FATHER DIVINE
at the Circle Mission Church, Philadelphia, Pa.
It was Sunday, May first, and from early morning the angels were praising, singing and testifying to GOD, FATHER DIVINE, at HIS New York City Headquarters, 20 West 115th Street. FATHER, though busy in HIS office, was listening to the services coming through the loudspeakers set up in the building. In the late afternoon HE left HIS office—surprisingly to us—to travel elsewhere. Many thought FATHER was going to Newark, New Jersey; however, HE went to the extension in Jamaica, Long Island, where the meeting was being held as usual. Going directly to the auditorium, FATHER cordially addressed the guests as follows:
PEACE Everyone! I would just like to say to our visiting friends standing back there, you may come in if you wish to, and take seats where there are vacancies. If you do not get seated, when it is learned that I AM here, why it will be crowded; so if you would like to take seats you are welcome to come in and take seats wherever there is a vacancy. I thank you.
PEACE EVERYONE! Here we all are again: there I sit and stand. I would like to say to our visiting friends in the door and in the doorway, if you would like to come in, you are welcome to do so, and take seats wheresoever seats may be found—right up in the front or wheresoever you wish to. Make yourselves at home.
I would just like to say while I AM on MY feet, The New Day, carrying MY Message of this week's issue—a good many of MY coworkers, followers and friends, you hear MY Message from time to time read, and they may also read them themselves—but those who are not accustomed of MY phraseology and MY language, they may not read them coherently; they may not be understood when they read them. We will have one of our Lectures read shortly that those who may be interested might understand the Message and the Work of MY Mission, as I speak it and live it and express it. I thank you.
PEACE EVERYONE ! Here we all are again, although apparently limited in number, but the number that no man can number, they are all here. When we are apparently small in number, I AM in that number. In the great number I may also appear, but there you are expecting ME to be. But where they are limited in number apparently, you would not ordinarily expect ME to be there, as one of the speakers said, but what said I concerning this mystery:
"Meek and lowly is the way, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and thou shalt find rest for thy soul."
I have striven to refrain from speaking for the purpose of giving those of MY hearers, followers and friends a chance to have a word to say, but as the time seems to be quite well expired for ME at this particular instance, I have arisen to say just what I have said. I thought a little while ago of a song quite often sung:
"He binds them with a band of love, And saves the wandering ones."
The time is about expired apparently, and I was about ready to seemingly make MY departure, but as it was said, "He binds them with a band of love." When love is put forth into expression, you may try to bind HIM, but HE may break the band and get away anyhow. I see the cord of love and the links thereof linking together to try to bind ME, nevertheless, you may bind ME mentally and spiritually.
When I AM Personally absent, I AM Present, and if you recognize MY Ever Presence, I will be as operative when I AM Personally absent as when I AM Personal}y Present, for your actions, your deeds and your doings will be the same; therefore, through you I AM functioning when you are doing those things. Then I AM as operative in others and among you when I AM Personally absent, as when I AM Personally Present when you reckon MY Ever Presence.
When you can count the reality of GOD's Presence as a living standard lifted among you, you can and will be the same in all of your words, in all of your deeds and in all of your actions, in all of your emotions and expressions; even your ideas and. opinions will be the same, and your love and devotion and desires and wishes will all be concentrated in one direction.
How glorious it is to live in such a recognition! How glorious it is to come into the Unity of the Spirit, of Mind, of Aim and of Purpose where you can unify yourselves together in heart, in mind, in ideas and in opinions, all for an unselfish purpose, but each one looking for the good of others. When this is done, you are taking on the Characteristics, the Nature, the Disposition, the Love and the Spirit of your Savior.
When the Spirit, the Love, the Mind, the Disposition, the Nature and the Characteristics of GOD are all inculcated and reincarnated in you, all things will be possible with you, for the Characteristics of Christ in you will attract and draw all desirable blessings to you, and you will be blessed as one unified together with GOD, for what said the Gospel, yea, the Epistle concerning the mystery?
"Ye are heirs and joint-heirs with Christ."
