seated front row left
FATHER and MOTHER DIVINE in the Church Auditorium
seated front row left
Our Beloved LORD and SAVIOR was well represented by HIS Followers and well-wishers; and the Rosebuds and Crusaders were also present in great number on this occasion, the Rosebuds being a requested part of the program. Many outsiders were also present, and members of Reverend Mander's congregation. Also present were several choirs from churches in Philadelphia and Chester, Pennsylvania.
These choruses and the Rosebuds as well, had presented several musical selections when the Guests of Honor, REVEREND and Mrs. M. J. DIVINE arrived, yea, the BELOVED LAMB, and the BRIDE, the LAMB'S WIFE!
Great was the enthusiasm of the audience as it stood as one man upon its feet at the entrance of the Guests of Honor; and Reverend Mander graciously escorted them to the rostrum.
The program then proceeded with musical selections and a significant address by Reverend Mander, prior to FATHER'S Message, and is recorded as well. Reverend Mander introduces FATHER DIVINE as follows:
At this time I am going to introduce to you our Honorable Guests. First I am going to introduce to you HIS HONOR, FATHER DIVINE, Who will make remarks, and then, in turn, will introduce and present to us Mrs. DIVINE.
It affords me the HIGHEST degree of PLEASURE to present and to introduce to others, HIS HONOR, FATHER DIVINE.
FATHER DIVINE speaks as follows:
PEACE, EVERYONE: As a salutation I use at home and abroad, since this is something we all love and long for:
'Good health, good will, a good appetite, good manners, good behavior, all success and all prosperity; life, liberty and the reality of happiness!'
All of these attributes and qualities of god to you I bring, with the hope that
each and every one of you and all with whom you are concerned might be partakers
of them and live in the recognition of the presence of your god! Matters not
where you are, realize GOD is there! Recognize GOD'S Actual Presence If you read
in the Book of the Prophecy GOD declared through one,
'His Name shall be called IMMANUEL,'
speaking of JESUS of Nazareth --
'HIS Name shall be called IMMANUEL, being interpreted, GOD is with us!'
Through this mission of CHRIST on earth among men, to these MY following and
millions of others the universe over, CHRIST has brought to them the recognition
and the realization of God's actual Presence, and God's Presence, in turn, also
produces and it actually brings into expression every good and desirable blessing
for the children of men!
As our honored speaker said a little while ago, and Pastor of this Church, that without co-operation you cannot succeed; without co-operation and harmonization and without participation and without unification you cannot succeed! But with the right concept of GOD'S Actual Presence, such a conviction will cause you to harmonize with HIM; cause you to sympathize with your fellow men and cause you to co-operate, one with the other; not only for the purpose of solving the economic problem but for the purpose of solving every problem set before you! For truly I have long since declared and I believe I declared it not in vain, that the Spirit of the Consciousness of the Presence of GOD is the Source of all supply!
As I have long since declared, MY fellow citizens, hearers, members, followers and members of this church and friends the universe over, I desire to tell you what GOD's Presence will do for you!
'The Spirit of the Consciousness of the Presence of GOD is the Source of all Supply,'
To be conscious of GOD'S PRESENCE and live thus accordingly, the Spirit of GOD'S
Presence will adjust matters satisfactorily for you! To be conscious of GOD'S
PRESENCE and recognize it effectively, the Spirit of others will co-operate with
you! The minds and the attentions of men in all walks of life will be called
towards you if you are conscious of GOD'S PRESENCE and LIVE it and EXPRESS it!
Just look over this vast audience as you sit and stand -- harmony and unity,
co-operation and brotherhood exemplified! Therefore,
'His name shall be called Immanuel, which being interpreted is, god is with us!'
You feel GOOD when GOD is WITH you! What said the Scripture on another occasion?
David caught a glimpse of the mystery of this of which I AM now speaking and
said,
'The LORD is my Shepherd and I shall not want!'
Now this is not a supposition. When you realize GOD HIMSELF, with or without
a Body, is your SHEPHERD and you shall not want, you will not go around in lacks
and wants and limitations! You will not go around seeking something for nothing!
Aren't you glad! But you will live Soberly, Righteously and Godly and realize
GOD is with you, for what David said I re-declare to you, the LORD is your Shepherd
and you shall not want!
How can you want when you realize GOD is with you?
'He leadeth me beside the still waters. HE restores my soul,'
said he.
'Surely Goodness and Mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall abide in the house of the Lord forever!
