The following was FATHER'S Sermon in Day Star Baptist Church, New York City, on Monday afternoon, May 23. After singing a song, 'Take your burdens to the Lord and leave them there, FATHER spoke as follows:
'Take your burdens to the LORD and leave them there. It is Wonderful! Now there are many verses to that song and I did not repeat the verses because I did not want to get it out of tune, and I knew that if I repeated the verses it would have further got out of adjustment. But the great point of view is that you can take your burdens to the LORD and leave them there. Now as far as your heart is concerned, the song says, 'Come, guilty sinner, in whose breast a thousand thoughts revolve.' The Word says,
'I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.'
FATHER DIVINE
I was talking to some parties this morning quite early in proportion to the time I turned in last night, and I was saying to them that so often ----- and I heard a party say it the other day ----it was hard for a preacher to confess his sins to GOD. Then I said to them, It is harder for GOD to save a god or gods, than to save all the sinners in the world. It is hard for GOD to even save an ordinary preacher, but when you come in contact with gods, why, it is harder to save gods. And they are living in sin, living in materialism, living in mortality and living in debauchery of all kinds every day, and they will not come to ME that they might have life; they would rather die in their sins. It is Wonderful!
But a heart and a mind like unto those that testified recently, those that think that they are great sinners, those that think that they are the least of the least and the worst of the worst, when you come like that, why then you are a fit subject to make preparation for the Kingdom of GOD. When you are self-righteous, when you are holy ----CHRIST did not come to save anybody that was holy anyway. It is Wonderful.! And I AM sure He did not come to save gods, for GOD is saved always, HE didn't have to be saved.
When a sinner, when one that feels as a wretch undone, when one, I say, that feels as though he is a wretch undone, when he makes his mental and spiritual contact, when he is delivered from that sin, when he finds that CHRIST, the heavenly Lamb has taken all his sins away, the sacrifice of a nobler name and richer blood than that of male-cows, pigeons and goats that were offered up as a living sacrifice, when he finds that out, then he can say, 'How sweet the name of Jesus sounds in a believer's ears! It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, And drives away his fear.' It works so long, it cancels sins. It has canceled and eliminated every other way so long, it is molded there. It breaks the power of every kind of sin and sets the prisoner free. Imputedly you see His blood, better known in the spiritual realm of spiritual understanding as Love. His Love falls over them. Now aren't you glad? Now you feel good now, don't you? Now don't you feel nice? You feel just as though you can hardly sit on the seat. It is lovely, isn't it? Isn't it sweet? Oh, it is Wonderful!
So I just wanted to say that this mighty Love, this mightily Love, it is wonderful! It is Wonderful! I was moved to say a word or two at that particular juncture when the speakers said about their hearts were so black that they did not want to bring ME their hearts. Well, I don't want you to bring ME your righteousness. Well, I don't want you to bring ME your righteousness! It is Wonderful! Your righteousness can take care of itself. If it is gold you can throw a pure gold ring or anything, you can throw it on the dump or any place and let it stay out there for years and it will be the same. Your righteousness, if you have righteousness of GOD, will take care of itself, and it will also take care of you, if you have the righteousness of GOD. But if you are a sinner, GOD will then need you to cleanse you from your sins and free you from all condemnation.
For this cause and for this purpose came I into the world, to stop you and free you from those things that you believe and your conscious told you were wrong, to set you free from the claim of condemnation, for if you are led by the Spirit of GOD as it is brought into expression through this ministry, you are freed from condemnation.
And I came to bring into your conscious realization, the Presence of GOD, and of HIS Majesty, HIS Divine inspirations or inspiration, as being called inspirations whilst it is being imparted to many. It is Wonderful! And then when you are led by this inspiration, the Spirit of the Consciousness of the Presence of GOD, you will find that it will satisfy your every desire. You will find that it will free you from all condemnation and will set the prisoner free, physically, mentally and spiritually. It will set you free in every way. It will free your conscience, it will free you in body from every kind of ailment and complaint. It will free you from all misery and from all woe. It is Wonderful!. This Word and this Truth and the Spirit of this Truth will set you free and free indeed, and it will guide you into all Truth. For HE puts it through the mouth of the Apostle,
'There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in CHRIST JESUS, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in CHRIST JESUS has made us free from the law of sin and death.'
