"Has Not God Chosen the Dumb Things of this World to Confound the Wise,
and the Things That Are Naught
to Bring to Naught the Things That Are?"

"The World by Wisdom Knew Not God"

FATHER DIVINE'S Sermon Given Whilst at The Holy Communion Table of the Circle Mission Church, Home and Training School
of Pennsylvania, 764-772 Broad Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Monday Afternoon
April 28,1947 A.D.F.D., Time: 3:30 P. M.

 

FATHER DIVINE

This very beautiful and scientifically enlightening Sermon given by the DEAN of the UNIVERSE, GOD, FATHER DIVINE, came forth shortly after an inspiring testimony of Praise to FATHER by Dr. W. D. Martin of Chicago, Illinois. In his testimony he remarked how singular it was to him that upon seeing FATHER face to face for the first time that day, FATHER seemed to him to look just like a boy. He said in his testimony that many people had asked him at various times, how old was FATHER DIVINE, but that he, in turn, asked them how old was electricity and various other things of GOD'S Creation!

FATHER'S Sermon explains the mystery concerning GOD and HIS Creation and brings forth thoughts for consideration so profound and yet so truthful in their simplicity, that a child can understand and comprehend with our LORD this Divine Wisdom and the mysteries of life which it imparts!

Read therefore, these following Words of Spirit and Life, and you too will be caught up into the higher heights of GOD'S Glorious Wisdom and Understanding, and will revel in the Happiness that ETERNAL YOUTH is not a fallacy but rather a sensible reality!

For Thy glorious condescension, dear Lord, we truly thank Thee!

The foregoing statements are those of the transcriber, after which FATHER Speaks as follows:)

 

Peace, everyone: Good health, good will, a good appetite, good manners, good behavior, all success and all prosperity; life, liberty and the reality of happiness, for we actually HAVE it, and this is not a supposition! We have left the world of imagination; we are living in the world of Recognition and the world of Realization; no longer living in the abstract imaginary concept of things, but GOD through HIS Condescension in Love and Mercy came and to all mankind GOD will make all things plain!

There was a gradual unfoldment of GOD'S Presence before the earth plane was observed. GOD as Spirit and Spirit alone, without Flesh, Body, Blood and Bones, according to the Scriptures, yea, according to the Biblical history by which and from whence our religion sprang, moved out upon the face of the waters and said,

'Let there be light and there was light.'

GOD did not have any Body then, according to the history, and did not have any earth visible, but CREATED the earth and
called it into OUTER EXPRESSION from the INVISIBLE REALM of HIS Own Infinite Omniscience:

'Let dry land appear!'

Dry land came forth into expression!

When the earth was void and without form, the earth being invisible and intangible, GOD called it into TANGIBILIZATION and into OUTER EXPRESSION; and from the earth, GOD, after HE said, appear!"-- according to the history you all know so well, GOD also formed MAN out of the dust of that dry land that was called ground. GOD FORMED MAN BEFORE HE FORMED HIMSELF! Can you not see the mystery? ("Yes, GOD ALMIGHTY!" exclaimed the congregation.) Then why should GOD look so old? According to history there were many, many years before GOD formed HIMSELF a BODY! Although being the CREATOR and the FATHER, HE was WITHOUT a BODY because HE went on doing HIS Business for OTHERS firstly!

 

The Preview of GOD

Dry land appeared and the form of man came from the dust of the dry land (can you not see the mystery?) though there were many years- some say FOUR THOUSAND and FOUR YEARS- after HE did all of those things before HE prepared HIMSELF a BODY. Can you not see the mystery? ("Yes, LORD!" came the response.) But A.D. 33 came forth a Body as the REDEEMER and the SAVIOR of the World, being called the Son of GOD, which is GOD! GOD had not visibilated HIMSELF as stationarily or substantially until then, although the Hebrew children- I mean, the Hebrew boys- did see GOD walking around in the fiery furnace with them; but HE had not visibilated HIMSELF substantially, at that time. It was a VISIBLE APPEARANCE of an expression, according to the Scripture! One looked and said,

'Did we not cast in three? - but behold the fourth one looks something like the Son of GOD!'

or something. That was a PREVIEW of GOD before HE came -how GOD would SAVE you from the BURNING SUPERNATURAL FLAME!