"Why? Because God is your shepherd! Aren't you glad! Just be fanatical enough
and radical enough, MY fellow citizens and friends, to know that GOD is with
you! HIS Rod and HIS Staff, they comfort you! Can you not see the mystery? And
as GOD is actually with you and you are conscious of it, the Spirit of the Consciousness
of the Presence of GOD is the source of your every supply! The Spirit of the
Consciousness of the Presence of GOD is the source of your food and your raiments!
I am talking about GOD'S Presence! You need not necessarily be conscious of GOD'S
Personal Presence, for GOD is Present everywhere. But I will declare to you and
unto all the inhabitants of the earth, when you convince yourself once and forever
GOD is actually present with you, and live it and express it in deeds and in
actions, GOD will supply your every desire and will be your most simplest supply!
Aren't you glad!
Oh, that man would but learn the significance of the recognition and the realization of god's actual presence, for that is the mission of Christ to the children of men, to convince them that God is present with them! Can you not see the mystery? And the reason for lacks, wants and limitations, sickness and disease, adverse and undesirable conditions, all for the lack of the realization and the Knowledge of GOD'S Actual Presence! I AM talking about being present with you! Now some may think I AM speaking about MYSELF as a Person. I AM talking about the Omnipresence of GOD! I AM speaking of the ever-presence of GOD! I AM speaking of the invisibilization of GOD! I AM speaking of the visibilization of GOD! I AM speaking of the impersonal presence of GOD and I AM speaking of the personal presence of GOD!
GOD is here! I say GOD is here! It is hard to believe but GOD is here, my fellow citizens, hearers and my friends, for what said He in the Sonship Degree?
'Lo, I will be with you always!'
GOD Is right with you! Take these thoughts to consideration, and through the
valley and the shadow of death you will fear no evil. I heard Him say as afore
said,
'for Thou art with me! THY Rod and THY Staff they comfort me!'
We are comforted! We are not thinking about depressions! We are not bothering
about the inflation! We are not bothering about panics and famines that may eventually
come, but we know that GOD is your refuge and your strength and your strong tower
and your protection in the time of need! When you imbibe the spirit and the conviction
of such a belief, and awaken in your heart that seed idea of the Christ that
is lying dormant there, you will find that GOD HIMSELF will be with you everywhere!
Now live in this Recognition and build upon this Foundation, if you wish to, for GOD is Present in business, profession labor and trade! As I tell those of MY Students as school children -- pupils in the public schools -- I say you should make not only one hundred per cent but you should make two!
GOD is with you! Be of good courage and do not minimize the Presence of GOD and HIS Significance among you all, for great and mighty is HIS NAME! HE came to save the world! I know these Words may sound fanatical and somewhat radical to the critics and the criterions, but oh, how glorious it is to know for yourself and not for another, GOD is the SOURCE of all SUPPLY! And as much of GOD as you get, just that much supply you will have; I mean, materially, physically and spiritually; for GOD is rich and all you need and will your every hunger feed!
Oh, that mankind would but accept of HIS Message! They would not need contact ME Personally. You need not contact ME Personally, but accept of the Message and live it and express it and you, wheresoever you are, will be blessed universally, for GOD HIMSELF will be with you! HIS Rod and HIS Staff shall comfort you! I AM talking about what I know! Over and above every opposition, over and above every trial and every tribulation, over and above all of the persecution and prosecution GOD in the midst of the children of men is the master of omnipotency and the controller of HIS own destiny!
Now I do not wish to bore you. I appreciate so much the privilege of coming to visit our neighboring minister and congregation, and I appreciate having the privilege to participate and to impart to him that which we are actually enjoying. I long to see every living creature lifted from limitations, lifted from adverse and undesirable conditions, lifted from misery, disappointment and failure, lifted from segregation and discrimination, for that is what I came to do! I came to lift you from limitation, from adverse and undesirable conditions, from discrimination and segregation in all parts of this world, so that all mankind might enjoy the blessings and the presence of their GOD on Earth wheresoever they are!
GOD is good! If you cannot enjoy the best you cannot enjoy all of your God! Can you not see the mystery? You should be able to enjoy the best of food, the best of homes, the best of houses and the best of land, the best of comfort and the best of convenience and the best of everything, for God is with you! But if you are deprived of these blessings you are minus of some of the goodness of GOD, for GOD truly is the best and not the least! HE is not the inferior and undesired!
My fellow citizens, my hearers and my friends, I came to bring an abolition to localization! I cannot stress that thought too vividly, for why should you be bound to be pushed off in the slums some place and cannot live in a decent and respectable locality! I have broken that line of demarcation! I have established your going in the land of the living and I have broken that alien yoke of bondage and you are no longer aliens and strangers and pilgrims in a far land but you are present right here in America at home!
