At a large meeting in Day State Baptist Church, l57th Street, New York City, in which every inch of standing room was taken up, FATHER spoke as follows:
'PEACE EVERYBODY! We are glad to be here, and always glad to see so many smiling faces and feel the spirit of fellowship of the Spirit, and taste of this sweet communion of love. There has been enough said to save the whole universe if you are radical enough to believe. And I said to a man here the other day, it takes quite a lot to save some people, and some people, it does not take so much to save them and establish the very same conditions that some are in.
'There are certain conditions, there are those of you are in and have been in, that nothing can save you out of. There are certain conditions that GOD is your only refuge, your own strength and your own protection, and therefore, it will take nothing less than GOD in your conscious realization and in HIS Ever Presence There are those of you whose conditions are such that even the name, the consciousness of the presence of Jesus will not do it. It will take nothing less than your conscious recognition or realization of the Presence of GOD ALMIGHTY, or, ALMIGHTY GOD. But there are those of you whose conditions are less severe, it may take the spirit of the consciousness of the presence of Jesus; and there are those of you as was with Nicodemus, for whom it may take the spirit of the consciousness of the presence of a 'good master.' It is of every expression and of every degree, GOD must send your deliverance according to the place wherein you stand.
FATHER DIVINE
Some of you realize that mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers were not sufficient to save you and to deliver you from the adverse conditions that you were in. There are others realize that no prophet, no priest nor king could deliver you and free you from sickness and sorrow and sin.
'Some of your conditions were such that it required something more dear, and something nearer to you, and something that would stick closer than a mother, a father, a sister or a brother. Therefore, you had to call, or did call upon something else to come to your rescue. It is indeed Wonderful! So there are those of you that all of the angels of your imaginations could not give you any ease. It could not, both it and them, could not satisfy your every desire and give ease and a consciousness of peace.
'So I said to the man that was in such a predicament, humanly speaking, I said, call on GOD, for nothing less than GOD can help you or can save you. To realize that not even so much as JESUS CHRIST could save him, it is Wonderful, Jesus could not even save the Disciples that were with him every day. Jesus as a man was insufficient to save. He said,
'...if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I go away, I will send you another Comforter . . . which is the Holy Ghost in my name.'
It is Wonderful! And therefore, that was, even in that standpoint of view, left on record, to let you see and know that Jesus as a man or as a person was not sufficient to save alone.
'On another occasion He said,
'I can of mine own self do nothing.'
There was and there is a higher power to reach the conditions of the souls of the children of men.
'It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come ...'
Now I believe some of you are glad. It is Wonderful! I believe that you are glad because it was expedient for CHRIST to go away. After that He said,
'But when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, (whom the world cannot receive) he shall lead you and guide you into all truth.'
The world cannot receive the Spirit of Truth and they cannot know the Truth.
'So marvel not if the world know you not, for if they would have known you, maybe they would have known ME. If they would have known you, maybe they would have known ME.
'But because they have not known me,'
Jesus said,
'nor the Father, neither will they know you.'
And I say again, unless you know the Son, you cannot know the FATHER, and unless you know the FATHER, you cannot know the Son, unless you have the Spirit of the Son that will receive HIM. It is written,
'No man knoweth the Father, but the Son; and no man knoweth the Son, but the FATHER, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.'
'So therefore, if it happen to be in your homes, in your churches, or in your meetings, or wheresoever you may be, if it happens to be one or ones that do not claim to know ME as you do, why, you cannot have any right to criticize.
'How can you, how can I understand? What did the eunuch say to Philip?
'How can I know, except some man guide me?'
To know this great significance of what you have claimed and have declared, you must get the Spirit of Truth to lead you and to guide you into all Truth before you will actually know the Truth just as it is. So therefore, there are so many hindrances in the way of the children of men to prohibit them from seeing the CHRIST within. You cannot see the CHRIST within nor the CHRIST without as long as you hold anything else uppermostly in your consciousness.
'For you to receive blessedness of the Spirit, Dear Ones, even to get converted, I mean to the old-fashioned way, or the old-time way, to get really converted, you know you had to get your mind off of everything else. You know it is true. You had to get your mind off of everything. You had to get your mind off of your mother, your father, your sisters, your brothers. You had to get your mind off of your own self and all the things that pertain unto this Life, and give your whole heart to GOD. Now if that is not true, say it is not true. It is Wonderful! I will not say I dare you to say it is not, because I don't desire to see anyone take a dare, and I do not desire to see anyone lost. But you did have to get your mind off everything before you got converted, off of everything, and it plainly tells you,
'As you have found him, walk therein.'
