Circle Mission Church, Philadelphia, PA
This truly significant and indeed dynamic Sermon is but another ultimatum of GOD to those to whom Retribution is sure and assured to come unless they turn from their sinful, wicked ways and repent and confess unto GOD Almighty, FATHER DIVINE, in the sackcloth and ashes of meekness and humility.
The reading of a newspaper clipping at the Table by one of the Secretaries, concerning the retribution which came to three or four more, served to prime the Wellspring of Salvation -- and thus it was that these vital Words of Spirit and Life were delivered which shall electrify the atmosphere universally with the Truth which is the Salvation to and for all mankind! And those who seek to undermine the Truth with their false accusations and malicious lies, why, they shall receive the negative results of this Divine Electricity and shall go to see if there is a reality in an unknown world. While those who live Righteously, Soberly and Godly and in and under this Glorious Teaching of Righteousness, Truth and Justice, shall be kept safe and secure under the Banner of GOD'S Eternal Victory now, henceforth and forever! The Mouth of GOD has declared it, and the daily deeds happening momently are proving it!
Thank YOU, Almighty GOD, FATHER DIVINE, for this, Thy Holy and Righteous Administration!
(The foregoing statements are those of the transcriber, after which the secretary speaks firstly and then reads the clipping which led to this marvelous Sermon as given verbatim by our LORD.)
Secretary: When we were singing that song, "Don't touch FATHER DIVINE inharmoniously", here is the effect of where some have touched FATHER inharmoniously. (She reads the following article as printed in the Philadelphia Inquirer of Saturday, June 25, 1949 A.D.F.D.)
Three more members of a youthful holdup gang were sentenced to life imprisonment in Eastern State Penitentiary yesterday after pleading guilty to the slaying of a South Philadelphia bicycle shop owner last March 2.
They were Herbert K. Elliot, 20, of Alter near 20th St.; William Beity, 19, of 16th St. near Catharine, and Moses Taylor, 21, of Carpenter St. near 7th.
The sentences were imposed in Quarter Sessions Court by Judges Lewis B. Levinthal, Bryor A. Milner and Eugene V. Alessandroni sitting en banc.
On Thursday, a fourth member of the gang, Harry Charles Cohen, 20, of 16th St. near South, received a similar sentence from Judge Levinthal after a jury of four men and eight women found him guilty of first degree murder.
According to testimony, Elliot and Beity entered the bicycle shop of 62- year-old Ernest Edwards, at Broad and Fitzwater St's., while Taylor and Cohen remained outside to act as lookouts.
Elliot was armed with a 32 caliber pistol which he pointed at Edwards, demanding his money. The shopkeeper picked up a screwdriver and rushed at the two to drive them out of the store.
In the ensuing struggle Elliot fired five shots, one of which entered Edwards' chest and two others struck his right thigh and leg. He died three days later in Graduate Hospital.
Prior to the noon recess of the court yesterday, Assistant District Attorney Colbert C. McClain, who prosecuted all four of the gang, said, "On behalf of the Commonwealth I wish to publicly thank and commend Detective Sergeant Richard Anderson and his squad for the fine police work they did in this case."
Judge Levinthal, in announcing the opinion of the court, said, "We have considered the evidence from every aspect and after deliberation we have decided that each of you is guilty of murder in the first degree and further agree the penalty is life imprisonment ."
(Shortly after the reading of the article, FATHER arose to speak as follows:)
PEACE EVERYONE! At this instance I have arisen to say that Retribution is sure and Retribution is assured! This is not a supposition, but to the citizens of this vicinity and those who sojourn in our commonwealth, this is a warning to those who are malicious, antagonistic and prejudiced to Democracy!
Those who are criminals at heart and even dishonest in their deeds and actions, it is well worth considering to see that this experience of these three young men stands to know and to show that Retribution is sure and Retribution is assured and crime does not pay!