Can you not see the mystery? ("Yes! Yes!" came the volitional reply from the multitude.) That was to tell you that if GOD is WITH you, NAUGHT can HURT you, NAUGHT can HARM you! EVEN THOUGH THE FLAMES OF DESTRUCTION AND THE VIOLENCE OF THE WICKED MAY BE SEVEN TIMES HOTTER THAN THEY CAN HEAT IT, GOD IS WITH YOU! YOU ARE PROTECTED!

So then it was a PRIVILEGE to see a PREVIEW of GOD'S PRESENCE in the FIERY FURNACE as a PROTECTION, as a PRE-EVIDENCE of how GOD will SAVE you from ALL HURT, from ALL HARM and from ALL DANGER!

But that One that walked in the burning flame, the Fourth One, was a PREVIEW of the Coming of CHRIST to the children of men to HELP them in the time of TRIALS and TRIBULATIONS, and even in the CASE of a BURNING FIERY FLAME, and in the CASE of LIONS' DENS!

 

The World Did Not Know GOD

What a privilege! GOD did not have a Body then substantially and visibly established! The king with all of his fore-knowledge, with all of his intellectual ability, with all of his dominion over the universities and the seminaries of that day, he could not know GOD'S Invisible Presence until GOD VISIBILATED HIMSELF in the midst of the burning flame!

What a privilege! The world by Wisdom knew not GOD!

'Has not GOD chosen the - dumb things of this world to confound the wise, and the things that are naught to bring to naught the things that are?'

Then I say, it is a privilege to observe what you have seen and heard, for truly it was in the beginning but they could not see HIM! Truly, it was, or HE was in the beginning, if I speak after the manner of men, in the language of them-HE was in the beginning, but they could not see HIM! Can you not see the mystery? ("So true!" came the verification from the assembly.)

One had gone so far as to say,

'No man has seen GOD at any time!'

No man had seen an automobile at any time, at one time! But as the Scripture so beautifully depicts the mystery,

'In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with GOD and the Word was GOD.'

All that time it was UNSEEN, INVISIBLE, INTANGIBLE, as a SUPPOSITION and NOT a REALITY to the CONSCIOUS MENTALITY! But oh, how glorious it was when

'The Word was made FLESH and DWELT among us",


one declared,

'and we BEHELD HIS GLORY as that of the Only Begotten of the FATHER, full of Grace and of Truth!'

But you could not BEHOLD it until the WORD was made FLESH! Can you not see the mystery? (Yes, FATHER Dear!" came the immediate response.)

'AND WE BEHELD HIS GLORY AS THAT OF THE ONLY BEGOTTEN OF THE FATHER, FULL OF GRACE AND OF TRUTH!'

 

Grace For Grace

But the beauty part and the significance of it to you, I say, was, as it is:

'AND WE BEHELD HIS GLORY AS THE ONLY BEGOTTEN OF THE FATHER, FULL OF GRACE AND OF TRUTH, AND OF ALL OF HIS FULLNESS HAVE ALL WE RECEIVED, GRACE FOR GRACE!'

Then we verify the often rehearsed quotation of the Epistle of the apostle in that quotation where he said in Colossians,

'To whom GOD will make known what is the riches of the mystery of HIS Glory among the Gentiles, which is CHRIST in you, the Hope of Glory, Whom we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all Wisdom, that we might present every man perfect in CHRIST JESUS!'

Then we are getting somewhere, aren't we, when we preach it in all Wisdom and in all Knowledge and all Understanding? -CHRIST IN YOU, that gives you this Hope- so that we might present every man PERFECT in CHRIST JESUS!

