A very busy day
After feeding all and serving all materially and spiritually and talking for hours at the great Banquet Table at 67 West 130th Street, New York City, on May l7th, FATHER~DIVINE Personally proceeded to HIS Office in the same building. But HE was not to cease pouring forth HIS Words of Life that had been flowing all day, for there were visitors and members of HIS staff waiting. In the midst of HIS vast correspondence and other activities HE gave each one full and complete attention to the subject under consideration, until it was time to be in the public meetings.
There were two meetings scheduled for the day in New York City, and FATHER and HIS staff proceeded to the first one at 111 th Street and Eighth Avenue, arriving at about five-thirty P.M. After receiving the many testimonies of blessings and healings experienced through contact with HIM mentally and spiritually, and many songs of praise, FATHER arose and spoke as follows:
FATHER DIVINE:
PEACE! Here You come and here you stand, all in One. It is Wonderful! I rise at this time to say it is a blessing beyond degrees to really know GOD — that which you call ME. It is Wonderful! Whether it happens to be in this Body or whether it be in the invisible, or whether it be in another, it is good, and it is so much better to know GOD for yourselves. It is Wonderful! "It is Wonderful! "It is Eternal Life to know the only true GOD," and by knowing GOD, why, that is the only way of salvation. It is Wonderful!
You can read in the Seventeenth Chapter of St. John — I AM not especially telling you to read it but I AM speaking of the Seventeenth Chapter of St. John and it has been stamped in your memory. That is something that has been with you all the time, the Prayer Jesus prayed for the whole world. It is Wonderful'. Jesus said, "I thank thee Father," didn't He? It is Wonderful! The Prayer and Prayers of Jesus to the FATHER of His Spirit and of His Body, was,prayer and prayers petitioning the great Creative forces of Nature, the great Universal Mind Substance, which was in the beginning and is here and now today, and when Jesus as a Person made these prayers it was, "I thank thee Father"—prayers of thanksgiving. It is Wonderful? Prayers, as being termed in the mortal mind, prayers, but they are all thanksgiving and praises to GOD for the blessings GOD has given! It is Wonderful!
For this cause you can use the same Words that Jesus as a Person used, for you as reproducers of the same Spirit and the same Mind, you are now called the Sons of GOD. It is Wonderful! But the Prayer was prayed, of thanksgiving, and "I thank thee Father," said He, "that thou hast always heard me pray," It is Wonderful!
It is a great consideration to know you can make your mental and your spiritual contact and you can receive the limitless blessings that are in storehouse — and that is in Heaven — by believing and giving thanks and praises for the blessings you have received and for the blessings you are now receiving. It is Wonderful!
Give Praise and Give Thanks
For this cause you can always rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for as you give praises and give thanks, you are increasing and multiplying your blessings. It is Wonderful! "Paul may plant and Apollos may water, but GOD giveth the increase." GOD in you and in your name, through you and by you and others, is giving the increase, (It is Wonderful!) for every positive word you speak, for every substantiated word you speak that is substantiated by faith. When you affirm with all your heart and with all your mind any good and desirable affirmation, GOD will confirm it. It is Wonderful! GOD always goes one better!
There has been a common phrase so often used in the religious world, especially here in America -- it has been said, "If you make one step to ME I will make two to you." It is Wonderful! Whether it be actually true n a personal way or not, you can say it is true in reality, in spirit and in mind. When you draw your thoughts towards GOD, and your mind in that direction, of giving thanks and praises, then and there GOD brings a closer relation. It is Wonderful! When ,you praised G0D you got close to HIM you began to find that G0D sticks closer than a brother! It is Wonderful! Rut if you do not praise GOD, why then you will drive HIM from you. It is Wonderful!
"Nothing between my soul and my SAVIOUR
so that His Blessed Face can be seen,
Let nothing,prevent the least of HIS Favors,
Oh, keep the way clear, let nothing between!"
it is Wonderful!
The Consciousness of the Presence of GOD I brought to your consideration several years ago —the great significance of having the very Spirit of the Consciousness of the Presence of GOD, for it is the Source of a11 supply and it will satisfy every good desire. It is Wonderful! That is the key to all success and prosperity, that is the key to the answer of every prayer you have prayed, the key to all of your fondest desires and the key to a1l of the prayers that others have prayed, and GOD is here. It is Wonderful!
Creative Forces of Nature
It is a wonderful thought, Dear ones! When I brought to you the recognition and conviction of GOD'S Presence, it also creates an atmosphere that is the great Creative Forces of Nature, and it will create and bring into expression every desirable blessing, by your recognition of GOD'S Ever Presence. It is Wonderful! Therefore, you can rejoice and be exceedingly glad to know, with simple faith and conviction, that GOD is ever Present with you! It will create an atmosphere of Peace and Happiness and Success and Prosperity — it is Wonderful! — and it will satisfy your every desire. As I often say, I could not preach it if I did not live it, and I could not live it if I did not be it. It is Wonderful!