In your community I have lifted up a Standard of Democracy, Brotherhood, Christianity and true Judaism and established Americanism as no man can, and yet such as these three young men as mentioned in the clipping, will continue to go forth in vice and crime and sin and debauchery of every kind because the try to ignore FATHER DIVINE! ("So true!" verified the Congregation.) Those Who Hate GOD
I would like to say to the parents of those boys and to those who may be concerned, it is written,
'Train up a child in the way that he should go; when he is old he will not depart from it!'
I would just like to say to our fellow citizens and the public at large, those
who hate Righteousness they hate GOD! Can you not see the mystery? ( "Yes,
so true!" again verified the congregation.) Those who will criticize and
accuse and harmonize with the critics and the accusers, they hate GOD!
We know definitely that those young men got off at life imprisonment, according to the press, for a crime that calls for capital punishment in some states! Therefore, I say, those of you who are sympathizers and harmonizers with critics and accusers and blasphemers of the Holy Ghost, take notice, GOD has your record and has a record of everything you say and everything you do!
I have long since declared Scripturally,
'The wages of sin is death but the Gift of GOD is Eternal Life!'
Therefore, you may rest assured when you continue in your wild career of vice
and crime and sin and debauchery of every kind, dishonesty, incompetence and
untruth, you may rest assured Retribution is sure to come to you! -- if not in
one way it will another! -- for crime does not pay!
These young boys have said antagonistic, malicious and critical things concerning MYSELF, My Fellow Citizens here and elsewhere in this vicinity. It is written in the Scripture as you, My Fellow Citizens here and elsewhere in this vicinity -- in other words, as well as in this vicinity, you know you are in a Gospel Country and a Bible Land. Your sons and daughters are in a Gospel Country and a Bible Land; a Country where Christianity has been taught by the Doctrine of Christendom, and in a Bible Land where Judaism has been taught by the Doctrine of Judaism and the Law and the Prophets! The Reward of Evil Doing
When you fail to comply with these Fundamentals of GOD to the children of men you may know you are bringing Retribution to be assured to come upon you and upon yours, for it is written: "I AM, the Lord thy God, Am a Jealous God! I AM visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children from the third to the fourth generation of them that hate ME!"
I have declared, "He that hates his brother without a cause is a murderer already!"
I have declared,
'As much as you have done unto the least of these, My Little Ones, you did it also unto ME!'
There are those who actually hate GOD in Righteousness from Center to Circumference,
from the Beginning to the End, from Genesis to Revelation. They hate GOD wheresoever
GOD may be seen and heard in Righteousness!
'For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually is Life and Peace!'
And,
'The carnal mind is not subject to the Law of GOD, neither indeed can be."
'The carnal mind is enmity against GOD!'
For your information, those of you who do not know, I wish to say, the word "enmity",
Webster will tell you that it is hostility. Can you not see the mystery? ("Yes,
Sir!" came the quick reply.) The carnal mind is HOSTILITY in the children
of men against the GOD Who created them! Can you not see the mystery? ("Yes,
LORD!" came again the verification.) Therefore, the hostility within the
hearts and minds of the children of men will create an artillery mentally and
spiritually to inspire and invent inventions and devices of destruction to destroy
the children of men -- all because of that hostility! All because of that carnality
wherewith you have been impregnated, wherewith you have been reincarnated and
have not been born out of that Adamic state of consciousness so that you might
have a New Birth of Freedom under GOD; for I did say,
'Except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of GOD!'
Then I say, when men, young men and old men and all men and all mankind, rise in opposition critically, maliciously and antagonistically and prejudicially to the Fount of your Salvation, the Hope of their Redemption is destroyed! For I have long since declared,
'Every sin a man doeth shall be forgiven him but he that sinneth against the Holy Ghost; to him there is no forgiveness!'
Can you not see the mystery? ( "Yes, GOD Almighty!" declared the multitude.)
I know, at times, in your religious infancy, as you may reflect it or manifest
it, think within yourselves, "Why, GOD is Love and Mercy and tender Compassion!" Sure
I AM! That is why I say,
'The wicked shall slay the wicked!'
Because I AM in all Love beyond degrees and in tender Compassion for others as
well as for thee if they will but accept of ME!