Now aren't you glad? Do you not feel free? I know you feel free, for the Spirit of Life that is in CHRIST JESUS here has made you free, and he that the Son sets free, is free indeed. Sets you free, I say, free in every kind of way, every imaginable way. Free from all barriers, free of lacks, free of wants and free from all limitations, Free from all denominations, free from all races, free from all creeds and free from all colors, free from every abomination that spells condemnation. Then you are free indeed. It is Wonderful! You have never been free until you are freed from those conditions. As long as you think you are some abomination, some denomination, religious denomination, political denomination, or social denomination, or family denomination or any kind of denomination, you are not free; for he that the Son sets free, is free indeed, free from every limitation, hence, free , is free indeed, free from every limitation, hence, free from all denomination and hence, free from all the condemnation that denomination brings. And you can walk and talk with GOD. It is Wonderful.!
And all denomination is not just religious denomination. The majority of you are intelligent people, and realize that it is not just religious denomination, but it is every denomination that brings division and limitation. Now that is what is the matter with the world; that is the lost chord that was lost until GOD condescended to put on a Body. CHRIST was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not, and they had barred Him out through creeds and denominations and divisions and all kinds of abominations, for where there is division there is strife, and therefore the CHRIST could not be brought to fruition in their lives.
That is the only reason why you have not seen CHRIST before. It is Wonderful! He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. They could not see Him because they were not pure in heart. The word says,
'Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see GOD'.
I AM just purifying humanity's understanding now, which is the heart. I AM just beginning to purify your understanding, I say, which is your heart, so you can see GOD. It is Wonderful! Your understanding has been in a chaotic condition. It was a matter of impossibility to see GOD if you had a thousand eyes. If your eye be single, your whole body is full of light But if your eye be evil, your whole body is full of darkness.
In that verse, there was in that quotation, 'if your eye be evil, it could have said, if your eye be double, or if your eyes be many. In short, I could have said, if you have many eyes and look in many different directions, your whole body is full of darkness. But in short, I said, 'if your eye be evil;' ---- it is evil to see and to look in many directions and not keep your eye on the Bright and Morning Star, the Lily of the Valley ----and not keep your eye single to the one Thing and the one Thing alone, and having a single eye instead of having thousands of different eyes. Your whole body now, it is full of darkness as the collective body of mankind. It is full of darkness, but I have come to light up your understanding. I came to light up your understanding. And it is written in a composition of modern old times, 'The whole world was lost in the darkness of sin; But the Light of the world is Jesus' It is Wonderful!
Aren't you glad? I know you are glad because you realize that the Light has some. And that is why humanity generally is rising and is shining, for the Glory of GOD has risen upon them. Then I said, you that think your hearts are black, if you take your burdens to the LORD and leave them there, wheresoever you believe HE is, you will be free. Leave them there! Take your burdens to the LORD, I say, and leave them there! 'If you trust and do not doubt, He will surely bring you out. Take your burdens to the LORD and leave them there.' It is Wonderful! Leave them there!
The song says, 'If this world from you withhold, of its silver and its gold, Don't forget that GOD from haven answers prayer. Just remember from HIS Word, How HE feeds the little bird. Just take your burdens to the LORD and leave them there.' I know you feel lovely. It is Wonderful! I know you feel lovely, because this mighty Love is emanating from the Heart of GOD. It is Wonderful! I said, this mighty Love, not only this mighty Love, but this Omnipotent Love, this Love that transcends all limitations, it is Infinite! This Love, I say, that is emanating from the Heart of GOD, it is saturating your very body and your soul. It is making you new. It is making you over new right now. This mighty healing Love.!
Truly might one have said,
'There is a fountain open in the house of David for all sin,'
and it is this mighty Love. One writer said,
'There is a fountain filled with blood,'
but transposedly I say, There is a fountain filled with Love. This mighty Love!. It is drawn from Immanuel's Heart!. It is drawn from GOD in man! GOD Immanuel's Heart! It is Wonderful!.
