FATHER DIVINE at Atlantic City, N.J.
It has often been said by FATHER, "The way down is the way up." When one comes to his destination and can go no further down, when he cannot make another step forward nor backward, if he can but relax the conscious mentality and let go and let GOD, the clearance of the obstruction will automatically take place, and through praise and thanksgiving one can begin to go forward.
In this particular Message given by FATHER, the LORD of Hosts, the lesson of praise and its value has been emphasized for the advancement of all generally; therefore, allow these Words to be given not in vain for they are the Gift of GOD for the salvation of man.
Gracious Redeemer, We Thank THEE!
FATHER Speaks as follows:
PEACE EVERYONE! Here we all are again, with Good Health, Good Will and a Good Appetite for everyone, with your hearts filled full of Merriness and your bodies filled with Enthusiasm. For this cause I have arisen. Now aren't you glad?
While sitting thinking of the mystery of giving praise, I thought to say once again and further convey the same thought of which I had thought:
'Praises is the Key that will unlock each and every barred and shut door.'
Praises will make a way where there is no way. Praises will fill your souls with
joy, and cause you to become to be filled with enthusiasm beyond your reason
to think, beyond your power to control, until you will not be able to control
yourselves as persons; that is, if you give GOD Praise continually.
I was just thinking how marvelous it is to know the Truth. There are those who live in a state of accusation, a state of condemnation. In such a state of being, persons cannot enjoy the Presence of GOD in reality, neither can others enjoy their presence, for as you feel towards others, others feel the same towards you. For this cause it is essential for each and every individual to get in that state of praise and fill every avenue of your life with Praise and Thanksgiving. Your bodies and your minds -- every thought in your mind should be filled with praise, for this is the Work and the Will of GOD.
These praises which you are giving daily -- those who are giving praises, your praises are reaching the Throne of Grace, and of this spirit of joy and of GOD Himself, you can taste. Truly might have one said:
'Taste and see, the LORD is good.'
You can both taste and see, when you rightfully and harmoniously contact ME.
If there be a question as to whether this is true, concentrate harmoniously in this direction and I will give you a foretaste of this Glory. This will not be to you a reality unless you make your concentration a living reality and become to be conscientious -- sincere in all of your expressions, and live Evangelically that those blessings of the foretaste of Glory to you might be a reality.
How marvelous it is to live in such a recognition! Dark clouds of doubts and fears, I can see them dispelling; undesirable conditions are eradicated; the desirable will come forth into expression and the Spirit of GOD'S Presence will be a living reality if you continue to give Praises and Thanksgiving. This is not a supposition for I have declared and I re-declare the same:
'Give praise," -- in other words, "Ask, affirm, give thanks and give praise, GOD will confirm, increase and multiply."
'For your asking, GOD will freely give. For your affirmation, GOD will confirm.'
By the confirmation of that which you have affirmed, you can make your declaration
known, that which you have affirmed is a living reality, for by the confirmation
of the Almighty your affirmation are established.
'For your giving thanks, GOD will increase those blessings which you are receiving. For your giving praise continually, GOD will multiply them,'
conscientious in your actions otherwise, GOD will bountifully multiply your blessings,
and will continue to multiply them until you will not have room to receive them;
but for your fault-finding and for your accusation and for your condemning, you
will increase and attract such conditions to you as may be condemnable in your
consideration.
If you will use your energy, your mentality and all of your ambition in the act of giving thanks and giving praise continually, your blessings will be increased and multiplied until you will not have room to receive them; but if you lean towards the way of condemnation and especially in the act of condemning GOD for not doing something for you, you will increase and multiply that undesirable condition until you will not have room to receive the undesirable even as those who are giving praises do not have room to receive the desirable.
It is a rule that works both ways. It works vice versa. If you desire to give Praise and Thanksgiving for the blessings you have received, and praise to your Savior and Creator, your blessings will be increased and multiplied limitlessly, and you will not have room to receive the blessings; but on the other hand, you can start condemning, you can start fault-finding and accusing directly or indirectly the Works of your Savior, and your undesirable conditions you will increase them continually by your continued fault- finding and condemnation. You will increase the undesirable and multiply them until you will not have room to receive the undesirable even as I do not have room to receive the desirable!
How glorious it is to live in such a recognition where the Spirit of GOD'S Presence, with His Own Omniscience, is ever active on duty and at home at all times. Oh, it is a privilege to observe it, and if you will but copy after the fashion I have shown you, from whatsoever angle of expression you are functioning, you will increase and multiply limitlessly, for GOD is the Increaser and the Multiplier. What said the Apostle concerning the mystery?