'Now when you get converted, some of you may have even had a little baby, holding it in your arms, and you threw it away. Some of you have seen that done, haven't you? I AM talking about the old-time religion, what you call religion, that is what I AM talking about. At times I dug you up by the plough shares of the Gospel. At times I set you free by the Holy Ghost. That is the kind I AM talking about. Set you free from everything! Sometimes you would shout your clothes off. Haven't you seen some old Methodist sister, or some good old Baptist sister shout her clothes off? You know it is true. Why? because she has been with GOD and learned of HIS ways. That was just a little foretaste, and then I heard you say, 'Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!' That was just a little foretaste. That was just a little foretaste.!
'As you have found him, walk therein.'
You know you left your first love. You know you left your first love! I said in the church, didn't you leave your first love? It is Wonderful! But I can to call you back. You know it is true.
'I AM the Light that shines upon the world. You know it is true. You know you never saw such a Light before. It is Wonderful! It is Wonderful!.
'Arise, and shine; for thy light has come and the glory of GOD has risen upon thee.'
Therefore, let us draw water out of the wells of salvation. Aren't you glad! Let us draw water! Aren't you glad to get some of this water? It is mighty good water, isn't it. It is a pure river of water. It is proceeding out of the Throne of the Lamb and out of the Body of GOD. Aren't you glad? Taste and see that the LORD is good. You know it is sweeter than the honeycomb. You never tasted such a love before. It has set you on hallowed fire. It is burning up every base desire. I know you are glad! I know you are glad!
'So then I say, this mighty Holy Love, you have a sip of this Love. Some get a bigger sip than others. Some people will get a little drunk, don't you know, but there are some will get dead drunk. Some will get so drunk they don't know what they are thinking about, and they don't know what they are saying, and they don't care. I think I had better stop because you cannot stand this Love. It is Wonderful!. It is Wonderful!
'Now there were many things that I could have said, and desired to say, in accord with some of your testimonies, but the different testimonies have far abstractly detracted from the points of view and it would take quite some time to go in and search them out and connect them together again as they should be, to deliver you from every superstition and every human mortal belief that you might be fully and wholly connected with this train of life that is incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away.
'But, in conclusion I just want to say, about this mighty Love, you have found it, and you have tasted of it, haven't you, and then you see the Light now, do you not? This Light shines on the road. Did it not lead you to the Lamb! It is Wonderful! Does it not make you have a calm and a state of peace? It helps you, it lifts you up, guides you and it protects you.
'There are many things that I could say, but as it seems that the time is well expired I will not go into them now. I know you all love ME so, the majority of you would stay here all night. But I do not wish to keep you, for I want you to have a little rest for the body as well as you have a little rest for the soul.
'You know, before I go so far from that point of view, I want you to understand that when you found HIM, as I say, you had to detach yourself from every mortal version of the human mind, and the Bible plainly tells you,
'As you have found HIM, walk therein.'
Then it plainly tells you again,
'Inquire for the old path, and when you have found it, walk therein,'
Now don't you all see? I don't care how long you have been converted, just the same as Mr. Titus here says, he was converted seventy odd years ago as a boy of twelve or fourteen, why it is Wonderful! But if you have ever been converted, I will call you back to your boyhood days. Don't you see? I will bring you back to the old path, for that is for what you have prayed. You have prayed for that blessedness you knew when first you saw the Light. You have prayed for that soul that was so fresh in its view of Jesus and His love. Now do you not feel more like it now than you ever did before?
'Now how, and where, can you get back there?
'A light to shine upon the road that leads me to the Lamb.'
Now aren't you glad? Aren't you glad that you have found that Light, for the light has truly come, and the glory of GOD has risen upon thee. You know you never felt so glorious before, don't you? You know you never saw such a glorious crowd before, because this is the pure and unadulterated and undefiled Gospel.
'Now I have not left the right point o view when I said what Jesus could not do. Jesus said,
'I can of mine own self do nothing.'
And again Jesus said in the l7th chapter of St. John, He prayed the FATHER to,
'Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.'
They were not sanctified and they could not be sanctified only through the FATHER.
'Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.'
