FATHER DIVINE
At a public meeting held at the Laurel Gardens, in New York City, on Sunday August 28th 1932, the whole audience rose to its feet in a great demonstration which lasted for several minutes, singing with FATHER the following song:
"I will help you, I will help you,
I will help you all the way, etc."
FATHER spoke as follows :
It is Wonderful! It is Wonderful! It is Wonderful! (When ushers tried to quiet some who were continuing the demonstration, FATHER said :) Leave the Spirit alone! Let the Spirit have its way! It is Wonderful! I just say here, that I sang that from the innermost part of MY understanding. "I will help you all the way." That is to say firstly as a response to the last testimony of the young man, and also his father, the Bishop, "I will help you all the way." It is Wonderful! And I rejoice in helping you all the way — not by the will of man, nor by the will of the flesh, not by the way of man nor by the way of the custom of men : I rejoice because I will help you in the way that GOD ordained that you would be helped! It is Wonderful!
And as the Bishop — firstly I would say, it is written,
"Ask, and it shall be given; seek and ye shall find; knock, and the door shall be opened unto you."
And it is written in another occasion,
"Call upon me in the day of trouble: and I will deliver thee."
There are many of you — I venture to say there are hundreds of you — right here in our midst today, even here at this particular place that have made that call, and through that contact you have been delivered. It is Wonderful! It is Wonderful! I believe you have the witness within yourselves. Then you realize that what I AM saying, I AM saying not merely as a song, but you have the experience that I will help you all the way. When sorrow or trouble arises, I will help you on your way. We don't care anything about the adverse minds and conditions, we know that with or without a body, all you must needs do is call on ME.
"Call on me in the day of trouble ..."
the Name that charms your fears and bids your sorrows cease. And the Name of
Jesus was a Name that was sufficient to bid your sorrows cease. It was a Name that was sufficient to heal and to save. But even the Name of Jesus — Jesus Christ — the great Love Master said Himself that,
"My Father is greater than I."
Jesus, I say, Jesus Himself said that, "My Father is greater than I." It is Wonderful !
"When he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will lead you and guide you into all Truth."
And,
"In that day, you will ask me nothing, but whatsoever you ask the Father in my name, he will give it you."
Do you not see it is a reality? We are not speaking of materiality, we are not speaking of personality, but we are speaking of the reality of the Grand Principle of Life that has been brought forth into expression through that Life and Teachings of the Christ that was called Jesus. And it has been brought into a real manifestation, into and through your conscious realization of the materialization of GOD. As Bishop Jack said, we that know — humanly speaking you apply it to the body called Jesus when John says that,
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, as the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of Grace and of truth.”
Do you all not see the abundance of the fullness of good? It is Wonderful! Fullness of honor and of Truth? The grace of GOD will make you honorable! The honor of GOD will make you honorable, for it is written in the Gospel,
"The little leaven leaveneth the whole lump."
And it has leavened you, and it has made you honorable by the honor of' the Spirit of Life, the grace of the Spirit of Life that is in Christ Jesus, that is in you. It has made you honorable even also as He is honored.
So we have something to praise GOD for, but best of all for the wonderful good and for the highest expression of GOD'S Life and Love to us-wards as a people. You can make your mental and spiritual contact wheresoever you may be, and you can call on ME in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee. It is wonderful! Now Bishop Jack is not the only one that has called MY Name and got deliverance. I believe there are a few more of you that have done the same. Why? Because there is power in the Name.
"The name of God is a strong tower: and the Righteous run therein, and are saved."
And again I say unto you, that the name of Jesus, even of it, He said, that,
"My Father is greater than I."
And we have it on record in the composition of an old familiar hymn,
"How sweet the name of Jesus sounds
In a believer's ear!
It sooths his sorrows, heals his wounds,
And drives away his fear."
I heard you say,
"Tis manna to the hungry souland to the weary, rest.
It makes the wounded spirit whole, and calms the troubled breast."
Then you said,
"The name, the Lamb to it I flee."
It is Wonderful!
