Unification Sermons and Talks

by Reverend Chung Hwan Kwak

An excerpt from Rev. Kwak's first Sunday service, June 14, 1992, after his appointment as the president of the Unification Church in Korea.

"I will start with the very recent speech of Father's, which he gave on June 2. You have the "In-yeon" [the conditions which bring people into contact with each other; "Karma"] of thousands and millions of generations to meet with True Parents. You, by yourself, do not have the one-to-one "In-yeon" with True Parents.

Let's have this word in mind. Formally, this service is supposed to be the official start to my mission [as president of the Unification Church in Korea], but I will speak today under the title of "Temple of the Holy Spirit and Truth."

This Headquarters Church is a very valuable name, and altar (from the viewpoint of its history): Father opened it personally, and there are many tears and conditions laid here to make our tradition. Also many leaders and elder members have made this altar with their tears and prayers. So now after receiving Father's direction, feeling a heavy burden and responsibility. I am standing here before many elders and members of this church.

The important point is not the building of the church but the connection with the conditions and heart of Father; otherwise we cannot be connected to this altar. We should always remember the history of our church.

The concept of "church" that Father is teaching us conforms to the notion of Church found in Corinthians 3:16: God's plan is not to dwell in a building, but in the hearts of true men and women. Father has taught us the same. Saying that we should be God's temples. The temple does not mean a building or external place.

As the history of our church flows, Father is teaching us more about the Blessing, Blessed Couples and Blessed Family, and our daily life. How we can attend God in our family life, he has been training us in that point. Father is teaching us that in all circumstances, even when we eat or when good things come to us , we have to think of God and True Parents first, this is the life of attendance. Thus, when we have a guest, or someone comes to our house, we have to take care of them with this heart of attendance.

Hometown

On the foundation of this training, the individuals and Blessed Families who have developed a heart of attendance to God and True Parents, received the instructions for Home Church. Now Father has also announced the Tribal Messiah Providence. Although some people may have become confused, it should be known simply that the ideal of Home Church is the Tribal Messiah, and the ideal of Tribal Messiah is Home Church.

As we prepare to go to our hometown people get worried, saying: "Now we are like Jacob and we are supposed to bring some wealth with us to our hometown, but we have nothing." Not only here in Korea but in Japan, and in America as well, we see the same thing. But I always tell them that Tribal Messiahship, and going to hometown, is "not" Jacob going to meet Esau. It's "not" Abel going to meet Cain.

It is the incredible title of "Messiah" that we are given by True Parents, a title of "Messiah" is only given by God. The Messiah is not someone who is born, and through his life of faith and hard work and victory receives the title of Messiah, but Messiah is a person who"from birth" is invulnerable to Satanic intervention. Jesus is such a person, as are True Parents. There are no other examples of the Messiah except Jesus and True Parents. There are many examples of the subjugation of Cain by Abel, and the restoration of Cain and Abel in the womb. But as for the Messiah, there are only two cases. Jesus and True Parents.

Thus for the Tribal Messiah too, the ONLY way is Jesus' and True Father's way. There is NO OTHER WAY. No other way. The title of Tribal Messiah is only given to Unification Church members . However hard you look in history, you cannot find when such a title and qualification was given. This is an incredible qualification.

The problem is that the members go to their hometown and they try to do the work of Jacob who has already fulfilled his mission in Haran. That is the cause of the problem. God's expectation of the Tribal Messiah is not Jacob who has accomplished his responsibility. It is not Abel who has completed his responsibility. God expects us to do "Jesus'" work and "True Parents'" work. Jesus also returned to hometown. Where is his hometown? Isn't it Adam's hometown? Adam's hometown is this earth. Adam lost his hometown and Jesus, with the mission of bringing back mankind to the original home, came to this earth.

What did he bring with him when he came? He did not bring wealth and sheep and cattle. He was born in a stable with nothing. That's why, when returning home, we do not take external wealth. God is expects us to show Jesus' heart and True Father's heart. The way to do this is to become the altar of "practice." We have to become the temples of God's Heart and with "this" we can return home. Accomplishing that is qualification for the Tribal Messiah.

When Father says "church" he is not thinking of a place to have services and ceremonies, but rather a temple of individual perfection, a temple of perfected family and a temple of the establishment of the ideal of Tribal Messiah. These are what we call "temples" or "altars" or "churches". When Father founded our Church, he did not call it "Unification Church", but he called it "Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity". We are associates of the Holy Spirit. So we are not an earthly organization. The "Unification Church" that Father has set is "Holy Spirit Association". We have to become people who return glory to God through keeping the laws and tradition of Heaven through our daily life.