'Then some still call on Jesus and talk about sanctification, calling on Jesus, calling to the Jesus state of consciousness, before they can be sanctified. Jesus said,
'In that day you shall ask me nothing ....But whatsoever you shall ask the FATHER in my name, he will give it unto you.'
Jesus said also, in the l7th chapter of St. John,
'I pray ...that thou shalt keep them from the evil.'
I said Jesus could not keep them from the evil. I said Jesus could not keep them from the evil of Himself! He prayed the FATHERSHIP Degree to keep them from the evil to keep them from the evil!
'And He proved that, what I AM talking about, when GOD talked through the mouth of Paul, which was according to the Gospel that was Evangelical, when he said,
'They that are in the flesh cannot please God.'
'They that are in the flesh cannot please God.'
'So we are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of GOD dwells in you.'
But you that are in the flesh and living in the flesh cannot please GOD,
'for it is not subject to the law of GOD, neither indeed can be.'
'I pray not that thou shalt take them out of the world, but that they shall be kept from the evil.'
It reads also in Thessalonians, it reads as follows,
'Shun the very appearance of evil. And the very God of Peace will sanctify you wholly.'
W H O L L Y !
'Now whatsoever you call evil, you must not do that by the law, or without the law. Whatsoever you think is evil without the law, don't do it with the law, for that will be just the same appearance. If anybody sees you doing that, it will have the same appearance, and if they don't know that you have the law, it will have the same appearance as that, won't it? Now a hint to the wise is sufficient. It says
'Shun the very appearance of evil. And the very God of peace will sanctify you wholly; and I pray God that your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless until the coming of our Lord and Savior, JESUS CHRIST.'
'Faithful is he that has called you, Who also will do it.'
'Now if you are sanctified, you will be just as Jesus was. Jesus was Holy. I AM not bothering about MYSELF, I AM not talking about MYSELF as a Person, I AM not caring a thing about MYSELF. I AM bearing record of the Life and Teachings of CHRIST as recorded by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. And then and there, and here and now, you can see that you cannot get up here without coming through MY Testimony. I have the foundation of all salvation. It is Wonderful! I AM not bothering about, I hardly ever think about MYSELF when I AM preaching or teaching. I AM not studying about MYSELF. Whatsoever I AM, nothing can change that. I don't have to say what I AM.
'Have you ever seen have you ever seen a picture of CHRIST, or a picture of Jesus in the Sunday School Quarterly? Well, did you hear that picture speak and say, 'I am Jesus'? When you saw it you knew what it was. Nobody ad to tell you what it was, that picture didn't have to say a thing, did it?
'When you saw the picture of the CHRIST no one had to tell you 'That is the CHRIST,' did they, because you knew that it was a picture of CHRIST. The picture didn't have to say or do anything. If anybody else would tell you, the picture wouldn't say a word.
'I don't have to say anything about what I AM. I AM not studying about what I AM. I don't have to say what I AM. I will show you what I AM. It is Wonderful! I will show you what I AM before I leave this building tonight! It is Wonderful! I AM going to reflect MY Spirit in your midst so you will know Who I AM. I AM going to show you what I AM, that is what I AM going to do! I will show you better than I can tell you, and better than anyone else can tell it. It is Wonderful! It is Wonderful! It is Wonderful! It is Wonderful! It is Wonderful! It is Wonderful! It is Wonderful!
'It is written in the Scripture, in the Gospel,
'When he the Spirit of truth is come...he shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you.'
'He shall reprove the world of sin, and of all righteousness, and of judgment ...because the prince of this world is judged.'
Now you know it is wonderful! GOD moves in the bodies of men, GOD talks in them.
'Know ye not you are the temples of GOD ...'
and GOD said, I will walk in them and talk in them. That is what HE is going to do. That is what HE is doing. So it is Wonderful! I AM going to shake the world! With or without a Body, it is immaterial to ME. It is Wonderful!
'So I want to tell you that hear these so-called sanctified people, you know there are some sanctified people, I AM not condemning sanctification, I AM not criticizing sanctification if a person will be sanctified and be it, but if you are sanctified, if any man on the earth is sanctified, they are as Jesus was. If you are not as pure as Jesus was, you are a liar and the truth is not in you. If you live in sex, if men or women live in sex, they are not sanctified. Their lives are not sanctified. That is why I say so often, that it would be better to be as some of the Methodists and Baptists and Catholics, and say, 'My soul don't sin, but my body is prone to sin,' than to go around and say you are sanctified and holy, and have the same disposition that you always had. It is written,
'Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy GOD in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.'
