thousands served him,
and ten thousand times ten thousand
stood before him;
the court sat in judgment,
and the books were
opened.
11: I looked then because of the sound of the great words which the horn was speaking. And as I looked, the beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire.
12: As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.
13: I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of
heaven
there came one like a son of man,
and he came to the
Ancient of Days
and was presented before him.
14: And to him was given dominion
and glory and kingdom,
that
all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him;
his
dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass
away,
and his kingdom one
that shall not be destroyed.
15: "As for me, Daniel, my spirit within me was anxious and the visions of my head alarmed me.
16: I approached one of those who stood there and asked him the truth concerning all this. So he told me, and made known to me the interpretation of the things.
17: `These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth.
18: But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, for ever and ever.'
19: "Then I desired to know the truth concerning the fourth beast, which was different from all the rest, exceedingly terrible, with its teeth of iron and claws of bronze; and which devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet;
20: and concerning the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up and before which three of them fell, the horn which had eyes and a mouth that spoke great things, and which seemed greater than its fellows.
21: As I looked, this horn made war with the saints, and prevailed over them,
22: until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints received the kingdom.
23: "Thus he said: `As for the fourth beast, there shall be a
fourth kingdom on earth,
which shall be different from all the
kingdoms,
and it shall devour the whole earth,
and trample it
down, and break it to pieces.
24: As for the ten horns,
out of this kingdom
ten kings
shall arise,
and another shall arise after them;
he shall be
different from the former ones,
and shall put down three kings.
25: He shall speak words against the Most High,
and shall wear
out the saints of the Most High,
and shall think to change the
times and the law;
and they shall be given into his hand
for a
time, two times, and half a time.
26: But the court shall sit in judgment,
and his dominion shall
be taken away,
to be consumed and destroyed to the end.
27: And the kingdom and the dominion
and the greatness of the
kingdoms under the whole heaven
shall be given to the people of
the saints of the Most High;
their kingdom shall be an everlasting
kingdom,
and all dominions shall serve and obey them.'
28: "Here is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly alarmed me, and my color changed; but I kept the matter in my mind."
1: Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple.
2: But he answered them, "You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another, that will not be thrown down."
3: As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?"
4: And Jesus answered them, "Take heed that no one leads you astray.
5: For many will come in my name, saying, `I am the Christ,' and they will lead many astray.
6: And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not alarmed; for this must take place, but the end is not yet.
7: For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places:
8: all this is but the beginning of the birth-pangs.
9: "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation, and put you to death; and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake.
10: And then many will fall away, and betray one another, and hate one another.
11: And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.
12: And because wickedness is multiplied, most men's love will grow cold.
13: But he who endures to the end will be saved.
14: And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come.
15: "So when you see the desolating sacrilege spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),
16: then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains;
17: let him who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house;
18: and let him who is in the field not turn back to take his mantle.
19: And alas for those who are with child and for those who give suck in those days!
20: Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a sabbath.
21: For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.
22: And if those days had not been shortened, no human being would be saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.
23: Then if any one says to you, `Lo, here is the Christ!' or `There he is!' do not believe it.
24: For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.
25: Lo, I have told you beforehand.
26: So, if they say to you, `Lo, he is in the wilderness,' do not go out; if they say, `Lo, he is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it.
27: For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of man.
28: Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together.
29: "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken;
30: then will appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory;
31: and he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
32: "From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near.
33: So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates.
34: Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away till all these things take place.
35: Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
36: "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.
37: As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of man.
38: For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark,
39: and they did not know until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of man.
40: Then two men will be in the field; one is taken and one is left.
41: Two women will be grinding at the mill; one is taken and one is left.
42: Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.
43: But know this, that if the householder had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have watched and would not have let his house be broken into.
44: Therefore you also must be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
45: "Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time?
46: Blessed is that servant whom his master when he comes will find so doing.
47: Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.
48: But if that wicked servant says to himself, `My master is delayed,'
49: and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eats and drinks with the drunken,
50: the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know,
51: and will punish him, and put him with the hypocrites; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.
1: So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any incentive of love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,
2: complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
3: Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves.
4: Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
5: Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
6: who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7: but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
8: And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.
9: Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name,
10: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11: and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
12: Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;
13: for God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
14: Do all things without grumbling or questioning,
15: that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
16: holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.
17: Even if I am to be poured as a libation upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.
18: Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.
19: I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I may be cheered by news of you.
20: I have no one like him, who will be genuinely anxious for your welfare.
21: They all look after their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.
22: But Timothy's worth you know, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel.
23: I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me;
24: and I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself shall come also.
25: I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphrodi'tus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need,
26: for he has been longing for you all, and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill.
27: Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.
28: I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious.
29: So receive him in the Lord with all joy; and honor such men,
30: for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete your service to me.