New mission

Today is the Service by which I am starting my mission, and I want to take this chance to ask you to know that #we" should become the Headquarters Church. Each one of us should become a Headquarters Church, full of witnessing and missionary activities ourselves. What is witnessing? It is giving the words of God and testifying to True Parents. If we become people who "talk" about True Parents and give the word of Principle,we become useless. We must become the reality of the Word itself and "then" talk about it. We have to develop our personality, perfecting my own individual character. This is the reality of my life of faith.

If a person sheds tears and sweat while giving a lecture, but his life is far from the Principle, how would his relationship with True Parents be? how is his relationship with God? Principle is introducing heavenly law on earth, and if this person knows the law of Heaven, and yet he does not match is life with the law, what will happen?

So we have to witness to ourselves, we have to study Principle, and we have to witness to ourselves about True Parents' direction, and think about the tradition of our Church. Little by little, we must become people of Principle. This becomes our qualification.

Above that we have to do the "family witness." Family witness does not mean that you visit the neighbor's house and witness to them. It means that husband and wife, together with their children, become a unit, and they show that God is dwelling in their family and He is living in the home environment. That is what we call "family" witness or "home church."

In this case when we all gather here in this Headquarters Church, this place really becomes the Temple of God and the Holy Spirit. This HQ is not only the HQ for Korea: here is a place where all the brothers and sisters from the world would like to come and visit, and they are longing to see this place. First they think of Korea and then next they think of this Headquarters Church. This is a place where Father teaches us directly, and tears of prayers, and conditions, are gathered; Father's internal tradition is gathered.

Father is always thinking about this Headquarters Church. So we have to think about the spiritual atmosphere of this place. If a person of weak faith comes here, he should feel the pain [of God's suffering] in his heart and feel the Holy Spirit. His impure elements will be melted in the purity of the spiritual atmosphere. This place should be a place where the words of truth are always spoken and the spirit is always shared. Whoever comes here should feel that his impure elements are melted away, and feel the good feeling of the Holy Spirit coming to him.

In past times our Church was famous as the "Weeping Church," but nowadays they do not say such a thing about us.

If we think about the Fall of Man and feel the suffering of God,even if we cry all night, still we want to cry more. After we cry we feel so relaxed and feel good. At that time we used to cry a lot and after that people seeing us cry hard and then laugh, they would think that we are crazy. When we were praying and making conditions we would cry and then when talking to our brothers and sisters with a good feeling we would smile and laugh. When people said that we were crazy we would still feel good.

Unification Church members do not know the real value of what they have now. Living at the time when True Parents are giving the word directly, receiving such grace, is such an incredible blessing and still we do not know the value. Comparing ourselves with the standard of God and True Parents, we are so far from it. If we become more serious from this point of view and check ourselves, our spirit will grow more and our personality will become better.

So Principle and the Holy Spirit should become the center of our life, because there is nothing more precious than this. I want to ask you to always think, and check yourself, whether you are living life according to Principle and the will of God and True Parents.

As I read in the beginning of my speech, having met Father is not our personal encounter, but [the merit of] thousands of our ancestors who have been longing to meet the Messiah, and have led a virtuous life of faith. If we forget such a precious "In-yeon", what happens?

Tour Korea

Last time when TP had their tour around 21 cities, I went with them. Wherever we went, many high-level people wanted to meet and attend Father. I was so amazed by the fact that the public response to Father is incredibly different from even two years ago.

In Mokpo, the mayor, members of congress, one navy general and other important people, altogether about ten or eleven from that city and the surrounding area, without reporting in advance, came to the hotel where Father was staying, and insisted on meeting with Father. But Father didn't permit it. So I went and met them instead.

In Nam-Won Father called those important people and met them and had a meal with them. Father said he had special encounter with this city, that's why he met them; and he shared about North Korea.

Father went to prison on Aug. 10, 1948, he went in the evening. There he met a man called Hwang Won-Shin, who was one of the members of the "Inside Belly" Church, a follower of Heo Ho Bin. This lady, whenever she was praying, felt something moving in her womb. So she felt that the Messiah would be born from her. They had made incredible conditions to prepare the way for Father.

This Mr. Hwang was one of the leaders of this church. He was in the prison when Father went there. Usually, when a new person came, he was in a lower position than the person who came first. So the new one was supposed to take the position closer to the toilet can. Father, knowing this rule, moved close to the toilet, but Mr. Hwang took Father to "his" place and he himself went to the place close to the toilet.