When you realize your at-one-ment with GOD by Characteristics and by nature, and live it and express it accurately, the very desires of yours will be heard and answered, and you will be blessed abundantly. When I AM Personally absent you will feel MY Personal Presence, for MY Personal Presence is an Impersonal Presence as I AM Impersonal ... I will be as expressive as Personal, when I AM Personally absent as when I AM Personally Present.
Then I say, it is a privilege to live in such a recognition, but let your thoughts be concentrated in a direction that will give GOD glory and honor continually, that you might lose all sense of self and selfish tendencies, that GOD might be expressed and represented in you.
How marvelous it will be when all of the nations of the earth and all individuals individually shall have come to this recognition where they can and will select and elect the Grand Principle of Life and enthrone this Principle on the throne of their minds as Lord of lords and as King of kings. Then and there the Kingdom of your individual home will be the same as that which is termed MINE. You will no longer be in lacks, wants and limitations you will no longer be in undesirable conditions. The undesirable circumstances and conditions will be dispelled from among you once and forever, for the Christ that shall have been elected and enthroned on the throne of your mind will dispel those conditions in and under HIS government when Christ alone is reigning!
You have striven to select and elect the best man for the presidency of this country that we might have success and prosperity, that this country might be progressive and successful and prosperous in every way. When you shall have selected and elected the proper man for the chief executive chambers, there and then you have thrown open the country to success and prosperity; for the right man ruling in authority as the chief executive will adjust matters satisfactorily for the good of the people—for the most of the people—through the people and by the people, especially if all of the cabinet and all of the other representatives of Congress are the same.
If we can get perfect men in office right here on the material plane, we will have a righteous, legal government, and this righteous, legal government will adjust matters satisfactorily for the benefit of all humanity, and there will be no more lacks, wants nor limitations and depressions, such as the millions have been undergoing. If this is true in your consideration politically and nationally, how much more the truth should be with your consideration of your selection and your election of the Christ as Lord of lords and as King of kings.
Since this has been accomplished by millions of MY followers and they recognize this Principle as exemplified in a Body, it must be reckoned by others it is true for it to be universally effective. Nevertheless, individually, those of you who have recognized it should have the Kingdom of GOD in evidence in your deeds, in, your actions and in your dealings and in your affairs, and in all things that concern you; because when Christ is ruling on the throne of your mind, in you, through you and over you and over all of yours, there and then that which Christ is ruling over and has control over, that is the Kingdom of GOD, for Christ is GOD, and GOD is Christ. Hence, whensoever Christ reigns, or wheresoever any king reigns in any place, there is his kingdom established—the Kingdom to be established in the hearts and lives of humanity. But they were to select and elect the Grand Principle of Life, the Prince of Life, as said Jesus the Christ, and enthrone this Principle on the throne of their minds and put down everything else under their jurisdiction, saving the Christ and allow Christ alone to reign!
By having everything else dethroned with the exception of HIM, there and then GOD is reigning and HIS Kingdom has come on earth. This is the Work, this' is the Mission and it must be officially established. It must be universally recognized, but it cannot be, saving as those of you who recognize GOD's Presence bring your bodies and all of your domain into subjection to the Fundamental, and allow Christ to reign supremely. Men talk of GOD alone reigning, but they do not stop, as a rule, to consider, GOD must be selected and elected in business, profession, labor and trade and in all of your affairs and have all dominion over you and all things for the Kingdom to come and for Christ to reign.
Oh, it is a privilege to observe the mystery! But I have called you into consideration that you might observe it accurately and perfectly without any obligation apparently. You can observe it without obligation. Aren't you glad? While yet, it is "obligatable" and it will obligate you if you endeavor to come into possession of your rightful inheritance; for as it was in the beginning, even so it is in this dispensation, in this present time in which we are now living.
You must consider you are obligated and all of GOD's promises are conditional. "If you do this; if you do that and if you do the other, life eternal is promised to you." You will come into possession of life eternal, health and happiness, peace and pleasure, success and prosperity and every desirable blessing by doing what I tell you. When you fail to obey the Commandments of GOD, you cannot expect to be classed as an heir and a joint-heir with the Christ, for what said Jesus by nature concerning the mystery?