Therefore I say to those that desire to advocate, emphasize and demonstrate these things, they must be partakers of the same, and producers and expressers as well as advocators and emphasizers and demonstrators of the desirable blessings they are seeking. It is Wonderful! While emphasizing, you must realize that you must advocate and you must also demonstrate and you must also live it and be it. And being it, you will also be the reproducer of the same that you are! It is Wonderful! Then and there it would be as it was said,
"He was in the world and the world was made by him and the world knew him not. The same was in the beginning with God,"
which was to say, as though to say, the same was in the beginning with GOD as it is today. It is Wonderful! "The same was in the beginning!" HE left it as a question mark for your consideration and for your conscious conviction that it really meant the same was in the beginning even as it is here and now in the end. It is Wonderful!
Therefore, we can rejoice and be exceedingly glad to see the great unfoldment of the manifestation of the very Presence of GOD that satisfies your every desire. It is Wonderful!
Slanderous Testimonies
Now I stress this once again for your consideration. Do not think that I AM opening the door for a whole lot of foolish and unnecessary slanderous testimonies, criticisms and condemnations in our midst. I AM opening the door for the inflow and inlet of praises and thanksgiving! I have let up the flood-gate to let the Victors in; I have thrown wide the door of heaven for your consideration, that you might come in through thanksgivings and praises! It is Wonderful! Praising GOD continually with all your heart and with all your mind, and forgetting about condemnation — condemning someone and criticizing! It is Wonderful! Praise GOD for the great Work GOD has done for you! It is Wonderful! It will throw wide the Gate of Heaven for you and you will be able to go through! It is Wonderful!
These thoughts should be, or they are, well worth considering and of being considered for your own salvation. Therefore, take them into consideration.
Mental Spiritual Contact
This is a"wheel within a wheel". It is a message within a message and keeps saying one thing, until the whole Heavens ring: Praise will unlock any barred or shut door! If it would be the doors of any undesirable condition, whether it be mental, spiritual or physical, or material whichever, these doors can be opened — if they are undesirable conditions or if they are desirable conditions — Praises will unlock the door of h--1 and Praises will unlock the door of heaven. It is Wonderful!
Keys To Salvation
Therefore, if you happen to be caught in a trap, and find yourselves in prison, find yourselves in the dungeons and tombs of the children of man, or even find yourselves in h--l, as it may be termed, or find yourselves in Heaven, it makes no difference, Praises will unlock the door! It is Wonderful! It is Wonderful! Praises are the particular keys that unlock the doors of every expression and of every degree, whether it be desirable or undesirable. Praises are the keys that will unlock the door! It is Wonderful! If you are shut up in any undesirable expression of life, praises and thanksgiving continually, without locks and without keys, will unlock those undesirable conditions and set you free! It is Wonderful! Praises and thanksgiving continually will unlock any heart's door. It is Wonderful! Even though the doors of the hearts of the children of men and all that are connected with them may be closed against you, with the right concept and recognition of GOD with continued praise and thanksgiving, it will unlock the doors. It is Wonderful!
Praise the Lord! Again I say, praise the Lord! It is Wonderful! IT IS WONUERFUL! It is Wonderful! It is Wonderful I say! It is Wonderful! It is Wonderful! IT IS Wonderful I say! Praises will unlock the door! It is Wonderful! Will unlock the barred and shut doors! When the doors of happiness seem to be closed, you begin to praise GOD --- it is Wonderful - and you will see the doors fly wide. It is Wonderful! You will see the doors fly wide! It is Wonderful!
Praises will unlock any door I say! It is Wonderful! But condemnation — it is Wonderful! — I say condemnation will lock the prison doors; condemnation will close up the heaven doors. It is Wonderful! Condemnation will close up the Door of MY Heart! It is Wonderful! IT IS Wonderful! Condemnation and accusation will close every door, I say, behind you. It is Wonderful! And you will not be able to go in nor go out. It is Wonderful! It is Wonderful! Condemnations will close the doors of all the earth, it will close the doors of happiness, it will close the doors of success and prosperity. It is Wonderful ! The very words from those conditions wherein they are expressed. It is wonderful! It is well worth considering.
And now you have the keys to the Kingdom, and you also have the keys to all conditions. The right concept and the right understanding, with the Word of praises, will unlock doors, and a11 doors, it matters not what sort of door it may be. It is Wonderful!