The next morning when Father woke up, Mr. Hwang woke up too and offered a big bow to Father. So Father asked him about it, and he explained about the revelation they had received, that they will meet the Lord in prison. He said that all the top people of the "Inside Belly" Church including Heo Ho Bin were in the prison. Even though they did not know when they might die, still they were so happy and joyful at the thought of being able to meet the Lord of the Second Advent in the prison.

So Father, seeing their heart and enthusiasm,d thought he had to do something. So he said to Mr. Hwang, and Mrs. Heo Ho Bin, to deny whatever they had said [regarding their revelations] and get out of prison; then God would guide them. In the prison, the worst crime is to give a message to someone else. But Father wrote on a small piece of paper and secretly sent it to Heo Ho Bin. However, she was careless about it and the prison guards found it. All of those people were killed.

If they had followed Father that time, they could have come out and made the foundation such that Father would not have had to go through suffering.

Nam-Won is a place where Father remembered all those things, and on that memory he met the people of Nam-Won and shared about the memory. So, seeing Father meeting those people and sharing with them, I found out that whenever Father meets us is based on a historical encounter. We don't think about that. And we forget.

Imagine in a train, the person sitting next to you, his ancestors knowing you, and how much they expect from you. They are seeing from the spirit world that a Unification Church member is sitting next to their descendant. They think that the incredible chance for them has come. But if you do not talk, or you speak insignificant words, and get out at your destination, how much would they feel upset and angry at you? So wherever we go, we have to be aware of the importance of giving life and words to people. That is the real meaning of living the truth and the Holy Spirit.

We have to make the Headquarters Church a place of truth and of the Holy Spirit by our own efforts. If we, as the members of this Church, do not have the fire of enthusiasm, how can we make this place a warm place?

In Pusan, there is one Kwon-Sa-Nim. Something happened to her foot and she could not walk properly. She wanted to go to the stadium [for Mother's rally], but she could not. She said she is sending Satan there to listen to Father [by her non-attendance].

Our attitude and behavior either belong to God or belong to Satan; there is no midway. Either God or Satan takes our conditions. Our everyday life either belongs to Satan or to God. She said: "If I don't go there, that empty place of mine is taken by Satan." It is that serious.

Why our church?

Why do we come to the Unification Church rather than going to other churches? It is because of the eternal relationship with God and True Parents. So we should not be a "midway" member, that is, the situation where we "look" like a member, but inside Satan is claiming us. This does not work.

Nowadays there are some people witnessing about the Messiah coming on the clouds in October. They are witnessing so hard, with so much conviction. This is admirable in them. Even though what they say is so illogical, they are motivated on the basis that they have a date for his coming: Oct. 28.

What are we supposed to do? Those people are witnessing so hard for such a ridiculous thing, but if we, with such a logical and perfect Principle, and with our True Parents leading the Providence victoriously, do not open our mouth, what are we doing? With all these Christians active and working hard, shouldn't we work harder?

Once again I want to ask you to witness to those people who are going to churches, more than those who do not go to church. Of course, those who go to church oppose us and persecute us a lot, and they close their door to us, but once they listen, they are so easy. If we witness to those who do not believe and do not attend church, the education process about the original sin and the Messiah, and so on, is very long. So, as much as possible, witness to those who go to church.

Looking at the reality of our situation now, we have so many things to be proud of. I am starting my responsibility as the president of the Korean Church, and have already given direction to make sufficient publications to be used for witnessing. So please look for the people who are ready to give their lives. Now is a very good chance to connect the people who come for the Women's Federation. You have to give them the gift of life and truth. Do not tell them that our Father has laid the foundation on the worldwide level, and he has sent many missionaries to many countries. Please stop saying these things. Tell them about True Parents, tell them about the preciousness of the Principle. Being proud of external things does not move people's heart. It does not bring life to them. We have to give the words of eternal life, that is the Principle and True Parents. These two words can make Satan run away. If you think about these two words, and about the "han" of God, True Parents will not let Satan come.

What will happen to those people after Oct. 28? How disappointed they will be. Before October we have to tell them that this is unprincipled and it is wrong. We have to witness a lot, so that when October comes, and when they see that what we said was right, they can come to us. If now we do not say anything, "then" will be too late. So look for them now, even if they do not listen to us now. We have to tell them that the Messiah will "not" come in October, but he has "already" come, and ask them to come to us if the Messiah does not come as they expect.

We have to know that our True Parents are not just True Parents, but that an incredible foundation of victory is behind them, and our being able to meet them, behind is a great "In-yeon" of our ancestors.

Do not think of yourself as persons, but as the result of your ancestors' work, as I read in Father's words in the beginning.

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