Remember that these words and poems and songs and praises, they have been praising figuratively. They were figurative when they said there is a fountain filled with blood. That was only a symbol of the fountain that is filled with Love. In reality when you read of the blood that saved you and sanctifies you, the interpretation of that blood is Life and Love. So I can say in reality you all taste this Love, don't you? There is a fountain filled with Love. It is drawn from Immanuel's Heart. 'And sinners plunged beneath the flood, Love all their guilty stains.' I don't care how black your sin may be if you have not sinned against the Holy Ghost.
I want to say that there is a Lawyer that can plead your case and get you out of any sin you ever did, if you did not sin against the Holy Ghost: any sin you ever did! Your Counselor can plead your case and free you from all condemnation and set the prisoner free from every condemnation and from every sin that you have ever committed, unless you have sinned against the Holy Ghost, and that is not in the constitution. And there is a clause in the constitution, there is a clause in the constitution of the Kingdom of GOD, I say, wherein that HE can free every person from all of their sins, unless they have sinned against the Holy Ghost. It is Wonderful!
Aren't you glad there is a Counselor somewhere and somehow, here and now, willing and ready to free you from all sin and from all condemnation, and he that the Son sets free, is free indeed! So we rejoice because we know that it is true, and as I have been saying, with or without a Body, the Gospel of CHRIST, of it I AM not ashamed, for it is all power in this mighty Name. It brings peace out of confusion and health out of sickness, and brings life out of death, for they that are dead and are in the grave shall hear this Voice, and they that hear shall live. It is Wonderful! It is Wonderful! Have you ever heard until you saw ME! 'My sheep hear my voice...and a stranger they will not follow.'
'Out of his mouth goes a two edged sword high on the mountain top.'
Jeremiah spoke of it,
'And out of his mouth came fire to baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.'
Now aren't you glad? I know you feel good, for this mighty Love is emanating from the Heart of GOD and is saturating your body and your soul and has filled you and thrilled you, and therefore, we will declare in the melody, as in a transposed melody, 'My soul has something that is new.' You never were so happy before, were you? Such a mighty healing Love, because this Love consumes everything adverse. Aren't you glad? It is Wonderful! Therefore, I say, 'Fear not, little flock; it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.' And firstly, the Kingdom of GOD is not meat and drink; firstly, the Kingdom of GOD is invisible, it cometh not with observation. But secondly, the Kingdom of GOD is brought into materialization, into your conscious realization and it will be no more imagination. It is Wonderful! It cometh not by observation, I say, and I said that it is firstly not meat and drink, but it is righteousness, joy and peace in the Holy Ghost.
When you seek righteousness, when you seek peace, when you seek the Holy Ghost, and shall have found it, then and there, and here and now, you have made preparation for the materialization of your conscious realization. You are conscious that you have the Kingdom of GOD within. You are conscious that you have this righteousness, joy and peace in the Holy Ghost, but as was in the beginning with the Word, that Word was with GOD firstly invisible, and you found that that Word was GOD. Then after you found out that it was GOD, it came a little nearer to your conscious realization. It began to materialize itself and the Word was made flesh. The Kingdom of GOD is not visible until it has been made visible by HIM that liveth forever and forever. The Kingdom of GOD is not materialized until it has been made material, or materialized by the Materializer and HE that materializes things.
But I came to materialize the things that you thought not to be. Once upon a time you were invisible, but today you are visible. And because you are visible, the Kingdom shall also be visible, for it is written,
'As He is, so are we in this present world,'
and we are now materializing the things that we realize, and bringing into conscious realization the materializing of things that have been hid from generations.
That is where we are --- the Kingdom of GOD on earth here and now for it has been declared that the kingdoms of this world have become the Kingdom of our GOD and His CHRIST, and He shall reign forever and ever. It is Wonderful!
