FATHER DIVINE
Many visiting friends were present as usual to both see and hear the LORD of Lords and KING of Kings, as well as to volitionally praise His great Work and Mission. Among the many who spoke were Mr. D. R. Willis, Jr., writer and public speaker; Honorable Charles A. McBride; Mrs. A. Norwood, public school teacher; and Reverend Jenkins. A few of their speeches are to be found elsewhere, for your benefit and edification.
Our Savior gave forth abundantly of His Words of Divine Wisdom and Salvation whilst in the City of Brotherly Love -- and this glorious Message herein transcribed serves as an electric shock to the minds of the children of men, to awaken them from the sleep of the old religious dogmas and traditional customs into the light of spiritual truth and religious practicality.
However, just before the LORD arose to speak, a beautiful song to which FATHER refers in the Message was sung, after which the Holy Spirit moved volitionally in an individual to praise FATHER'S Majesty, speaking as follows:
"You all ought to be glad tonight to be in the Presence of GOD, FATHER DIVINE -- and that song was so real. When they started singing it, it touched something in me because FATHER'S Yoke is easy and His Burden is light. We have all found it so easy and so light by trying to walk in His Footsteps; that is why we know HE is the True and the Living GOD!
"If FATHER were not GOD we could not be here tonight all gathered together as One Family! Appearance makes no difference with GOD because we are all His Children.
"It is good to be here -- good to love GOD and to serve GOD! You know, it does something inside of you; it fills you and thrills you, and we are so glad HE chose to put on a Tabernacle and save the bodies of the children of men. You know, there was a time when man sought CHRIST for redemption and it could not be found until the Body of GOD appeared on the scene -- and now we know that our Deliverer is here!
"FATHER DIVINE has delivered millions that have called on His Holy Name! -- and you know anyone who is seeking to find Who FATHER DIVINE truly is, just ask your GOD to tell you Who FATHER DIVINE is, and HE won't miss; HE will show you just Who FATHER DIVINE is, and you need not look for any other! HE Is Here! -- the One Who was to come!
"You know, Jesus told us when He was leaving us, if He went not away the Comforter would not come. Now we know the Comforter is here, because we have been comforted, we have been satisfied, we have been filled and thrilled with the Power of GOD Almighty and only GOD could give you that! No man on earth could fill you with power.
"You know, Jesus on another occasion told us that He was coming back -- He and His FATHER -- and make His Abode with us. We know the FATHER, the Son and the Holy Ghost truly has come!
"FATHER DIVINE is the fulfillment of the Scripture from center to circumference. HE has fulfilled every Word in the Scripture and we know it by His Words being formed in us! That is why we can praise HIM! That is why we can honor, love and adore HIM! And there is only a small group of people here, but if you go to New York, even on a Monday night, it is so filled you can't walk through! There are hundreds there praising His Name; loving and adoring HIM! Wheresoever FATHER is the crowd gathers, because HE is the Magnet of Salvation! HE is giving Salvation, Freedom, Peace, Joy and Happiness to the world at large; that is why we know HE is GOD! I thank YOU, FATHER; I thank YOU, FATHER!"
(Shortly after this testimony, our beloved Savior arose to bless humanity with His wonderful Words of Spirit and Life, speaking as follows:)
PEACE EVERYONE! Good Health, Good Will and a Good Appetite; Good Manners, Good Behavior, All Success and All Prosperity; Life, Liberty and the Reality of Happiness! These and all other Blessings, we have them, and this is not a supposition but the Conscious Recognition and the Realization of millions. For this cause you can say, "I am so glad!"
Just before the last speaker arose to speak, the last speaker did arise, I arose, before I arose to speak, and I repeat, I reiterate, I stress, but more directly, the point which I wish to convey.
The composition, the last number just sung, it is not merely a composition for music but it has been re-established in the minds of millions:
'My Yoke is easy and My Burden is light!'
Just what it said there, if you will but harmonize and then unify with the Fundamentals
for which we stand, all of these Blessings will be at your disposal and at your
service and at the service of all mankind.