"I do always the things that please my Father."
The transmitted Spirit is speaking today. It is reincarnatable and it is reiteratable. You must speak it and you must act it, and you must say it and you must be it, as an expression of one who will always do the Will of your FATHER.
Is not this an abstract expression as an answer to the problem? Wheresoever I go and wheresoever I be, I have the abundance of the fullness with ME. As David said on one occasion:
"If I take the wings of the morning ... and fly to the uttermost, parts of the earth, thou art there."
I find the abundance of the fullness is where It is here, and wheresoever I AM! Now the reproduction of the same is as expressive and reproducible as it has been wheresoever the same Spirit and the same Mind reign. Can you not see the mystery?
Then I say, as with ME as an individual, as with MY people if they believe ME. If they live in this recognition and subjugate themselves wholeheartedly to the Fundamental, they will be partakers of the same expression by becoming to be partakers of the nature and the characteristics of which I AM expressing. Their very prayers and desires will be heard and answered speedily when they think on ME sincerely. That is the mystery and yet it is simple and plain.
I came here this evening, stealing away as I heard you say and I heard you sing—Christianity —"Steal away to Jesus!" I AM stealing away to MY people. I steal away to you, as individuals and will not tell anyone where I AM going—not even those who are traveling with ME Personally! Those who are directly with ME, on the chariot with ME, I do not tell them where I AM going until I get out on the highway, and say, go this way, or that way, or the other way. I AM doing this for the specific purpose of bringing to the surface the significance of following the Spirit and each and every individual learning how to be led by the Holy Spirit.
Then I AM telling you and telling others, you do not have to take any thoughts for yourself. I did not take any thought about having a congregation to speak to tonight. I need not, for I AM the Personified prediction, of the Scripture yea, of the prophecy:
"The gathering of the people shall be wheresoever Christ is."
I cannot keep them away from ME.
I did not tell anyone I would be here. I did not tell them which way I was going, but the majority of them thought I was going to Newark. That is why I said to MY visiting friends when I came in and they gathered around in the hall way or in the doorway there, I said, you might come in and take seats if you wish to, for when they find out where I AM, they will be crowded here, and you will not have room to stand. Five thousand would be here right now if all knew definitely where I AM.
Then I say, copy after the fashion I have shown you by living and expressing characteristically, naturely, dispositionally, emotionally and gesturely, even expressly from every angle expressible until you forge through those psychics directly to GOD, in the exact likeness of your Savior.
How glorious it is to live in such a recognition. Then I say, as you live it and express it, you can and will produce it, for all of these qualities, expressions and blessings are impersonal. They are reincarnatable and they can and will be reincarnated if you will bring your bodies into subjection and let them. Aren't you glad?
I had striven to refrain from speaking while others were speaking, for I do not desire to speak unless I can bring you something that is uplifting. If I can bring you something out of the ordinary, something that is worthwhile, something that someone else cannot bring: Here you all are, and there I AM. I AM here to bring that which others cannot bring for the uplifting and the advancement of the Spirit and the conditions of mankind.
Oh, what a glorious privilege to look and live! I heard you say by composition, "Look and live !" If you look on ME and sincerely believe, a good look on ME is worth more than dollars and cents. It is worth more than all you have spent, for the very Spirit of GOD'S Presence through your concentration will be transmitted and if you are meek and lowly in heart, you will get it. If you get it and live it by taking on the characteristics, the nature, the Spirit and the Mind, you will be partakers of the blessings that come by bringing your bodies into subjection to MINE.
Oh, it is a privilege to live in such a recognition! How glorious it is to look and live! How glorious it is to just have something on which you can gaze. I have stressed so vividly for many years in your presence: Gaze vividly on the perfect picture! The reproduction of such an expression as that on which you are gazing will be your portion. Aren't you glad!
Now you have gazed on the undesirable. You hear men talk antagonistically, you hear them talk negatively, you hear them talk conflictingly, confusingly and you gaze on them—you produce in your experience through concentration the spirit and the characteristics and the nature of such ones as those on whom you are gazing upon. If the negative and undesirable have been a reality among you, how about gazing on something that can do you some good.