'Paul may plant and Apollos may water, but GOD giveth the increase.'
I will increase whatsoever you plant in your memory and stress it continually. I will increase it and I will multiply it by your constant stressing of such in your memory, and by you giving Praise and Thanksgiving, and also by fault-finding and condemning. The seed idea is sown in the soil of the souls of the children of men. That seed idea is increased and multiplied by whatsoever nature or whatsoever seed it may be of. If it is a good seed, naturally that seed will increase more and more of the goodness of that kind of fruit, such as the seed is actually of. If it is an undesirable seed idea implanted in the soil of your soul you will increase the undesirable and multiply it continually, especially by fault-finding concerning the undesirable. Aren't you glad? I mean, if you consider certain things are undesirable, especially concerning the Works of the Almighty, and you begin fault-finding, condemning, accusing and ridiculing, the very spirit of such as you observe to be undesirable will be increased and multiplied continually. The desirable is equivalently the same; the reverse is equally true.
Take these thoughts to consideration and live in this place in consciousness where you can and will continue to give Thanks and Praises for the limitless blessings you and others are receiving, and your blessings by giving Thanks and giving Praise will be increased continually, and when your Praises shall go into expression volitionally, your blessings will be multiplied volitionally, automatically, beyond your reason or power to ask for them.
I do not have room to receive the blessings, as termed "Mine", that are given so freely by giving Thanks and Praise continually, (Aren't you glad?) and of such an unfoldment with such a recognition, of the increase of such an expression, and of such an expression there shall be no end.
I AM speaking interpretingly concerning the Kingdom. The expression of which I AM stressing is the Kingdom of Heaven.
'And of His Increase and of His Kingdom, there shall be no end.'
Then I say, if it is the Kingdom of GOD within, your blessings can never
come to an end. If you have the Kingdom in you, if you shall have enthroned the
CHRIST on the Throne of your mind to rule as LORD of lords and as KING of kings
over all things with which you are concerned, there and then the Kingdom has
truly come in all of your world of existence so far as you are concerned; and
as CHRIST rules on the Throne of your mind in business, labor, profession, or
trade in this mental and spiritual world, or in the physical or material world
of affairs, if GOD is ruling there,
'there is where His Kingdom is.'
Then I say, select and elect the Fundamental as a Standard and as the only Hope of Redemption for your consideration, and enthrone this PRINCIPLE on the Throne of your mind; there and then instantaneously, all of your powers will be brought into subjection to the Fundamental. There and then the Kingdom has truly come automatically, and none can hinder it when this is accomplished.
It is a matter of impossibility for an individual to be defeated when GOD Himself from the Name of CHRIST JESUS rules and reigns on the Throne of the mind of such people, for GOD in Himself is Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent; therefore it is a matter of impossibility for anything to hinder HIM.
Take these thoughts to consideration. By nature, from a psychological point of view, GOD is Supreme, and the Spirit of Supremacy is put forth into expression wheresoever HE functions and has Dominion. Aren't you glad? Wheresoever GOD reigns supremely, the Spirit of Supremacy is exemplified; therefore, I say, if you will but elect and enthrone the CHRIST on the Throne of your mind, CHRIST will come thereon as a Living Factor and will become to be with you Real, Tangible and Practical. He will become to be to you as scientific and profitable as the invention of electricity; and in each of these great expressions of the world of science and the world of accounts will only be but a slight sketch and a reflection of a percent of a percent of a percent of a fraction of a grain of the Reality of GOD in the hearts and lives of men.
How glorious it is to realize your privilege with your GOD. GOD is producible and reproducible. GOD is inculcatable and re-inculcatable. GOD is Personifiable and re-personifiable. It is your privilege to reproduce and re-personify the identical CHRIST and allow Him to rule and have dominion in this present life. CHRIST being enthroned on the Throne of your mind, GOD in His Own Majesty, Dominion and Authority will come forth conquering and to conquer within you, and there will not be enough powers without or within to hinder. Aren't you glad? You are glad and so AM I.
It has long since been declared, and I re-declare the same, GOD is Impersonal. GOD is Spirit and GOD is Mind; therefore, GOD according to the mortal versions of men, cannot be defined; but from a psychological point of view, GOD through His Condescension can be as much a reality in you, as on the Throne, according to the versions of the Religions. The reproduction of GOD in His Majesty, it is your privilege to reproduce HIM and put HIM forth into expression and allow HIM to express definingly until HE can in you express as if though HE has been brought to fruition with victory over every difficulty; there and then, you will be able to declare with ME, "None can hinder."