That little composition we sang a little while ago should be stressfully stamped in your memory for consideration:
'The wicked shall slay the wicked!'
For it is written Scripturally, even in the Psalmic prediction of David:
'Fret not yourselves because of the workers of iniquity, for they shall be cut off!'
The word "cut off", they shall be cut off before time. They will not
live to get three score years and ten! -- and if they have lived to be that age
already, they will be cut off before they would have died had they not risen
in opposition to GOD! I say, RETRIBUTION IS SURE AND RETRIBUTION IS ASSURED!
Even the wicked should rejoice because I AM GOD! I say, the wicked should rejoice because I AM GOD! If I was not GOD I would loosen the handcuffs off the many in the defense of righteousness and they would express themselves violently and woe would be to those who have risen in opposition! They would die before their time, quickly, because they would take the law in their own hands and would not allow my spirit to do it, for they would not wait for retribution that will come by the hand of GOD!
MY followers equivalently, you all should rejoice and be glad because you know that I AM GOD! ("so true, god almighty!" came the unanimous verification.) I do not fight with the sword that perishes but I fight with that which is perish-less, incorruptible and undefiled and fadeth not away!
Then you should rejoice and be glad for your Redemption draweth near, because GOD HIMSELF in all Majesty, Dominion and Authority is right here! That is what I AM talking about!
Rejoice and be glad! The world should rejoice! The world at large should rejoice because of the Presence of your GOD! Can you not see the mystery? ("Yes, FATHER!" came the instant reply.) If I was a man I would do as men do and I would not call or wait for Retribution to come to you. Can you not see the mystery" ("Yes, GOD Almighty!" came the reply.) Then I say, you should rejoice and be glad, for when it comes it is the same as it was with Tojo, Hirohito; but especially Tojo, Hitler, Mussolini and all of the Warlords and the War Criminals!
Little did you think just about twenty years ago when Mussolini, I might say, started out in his wild career, and when Hitler started out in his, that they would be cut off so quickly from the stage of action and when their empires would go down. They went down! And all others will go down that rise in opposition to Righteousness in Government or Righteousness in humanity universally! But they will rise and FALL -- for it is written that kingdoms shall rise and wane but the Church of CHRIST constant shall remain!
They rise on every hand because of the carnality in them. That is why by transposition I transposed My inspirational Composition to you that was given, wherein I said, "FATHER DIVINE is marching on! HE is casting out all mortality!"
The transposition of the word "mortality" to "carnality" has been given. Mortality is not significant enough in expression to depict the destructive tendencies within you -- but when we speak of carnality it is written definitely, "To be carnally minded is DEATH, for the carnal mind is not subject to the Law of GOD, neither indeed can be, for the carnal mind is enmity against GOD!" Can you not see the mystery? ("Yes, LORD!" came the instantaneous response.)
It is spoken of very explicitly Biblically or Scripturally and you can see that the carnal mind in mortality is the thing that I AM casting out, for I came not necessarily to destroy the flesh, but to condemn sin in the flesh! Can you not see the mystery? ("Yes, GOD Almighty!" declared the vast congregation.) In that I came lifting up a Standard of Morality, Virginity, Holiness and Virtue. I have condemned the SIN that was in the flesh, that the Law of the Spirit of Life might be established in the children of men.
Then I say, look about yourselves and see what I AM doing when I AM casting out all carnality and when I AM lifting up a Standard with the banner of victory lifted high!
Carnality has striven from the days of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, to destroy Righteousness wheresoever it has risen. Can you not see the mystery? ("Yes, LORD!" came the answer.) When Cain saw his brother Abel offering unto the LORD an offering in Righteousness, Cain, filled with carnality, enmity, hostility, it made Cain or caused Cain to be so hostile to his brother he slew his brother without a cause; yet it was supposedly because Abel offered an offering in Righteousness! Carnality, hostility and the hostile-ness in the person of Cain as a hostile person, hating his brother without a cause and being the "other fellow" personified, he strove to destroy Righteousness there and then, from the beginning of the world, as it may be termed.