I have undermined the foundation of all materialism and mortality and I have built you up in the most Holy Faith by the recognition of GOD as being the Fundamental Principle, the Foundation, the Author and the Finisher. It is Wonderful! GOD is in reality every individual's FATHER and they never had another, and you have been groaning within yourselves waiting for the adoption. When you come to the recognition and the conviction that GOD is your FATHER and you never had another, then and there you have been adopted into the Royal Family. It is Wonderful! And in this adoption you are brought to the conscious realization of the spiritualization of your body and the redemption of your body — in other words, waiting for the adoption, to the manifestation of the Sons of GOD and the redemption of your body, don't you see, when you are convinced GOD is your FATHEK and you never had another, there and then you are brought to the conscious realization that you are redeemed and your bodies are redeemed. It is Wonderful!
Liberty Wherewith Christ Set You Free
Therefore I say to you,
"Stand in the liberty wherewith Christ hath set you free, and be not again entangled with the yoke of bondage."
I thank you. It is Wonderful! It is Wonderful! If you don't want to be happy you had better not praise MY Name! It is Wonderful ! If you don't want to open doors that no man can shut, you had better not praise MY Name! It is Wonderful! It is Wonderful! It was declared, "I can open doors that no man can shut, and shut doors that no man can open. I have the keys of h--1 and of death!" This is the Message that was declared, and the very same Message to you has been given, that you might have the keys to death, and heaven, and the keys are the praises to you I AM bringing, and you can hear them and you can say them and you can sing them! It is Wonderful! If you cannot sing them you can hear them. If you cannot hear them you can feel them. If you cannot feel them you can see them, for they are being put into expression, and on every plane and in every version, GOD the great Creator, has put them into expression and also put them into expression on every plane through and by your five physical senses. They all can experience and experiment in these blessings that I AM telling you about! I thank you.
"FATHER DIVINE On The Move"
Leaving the 111th Street Meeting Place in New York City ringing with the shouts and applause that greeted HIS last Words, FATHER DIVINE Personally, and HIS Staff, quickly proceeded to the Lido, at 160 West 146th Street, where another great Meeting was in progress. The beautiful Auditorium with its thin white pillars and high arched ceiling was a solid mass of people, that parted and made a path for their Lord and King and HIS immediate party, to pass through to the stage. Then the voice of thousands filled the air as they sang the praises of HIM Whose Presence crowned the sun with glory and caused the elements to witness HIM! That very morning the sun had been surrounded in a perfectly clear sky by a brilliant ring blazing with the colors of the rainbow, in which thousands saw the glory of their Lord and King, and the events of the day bore witness with them to HIS Power and Majesty!
As the great Congregation poured forth its joy and praise, the atmosphere was charged with the Love that poured forth, magnified and intensified from the visible Presence of FATHFR until many fell as dead men under that transforming Power, and physical deformities vanished away and mental deformities vanished in the new Day just begun!
For a long time FATHER sat and poured forth HIS Love, but finally there was a song of praise "FATHER will fix it for you. Whensoever you pray, let HIM have HIS Way, and FATHFR will fix it for you!" — and HE was moved to speak as follows:
PEACE EVERYONE! Here you are and there I AM, and it is Wonderful to say and it is wonderful to sing, "FATHER will fix it for you!" But it is better to know — for it is true — that it has been formed for you, FATHER did fix it for you! It is Wonderful! In this you stand ever in this I stand, and I always AM to you bringing this Message of Love, the Abundance of the Fullness of a11 and every desirable expression of Life for the children of men. It is Wonderful! I came to convince mankind that every person can be filled with all of the flounce of all Good Things and that you can come into your rightful inheritance, both mentally and spiritually, materially financially, and otherwise. It is Wonderful! And as I AM, so can you be, for I have brought to you the immaculate victory over all limitations and adverse and undesirable conditions, and I have the key to the kingdom of heaven. I have the keys to all of the desirable expressions of life I have the keys to all of the underground treasures, and have the keys to an access on any plane wherein man stands, and can function in the Glory of GOD in the midst of men!
There is such a Magnetic Infinite Electric Current of LOVE, which is the Power of GOD, here tonight, the very Words that I speak, they will lift you off of your feet! It is Wonderful!
This, tonight, that I have brought before the eyes of men in the City of New York, is but a slight sketch of a reflection of a percent of a percent of a percent of a fraction of the reality of the limitless cooperation that I have in this great magnetic Power manifested among men. It is Wonderful! It will attract them and draw them unto ME! It is Wonderful!
Truly might the Christ have said, and said it not in vain,
"And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto Me."
Believe ME or believe ME not, consciously or unconsciously humanity loves ME SO! ("Yes, YES, FATHER !" came a shout that left no room for doubt, as thousands sprang to their feet.) And this Mighty, Infinite, Magnetic Current of Love, it is so fascinating, the whole World has gone after it! It is Wonderful! And they have declared they cannot get it without getting ME! It is Wonderful? And that is why all of the nations of the earth collectively, 'are stirred from center to circumference. It is Wonderful! That is why they are coming unto ME from far and from near, making their declaration known even also as you have done! It is Wonderful! Before they see ME they are affirming, and as they are coming nearer and nearer, the spirit of confirmation takes place, and when they get to ME where I AM, the very Spirit of the Consciousness of the Presence of GOD confirms their affirmation that they have made concerning ME!