And sanctification means separation from the flesh.
'If you are sanctified unto GOD, then you are separated from the flesh and set apart unto GOD. That is what it means! Then if you are set apart like the eunuchs were in olden times, then you are sanctified, and you are not sanctified unless you are set apart. Unless you are sanctified from the flesh you are not sanctified. But if for CHRIST'S sake, for the Kingdom of GOD's sake, for righteousness' sake, you have become to be a eunuch, if you have become to be a virgin then you are sanctified and not until then.
'Now I came to sanctify the church, I came to sanctify the so-called sanctified people, until they offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness, as in former days, as in former years, and as in the days of old.
I think I had better stop! Because the church is on fire! I promised not to destroy the world any more by water, but to destroy it by fire. I AM destroying the mortal concept of the human mind by the fire of the Holy Ghost, that is what I AM doing!
'So I came to sanctify you wholly, and cleanse you from the flesh and the lust of the flesh and get you out of the flesh and the lust of the flesh and every condemnation, that you may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness as in former years and as in the days of old. And verify that then, which Paul said, recorded in Romans l2:l and 2,
'I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of GOD, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice,'
not a dead one, but a
'a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto GOD, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world...'
As long as you are conformed to this world, you are not sanctified. As long as you conform yourselves to the things of this world, to the fancies and the pleasures and the lusts, you are not sanctified.
'Now there are those that mean well, and they think they are sanctified, don't you see. I AM not condemning you because you think you are sanctified, but I came to turn the light on. The only way to prove to ME that you are sanctified is to live a virtuous life. Married, or single, live that same life that Mary lived after she was overshadowed by the Holy Ghost. Live that same life! That is the only way that you can prove to ME that you are sanctified.
'Then live the same life that Jesus lived when He would walk the seas and shores of Galilee. Then it will be with you just as it is with ME. When the woman touched the hem of Jesus' garment, that most important characteristic of Mary went out from Jesus and it healed the woman.
Now you all know what it was. If He had not had that in Him, He could not have healed her. Don't you see why some people cannot heal? They are healing them and making them sick, healing from their old inclinations and tendencies and the old Adamic inclinations, instead of from that most important characteristic or attribute that Mary had that was in Jesus and went out from Jesus to the woman who touched the hem of His garment and was made whole.
'Now you all know that is why you are made whole and you have such blessings and healings, that you have never heard of before without MY touching you, without praying over you, without anointing you with oil, because it is CHRIST in you and CHRIST in ME with a virtuous mind, that will heal your very sin-sick soul and satisfy your every desire. You see that is what it is. That is why they are healed so. If anyone wants to go around talking about being a healer, let them live a pure and virtuous life, stay out of the flesh, stay out of that desire to please their own selves, to satisfy that old Adamic nature, stay out of their own selves. If the d-v-l is in you, fast him out of you. Don't do anything to please him. Let him deny himself and then he will go out and get in the beast where he belongs. Fast him out! Starve him out! Drive him out and burn him up with the fire of the Holy Ghost, with words of praise, with words of thanksgiving unto GOD, with your mind stayed on ME and in perfect peace I will keep you. It is Wonderful! It is Wonderful!
'Now Dear Ones, I did not mean to keep you so long. But you get ME wound up, Dear Ones, and I go off like a ninety-eight cent alarm clock.
'I tell you, 'Arise, and shine; for thy light has come . . .'and it is time for duty. I AM trying to keep you from losing your job. I AM trying to get you on the Job, for the light has come. The sunlight has risen. The sunlight of GOD has risen in your soul and in your body. 'Arise, and shine; for thy light has come, and the glory of GOD,' I say, 'the glory of GOD,' I mean the glo-ray's of GOD I mean the glo-ray's of GOD has risen upon us. Therefore, let us draw water out of the wells of salvation. Now go in peace and sin no more.
'Now Dear Ones, I want to answer right now, about five thousand letters, and I want to answer them in about two minutes. In conclusion, I say, I want to answer about five thousand letters, and I want to answer them in about two minutes. In short, I will say to the general public, to all of you that have corresponded with ME, you can continue to correspond if you wish, but as I AM more than five months behind in MY literary correspondence, I want to say to you that I have come to you anywhere in New York City, in New Jersey, in Connecticut and Boston, and all around here I have come to you as an answer to the personal literary letters you have written.