But oh, how glorious it is to know I AM HERE NOW! ("So glad!" came the joyous response from the vast multitude.) Cain can no longer destroy Righteousness! Carnality can no longer destroy spirituality! Carnality being hostility and with its devices as described and invented in humanity, and all of the artillery of the hostility which is carnality in mortality, they cannot destroy the Power of GOD; for what said I concerning the mystery? I said when Simon believed and was convinced from the within by his own intuition and declared it by his own volition, "I say that Thou art the CHRIST, the Son of the Living GOD!" -- I said, "Upon this Rock I shall build My Church, and the very gates of (you know what) shall not prevail against it!"
That is not a supposition, that is a Declaration made of the Holy Ghost, GOD HIMSELF in the Person of Jesus; the Holy Ghost Personified! "The gates of ( you know what) shall not prevail against it!"
All you must needs do is to know definitely once and forever as MOTHER has declared and as millions of others have declared,
'I know THOU ART GOD ALMIGHTY!'
With the verification of HIM to Whom and of Whom you were speaking -- GOD HIMSELF
-- I verify I AM GOD! I AM GOD! I AM GOD! I AM GOD! That is what I said! Tell
all Critics and Accusers and all Blasphemers when they speak maliciously and
antagonistically concerning ME, I AM the Holy Ghost Personified! Now aren't you
glad? ( "Oh, so glad, GOD Almighty!" came the joyous exclamation from
the vast Congregation.)
I heard one say by composition,
'Touch not the Ark! GOD declared it! Touch not the Ark!
(I heard someone say, "GOD is going to move this Ark HIMSELF!"
>
Then I say,
'Fret not yourselves because of the workers of iniquity!'
And I have declared, "The wicked shall be cut off!"
Therefore, think not within yourselves in mortal sympathy, "I wish GOD, FATHER DIVINE, would not say it." I AM going to say what the Bible says! I AM not only going to say what the Bible says, but I AM going to do what the Bible says I would do, and I AM doing it now! Aren't you glad! ("So glad, LORD!" declared the multitude in one voice.) The Bible said I would do it too and I AM doing it now!
Take these thoughts to consideration. Watch and see how Retribution will follow all of those who are critical, malicious, antagonistic and accusing, for that which you sow or wish to be sown, you shall reap in your own experience!
These thoughts are well worth considering, for GOD truly deals in the affairs of men! You have heard and you have read where I have said,
'Righteousness is marching on and HE is casting out all mortality, all carnality and all of the mortal versions!'
But more especially and more stressfully to be considered, as I have visited
and AM visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children from the third
to the fourth generation of them that hate ME, I AM showing Mercy unto thousands
of them that Love ME and keep My Commandments!
Now that is a Blessing, is it not? ("So true, LORD!" came the verification.) A Blessing to the Righteous but a Cursing to the wicked -- for it is according to the way you touch ME! That is the kind of results you are getting, and will more definitely get such results according to the way you have touched ME in the future!
These thoughts are well worth considering. GOD deals in the affairs of men -- and as I have declared --
'Evil communications corrupt good morals; ill qualities are catching as well as diseases, and a man is known by his company-keepers!'
For the greedy gains of filthy lucre many have sold their birthrights and the
Hope of their Redemption politically, legalistically, morally, economically,
socially and from every other angle expressible -- for Esau sold his birthrights
for a dry morsel of bread! Can you not see the mystery? ( "Yes, GOD Almighty!" came
the reply.) But those of you who are willing to stand and refuse to compromise
with the folly and the vulgarity and the vomit of men, you need not fret nor
fear, for you will gain an hundredfold more in this present time, and in the
world to come, Life Everlasting, for that which you have forsaken and denied
for Righteousness' Sake! ("So glad, LORD!" came the joyous exclamation,)
I have long time holden My Peace, but I will declare to the world at large universally, I AM the Same universally as I AM here jurisdictionally, and every knee must bow and every tongue must confess!
