FATHER DIVINE
We love FATHER DIVINE and like to proclaim it with all that is in us.
" I do love and adore YOU," a staff member addressed FATHER DIVINE at Woodmont during Holy Communion not long ago, "and thank YOU for coming to teach us how to love YOU as YOU ought to be loved, how to praise YOU as YOU ought to be praised and how to serve YOU as YOU ought to be served. And for that reason, FATHER, I would like to share some excerpts I have on serving GOD and proving our love for GOD through service.
I would like to say, first of all, how I came to think of this so much at this time. I recall that in looking at YOU, FATHER, and how YOU are sitting there smiling in Your chair, I could see, one day, clear as crystal over Your chair, Servantship Degree.' Of course, I associated it with something immediate in my experience, although I did make quite a few excerpts on the Servantship Degree from that angle. And FATHER Dear, there are other things can be brought up about the Servantship Degree but I would like to share these excerpts of the true Servantship Degree which also explain why YOU said to us, You will have to prove it to ME,' when we all told YOU recently that we love YOU."
Psalm 100 speaks of gladness. It says:
'Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
Serve the LORD with gladness: come before His Presence with singing.
Know ye that the LORD He is GOD: it is He that hath made us, and not
we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise:
For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth
to all generations.'
Matthew, Chapter 20, verses twenty through twenty-eight tells us
of the request of Zebedee's wife for their two sons to sit on
either side of Jesus when He came into His Kingdom. It reads:
'Then came to Him the mother of Zebedee's children with her sons worshiping Him, and desiring a certain thing of Him.
And He said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto Him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on Thy right hand, and the other on the left, in Thy Kingdom.
But Jesus answered
Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto Him, We are able.
And He saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on My right hand, and on My left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of My Father.
And when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brethren.
But Jesus called them unto Him and said,
Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.
But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;
And whosoever will be the chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many.'
Jesus said to His disciples, henceforth I shall not call you
servants, but friends. St. John, chapter 15, verses eleven
through fifteen say:
'These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
This is My commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Ye are My friends, if you do whatsoever I command you.
Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not was his Lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you.'
And Philippians, chapter two, verses five through eight, speak of
Jesus taking upon Him the form of a servant. It tells us:
'Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.'
FATHER DIVINE'S Words concerning GOD loving GOD and serving GOD are priceless. The thought of His Words on the subject being used at this time can be summed up in the poem "Love."
LOVE
Just saying that "I love You" doesn't mean a thing at all,
For loving words fly like the birds when they hear winter's call.
Love is a thing that proves itself a thousand times a day
In the simple little things you do and not in the things you say,
Love is a thing called sacrifice, a tonic when you are blue;
Love is the joy of doing things for someone dear to you!
FATHER DIVINE'S Words tell us that "the personal body is for the
service of GOD." In a lecture given by FATHER on July 6, 1934 and
reprinted in The New Day of February 16, 1957, page 5, HE says:
'. . . It is Wonderful! Therefore, if you as individuals, will deny yourselves whole-heartedly and make up your minds to serve GOD bodily, personally, then and there your bodies will automatically manifest the Sonship Degree of GOD.Know ye not that your bodies are the Temples of the Living GOD?'
If this be true, bring your bodies into subjection to the CHRIST, and CHRIST will do for you what you would try to do for HIM. It is a Law that cannot be refuted. If you will try or desire to do for the CHRIST, CHRIST will do for you what you desire to do for HIM.
"There are thousands of people that have thought within themselves, When I get to Heaven I am going to sit right down and I am going to ask King Jesus to give me my crown!' Of course, it is true, it has long since been said,
The least among you shall be the servant of all.'
The Sonship Degree, yea, even the Father-ship Degree, may serve one and all, but firstly you must be willing to serve GOD. If you are not willing to give your bodies as living sacrifices and love and serve GOD whole-heartedly, physically as well as mentally and spiritually, you are not qualified for the Kingdom of GOD. To be qualified for the Kingdom of GOD you must be willing to serve GOD and serve GOD hard. A person that is not willing to serve physically as well as mentally and spiritually, that person is not ready for the physical redemption of the body. The personal body cannot be redeemed rightfully and righteously until the personal body be equipped with the will and the desire to serve personally.