Then the Word being made FLESH was the great essential, for you to have Something to VISION! But lots of them were made visible long BEFORE GOD made HIMSELF visible! (FATHER turns to Dr. Martin and says:) Therefore, Dr. Martin, even though you had not seen ME, do not feel strange because I look young! It is true, GOD made HIMSELF after HE had made others! There is no record given HE made HIMSELF until when Mary conceived by the Holy Ghost and gave an Immaculate Birth of GOD HIMSELF in the Flesh!

But that did not stop GOD there! GOD is REPRODUCIBLE! You say you believe in Mass Production. GOD is the REPRODUCER!

 

Vision the Perfect Picture

For this cause HE has said,

'Vision that Perfect Picture!'

Then once again, I say, as it WAS, so it IS:

'When the Word was made Flesh we beheld HIS Glory as that of the only Begotten of the FATHER full of Grace and of Truth!'

And as I say, the beauty part of it was, as it is,

'And of all of HIS Fullness have all we received, Grace for Grace!'

That is your privilege! If you do not care to vision it and receive it because someone else does it, it does not prevent it; it is your privilege!

I have declared as a Practical Psychologist,

'Evil communications corrupt good morals. Ill qualities are catching as well as diseases and a man is known by his company-keepers!'

Then I say, VISION! Associate with the PERFECT, with the DESIRABLE! RE- PRODUCE it, VISION it and MATERIALIZE it and bring it to FRUITION and then UNIVERSALIZE it, and we shall have a RIGHTEOUS GOVERNMENT, and all kindreds of the earth shall be UNITED TOGETHER just as we have them here jurisdictionally! Those who will LIVE shall SEE it and ENJOY it! Many will COMMIT SUICIDE CONSCIOUSLY, WILFULLY and WITTINGLY, and some UNWITTINGLY, UNCONSCIOUSLY because of the different PREJUDICES and BIGOTRY prenataled in them and handed down TRADITIONALLY and by HEREDITATION!

 

Purpose of Marriage

Mortality marries to propagate PREJUDICE and DIVISION and STRIFE and CONFUSION and RACISM and all sorts of ISMS for the purpose of PROMULGATING DIVISION, STRIFE and CONFUSION. But since GOD came to REPRODUCE HIMSELF in the land- I mean, just the same as you take a snapshot of a person- GET the PICTURE and REPRODUCE IT! IMPROVE on IT! DEVELOP IT and bring IT to FRUITION to a PERFECT PICTURE in the PERFECT LIKENESS of the INTERNAL IMAGE that was not seen in the beginning!

Oh. what a privilege to live in such a Recognition, where GOD HIMSELF is actually WITH you and has truly come and brought HIS Kingdom down! What said I concerning this mystery? It is written in the Psalmic prediction of David very explicitly propounded,

'Righteousness and Judgment are the habitation of HIS Throne!'

When we establish RIGHTEOUSNESS in our hearts and in our minds, in our business and in our affairs and in all things that concern us, since RIGHTEOUSNESS and JUDGMENT are the HABITATION of HIS Throne THERE is the THRONE of GOD- in the HEARTS and MINDS of the RIGHTEOUS MEN and WOMEN! And CHRIST in all Simplicity through HIS Condescension will DESCEND, as being termed ASCEND, to HIS Throne on your HEARTS and in your MINDS, and there HE will be ENTHRONED and REIGN as LORD of Lords and as KING of Kings!

THAT IS WHAT I AM DOING NOW' I AM ENTHRONING CHRIST ON THE THRONE OF YOUR MINDS!- and

'Wheresoever a king reigns there is where his kingdom is!'


and that is the way the Kingdom was to COME, for truly it is the way it CAME!

Now CHRIST being on the Throne of your Minds, CHRIST brings all of your Powers and all of your Dominion into subjection to Him- for wheresoever He brings powers that be, into subjection to RIGHTEOUSNESS, CHRIST is TRULY the KING of Kings and LORD of Lords, and there forever HE will REIGN over you and over all things that concern you. That is what I AM talking about!

 

No More Undesirable Conditions

Then there are no more DEPRESSIONS, no more LACKS and WANTS and LIMITATIONS, no more ADVERSE and UNDESIRABLE CONDITIONS, for you have a RIGHTEOUS CHIEF EXECUTIVE!