Do not allow the doctrine of Bilboism to make you think because of your complexion you must go back to Africa some place. You are American citizens if you were born here! Matters not what your complexion may be, if you were born here in this country you are American citizens by birth; and if you are American citizens by naturalization you have as much right here as Bilbo and any other person such as Rankin! Then we shall stand for our rights, but have God on your side and naught can hurt you or neither harm you!
Oh, that man could but observe the goodness of God to the children of men and how he condescendingly came to them to lift up those who had fallen!, to rescue the perishing and care for the dying by lifting them from that thought of dying and giving them to know that they can live! What a privilege! What a privilege! What a privilege!
Just think of it! to be free from localization, to be free from the line of demarcation, and have a free access for expression in business, profession, labor and trade! The spirit of the consciousness of the presence of God will bless you whereby you can be so! I came to break the alien yoke of bondage; no longer to allow division, discrimination and segregation; for such create strife, and strife is confusion and confusion, warfare and bloodshed! But oh, how glorious it is to realize, God in the midst of the children of men is mighty to save! Jesus prayed in the seventeenth chapter of St.. John, prayed the Father not take them out of the world but to keep them from the evil! And he also prayed
'that they may be one even as We are one! '
Read in the scripture in other places where God requested
'Let there be no division among you!'
Now isn't this beautiful? (Father glanced out over the followers and rosebuds
and crusaders in the audience enacting the bill of rights) when we live as you
see the exemplification of MY teaching demonstrated, there will be no more warfare
and no more bloodshed and there will be no more race riots and confusion in the
land, for all shall unite together as one man at Jerusalem!
I know it may seen to be far distant, yea, farfetched, but this is the sample, this is the example in the exemplification of MY following and MY Rosebud choir! I long to be where MY presence, not as a person necessarily, but where this Presence of such a recognition and such a conviction, MY Presence spiritually, mentally and otherwise can be universalized!
You need not see ME personally. I need not contact you personally and you need not contact ME personally especially, since it is an impersonal issue. Things can be worked out as effectively when and where I am absent personally as where I am present personally! To verify this, no doubt there are some of MY followers here under the sound of MY voice that had not seen me personally until they came to America! Some as foreigners. Even Mrs. DIVINE had not seen ME Personally until She came to America! There be some others no doubt under the sound of MY Voice, from Australia, from Canada and from the western part of this Country, where MY Spirit worked as operatively and as expressive where I was Personally absent as it does right here where I AM Personally Present! (To verify FATHER"S Statement, several of those from foreign lands as Followers stood up for a moment.)
Then I recall your attention to the fact after the manner of the quotation firstly illustrated: "And HIS Name shall be called IMMANUEL, being interpreted, GOD is with us! "GOD is WITH you everywhere you go because GOD is OMNIPRESENT as well as EVER PRESENT WITH you!
Then you will acquire this Faith that one writer said:
'Oh, for a Faith that will not shrink,
Though oppressed by every foe,
That will not murmur nor complain
On the brink of any earthly woe!'
That is the kind of faith that can stand in the time of trials and tribulations!
-- the kind of faith that will bring you together where you cannot slightly be
severed! You have heard, no doubt, from a good many of your early existence,
the Spirit of the Christian world calling for the people to unite together and
"knit us together"! I have heard you praying for it. I mean, I have
heard you personally praying for it -- a good many of the Christians calling
for it Personally! "Unite us together." Now your prayers are being
heard and answered because I am uniting the people together. They shall live
together! There shall be no division! They shall love one another regardless
to races, creeds and colors! They shall love one another, matters not what your
religious affiliation may be! Matters not what your racial or national origin
may be, I shall bring you together and cause you to love one another!
That is what you have been praying for; you have been praying even in the LORD'S Prayer
'Let THY KINGDOM come and THY Will be done on earth as it is in heaven!'
You have been praying for it! I shall let the WILL be DONE and the KINGDOM COME
RIGHT DOWN HERE on EARTH as it is in HEAVEN! They shall not steal as they used
to steal! They shall not kill as they used to kill! They shall not drink liquor
as the used to drink it! They shall not tell lies as they used to tell them!
They shall recognize the ACTUAL PRESENCE of your GOD and in HIS PRESENCE they
shall REJOICE!
I heard them say in the LORD'S Prayer,
'Give us this day our daily bread!'
I AM talking about daily bread! -- everything fulfilled this day in your hearing
by living according to the Gospel and according to the Law of the Spirit of Life
that was in CHRIST JESUS! You have this day, and you have daily bread! You have
food and you have raiments! I mean material bread as well as spiritual bread!