Isn't it a Mighty Name? You can see that there is power in the Mighty Name of GOD, whether it would be in the person or the personality, or not, we know that there is power in the Name. It is Wonderful!
"Unto us a child is born ... and he shall be called Wonderful ..."
Do you not hear ME say day in and day out through the mouths of thousands and thousands of people, "It is Wonderful! It is Wonderful!"? I AM speaking through the mouths of millions and I shall speak through the mouths of as many million more and I shall say, "It is Wonderful" through as many million more, for the atmosphere is filled with the Spirit of the Consciousness of the Presence of GOD, and the recognition of GOD's Presence will bring into your conscious realization, "It is Wonderful!" It will bring it into your conscious realization that"It is Wonderful!"
Now it is that child that was born . . .
". .. and the government shall be upon his shoulders and he shall be called, Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father ..."
— that same one was called by that very same name — "Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace." That is why — that's the reason why you find such peace — such sweet peace and rest when you come to the recognition of GOD your FATHER; realizing that firstly it is Wonderful, then knowing that HE is the Counselor that can plead your case. Then know HE is the Mighty GOD. Know in yourselves HE is the everlasting FATHER, and by so doing and so proclaiming, affirming and making such declarations, you will find that HE is the Prince of Peace, and if you are having trouble or sorrow, or anything of that kind, if you only do as Bishop Jack has said, in some of those phrases that I use in MY discourses, use ye them and you will produce the Spirit of the FATHER to you, and apply it to your very soul and body. Your sorrows will disappear and then you will recognize the Prince of Peace that has given peace to your very soul and your body. It is Wonderful!
You will find the Everlasting FATHER that reigns forever and ever. The Name of the FATHER fades not away, for it is Everlasting. It lasts forever in your consciousness because you keep it and it does not fade away, the same as a fast color in anything, anything that is sun fast, anything that is tub-fast, something that will not fade away. It is Wonderful! Then you will find when it does not fade out of your consciousness, when it does not fade out of your memory, when you clothe your mind with the Spirit of the Consciousness of GOD'S Presence, you will find that sorrow will get away from around you, and you will find that sweet peace and rest applied to your soul and to your body, and then and there and here and now shall it have been verified manifestedly, the words of Jesus saying,
"My peace I give unto you, my peace I leave with you : not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid."
It is Wonderful!
So again I say unto you, let not your hearts be troubled, for peace and prosperity I have brought to the world. And as in the case of this young gentleman, in the case of this young man, how wonderful it is to see and know that it is your privilege, as well as it is his, to be successful and prosperous on the material plane, in your business and in your business affairs, as well as in your spirit and in your soul. It is Wonderful! He is one among many that would allow this mighty Spirit of Love and of mercy to bless him from a material and from a practical standpoint of view, to be prosperous and successful in his undertakings
.Now why should any of you go around without food, without occupation, or anything of that kind, for it is just as free for you as it is for this young man. Live the Life I say, and "Call on me in the day of trouble: and I will deliver thee." Have a pure heart and a pure mind and you don't have to go around as a vagabond. GOD has declared that "I will make you the head and not the tail." It is Wonderful! I will bless you in your storehouses. I will bless you in your baskets. I will bless you in the fruit of your land, and in the fruit of your cattle. I will bless you in your going out, and I will bless you in your coming in. I will bless you in the fruit of your body, and whatsoever you lay your hand to shall prosper." It is Wonderful! Therefore, none need lack in GOD's abundance for there is a full and a plenty for all, for Christ is the Source and the supply, the Advocator, the Creator and the Demonstrator. I think I had better stop. ("No, no, FATHER, don't stop!" from the audience.)
I desire to see you all even as I AM — filled with all of the abundance of the consciousness of good, having no space vacant of the fullness thereof. Now, you all know that I never ask you for anything. Well, that's the way GOD wants all of HIS children — independent! It is Wonderful! GOD wants all of HIS children to be absolutely independent and to live an absolutely independent, legal and yet an Evangelical and an angelic life. He that is faithful over that which is least shall be faithful over much. You know I AM — humanly speaking; I could say that I AM proud of you, because you are willing to live according to MY instructions. It is Wonderful! Because you are willing to do what you think and know pleases ME. It is Wonderful!