You want just men to rule our Country. You want just men to be elected to the chief executive's office, do you not? ( "Yes, LORD!" came the firm reply.) You want men that will do RIGHT by every man and rule this Government with Equity, with Righteousness, with Truth and with Justice! ("Yes, FATHER!" came the response again in the affirmative.) Well, that is the ONE to GET- that ONE that can be ENTHRONED on the THRONE of your MINDS and can RULE and REIGN as LORD of Lords and as KING of Kings WITH or WITHOUT a BODILY FORM! Then it makes no difference; everything is all right then!

There will be no depressions when the Psalmic prediction of David is FULFILLED in this dispensation and in this present generation! When and where CHRIST or GOD shall have taken HIS Rightful Place and when

'The LORD REIGNETH'


and

'let all of the earth REJOICE'


and

'let everything that has breath PRAISE the LORD",


then there will be no more hardships and hard times and depressions and panics and famines and inflations! That is what I AM talking about!

That is why I called this idea down! As the Principle of Mathematics rules the World of Accounts, this Truth as exemplified among you- the great PRINCE and PRINCIPLE of LIFE, SUPERNATURAL and NATURALLY EMPHASIZED and STRESSED, shall rule the World of Affairs! It does not have to be a Body! If you can get by without having the Body, all right! It will be the SAME MIND WITH or WITHOUT a BODY!

 

The Master of Omnipotency

Because a person is a great mathematician it does not change the principle in the least, does it?

("No, FATHER Dear"' verified the assembly.)

Now it is the privilege of others to study to prove themselves workmen to be mathematicians!- but mathematics will solve your every problem, as GOD is the MASTER of OMNIPOTENCY!

Use the Principle effectively, accurately and with equity, with righteousness, with truth and with justice! It will SOLVE your EVERY PROBLEM and will ADJUST MATTERS SATISFACTORILY for you!

Again I wish to call attention to what Dr. Martin said, speaking of MY Personal Appearance: I thought of what was brought to MY Attention the other day, of a very recent date, as a rehearsal- in other words, as a reprint of what had been said concerning ME before. It said that I said I was forty-one last year, around the twentieth of. April when the application was put in for our Marriage. Mrs. Divine here, (FATHER indicates Mrs. Divine seated at HIS Right) She was the one put in that age! She was the "second party"and the government gives you the privilege in Washington to have the second party to make out the application. She made it out, and, no doubt, she just put that there because she had to put something; but she knew she had said and others had also said the same as Dr. 'Martin said there, "I KNOW THAT YOU ARE GOD, WITHOUT THE BEGINNING OF DAYS AND WITHOUT THE END OF LIFE!" But She was required to put something She said, "Well, forty-one plus", or something like that!

 

The First Divine Marriage

I was not even in Washington at the time Personally, but the application was put in as forty-one; and they said that I said after the Marriage, that the first Marriage was in 1882! Well, some thought that! I keep no record of time, but that is what some had said. That is what the former Mrs. Divine told ME! She said it was in 1882 when she was first married!

But oh, how GLORIOUS it is to REALIZE, SPIRIT is SPIRIT and MIND is MIND, and you cannot tell how OLD the WIND is, can you? ("No, GOD ALMIGHTY!" verified the joyous congregation.) Who can tell how OLD this BREEZE is that is in this room, coming from the fan? The fan may generate it and bring about the vibration and we may enjoy it, but if you can tell ME how OLD the WIND is, why then you may or might could tell how OLD the CREATION and the CREATOR is! (Loud applause followed this last statement.)

But I do say science has gone back millions and millions of years and shown you conclusively that the earth did not just begin four thousand and four years, B. J., better known as B. C.! It did not just begin four thousand and four years before Jesus was born! So then, who can know the mind of God and who can say definitely anything concerning his creation more than what has been given them by science and by invention and by the Spirit as the Spirit reveals it and God's mind speaks it within you intuitively! I thank You!

 

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