And you will not hunger or thirst, for what said he concerning the mystery?
'He that cometh to Me shall never hunger and he that believeth on ME shall never thirst!'
We are living in this recognition where thirsting and where sorrowing and hungering
and lacks and wants and limitations will be no more! I mean, the material bread!
I mean, the spiritual bread! I mean everything that your hearts may desire, god
has prepared by the recognition of his presence, since the spirit of the consciousness
of it is the source and the supply! I need not say more because I do not wish
to bore you. I believe I have said enough to stir up your pure minds and get
you, MY fellow citizens, members, hearers and friends, thinking; to think about
what GOD has done; and what GOD has done for one HE can and will do for all if
they will allow HIM to!
Take these thoughts to consideration and live in the Recognition and the Realization of GOD'S Actual PRESENCE! Then through harmonization, through co-operation, through participation and through unification all things are possible. Even the co-operative system will cause you to get everything more economically than what you could get it otherwise, and verify that of which JESUS said,
'Come unto ME, all ye that are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest! Lay down the world, take up your cross and come and follow Me.'
He said.
'Take MY Yoke upon you and learn of Me for MY Yoke is easy and MY Burden is light and thou shalt find rest for they soul!'
I believe the souls of these, MY True and Faithful Followers, will rest! I believe
they are resting from fear, resting from lacks and wants and limitations, resting
from adverse and undesirable conditions and resting in the Presence of GOD and
GOD actually with them! I thank YOU!
PEACE, EVERYONE: At this instance by the request of the Pastor of this Church and no doubt by the wishes of his chorus and his members I will present to you just for a few words, Mrs. DIVINE, MY Companion, commonly known by the Millions of MY Followers the universe over as the BRIDE, the LAMB'S WIFE! I thank you.
PEACE, FATHER; and PEACE, EVERYONE: It is a privilege to be here tonight, to be invited by the honored Reverend; and it is an honor and a privilege for each and every one of us to be wheresoever FATHER DIVINE is, for HE is not a man! HE has done for us what NO MAN could DO!
All down through the ages Christian people have prayed that GOD would come, because they seemed to know within themselves they could not have the answer to their prayers until HE did come. That is why we are all here tonight! That is why we follow the LAMB whithersoever HE goeth - because HE has ANSWERED our PRAYERS! HE has led us beside the still waters! We have taken HIS Yoke upon us and HE has given us REST; and that is why it is a PRIVILEGE to be here with FATHER tonight! For in the time of lacks and wants and limitations HE has given us a-plenty to eat, drink and to wear; plenty of fine homes to live in, automobiles to ride in! HE has truly made us the HEAD and not the TAIL!
It is written:
'By HIS Works ye shall know HIM!'
Common sense would tell any man that what you see before your eyes -- all these
young girls, as being termed the Youth, the Rosebuds of the Peace Mission Movement
-- no man could keep them living PURE, HOLY and VIRTUOUS LIVES!
I could never begin to thank FATHER for all the Blessings that HE has given to me and to the whole round world, but I indeed thank HIM for this opportunity of publicly thanking HIM and acknowledging HIS Deity! I thank you.
(After Mrs. DIVINE concluded her remarks, FATHER arose and spoke to Reverend Mander, and came to the pulpit to speak once more as follows:
PEACE, EVERYONE: By the permission of the Pastor I have arisen again. I do not wish to bore you, but to further emphasize the significance that these words are true, what Mrs. Divine said! You all have heard and read of our Marriage and what it was for -- that She might remain as the others are and as She was before! And I would like to say, as She said concerning the Rosebuds -- now who -- what man in the world could take young men as Crusaders -- middle-aged men, old men and men of vice and crime and sin and debauchery of every kind -- men of the lowest type and men of the highest state and type, and cause them to sacrifice all of their hobbies to live soberly, righteously and godly? (FATHER turns to the Pastor and says:)
Doctor, these brethren here, though some of them may look like old men and some of them may look like young men, some have been underworld men; some have been gangsters; some have been men of different types; some have been professional; some have been married; some have been single; but not a brother there would live after the manner of human affection -- not any more than those Rosebuds! (FATHER turns to the assembly of brothers seated separately, as usual, from those of the sisters, and enacting the Bill of Rights, and says;)
I would like to see how many brothers are there here that deny themselves of all human affection and of all opposite sex participation? For Righteousness' sake let it be known by the rising on your feet. (As one man the brothers rose to their feet, and there was thunderous applause. FATHER then said:) Aren't you glad! Holiness and virtue personified and universalized! I thank you.
New Day: November 2, 1946 A.D.F.D. Pg 3-4, 21.
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