While listening to the song and repeating it in Person I thought to say how marvelous it would be to every living creature in lacks or wants or limitations, sick or afflicted, having any sort of an adverse or undesirable condition, if such persons would come to ME mentally and spiritually. It is not necessary to contact ME Personally especially, as GOD is Omnipresent, and more explicit and more essentially considered for you, GOD is Ever Present; wheresoever you may go and wheresoever you may be GOD is Ever Present.
The Key to the mystery of the Scripture I put forth into expression as heard in the most of your churches, "Prayer is the Key of Heaven"; but the average person does not really know what it means. The average person thinks it means praying or moaning in agony, and grieving and crying; even though the Word has been handed down by Christendom:
'Prayer is the Key of Heaven but Faith unlocks the door",
It is more explicit and more to be considered than that of which you call prayer
and prayer alone. The mystery of Prayer is Praise. The one to whom it was revealed
and handed down through that one to others --
'Prayer is the Key of Heaven", (by interpretation) "Praise is the Key of Heaven!'
PRAISE will unlock every barred and shut door; it will emancipate you from every
undesirable condition; it will give you your real emancipation. Matters not what
the consequences and the conditions may be, PRAISE will unlock the door! (Prayer
in that especial illustration by the Spirit of GOD), and GOD is His Own Interpreter;
I AM here to tell you the Word there -- PRAYER -- means PRAISE. PRAISE is the
Key of Heaven and FAITH will unlock the door.
PRAISE will unlock every barred and shut door, I say. If you retrace your thoughts back to Paul and Silas, when they were in jail, they sang and they prayed, it was said, but they sang and they GAVE PRAISE for the Blessings GOD had given them and the Blessings they had already received!
PRAISE will unlock any barred and shut door! As I have often said,
'Ask, affirm, give Thanks and give Praise;
GOD will give, confirm, increase and multiply!'
That is the mystery of Supply! With the right concept and the recognition of
GOD'S Actual Presence, when you give all Praises with all sincerity, diligently,
and shall have asked for what you will -- then affirm and give Thanks and give
Praise -- your prayers are heard and answered speedily, even before you utter
the words!
'You know not how to pray as you ought.
The Spirit itself maketh intercession in groans which cannot be uttered.'
Hence, when you get to that place in consciousness when you cannot utter the
word; when you get down deep in sincerity and are actually serious about what
you are saying, when you begin giving Praise and giving Thanks for the very thing
-- there and then the door flies wide open as it did for Paul and Silas when
they were in prison, and as it did for many others: PRAISE unlocked their barred
and shut door and set the prisoners free!
If you ask, I say, GOD will give, and for your affirming that you have it, GOD will confirm! All of your affirmations are confirmed by the great Confirmer, and all of your Thanks will increase and multiply that which GOD has confirmed you have; and as you give Praise continually you multiply the Blessings by as many more continually, as long as you Praise GOD sincerely.
This is not a supposition. When Jesus only had the two small fishes and the five barley loaves -- as a sample and as an example for you Jesus looked up from the material side of life -- looked up from materialism, from mortality, from the earth-bound thoughts of men, and lifted His Eyes above them -- His Mental Eye above them -- and gave Thanks for the Blessings He had received -- and it was increased there and then; and as they began to give Praise for the Blessings that had come, the Blessings were multiplied as by a million times over and over again, until they had a-full and a-plenty for everyone.
I have a-full and a-plenty for every living creature! -- not only those who are called My Followers. GOD is Universal in Activity and Infinite by Nature, therefore, you cannot confine HIM neither can you bind HIM.
GOD so loved the world HE gave His Son. GOD is giving to everyone the Blessings of Abundance of Supply, more than even your hearts can desire, if you could believe it and receive it! Aren't you glad? For it is written:
'Now unto Him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all you can ask or think . . . ,'
you cannot think enough for GOD to do yet. You cannot think enough for GOD to
do! GOD will do for you more than you can think, and if you
'Try ME", said HE, "see if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out such a Blessing it will not be room to receive it!'