The Message you heard read a little while ago was a Message on economics, that you might be benefited thereby from a personal point of view. All of MY Works and all of MY activities are for the advancement of moral betterment generally and for the advancement of the Kingdom of Heaven on the material plane. I AM not trying to advance it mentally and spiritually, and I AM not trying to save that which is commonly termed as the "souls" of the children of men, since there have been a plenty of preachers and teachers saving the "souls" of men; but I came to save the bodies from lacks, wants and from limitations, from adverse and from all undesirable conditions. That is the purpose for which I came—to create a moral betterment generally and to bless the people abundantly and give them victory over depressions, lacks, wants and limitations—over sickness and diseases and miseries and trials and tribulations, such as they are undergoing in their physical systems.
Men have been preaching about saving souls long enough! They preached of, they know not what, for they did not know ". .. the soul that sinneth shall die ... but the spirit goeth back to the God who gave it." They could not discern between the soul and the spirit; therefore, they said as Webster told them, "The soul is the spirit." They did not know any better because he had not been converted in this standard of expression to give the public the real information concerning the Kingdom of Heaven.
Then men will often try to bind ME by the barriers of Webster and others. If I were bound by the barriers of Webster and other representatives of language, then and there I would be limited, if I were bound by them, so far as they can understand.
I must not be bound! I cannot be bound by the grammatical expressions of men. It is a privilege to realize GOD in the midst of you is mighty to save. HE can transform, translate and transcend all limitations and expressions and bring the limited concepts of things into perfection and cause HIMSELF in HIS following to be limitless in expression, for GOD is Infinite by nature.
I need not say more, but take these thoughts to consideration. As you live in this recognition, as you dial in on the Fundamental continually, take on the nature and the characteristics of your Savior, you will be new creatures automatically and your physical bodies will be renewed by the renewing of your mind. Your physical bodies will vibrate with the spirit of vigor, zeal and courage, with health and happiness, such as the world cannot give. These, and all other blessings, as many as you can think on, I can bring into expression by your recognition of GOD'S Actual Presence; and by your concentration on HIM harmoniously—HE of Whom you say I AM—dark clouds of doubts and fears are dispelled, undesirable conditions are eradicated, success and prosperity and the desirable appeareth; for as the light causes darkness to disappear, even so disappear I all undesirable -conditions and dispel them once and forever among you. Is it not written?
"Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid."
Oh, it is a privilege to realize it. Then if you are the light, realize the light will dispel darkness; health dispels sickness, and when health appeareth, sickness disappears. When strength appears, weakness disappears, yet through GOD'S Condescension in HIS Own Tabernacle in which HE came,
"He took upon himself your infirmities, and bear your diseases ... and by his stripes ye are healed."
Aren't you glad?
Now the persecutions, the ridicules—the "ridiculations" and the prosecutions and all adverse and undesirable statements and afflictions and stripes that have been given in opposition to the Fundamental, are the stripes by which you are healed. At the time of great persecutions, when there is much prosecution in the legal courts in opposition to the Fundamental, you find men are healed by the wholesale, for by MY stripes they are healed.
When I AM slandered, when I AM persecuted, when I AM prosecuted, when I AM ridiculed, they are the stripes by which you are healed— if not at the stripes that are being given when you are receiving your healing, it is by the stripes that have been given before you received your healing—that by them you are healed. Therefore, the application is applicable for you, even though I lift MYSELF from persecution at this instance, even though I AM victoriously a conqueror of all persecutions and prosecutions and none can do ME, even apparently, any harm, yet by the stripes that have been given, by them you are receiving your healing.
How glorious it is to realize the Truth, for
"As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God."
Not only to those who did receive HIM, but to as many as will believe on HIS Name, through their words; therefore; the stripes that were given are your healing. Those that have been given, and if there would be any given still, they carry in themselves the Healing Balm for the children of the earth, that they might be redeemed and saved from sin and death. I thank you.
***************