Therefore, as Bishop Jack says, it is not just merely emotionalism and fanaticism, but it is Grace and Truth, and this Grace and Truth has been made practical, and I will materialize it universally and bring it into actuality throughout the whole universe. I did not come in your hearts and in your minds to get you to lower your standard of thinking. I did not come in your hearts- and in your minds to lower your classification or qualifications etc., but I came in your hearts and minds to lift you up. It is Wonderful!
I AM in your hearts! I AM in your minds and I AM there to stay! As I said the other day, no man can knock ME out of you. If they can knock the d- v- l out of you, they cannot knock ME out of you. They cannot knock ME out of you! It is Wonderful! If they try to knock the d-v-l out of you, and if they call ME the d-v-l, they will find that they cannot knock ME out of you, for I have risen, and I have risen in your souls. It is Wonderful! I say, I AM in your mind. I AM in your heart, and I AM uppermostly in your consciousness —not only in your mind lowly, but I AM "uppermostly" in your mind. It is Wonderful! For this cause no man can knock ME out of you, can he? When trials and tribulations come, as said the Word,
"Call on me in the day of trouble and I will deliver thee."
Now remember, as I said at the Banquet this morning, that the "I AM" — in other words, suppose I would speak a little more flat, and a little more illiterately so that those of us that don't understand, might understand, in an ignorant way of speaking. I said this morning and I repeat the same, now, "I" is GOD. (Demonstration from the audience.) It is Wonderful! Now listen! What I wanted to say about that, now I hope you will not — PEACE! I want you all to understand what I AM saying now. I don't want you to get a misunderstanding of what I AM saying. Now where they say in metaphysics, "I AM God," they often say, "I Am" is God, but remember, the "Am" is in the place of the "is", and when they say, the "I Am" is God, they could have said, the "I" is God. Now that is not saying that the person or persons are God, but it is saying that the "I Am" is God, which should have been said, the "I", is God. For the capital "I" in the English alphabet is applicable to every person, and when you use that "I" in the alphabet you see, each one will use that capital "I", will you not? Don't you use that capital "I"? It is Wonderful!
Now if you don't think that is applicable, do not say it, and do not use it. But that capital "I" when another will say "I", they will go to the capital letters of the alphabet and get that capital "I", and will apply it to themselves —every one of you. Then when I say that the word that is commonly used to, "Be still and know that I am God", that could have been said, "Be still, and know that the "I", is God." It could have said, "Be still and know that, that "I", or the "I" is God." The "I" in the whole universe is GOD.
Then when I spoke the "I" into existence a little while ago, or in your consideration, do not think I AM bothering about MYSELF as an individual, as a Person. It is Wonderful! I AM not saying this because I fear being called GOD, but just because I do not have to call MYSELF even "FATHER." I do not have to call MYSELF anything as a Person, but you call ME, or call anything what you choose, and I AM ready and willing to face anything. I have stood before machine guns and I can stand before as many more for the true revelation of Truth, and if the Spirit reveals to you that a canary bird is GOD, why I will not tell you not to call it GOD. So I said that to let you know and to let the general public know that I AM not saying or showing you that the "I" that we are advocating, is applicable to each and every person because I AM trying to shun or shirk MY duty or MY calling, or MY mission, or trying to hide MYSELF in any way. I AM not trying to hide from anything. It is Wonderful! But I set before you an open door, and I do not try to bar anyone from the highest elevation of the expression of Life, of GOD, and of HIS Kingdom here on earth.
For this cause I say that the "I" that we are speaking about, the "I" in the alphabet, is GOD. For Jesus, whom you say is GOD, that has been made flesh and in the fleshly state of expression, He said,
"I am the way, the truth, and the life."