This is not a supposition; it is the Recognition and the Realization of millions
who have tried ME with the Spirit of Sincerity. Aren't you glad? Of houses and
lands, of yachts and of airplanes and anything you need, GOD is pleased to supply
them if you will whole-heartedly trust in HIM. GOD is able to do exceedingly
abundantly above all you can ask or think, and this is not a supposition. I stress
it is not a supposition because the materialists say we are superstitious as
religious believers and we merely imagine things, we do not see or have them.
But I AM willing to measure arms with any and all of the materialists and prove
to the world conclusively GOD is greater and better and bigger than all of the
materialists! Aren't you glad? GOD is the real Science of Life but a very few
have realized GOD is the real Science of Life and not merely something imaginary.
Imaginations will not do, for the materialists will call for something that is a fact; something that is material, something that is real. Hence, you must transcend the borders of materialism and the mortal version of mortal's imagination and bring into your recognition and realization your fondest imagination, and cause your imagination to be made Real, Tangible and Practical and no longer merely be imaginary.
This beautiful home and thousands and thousands of others the universe over are not merely imaginary ideas. The fondest imagination of the True and the Faithful is made Real, Tangible and Practical by the Practicality of the preaching of CHRIST to a dying nation; dying and starving for Salvation; starving for comfort and convenience; starving for life, health and liberty; starving for understanding; starving for information, better known in our present day as education; starving for all of these things!
Then I have said by the composition according to the Gospel:
'Come unto ME and I will give you rest! My Yoke is easy and My Burden is light and thou shalt find rest for thy soul!'
Oh, it is wonderful! I need not say more; I arose first to convey the thought
concerning that number, the song lastly sung so vividly:
'Come unto ME and I will give you rest . . .'
give you rest for your mental and spiritual struggle, from all of your trials,
your tribulations and your worries. I will give you rest from such conditions
if you will but harmonize with ME scientifically and accurately and connect with
ME sufficiently to give GOD Praises whole-heartedly; and by the Praise you give,
your Blessings will be multiplied, and you will not have room to receive the
Blessings that are so freely given!
This is not a supposition, I said, and I will prove it to you in Deeds and Actions by outward demonstration in and on the material plane, and show to the world conclusively, as I have been, GOD is a Living Reality; GOD makes things Real, Tangible and Practical and adjusts matters satisfactorily! Aren't you glad? God gives you plenty of nice homes! If you will allow ME to I will lift you up when you have been cast down! If you will allow ME to I will take everyone of you out of the slums and give you nice, comfortable and beautiful homes! That is what I AM talking about!
'Hear the Blessed Savior, calling the oppressed,
Come all ye heavy laden and I will give you rest!'
As you heard the last speaker say, in New York City and wheresoever I AM, especially
where I AM known, you do not find standing room. If I was to return tonight to
My regular Banquet Hall in New York City and get there about three o'clock, you
would hardly find standing room; a Banquet Hall nearly the size of this room,
with balcony all around. Just think of it! Jesus said, and I repeat the same,
'And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto Me!'
> Aren't you glad? CHRIST has been lifted up! -- now imbibe the Spirit of
the CHRIST and live the Life of the CHRIST and men will be attracted to you in
business, profession, labor and trade, because CHRIST will draw them to you!
In business places that are run and owned and operated by true Followers of MINE who live exactly according to My Teaching and abide in My Spirit at all times, you can hardly find standing room in the grocery stores, in the dress shops, in the barber shops and in any and all of the places, because they are so freely given even as they receive, and they are holding ME uppermost in consciousness, if you please, and I AM drawing the masses wheresoever they are, even as where I AM!
Capital and Labor have united and I have brought Business and Trade together. I have caused them to be mentally and spiritually married to each other! As far as we are concerned, Capital and Labor are One! As far as we are concerned, Business and Trade are One! Aren't you glad? As far as we are concerned, Politics and Religion are One! As far as we are concerned, your American Citizenry and your Evangelical Living are united together; you cannot get one without getting the other! That is what I AM talking about!
By this we shall have a Righteous Government, and all of the True and Faithful of My Followers and Believers and Friends are imbibing the Law of the Spirit of Life that was in CHRIST JESUS to enact this Law in government and cause it to be legitimate! I thank you, I thank you, I thank you!
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