Now we are rejoicing because we know that these are facts and figures that are too stout to be denied, and we do not care anything about what the mortal mind says What can mortal man or mortal mind do! What do I care about what mortality says. What do I care about what it is trying to do! There is no power given except that which comes from the Body of GOD. Tell mortality wheresoever it is, there is no power given except that which comes from the Body of GOD! It is Wonderful! It is Wonderful! GOD is reigning now. GOD is reigning now! GOD is reigning now! It is Wonderful! I say, GOD is reigning now! GOD is reigning! The kingdoms of this world have become the Kingdom of our GOD and he shall reign forever and ever and ever, for the Mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. It is Wonderful! It is Wonderful!
Aren't you glad that you have elected your GOD, your LORD and your KING!
'He rules the world with truth and grace, And makes the nations prove The glory of His righteousness, And wonders of His love.'
I know you are happy because you have GOD on your side! Not only on your side, but GOD is in you. Once upon a time HE dwelt with you, but now HE is in you and you are in HIM. Wheresoever HE is, you are. Wheresoever you are, GOD is your GOD, GOD is your King, GOD is your FATHER and you never had another.
'Fear not, little flock; it is your FATHER's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.'
Then I say, take your burdens to the LORD, and leave them there. Don't carry any burdens that will cause you to go astray, but march into the City of this Eternal Day. We are marching, we are marching, we are marching, I say, here and now we are marching! Truly might you have heard the voice crying out, 'Swing wide golden gates, And let the victors in.' We don't have to get the victory, we have the victory. We don't have to put anything over, it is over now, and we are over. We don't have to put anything over, I have put it over. I have the victory. It is Wonderful! And you have the victory in yourself!
'For faith is the victory that overcometh, or this is the victory that overcometh the world, even your faith.'
And this faith has overcome every mortal version of the human mind.
Now you can declare in the language, as verifying the language of the Prophet Isaiah, in Chapter 32: l-2,
'Behold a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. And a man shall be as a hiding place.'
Reign too! Reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment, and a man is as a hiding place and as a covert from the winds and doctrines of men, hiding from the winds and doctrines of men and the spiritual tempests that blow. The winds of trials and tribulations! A man is as a hiding place from such things, and will set the prisoner free. It is Wonderful.!
That is the reason I said,
'Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. Make your moderation known unto all me. The Lord is as hand,'
here and now, and remember that there is no power given any man except that same power which proceeds from the Body of GOD. It is Wonderful! It is Wonderful! It is Wonderful! It is Wonderful! Truly might have CHRIST in the name called Jesus said,
'Come unto me all ye ends of the earth and be saved.'
It is wonderful to realize the Omnipotence, the Omniscience and the Omnipresence of GOD with all of the fullness of HIS attributes, here and now, in this Divine Omnipresent Life in which you all live, move and have your being, and you in which CHRIST and god lives, moves and has HIS Being. Then we should rejoice, for it is truly vice versa. In HIM you live, move and have your being, and in you HE lives, moves and has HIS Being.
The LORD has never told you to do anything that HE wouldn't do for you. 'Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: and if any man open unto me, I will come in and sup with him...and the feast will be an everlasting one.' Then if you will stand at the door and knock, GOD will open unto you, and the feast will be an everlasting one. Then I say you can rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of great glory, and the Spirit of the Consciousness of the Presence of GOD will satisfy every good desire.
Now why did you push ME out like that? It is Wonderful! It is Wonderful! You must have thought I could swim! You push ME out into deep water and if I can't swim, I have to swim anyway. Just now I only rose to give a foundation to those speakers that thought their hearts were so black, and give them happy admittance into the Kingdom of GOD, and you pushed ME out into deep water, and if I didn't know how to swim, I had to learn. Although I did say, launch out into the deep and let the shorelines go, launch out into the deep, out into the Ocean Divine where the full tides flow. I told you to do that, and you pushed ME out. As I say, whatsoever I tell anyone else to do, I mean to do what I tell them to do. And if I told you to do it, and you happened to push ME out into the deep anyway, why, it is good for ME.