'We have come personally as an answer, for it would be impossible with five or six or seven secretaries busy daily, to keep up with MY general correspondence and attend these meetings as I do and impart MY Love to you as I have done tonight and still AM doing. So therefore, in your letters that you have written ME, remember that those requests are answered. It is all right, and you can continue to write.
'Whatsoever you desire in a blessing, if you choose to write, you are welcome to write to72 Macon Street, Sayville, Long Island. But it is not especially necessary to write unless you want to. You are welcome to write if you desire to and I will answer your request according to your faith, consecration, relaxation, self-denial and sacrifice. If you have asked in sincerity in pureness of heart, unselfishly, with a righteous intent, and have faith and doubt nothing, before you had called, before your letter got to ME, I did answer and whilst you were yet speaking, I did hear, and this is in accord with the Scripture.
'Now take these thoughts into consideration, Dear Ones, and consider that your letters are answered. Tell your friends and your friends' friends, also those that you may speak to in the meetings and anywhere around, that if they have not heard from ME from a literary standpoint of view, GOD is not slow concerning HIS promise but is long-suffering, not desirous that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance, and when they call I will answer, as soon as they make their mental and spiritual contact aright.
'Now I want to say to those of you that have any kind of cares or difficulties, or sorrows or troubles, leave your burdens here tonight. Do not take them away with you Take ME home with you uppermostly in your consciousness. Cast out all fear and doubts, all bigotry, all prejudice, resentment, anger, envy, malice and strife, all doubts and fears and everything that tends to separate you from the life and the love of the CHRIST within and without, and your prayers which are your sincere desires shall have been heard and answered, and you are made well, healthy and happy, and peace and prosperity will be within your souls. You are healed collectively. You are healed wholesaledly. It is Wonderful!
'You don't have to come to ME from a Personal standpoint of view. No one has any occasion to lay hands on you or to give you any material remedy or anything of that kind, for I do not perform any material method, have any material method, neither do I have any material remedies to treat you with. I give you the Word which is Spirit and is Life, and it is also the salvation of the souls and the bodies of the children of men. Take these thoughts with you'.
At this point FATHER told the story of a minister who had approached HIM at the church a few days before and asked HIM to go with him to his home, that FATHER might heal his sick wife who was confined to bed. FATHER said it was not necessary for HIM to go, but told the minister to go home and tell his wife to get up and she would be all right. The minister went, and when he got there his wife was already up and working around the house. FATHER continued as follows:
'You see that is the great significance of the Omnipotence and the Omniscience and Omnipresence of GOD, and to have faith in HIM to rely on the promise, it is worth all the world. Now then, when I AM absent in Body I AM present in Spirit. In any of the meetings that I hold, that are held in MY immediate Name, that I endorse, where there is nothing but MY Spirit and MY Mind having full control, MY Spirit will be there just as operative without the Personal appearance of this Body as thought I AM there in Person. It will be there just as much without the personal appearance of Mr. Alexander, as if I were there in Person. I AM making a complete cancellation of every mortal version of the human mind, that you might realize the import of the Presence of GOD here with you at all times. You do not have to learn on the arms of any personality or any person.
'Now there will be healings in all of the meetings without your laying hands on them, for in this high vibration of the Presence of the Almighty the very Angel of HIS Presence will heal them. It is the Spirit of HIS Presence that will heal them, and they will not be dependence upon you or ME as a Person, or anybody else as a person, and then they will not have to come to you to be healed in the time of trouble, neither will they have to come to ME, nor will I have to go to them as a Person, but they can call upon ME in the day of trouble.
'Now take these thoughts into consideration, and if the Work does not go as fast as it should go, do not put your hands in to speed it up. You cannot speed this Work up.
'You see I don't have to get the people to come to ME, I AM telling you every day that you don't have to come to ME or to any meeting, but live the Life as I have taught you, and you will be blessed wheresoever you are, and that is what I want you to know, and you will have nothing to falter for and nothing to fear, and the LORD your GOD shall be with you as a rock in a weary land and a shelter in the time of storm. It is Wonderful!
'Take these thoughts into consideration. I do not even have to see you. Believe ME, and I do not even have to see you. Live the CHRIST Life of GOD, and the Spirit of MY Presence will go home with you and you are blessed and healed of all of your ailments and diseases, and undesirable conditions, for the Mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.'
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