This is not a supposition. I ask your critics and the minds of them, to bear witness to My Sayings, for the mortal mind in opposition to the Fundamental, it is, and other expressions are witnesses for ME. Aren't you glad? GOD can be made Real, Tangible and Practical in each and every individual's affairs. GOD Himself can, if you will allow HIM to have dominion there.
This is the Work of CHRIST and this is His Mission, as it may be termed, although you have declared I AM HE. Then I say, "Give Praise and Thanks continually, and lo, I will be with you from this angle of expression and naught will be able to hinder you -- not in any of your endeavors." Aren't you glad?
You have heard the Christian world say from time to time,
'CHRIST fought through forty-two different generations and never lost a battle,'
but they would not reproduce that same Victorious One, from that angle of expression,
according to their own version. They defeated themselves. Produce the Victorious
One and you will have the victory every time! Aren't you glad?
I say this is not a supposition. We are out of the world of imagination. We are in the world of conscious convictions and realizations of millions, for such a recognition and realization have been established that mankind might recognize GOD'S Actual Presence now, henceforth and forever.
How glorious it will be when men learn to produce the CHRIST in their lives, in their business, profession, labor and trade and express Him according to His Characteristics; according to His Nature. When this is accomplished with any individual, with any organization, or with any people, it will be a matter of impossibility for them to be a failure. Such a person or such people will produce and express supremacy and they, as it may be termed, will be those of whom will be known to be the supreme among the land.
Your supremacy and your independence come by your recognition of GOD'S Actual Presence and by reproducing and bringing to fruition the Characteristics of your Savior, and by living thus accordingly. By so doing you can and will produce and manifest the spirit of supremacy. You will not have to go around in lacks, wants and limitations, for did not Jesus bring forth an expression of victory over limitation, when He produced and brought to outward expression the Abundance of the Fulness out of such a limited amount of food?
This was a foretaste of Glory -- a prediction of His Victory over limitation and of how in CHRIST and CHRIST in you would have victory over all limitation. Aren't you glad? As with an individual so with a nation, and as with a nation so with an individual; therefore, as it was with Jesus as a Person, so with all of the coming generations; those who will be Followers of Him. They will be partakers of His Nature and producers of the same results such as He produced and brought into expression as a Sample and as an Example for others.
Is not this a glorious demonstration? This is not anything special, it is a matter of course with us. This is Monday morning, is it not? In other words, Monday afternoon, an off day, but it does not look very off here, does it? It looks just the same as if though it were some special feast day, does it not? It looks as if though it were some great Church or Meeting day, does it not? When you recognize GOD'S Presence at all times the same, and live and express accurately and exactly the same at all times, GOD to you in expression in blessings will be the same, and of your blessings and of your increase there shall be no end. Aren't you glad?
It is a matter of impossibility for this to cease, for it has long since been declared,
'His Kingdom shall increase.'
Therefore, I say, copy after the Fashion -- the Fashion I AM showing you on the
Mount of this Understanding, the Highway that I have lifted, to be as though
it were in the wilderness, but up on the Mountain where you can talk with GOD.
Aren't you glad? Up in the highest Light of Understanding, where the Spirit of
GOD is a Living Reality, and where His Presence in the act of demonstrating blessings
will meet you and will greet you and will treat you. That is what it is all about.
I have not done anything yet to what I will do. When each of you produce the Producer and cause the Producer to be brought forth into expression as HE was produced in the beginning, there and then GOD in His Own Expression will act Majestically, even as HE did in the beginning of the Creation.
This is not a supposition I say; it is your privilege as well as it is GOD'S Himself. The privilege is impersonal; the expressions are the same. The emotions are all impersonal and the gestures are impersonal. You may say, "These are my gestures, I am making," but they are impersonal for I AM Impersonal. Now aren't you glad? They all shall be the same in expression. Aren't you glad?
Dial in on this, of which I AM, with the Spirit of My Mind and the Mind of My Spirit, with the Characteristics, with the Nature, with the Disposition, with the Emotions and with the Spirit, and you will be the reproducers and the reincarnaters and the re-personifiers of that of which I AM. Aren't you glad? You may not be called by My Name as a person, but the Nature and the Characteristics in expression, the Spirit and the Presence of GOD in reality will be actually made Real, Tangible and Practical. GOD no longer will be an imagination in your consideration, but you can speak Positive words even though you may speak them as a person and in the name of an Angel, or a man; yet it will be GOD Who Liveth and Speaketh within.