When you said by composition, "HE is casting out all mortality, and everything, as so to speak, must be brought into subjection to HIM!" -- to those of the critics of your inspirational declaration and of your inspirational prediction I would like to say to them, do not think that this necessarily means that I as a Person will be sitting up some place as a mortal being, ruling over the people of the land! What said I in the Psalmic prediction of David when I through David declared it?
'Righteousness and Judgment are the habitation of His Throne. The earth saw and trembled!'
I have developed Righteousness and Righteousness is marching on with or without
a Bodily Form! Can you not see the mystery? ( "Yes, LORD!" came the
reply.) Righteousness is Incorruptible and Undefiled! Righteousness fadeth not
away! Righteousness is Something that is Untouched as the wind! Can you not see
the mystery? ("Yes, FATHER, GOD!" came the reply.) I verify it Scripturally!
What did I say?
'The wind bloweth . . . and you hear the sound thereof. You cannot tell from whence it cometh and whither it goeth. So is everyone that is born of GOD!'
Can you not see the mystery? ( "Yes, LORD!" came the unanimous reply.)
Therefore, when you know the Truth effectively, you can speak definitely and
emphatically and declare My Deity with or without a Personality! Why? Because
it is Incorruptible! Why? Because I have declared,
'It is not by power nor by might, But by MY Spirit, says the LORD!'
Therefore, My Spirit will do it, regardless to where all of the individuals on
the face of the earth may be; it is absolutely immaterial to ME! What I have
declared I will do -- the Same -- and more effectively than if you would do something
personally! Can you not see the mystery? ( "Yes, LORD!" came the instant
response.) >
Therefore, rest in blessed Peace and Assurance that the Kingdom of GOD has truly come and the Will of GOD is now being done on earth as it is in Heaven! (As our LORD says this with a beautiful smile, HE stretches wide His Arms as though to encompass the universe!) You can see Civil Rights being established and emphasized and advocated in all of the States of the Union! I have contagionized the Atmosphere with Democracy, Brotherhood, Christianity, Judaism and Americanism as synonymous; and if they believe or believe ME not, they will be obliged to believe in what I have said, and live and do it; that is, if they live! That is, if they breathe! As afore said,
'Righteousness and Judgment are the Habitation of His Throne. The earth saw and trembled!'
By inspiration you have sung and you have declared,
'A Righteous Nation is rising, rich in the Virtue of Brotherhood and of Peace, where a man is a man and not a color, creed nor a race!'
Wheresoever that Righteousness is exemplified, there is where CHRIST shall reign!
I say, wheresoever that Righteousness is exemplified, in other words, Reproduced
and Personified, there is where CHRIST shall Reign as LORD of Lords and as KING
of Kings, and none shall slightly hinder Him, for the Mouth of GOD has declared
it! Can you not see the mystery? ( "Yes, GOD Almighty!"
declared one and all unanimously.) And that is the beauty of the Mystery of GOD,
for it was as is and is as was!
In the beginning of the Creation GOD did not have any Body anyway. HE went about His Creation, in creating the Creation, without any Body! Can you not see the mystery? "Yes, so true!" came the reply.) HE did not have any Body at all -- HE only had His Spirit! I have declared,
'MY SPIRIT will do it!'
GOD not having any Body, I did more profoundly establish and create and re-create
all of the Creation and all nations without My Body and before I had a Body than
what I have done since I had a Body! (FATHER pauses and laughs His mighty Holy
Laugh, then says:) When I did not have any Body and was Spirit and Spirit alone
without Body, Flesh, Blood and Bones, GOD moved out in the name of the Spirit
of the LORD, on the face of the deep and said,
'Let there be light and there was light!'
I AM just as Operative and just as Expressive as I was before I had any Body!
Therefore, it is immaterial to ME if I did not have a Body now; I AM just the
Same! I shall go forth Ruling, Conquering and to Conquer all mortality and all
carnality, for I came in the likeness of sinful flesh for sin to condemn sin
in the flesh! (As our LORD says this HE emphasizes same by bringing His Fist
down hard on the table in front of HIM.) Can you not see the mystery? (Yes, LORD! " came
the immediate reply.) Yet I could have done it without a Body -- but for the
purpose for which I came, I came in the likeness of sinful flesh and in the flesh
to condemn sin in the flesh -- and I stopped millions from committing vice and
crime and self-indulgence and sex-indulgence because I came in the likeness of
sinful flesh!