He used that very same "I." He went into the capital letters of the alphabet and He got out that same "I", and He said that was Him. It is Wonderful! He applied it to Himself, and I set before you an open door, that each and every one of you may live the life and advance to the highest perfection or expression of life that you can, by making your affirmations and declarations, and by living an Evangelical Life, according to the Life and the Teachings of Christ as recorded in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and by letting this mind be in you that was also in Him. It is Wonderful! And by so doing, dear ones, you too will be able to bring forth the Christ to fruition in your own lives and manifest Him to the world.
So that is why I said that the "I" is GOD. I said it in a way that it might stress your mind so you can remember it. When I said that I would speak a little flat, that I would speak this word from the world of ignorance, that you might see and know that the "I" is GOD, then when I said I want you to know that "I" is GOD, that was what I meant by that ; but I want you to know that the "I" is GOD. The "I" which is applied to every person's life individually, when they speak of themselves, of what they are going to do, they say I am going to do this, or I am going to do that, and they are the "I” that they are talking about, don't you see. Therefore it is applicable to every individual life if they could but speak and act upon the motion. It is Wonderful!
Take these thoughts and you will find that you too will realize that the "I" is applied to your very life and you can do even as Jesus did, go and get that "I" out of the alphabet and use that "I", for that "I" is the GOD of all the universe. It controls each and every man. It is Wonderful! "I am going." "All right, I will be there." If you say, "I will be there", or "I will do this", or "I will do that", do you not see that the very "I" controls the individual? When you promised anything, you said, "I will do that." And that "I" controls your body because the "I" stood. You use that "I" don't you see, and that "I" becomes to be you. To you, that "I" is you and to ME, that "I" is ME. It is Wonderful! It is Wonderful!
I thought I would just give you a little simple talk this afternoon in cooperation with the wonderful testimony and experience of both Bishop Jack and his beloved son, who have subjugated themselves — he has subjugated himself — to the Spirit as revealed to his father that he might be governed thereby, and he has been so abundantly blessed, and made the head and not the tail. Now every one of you can be the same. Every one of you can be blessed that you will not have to be without a position. You will not have to be without food and comforts, and an abundance of everything that life demands, for there is a full and a plenty for all. It is Wonderful!
Therefore, I say unto you again, I have come to bring you prosperity, health and happiness, and all discords must disappear with the Spirit of the Consciousness of the Presence of GOD, for the Presence of GOD makes merry the heart, and a merry heart is a good medicine. A merry heart, I say, it is a good medicine, and that's all the medicine we use around here. It is Wonderful! We have such merry hearts it heals us of our adversity, it heals us of all poverty and lacks and all wants and limitations, for it is the best medicine that has ever been. It is Wonderful! It will heal you from all kinds of sickness and disease, for you are conscious of GOD's Presence, and one of the writers declared that
"In all of their afflictions he was afflicted, but the angel of his presence saved them."
The Spirit of GOD's Presence will save you every time, in every difficulty, in every combatment and in every trial and in every tribulation. The Spirit of GOD's Presence will not only help you, but it will save you from the fall and deliver you from all adverse and from all undesirable conditions. It will set you fully free. It is Wonderful!
I rejoice because I can rejoice, and because you all believe so much and so vividly and so firmly in ME and in MY testimony. You do, because you see that I AM advocating and emphasizing and preaching just what I AM demonstrating and practicing. It is Wonderful! How can I advocate GOD as an individual Savior if I AM not saved from those adverse conditions MYSELF —advocate that and then not be a demonstrator of what I AM advocating? Why, I would not be very much of an agent. You know if an agent has any kind of instrument, or anything of that kind, and he cannot demonstrate it, why he wouldn't be a very good agent, would he? So it is with us. We, as the children of GOD, if we advocate and empha5ize and preach the Life of Christ, then let us demonstrate that which we are advocating. Demonstrate it and bring it as an evidence to the world. I set before you an open door that every one of you can look in and see the abundance of the fullness of all good things that life demands, as a sample and as an example that is desirable of all men and to all men; and every one of you can be partakers of the same, for GOD is no respecter of persons. It is Wonderful!