The "other fellow" has been reigning long enough. I AM dispossessing the "other fellow" and shall prove to the world conclusively GOD is Universal and GOD to you will be Omnipresent with His Infiniteness in expression, as being called "Limitless Blessings." Aren't you glad? Then I say, if you give praise and thanks continually, your blessings will be limitless, for you will take on the Nature and the Characteristics and the Infiniteness, and all of your expressions will be the expressions of GOD'S Nature and of GOD'S Characteristics.
How glorious it is to live in such a world where all things are changed! "Behold, I make all things new!" I AM renovating old souls and old minds. I AM reviving your old bodies, for this is the great revival of which man has been talking. Aren't you glad? I say, the renovation of the souls and the bodies of men, even as I renovate and remodel old buildings, I will cause this Whole Earth to become to be a Brand New Creation, according to the Scriptures.
You are being regenerated and born again. This is a re-creation of the lives and of the expressions of the children of men. Aren't you glad? Therefore, we shall have a Righteous Government. I shall bring Righteousness as I have it in My Own Body into expression, and all mankind shall reckon GOD'S Presence as Righteousness, Truth and Justice, a living reality. Aren't you glad?
That which was spiritual shall be made legal. I shall legalize All of the Righteousness of GOD, such as I have Personified. Aren't you glad? The legalization of such an expression as I have produced and AM reproducing will be a living reality universally, and all humanity shall recognize the Legalized Law of GOD. That is why I called for a Righteous Government in the fulfillment of the Scriptures, as predicted by the Spirit through the Prophetic Age:
'Unto us a child is born,'
Aren't you glad?
'Unto us a Son is given and the government shall be upon His Shoulder.'
Aren't you glad? Can you not see all government moving by the Power of GOD? You
may not see it on "the Shoulder," in reality, apparently, but you see
it is moving by the Power of GOD. Aren't you glad? But if you watch closely,
you will be able to see "the Shoulder." All government shall recognize
GOD among them as a Living Factor, and as made Real, Tangible and Practical as
the Founder of True Legality! Aren't you glad? By this, all mankind shall know
GOD is a Living Reality and no longer imaginary nor merely Something for the
mythological world, but for the world in which we live.
When I call for a Righteous Government, I AM calling for "MY Own." I shall put the Righteous Government into actual practical service. Aren't you glad? A Righteous Government must be recognized. As mankind observes the mystery, the Righteous Government as I have it shall be made Legal and all humanity shall see it, and the Government that will not accept it, will perish from the earth.
Can you not see the kingdoms rising and waning? Aren't you glad? Oh, it is something to consider! You should think back for a few months ago, to one of the great kingdoms of our civilization failing. Aren't you glad? They shall all fail unless they accept of, not only the Prince of Peace as being termed "The Secretary of Peace," neither merely accept of "The Ambassadors of Peace," but they must accept of
'The King of Peace.'
Aren't you glad?
As I said a little while ago,
'The Government is upon His Shoulder, and HE shall be called Wonderful!'
You know I have been called "Wonderful." They call ME "Peace,
It Is Wonderful!" everywhere I go! Aren't you glad?
'HE shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty GOD.'
You know they call ME "The Mighty GOD!" Aren't you glad?
All over this wide extended plane, here and now, GOD forever Reigns, and you can say as it was predicted,
'Everlasting FATHER.'
You can declare as it was predicted, "The Everlasting FATHER,"
for I AM the Fulfiller. Aren't you glad? And the last, but not the least of the
especial quotation,
'The Prince of Peace!'
Aren't you glad? "The Son of the King of Peace" put forth into expression,
where all mankind must reckon the "Son of Peace," as evident, for the
reality of "The King of Peace," of Whom you say I AM.
I shall not be discouraged and I shall not be, by any means, disturbed, until I shall have Universalized that which you realize, and that which you reckon as a living reality; I shall universally establish it!
How glorious it is, then, to live in such a recognition! How glorious it is to be in the Actual Kingdom of Heaven, where the fondest of imaginations of all Religions have become to be a living reality, and made Real, Tangible and Practical, and GOD Himself through His Condescension is bringing such an expression through Legality, causing the legalization of Righteousness, Truth and Justice, and even the Law of the Kingdom of Heaven to be a reality among us. I thank you.
**************