This Atmosphere~— It is Wonderful+— New York City has been filled and thrilled with the praises of GOD through the Spirit of the Consciousness of the Presence of GOD, and the atmosphere has been germinated with the very germs of the Spirit of the Consciousness of GOD'S Presence, and mankind is making the same declaration: GOD is not a GOD afar off, but a GOD at hand! It is Wonderful!
Therefore, we can rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for GOD is a Rock in the weary land and a Shelter here and now in the time of storm. It is Wonderful! Therefore, "fear not. little Flock," the world can do you no harm, "it is your FATHER'S Good Pleasure to give yon the Kingdom," and the Kingdom, before it is brought into jurisdiction, or subjection, whichever, to the Christ Consciousness, we may - term it as being the Kingdom collectively, for truly must the Kingdoms of this world become to be the Kingdom GOD and of HIS Christ. It is Wonderful!
For this cause I came here it is Wonderful — and I will cause every knee to bow and every tongue must confess, truly Christ has come in the Flesh! It is Wonderful!
Then you can rejoice and be exceedingly glad, because this Infinite Power that I have — it is Wonderful — Power that is not confined nor bound nor limited to the spiritual or religious world; it is a Power that reaches out into all of the fields of life and it commands all mankind to recognize the omnipotence and the Supremacy of Christ. There I have brought Perfection to mankind in all walks of life, and I have introduced the Perfecter! It is Wonderful!
Introduced to the Principle
Some time ago I introduced this Principle to you and I declared unto you it was not a man you went out into the wilderness to see, neither a reed shaken by the wind, but you went out to see a Principle and not a man. It is Wonderful! But I wish to say that this Principle is convertible and it can be instantaneously converted into the expression and the appearance of a man. For this Principle I stand, for this Principle you stand! It is Wonderful! Therefore, it is not a reed merely shaken by the wind. It is Wonderful. Not by the winds and doctrines of men — none of those things can shake ME. It is Wonderful!
Truly might the Apostle have said,
"Be not tossed about by every wind and doctrine of men."
It is Wonderful!
"GOD in the midst of thee is mighty to save!"
GOD in the midst of thee is substantiated in HIS unshaken Way! GOD in the midst of thee is Eternal in HIS Determination! GOD in the midst of thee shall go forth continually as a mighty Man of War. It is Wonderful! I AM in your hearts and I AM in your minds to stay, and who shall fray ME away! It is Wonderful! I will stick closer to you than a leech on the tree, yea, even closer than that! The leech on the tree can be seen, but I will stick close to you, yea even closer, for I AM within! It is Wonderful! That is the mystery the world cannot understand and yet I have declared GOD alone shall reign. They cannot see how these things can be — it is Wonderful — but with or without the Bodily Form I will operate and I will manifest, I will demonstrate, and I will be the Same, whether mortal minds can understand or not. It is immaterial to ME! (At this point the lights flickered, as they so often do when FATHER, is speaking, and there was a great demonstration.) It is Wonderful! If those of mankind could and would only accept of this, giving praise to GOD and the LAMB forever, they would OPEN the Hidden Treasures of the earth, and they would have an access even as I MYSELF. It is Wonderful! And I mean, an access in this Grace, to stand with victory over all mankind, both on the material, social, financial, political, and every plane. It is Wonderful! And when and wheresoever you see or hear any words speaking adverse to these sayings, it may be someone that sent out a report or such reports when they cannot take the legal guns and hold ME up and get a11 the money they want. It is Wonderful! You may try to hold ME up with your legal guns, and yet on ME you will find nothing, and yet I have the whole world in MY Hand. ("Talk, GOD, talk!" was the cry as the audience was moved by the Spirit in a tremendous demonstration.)
You know, Dear Ones, if there is such a thing as a robber, the worst robber in the world is the one that will get behind the political powers and the legal authorities to commit his crimes. They are the worst bandits in the world. I will tell you more in a few days. I mean it! I thank you.
In Everything, Give Thanks
". .. Then we have something to praise GOD for and something to give GOD thanks for at all times! This is commonly known as Thanksgiving Day, but we are happy to say, millions of MY followers ail over this and other countries are giving thanks every day. For it is written Scripturally as recorded in the Gospel epistle of the apostle:
"In everything give thanks, for this is the Will of GOD in CHRlST JESUS coneerning you."
When you give thanks for everything that you receive daily, the things that you do not even receive; give thanks for them and your blessings will be increased for your thanksgiving and your blessings will be multiplied for your giving praise!" - FATHER DIVINE
The NEW DAY, November 27, 1965 A.D.F.D. page 1