FATHER and MOTHER DIVINE,
Circle Mission Church
Shortly before FATHER, our Beloved Savior and Dean of the Universe, delivered this profound Sermon, the Secretary read from the Supplement the famous letter, under date of December 20, 1945, explaining why FATHER DIVINE'S followers do not accept gifts and tips; then she read from the following page a few examples of FATHER'S Spirit working in government regarding abolition of gift and bribe taking! These actual examples taken from the press, telling of what the city, state and government officials have done in weeding out vice and crime, in accordance with FATHER'S Teaching, are indeed well worth considering! However, in this vital Sermon herein recorded, our Supreme exemplifier of all Righteousness, Truth and Justice gets down to the apparently simple but important points of enacting Righteousness in everyday life, and starts from the daily lives of His followers, in order to create a Righteous citizenry and thence, a Righteous Government Universally!
Also brought into consideration was a clipping taken from the Philadelphia
Inquirer, under date of February 9th, 1954, entitled: "Behind America's
$20,000,000,000 Crime Bill!" It is also herein recorded for your edification
and consideration! Almighty GOD, we truly thank thee!
(The foregoing statements are those of the transcriber, after which is firstly recorded the clipping, then the marvelous Sermon given by FATHER, which should be taken cognizance of and put into practice by all mankind!)
From preliminary statistics it looks as though 1953 will take rank as the highest on record in major crimes in the United States. Rampant crime costs America $10,000,000,000 a year. And it's getting worse. That is the appalling condition outlined by J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in a report to a Congressional committee.
And in his statement Mr. Hoover bluntly pointed to certain vital causes behind the country's lurid crime picture. They are free-wheeling "parole, probation and other forms of clemency" which, to my mind, almost makes justice a mockery. Under those "other forms of clemency" certainly should be included easy-going courts, judges who impose inadequate sentences and a weird system of appeals that shuttles cases interminably back and forth in state and federal tribunals, often for years.
Is there anything in this pattern to impress the idea on a crook, young or old, that crime doesn't pay? The hard cold facts show that he has every reason to expect that if he is convicted he can get away with a comparatively light sentence. Then, with cynical slickness, he'll be a paragon of well-behaved virtue behind the bars in order to ease himself up to a parole that, in a shockingly large percentage of cases, is a much-appreciated prelude to a prompt return to robbery, rape or murder.
In the first six months of last year, crimes of that character were committed every 4.3 minutes in the United States.
Mr. Hoover expressed strong feelings on the soft treatment of criminals. He mentioned that 11 out of 18 FBI agents killed in line of duty were slain by men who had been paroled or placed on probation or dealt with leniently in the courts.
Mr. Hoover, like any good citizen, strongly favors proper parole and leniency when they can be counted on to rehabilitate men. But he as strongly opposes the wide-open system of turning confirmed, hardened criminals loose on society.
We've just had another typical week end "crime spree" in this city. We'll have more. Throughout the Nation 1954 bids fair to rival 1953. A $20,000,000,000 crime bill is so staggering as to be almost beyond comprehension. But there it is a challenge that must arouse American public opinion to demand, and get, stern justice that will end the grisly farce of pampered criminality in this country.
FATHER speaks as follows:
PEACE, EVERYONE: That little Message that was read a little while ago I say a Message, because, even though it was an open letter it was a Message to remain on record to be read and iterated and stressed and remembered in all of My Holy Mountains!
There are thousands of people desire to get something for nothing; therefore, they follow up the system of gift and tip-taking; but I have called it into question many years ago. This Government, which is by the people, for the People and through the people, must Stand if it stands for Equity and Justice for All. Therefore, we have called for that Spirit of Equity and Justice to bring an end to all graft and greed, racketeering and profiteering and of trying to get something for nothing!
I thought of what was brought to My attention the other day, that some person lives on premises I mean, with their employer and they attempt to bake cakes and other things in the home and take them to others. That is just the same as burglary, in My consideration. I know it is not a true follower of Mine! They would not bake a biscuit the size of the bottom of a tea cup and take it away without permission, whether the employers are there or not! That old, antediluvian slavery, forgery and perjury system of men must go back from whence it came!
Not a true follower of Mine would accept or pick up as small a thing as a little straight pin a little dress pin what you would call a brass pin, such as this one; (FATHER holds up a tiny straight pin as HE continues speaking:) very small and take it away from the place where you are employed, unless it actually belongs to you! (Loud applause sanctions this.)
We shall have a Righteous Government, and, as I say, Righteousness in Government shall envelop the world! Hence, My Movement, as one said, was not necessarily increasing and multiplying as some may count the increasement of the Movement and of the Church, but the nations of the earth are being enveloped into this, and I AM in the governments and I shall speak and act in them, even as I have in this city! Aren't you glad! ("Yes, so glad!" came the joyous response.)
The City government speaks My Words, My Actions and My Version. It has been established and recognized, and the states are following suit, to accept My Message as I have given you, for Honesty, for Competence and for Truth! Aren't you glad! ("So glad!" came the reply). I shall let everybody know, true followers of Mine will be true to yourselves, as individuals, individually, collectively, nationally and universally, and you will be true to others equivalently! (Loud applause rings out).