Now I wish to say another word about what was sung about 'Lift HIM up.' I recall when that song was composed about twenty or thirty years ago, and I transposed that song then, because along about that time they were trying to lift ME up illegally---- illegally then they were trying to lift ME up illegally, where now they are trying to lift ME up legally. It is Wonderful! Then they were trying to lift ME up by mob violence. Then I said I did not come to be lifted up from that version of that human mind as it was then when they said, 'Lift him up.' JESUS CHRIST said in that Body,
'I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.'
He was speaking concerning the Crucifixion and death that HE must suffer on the Cross and that they would lift HIM up on the Cross, and through the death and the suffering, supposedly, of the Body of Jesus, why, all men would be drawn unto HIM. But I transposed that song in those days, and I said, 'Do the Will,' for I did not come to die this time. It is Wonderful! It is Wonderful!.
Then in the place of 'Lift Him up,' I replaced, 'Do the Will, do the Will, While He speaks through eternity, And I, if I will do the Will of the LORD, I will draw all men unto Me.' There is a phrase in that song, I don't Personally know when it was composed, but I transposed it. It says, 'Don't exalt the preacher, don't exalt the purse, But preach the Gospel message full and free; And I, if I be lifted up will draw all men unto Me.' But I said, 'Don't exalt the preacher, don't exalt the purse, But preach the Gospel simply full and free; And I, if I do the Will of the Lord, I will draw all men unto Me.'
It is not your FATHER's Will that one of HIS little ones should perish, and you have been taught to pray to let
'Thy kingdom come.'
And,
'Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.'
And I venture to say that those, MY supposed opponents, better known as enemies, are convinced that I AM doing the Will of the LORD in MY Home here and there and everywhere, and I, if I do the Will of the LORD, I will draw all men unto ME. It is Wonderful! It is Wonderful!
It is true, as was said,
'The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and when Shiloh comes, the gathering of the people shall be unto him.'
And I, if I will do the Will of the LORD, I will draw all men unto ME,
'For wheresoever the carcase is, there shall the eagles be gathered together.'
Wheresoever it is, they shall be gathered. Marvel not that I say unto them that they will come unto ME. It is Wonderful.!
Now that is not in some way different than what you should be. You are even also as I AM, if you will only let it be. Every fertile egg has a chicken in it. If it is not a vegetarian egg, it has a chicken in it. But this egg must go through incubating or setting, and go through some kind of process and have the right even temperature and have the right process, to form and develop that chick. It may get chilled after the chick begins to form. It may not exactly be a rotten egg, but it may be chilled, and the chick will not hatch out.
I have heard churches say, before I came out to the public, out into the ecclesiastical world as I stand today expressedly, when from l9l4 up until last year sometime I stayed in quietness, I heard them say that the churches have grown col, said that they were chilled, they had grown cold. Then how can they hatch out any Sons of GOD? When the eggs are chilled, how can they hatch out the Sons of GOD? They cannot hatch even if they be good eggs, if they get chilled, they cannot get hatched. But I came on the scene to warm up the churches, and if they will warm up to ME, I will warm up to them. And the chicks, as it seems to be now, are not any more as Jerusalem was in A.D. 33 and 32, when it was declared,
'O Jerusalem, O Jerusalem... how oft would I have hovered thee as a hen hovers her brood, but ye would not.'
I feel and I say that the churches have been cold. They are coming unto ME that I may warm them up, that I may incubate them, that I may hover them as a hen hovers her brood,'...that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness...as in days of old, and as in former years.' Do you not see the eggs beginning to be hovered! The eggs are beginning to be hover now under the Will of GOD in this great Incubator of Life, these wings of Love. They are beginning to be hovered, and I see the eggs beginning to develop and beginning to form into the chick. Some beginnings to pick their way through, through the shells of mortal limitations. I see that mortality is being swallowed up into immortality. The egg is being swallowed up into the chicken. The egg is coming to conscious life, conscious expression of the Life of GOD as the mother chick, it will soon be in the likeness of the FATHER-MOTHER GOD. It is Wonderful! Now aren't you glad?
Truly might have one said,
'Behold, what manner of love the FATHER hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of GOD...and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like HIM; for we shall see HIM as he is.'