Now I want each and every one of you to realize, as Dr. Jack said, in trouble — anything, whether it be aches or pains, sickness or diseases, sorrow or trouble, disappointments or any kind of ailment or undesirable condition of any kind,
"Call on me in the day of trouble: and I will deliver thee."
It is Wonderful! And as Bishop Jack said, when you lie down at night, why you don't have to go through the performance of prayer like you used to, that is a custom. But when you make your mental and spiritual contact, realizing that GOD is—0mnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent, then realizing that GOD is Present with you in reality, with all of the fullness of HIS attributes and majesty, and yet with the fullness of HIS Love, and all you must needs do is to say, "I thank YOU, FATHER." It is Wonderful!
The Apostle puts it in one occasion,
"In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
And if you will do that, then and there and here and now you will begin to rejoice, and if you begin to rejoice with this ,joy that is unspeakable and full of great Glory, you will be able to say,
"I will rejoice in the Lord always: and again I will rejoice. And after having done all to stand, I will then stand. And I will let my moderation be made known unto all men. The Lord is at hand."
Upon this foundation you can rejoice, and you can find the abundance of the fullness of all good things here and now waiting for the asking, or for your faith to bring it into actuality and into your experience in this present life. It is Wonderful! I know you believe what I say, don't you? It is Wonderful!
So then, I have not begotten you with this Love and with this Life merely for emotionalism, merely for that which is known as fanaticism; but I have begotten you into this lively hope, a hope that is incorruptible, a hope that is undefiled, a hope that is not moved by the winds and doctrines of men. A hope that fadeth not away. Then on this foundation you can rejoice and be exceeding glad, and you will see and know that I did not beget you unto this Life and this Love and get in your confidence just for foolishness. It is Wonderful! Firstly, I have brought great joy to your souls. Secondly, I have brought success and prosperity to everyone hat will receive it. And now I have broken down the barriers between denominations, races, creeds and colors, and I have established the Kingdom of GOD on earth among men where there are no races, creeds nor colors, and they all are ONE in the Kingdom of GOD.
All prejudice, all bigotry, all hatred, all malice, all envy and all strife or divisions of every kind, they all have been abolished out of your consciousness, and now you have risen to a place in consciousness that you a:re willing to follow ME wheresoever I go. It is Wonderful! You are willing to pasture wheresoever I feed you, and because you are, then I mean to lift up a standard for the weary. I mean to bring the Kingdom of GOD on earth among men, and bring the kingdoms of this world into the Kingdom of our GOD, and subjugate both it and them to HIM. It is Wonderful!
Now as you heard ME say some time ago, there are more than five million of MY faithful coworkers, students and patients and believers that will stand by ME and will go all the way. Then as I said, and as Christ said,
"Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel."
There are many fields in the world. Since there are many fields in the world, and I have been forced out into the intellectual field, I have been forced out into the field of science. I have been forced out into the political field. I have been forced out into the journalistic field. In all of these fields, the Gospel of Truth must be revealed, and everything that will not do right it shall be moved out of its office. It is Wonderful!
We mean to take every governor out of his office that will not do right. If the President doesn't do right, why we will move him. And the President that will not do right, we will see that he will not get any seat. They pushed ME out in the legal field; they forced ME out in the legal field, and I shall clean it up for them. It is Wonderful! They forced ME out there, and now I shall clean it up for them. I shall do it!
Everyone that will not live a legitimate life, which is to say, live according to the Life and the Teachings of Christ, why then they shall be moved out of office, as I continue to say; and that is what you all are attracted to ME for, because you all know you want equal rights, don't you? You don't want to be wrongfully treated, do you? Everybody ought to have equal rights according to their class and profession, and according to their classification. Well, that's just what we are going to have. It is Wonderful! I was forced out into those fields, and I will not be discouraged until I shall have accomplished the abundance of the fullness of all good things, and brought the whole world under the jurisdiction of the Life and the Teachings of Christ as recorded by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. I thank you.
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