"The personal body is for the service of GOD as well as it has been for the service of man and mankind. Desiring to be successful, desiring to be prosperous, I must be willing to give something in return for what I am desiring to receive of HIM. Serving GOD with your heart and with your mind is not sufficient for the redemption of the body. It may be sufficient for the redemption of the spirit; it may be sufficient for the redemption of the mind, but it is not sufficient for the redemption of the body.
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy GOD with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength'
that includes your physical body, doesn't it? Therefore, your body should be the servant of GOD and you should be willing to sacrifice it as a living sacrifice wholly, which is your reasonable service', and be not conformed to the formality of the world.
"The customs of the world are that a man should seek self-gains. You have long since heard them say, self first.' But the Spirit speaketh just to the reverse
Serve the Lord your GOD with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, and with your physical as well as your mental and your spiritual strength.'
When this shall have been accomplished or shall have been surrendered, whichever, as a living sacrifice to HIM that liveth forever, the Spirit of GOD'S Presence will consume the offering and the offering will be highly accepted by the Almighty. GOD will take control of the body. Wheresoever HE has dominion, there be His Kingdom. Naught can hurt or harm the inhabitants for the Dominion of His Kingdom is from everlasting. As it is Infinite it is also Omnipotent.
"These thoughts are well considering; but remember, your bodies are the main issue in the picture for the establishment of the Kingdom on the earth plane. The sacrificing of them is the essential, and the willingness to cause them to be completely destroyed if necessary. Nevertheless, your bodies should be in the issue as a living sacrifice to the great Creator, to love, live and serve. It is such a privilege to direct your energies, your fancies, your pleasures and your tendencies and every effort, every desire, every expression, in the positive direction for service for the great Creator, and not service to self nor for self by any means whatever. By so doing, you are serving GOD. It is not that one must necessarily be at this place personally or that place personally, but it is essential to give your hearts, your minds, your souls and your bodies to GOD whole-heartedly, willing to serve physically as well as mentally and spiritually; serving for the common good of your great Family with which you are now connected; the great Family in which you are now adopted.
'You are heirs and joint-heirs with Christ.'
"If this be true, GOD coming to you on the material plane, GOD has condescended to make HIMSELF one with men, that they might be one with HIM and they might learn to serve on the material plane the same as they did among men or should have done, for the common good of their own families. This is the great Family of the Kingdom of GOD, where all of the families of the earth have come together with one accord. They are all recognizing GOD'S Presence and through this conscious conviction and recognition I AM knitting them together and I AM causing them to
Love ye one another,' according to the New Commandment that I have written.
"This recognition will eventually envelop the world. When this shall have been accomplished, it will not be necessary to seek nor have nor express human love. The human affections and all of the human expressions of love, with all of the animal love and affection, such as the animal's mother-love and every other expression of the mortal affection, will come to an end when the true Love of CHRIST shall have been established within. We do not NEED mortal love. Why?
For He taketh away the first that He may establish the second.'"All of your mortal affections, all the way from the man kingdom down to the animal kingdom and to the depths of the animal kingdom, can and will eventually be eradicated and dispelled from the consciousness of the living when the recognition of the Infinite Love of your great Creator shall have been established. It is wonderful!"
Unselfish service is touched on by FATHER DIVINE on March 1, 1937. His Message is reprinted in The New Day, July 28, 1962, pages 7 and 8. FATHER said:
'. . . There are those among My followers at times of whom I may inspire or place in different places for the purpose of giving service, but service unselfishly. They should be the expressers of service unselfish, unselfishly, that the very Spirit of My Presence might cooperate with them universally. That is the mystery."So long as you are expressers of Righteousness selfishly, it is a matter of impossibility for My Spirit and My Presence through others to work for you and in harmony for you directly, universally. The great significance of success and prosperity lies in cooperation and in the outward expression of non-selfishness. If you are partakers of My Nature, My Characteristics and My Mind, and living and working according to My Mind and Spirit, you will express unselfishly from every angle expressible, in the spiritual work and mission as well as you should do in your own world of expression. And unselfish expression should be your portion from every angle expressible. By so doing you will express the Love of GOD instead of the love of men . . .