Then I say, it is a privilege to see the Spirit of My Presence whether in the Name of the peace Mission Movement or not, it is immaterial to ME, it is going forth, conquering and to conquer! It is instituting Righteousness in Government, even if it is not in My Name! ("So glad, LORD! came the joyous response). We shall have a Righteous Government from shore to shore and from land to land! (Loud applause resounds). Therefore, if any person or persons attempt to or try to bring food or anything else from the employer's places where they are serving, you may know they are not of ME! for if you are of ME, you would not desire to get something for nothing! You will pay to the debtor your pledge and live Soberly, Righteously and Godly in every deed and in every word, and will not be ashamed to let all mankind know what you are doing and why you are doing it! Why My followers do not take gifts and tips and presents! It has been explained quite explicitly just as I AM telling you! And further, it is explained by the virtue of the fact that the abolition of gifts, tips and bribes are exercised in other words, the abolition of gifts, tips and bribes taken! And the officials under this present administration are endeavoring to institute the very same policy in all of our civic, social and federal administrations! (Thunderous applause rings out).
Nineteen hundred years ago in speaking of ME in the Sonship Degree, it is written,
'And HE got in and the door was shut!'
The politicians and legal political officials and others had closed the door
to Righteousness, a good many of them, so that the Righteous could not get in
to exercise the right of franchise. Because of this it was and still is evidence
among the officials, yea, public officials and those representatives of government,
as much crime exemplified among them, in some places, as it is in the underworld!
But as it is being revealed, it has been conservatively estimated that more than
four billion dollars have been consumed in crime, inside of this last year, of
the present fiscal year. The crime bills run up to the billions, all because
of Dishonesty, Incompetence and Untruth among those who are called officials,
teachers, preachers and leaders tolerating and indulging in Crime! But I came
to bring an end to it! (Loud applause rings out).
'The love of money is the root of all evil,'
I said a while ago, more than four billion dollars. According to the statistics it is evidenced in the paper or the press of today it is more than twenty billion dollars! (FATHER reads the headline of the clipping aloud, as follows:) $20.000,000,000 CRIME BILL (then HE explains:) what it has cost this country in the last and present year of the fiscal year!
So we want to say, I do not tolerate it, and those who are called My followers will not tolerate any petty thief, taking things from your employer's homes where you are serving, and bringing it home for yourselves and for others! I AM not asking any of you to bring ME a dime!
'The earth is the LORD'S and the fullness thereof! The Cattle on a thousand hills are mine,'
said the prophet,
'and if I was an hungered, I would not tell you I would slay and eat!'
Crime! I say, they are catering to crime!
He that would steal an egg would steal an ox if they could get him in their pocket!'
I have further said, "If you would steal an apple, you would steal an elephant if you could get away with him!"
Honesty is the keynote to salvation and it is the hope of your redemption, by living righteously, soberly, godly, honest, competent and true in all you say and in all you do! Therefore, I call your attention to the fact of why My followers do not accept of gift, tips and presents because they do not desire to get something for nothing! Aren't you glad! ("So glad, LORD!" came the reply). And those who have reported the people going around, soliciting and working on places, using your employer's electric and gas to cook what you want, and take it out to your friends that is a Crime and it's a Hideous crime; for I just said, "He that would steal an egg would steal an ox," and "he that would steal an apple would steal an elephant if they could get him in their pocket!" ("So true!" came the verification). These words have gone out this day more stressfully, as I have often stressed it, but since I had not spoken on this subject exactly recently, I'M calling attention to it so that you all will be on the lookout for anyone who, in the name of any one of our Churches, will attempt to do anything dishonestly! FATHER again glances down at the clipping in front of HIM, as HE says:) Just think of twenty billion dollar crime just in this fiscal year! just in this fiscal year!
Then I say, live in this Recognition and do as I bid you, and we will curb crime in the wake of our Movement, wheresoever we have access to express, and there will be all success and prosperity in the place of such conditions! (Loud applause resounds).
How marvelous it is to live in such a Recognition! to live absolutely independent and super-independent, and be intelligent and super-intelligent, and express a citizenry of a True Democracy, of Americanism, Christianity and True Judaism synonymously! And when this is done, your Foundation will be built upon that which cannot be shaken!
Live in this Recognition and we will have Peace on earth and Good Will to men! Aren't you glad! ("So glad, GOD Almighty!" came the joyous exclamation).
Those who wish to carry on like that, they are not of ME, and they will be exposed and put out from among us, if they do so! I'm trying to give something for nothing, because I know the Law of Life! Even if you were looking for something selfishly, it could be deemed as selfish of ME to try to Give something for nothing and close up the way of getting anything in return for what I AM doing. It could be deemed selfish of ME for if you have a bit of intelligence, especially Biblical intelligence, you know it is written,
'No man has forsaken all these things lest he gain an hundredfold more in this present time, and in the world to come. Life Everlasting!'
We are happy to say we have gained an hundred times as much! an hundredfold more is an hundred times as much! An hundred dollars for every one dollar and a thousand dollars for every one hundred dollars! Ten thousand dollars for the like! So it is something to consider!
You gain an hundredfold more an hundred times as much! And if you wanted to do it, even for selfishness, it would be a good way to increase and multiply your blessings, until you would not have room just as you all do not, under My jurisdiction would not have room to receive them! I thank you!
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