You begin to see now. You begin to see them beginning to come out. They are proclaiming the name of GOD, the Life of CHRIST. They are beginning to be hovered under the Spirit of Life, the wings of MY Love, to be hatched out like unto the father and mother chick, GOD, your heavenly FATHER. 'How great and marvelous are they works, O GOD...for great and holy is thy name' It is Wonderful!
I know you never tasted of such a Love. It is emanating and it is saturating. It makes you feel new. It makes you feel new! It gets all in your sinews and your joints and you say, 'I yield, I yield. I cannot hold it any longer, for I know HE is risen, for HE is risen in my soul! Now aren't you glad? You can taste a little taste of this Love, can't you? This mighty healing Love that transcends all limitations, yea, it transcends gravitation. The gravitation of the earth has no power over this Love, for it is incorruptible and fadeth not away. It is Wonderful!
So take these thoughts in, Dear Ones, and if you can sing that song and remember what I say, it will be wonderful! And just remember, if you will do the Will, that is applicable to you as well as I, and
'I, if I will to do the Will of the Lord, I will draw all men unto me.'
Now aren't you glad! You know you are happy! You never had such happiness before, did you? Aren't you glad that you can part with the world and have been filled with the Love of GOD instead of the world? And now GOD has taken away the first that HE may establish the second and that you can be a burning light, for as I said, I came to warm up the churches and incubate them, or in other words, hover them as a hen hovers her brood. For it is written,
'0ur GOD is a consuming fire,'
and not only that, but
'GOD makes HIS ministering spirits angels, and HIS ministers, flames of fire.'
And here and now, and here and there in this Omnipresent Life, I AM gathering the good wheat in the garner and the chaff I AM burning up with unquenchable fire, and we are getting this glorious church which is called the Kingdom. Some of the writers saw it and caught the reflection, seeing it as
'....a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle.'
It is Wonderful !
They saw this! They saw this! They saw these being purged of all fleshly affections, of worldly pleasures, and everything like that, and lusts and passions, and saw them coming up through great tribulation and washing their robes white in the blood of the Lamb. But if they could only have seen it as it is, they could have said, 'It is a glorious Kingdom of GOD. It is a glorious Kingdom of GOD without spot or wrinkle.' It is without spot and it is without wrinkle, because all materialism has been purged out. All of it has been purged out, and all of those passions, fancies, tendencies and mortal pleasures, lusts and pleasures of the world, that the churches have striven so hard to get you not to do in their way, but could not do it. It is Wonderful!
You know, so many times the preacher would tell you to stay away from the barrooms and speakeasies and all such as that, but they could not keep you away, could they? But I have something that can keep you away! You don't care to go, do you? It satisfies your every desire, and sets you free from all wants and then and there and here and now, you can declare even as the Psalmist did, when GOD spoke through the mouth called David, and in the name called David,
'The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.'
You don't want a thing because you are satisfied in GOD. Hallelujah to the Lamb! You are satisfied in GOD! Hallelujah to the Lamb! Aren't you satisfied?
'CHRIST is rich and all you need.'
And your every hunger, your Savior satisfies, don't HE? Satisfies you in all the fullness, and takes away all lacks and wants. It is Wonderful!
You can be free of all undesirable conditions, of dissatisfying thoughts and tendencies, absolutely free, and you don't even feel like going to the movies tonight, do you? It is Wonderful! It is Wonderful! It is Wonderful!. You don't even feel like going to Coney Island tonight, do you? I have something and I AM something that satisfies your every desire. It is Wonderful! It is Wonderful!.
Truly might the Apostle have said,
'Show us the FATHER, and it sufficeth us.'
As the song in this last time said, 'I shall be satisfied when I see HIM, Satisfied when I shall see HIM face to face, And tell the story, saved by grace, I shall be satisfied.' Now aren't you glad? This mighty Holy Name.! The Spirit of the Consciousness of the Presence of GOD, your heavenly FATHER, with the conviction of your observation of both It and HIM, it has satisfied your every desire, It has set the prisoner free from all limitations, from lacks and wants, even from all adverse conditions, and even from all gravitation. With the Spirit of the Consciousness you can ascend from place to place, and eventually your body will receive that ascending Spirit.'
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