"Merely to say, I am a follower of FATHER,' does not suffice, but you must follow scientifically, harmoniously and continuously, that My Spirit and My Mind might have free access by you bringing your body into subjection to CHRIST by you taking on the nature and the characteristics of your GOD and having a desire in all things to be and express just like HIM. Unselfish- ness must be your ambition, and nothing less than the perfection of unselfishness must be your destination. When this shall have become to be a living reality and you shall have established your- selves in the CHRIST Consciousness in reality, from that angle of expression CHRIST shall have been enthroned on the throne of your mind and have full control over all things under your control. Then and there CHRIST is LORD for you, CHRIST is King for you."
Do not serve just to gain, but serve for the good of serving, FATHER DIVINE advises in a Message HE gave July 10-11, 1939. It is reprinted in the September 27, 1958 issue of The New Day on page 5.
FATHER said:
'. . . You are to be courteous to each and all of your patrons or customers and you are to respect them if they do not give you a penny. You have a right to respect them if you are going to serve them. Why should you act dishonestly to a person because he does not give you money as a tip or something? If you are going to serve him, serve him as serving the LORD with gladness, and entering in My Presence there, wheresoever I AM serving, with thanksgiving and with praise and things will go along very beautifully and you will be happy in so doing."FORGET ABOUT YOURSELF! Get SELF completely out of the picture and if you are going to live according to same, you will be thinking, continually, how you may serve others and give the best of service to your fellow brethren, to mankind I mean to others other than what you think you can get for yourself.
"Do not serve just to gain, but serve for the good of serving! Do not be in business just for what you think you can get out of it, but see how much you can put into it, and yet get enough out of it to meet your daily obligations honestly. By being economical in your understanding and in your dealings, you will be able to meet the issues and to adjust matters satisfactorily, and will be able to put more in than you have been, and yet get more out; for
It is more blessed to give than to receive.''
In a Sermon given by FATHER DIVINE on April 4, 1939 and published in The New Day of February 2, 1963, page 9, HE said the way to tell HIM you love HIM is by being practical and profitable.
'. . . It is written: Be not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord.' You must be as alert in serving GOD physically as you should be and have been taught to be mentally and spiritually. Unless you put forth your conviction into expression in your daily activities, you are not telling ME anything. Put forth your conscious conviction of your faith you have in ME into action and into practice and into constructive service; then you are telling ME most distinctly you love ME and you are showing it to others. That is the mystery . . ."Do not be talking about you love GOD and trying to fool ME unless you mean it! Love in actions and in deeds is the thing for you to do, but leave off the seeking of the love for yourself and consider the good of others, and when you hear ME speak of Love, why, a good many mortal minds, impractical, slothful and good-for-nothing individuals, want ME to stress it that you should love one another so someone can do something for you for a selfish purpose. That is all you are studying about!
"If you love GOD, your thoughts would be you would want ME to get in you and be loving in you to do good for others and to do good for the cause for which we are working. Can you not see the mystery? You need to forget your old corruptible selfish self! See the mystery? Forget about it and live in this recognition once and forever; then and only then will I be with you effectively. That is the mystery!
"Whensoever we get to singing or talking about Love, you see some of the absolutely love- less and useless and profitless individuals springing up in thoughts, in actions and in expression, proving to the world conclusively they want to hide in My Love or under My Love that they might still remain impractical, unprofitable and good for nothing.
"These are hard sayings but yet they are true. But if you love and are worthy of this Love, or if you desire to see this Love and this mystery unfold, you will express it yourself to others and to those with whom you come in contact. Can you not see the mystery? Then and only then are you practical and profitable in this Love to have ME with you forever. Aren't you glad?
"I know you like to hear ME talk about Love, but I want to talk about it on the other hand, on the other side. That is the way you can tell ME you love ME by being practical and profitable. The ones who are the most profitable and the most profit to the Kingdom and to the children of men, they are the ones who have the most Love in My consideration, for the things they do and by what they are doing. I thank you."
(Continued in Part 2)
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