Yes, I came in the flesh, in the likeness of sinful flesh, in the likeness of those who were committing sin and vice and crime, lust and passion and self-indulgence of every kind; but I condemned it in millions and millions and millions -- and lust and passion and self-indulgence and carnality and mortality would have no access in the flesh since I came! That is what I AM doing! Had I not come in the flesh, even though without the flesh I AM Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent -- but had I not come in the flesh, no doubt I would not have condemned the sin in the flesh of millions of bodies to cause them not to even so much as commit self-indulgence with their companions; with their wives and with their husbands; even if they could or did or would have a beautiful wife like Mine!
Since I came in the flesh, in the likeness of sinful flesh, I have condemned the sin that is in that mortal, sinful flesh, that they might not have access to express in the sin and in self-indulgence and wickedness as they had been expressing! Aren't you glad! ("Oh, so glad, GOD Almighty!" came the quick response.) And mortality and carnality, when it wakes up and finds that I have all Dominion in the flesh and in the likeness of sinful flesh, and have condemned the sin that was in your flesh, they get violent and they go mad!
Some I have reigned over at least one-fourth of their lives since they were born; some I have reigned over more than one-fourth of their lives and stopped them from sinning in the flesh, for I condemned the sin that was in their flesh for more than one- fourth of their life! And many of whom I have condemned the sin that was in their flesh for more than half of their life! Many I have condemned the sin in their flesh all of their life, and, therefore, sin had no access for expression because I came in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, to condemn the sin that was in the flesh! Therefore, I condemned it and it could have no access to express! That is what they are raging about!
But I have not done anything to what I shall do! With or without being in harmony with ME, any of the people universally, eventually, if the they live, that sin that is in their flesh shall be condemned and re-condemned and re-condemned until they shall not be able to express and manifest the sin that is in their flesh! I thank you.
(When FATHER entered His Private Office Study, still in the Atmosphere and Power of His Holy Divine Spirit and Mind, HE continued speaking on thuswise, to the enjoyment and benefit of all):
Many more thoughts I thought to bring forth on these three or four men that were sentenced to life imprisonment after they had tried to criticize ME and then went out and committed a capital crime that would be known as crime, not directly, for blaspheming against GOD; would not have been considered, as in the experience of many others that did not seem to be the charge that was brought against them. But they were sentenced, not for committing the crime so much, but for committing the act, apparently; for committing the act! But the crime was committed before they committed it! -- for he that hates his brother without a cause is a murderer already -- so they were murderers already! Not only they but many others on record we have, of whom have arisen in opposition in the way of criticism and accusation against the Truth, the Fount of their Salvation and the Work of this Mission of Righteousness as it goes marching on -- the Kingdom of GOD and the Throne upon which CHRIST shall Reign throughout Eternity as LORD of Lords and as KING of Kings they rose! Many of whom I did not have time to mention have been cut off of the stage of action and gone to see if there is any reality in an unknown world to them!
I just mentioned those three boys. And as John was carried away in the Spirit on the LORD'S Day, I could not retract and contact the thoughts of those of whom have been sentenced equivalently in this vicinity and in other vicinities after they rose in opposition, and how Retribution has reached them on every hand and on every side! ("So true, LORD!" we verified.)
There were many more that could have been brought to the attention of the public, how they had brought themselves to their destination by rising in opposition to Righteousness in Government and Government in Righteousness! However, that is a Sample and an Example on record as evidence, to let them see and others see and know, that which they reap, they are reaping what they sow! Around here where the house was burned -- and so many different places where retribution came to those who rose in opposition -- criticized and tried to condemn GOD -- they had better lay off, for I AM working now as never before, and every knee must bow and every tongue must confess that GOD Himself is in the flesh!
(And with that last dynamic, significant Truth as uttered, our LORD ceased speaking.)
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