FATHER DIVINE
The Impersonal Spirit was evidently calling for testimonies and confessions on this occasion, for one followed another in rapid succession. Several amazing healings were recounted by various ones, and the faith in the Savior, FATHER DIVINE, was very much in evidence as they related their respective experiences.
Especially outstanding were two testimonies in which one speaker's body, which was miserably mangled in an automobile accident, was healed and the bones set without the customary anesthetic, at her request. The other testimony was that of a brother who was healed from many different afflictions several years ago by his recognition of GOD Personified in the Body of FATHER DIVINE. After his marvelous healing, however, he indulged in negation and drifted from his Salvation, and his body soon showed the effects of his deviations, and it became necessary for him to have one leg amputated.
In a beautiful Message the Great Healer explained the cause of this and the necessity of holding fast to GOD, that GOD will in turn hold fast to you.
With grateful hearts we thank THEE, our LORD.
(The foregoing statement is that of the transcriber, and the following is FATHER'S glorious lecture.)
PEACE EVERYONE! Good Health, Good Will and a Good Appetite for everyone who abides in My Spirit and Mind! That little composition, just a word from the Fount of GOD'S Omniscience, Compassion and Mercy to men, was an answer as a Message, and yet it was an answer --
'If you never give up, if you never give up,
If you never give up the LORD; if you never give up,
If you never give up, GOD will never give you up.'
In all simplicity, meekness and obedience, you must stand in the recognition
of GOD'S Actual Presence, realizing GOD is above the versions of men. By standing
firm, and as I afore said, if you never give up the Holy Ghost, yea, the Ghost
will not give you up!
Truly might have Jacob said in the days of old, as a delegate representing humanity seeking the blessings of GOD:
'I will not let You go until You bless my soul.'
The last speaker, by experience, reminded ME somewhat of Jacob wrestling with
the angel with a determination to receive a blessing, and he would not let go
because he knew there was no other hope for him, saving that one which came by
the angel -- that one which would come by the angel. For this cause he said,
'I will not let You go until You bless my soul.'
So the very spirit and the experience of Jacob in the days of old was a prediction
of this Dispensation of what you are now experiencing and what you have experienced.
When you held on, regardless to conditions, circumstances, versions and theories and doctrines of the physicians and others, you found that GOD was "a rock in the weary land and a shelter in the time of a storm." You could see and others as well as you, can see now, that if you do not give up the Ghost, the Ghost will not give you up; but if you give up, why, naturally if you give GOD up, GOD will give you up; and if you let go GOD, GOD will let go of you.
Truly might have one said by inspiration in the Epistle speaking of this Dispensation among this people:
'Submit yourself, yea, yourselves, unto the LORD; draw nigh unto Him and He will draw nigh to you.'
But if you get self-conceited, self-exalted and self-bewildered, and feel within
yourself you can do without GOD, GOD thinks HE can do without you! But if you
feel as if though you cannot do without GOD and will hold on to Him, GOD may
hold on to you, for it is vice-versal.
'Whatsoever you measure unto others, the same shall be measured to you.'
If, in simplicity, in meekness and in obedience, you stand and present your bodies
as living sacrifices to GOD, and will not let go, GOD will not let you go --
in other words, GOD will not let go of you. So it is a privilege to live in such
a recognition, as the experience of the last speaker is a message to this people.
It is a message mentally and spiritually! It is a message physically! It is a message for your mental and spiritual condition! It is a message for your physical condition, that you might realize, if you let go GOD, GOD will let you go and let go you; but if you do not let go, GOD will not let go you unless HE is obliged to.
At times you know when you have sinned unto death, you will not have to let go GOD; for,
'the wages of sin is death.'
Hence, if you have actually sinned unto death, GOD will allow the enemy, and
will not prevent the enemy of your soul, from continuing to impose such conditions
of affliction and of misery upon you, until you will have to let go. But one
thing I have brought to your attention that sits or stands as a prohibitation
-- if you die or live as a person, it is equivalently the same. You need not
think you can get away from that which you are in, saving by being born again.
You may think within yourself, "I will go around some way, I will evade the issue. I will go around it in some way." But I say you must come boldly to the Throne! There is no other way saving through and by the DOOR that I have prepared for you!
These thoughts are well worth considering; for as I said, if you wish to get a foretaste of it -- of blessings in heaven or of misery in "the other place" -- taste of such an experience by getting in a conscious state of expression and live in it for a while. Let that have full access -- either of these two extreme expressions have full access in your conscious mentality -- conceive them (the expressions and tendencies) within your subconsciousness, and relax, go to sleep and see how you feel. See how you feel in your sleep! If it is good, you feel good. If it is bad or evil, you feel terrible!
Therefore I say, I leave this information for all humanity, as a prohibitation, to stand as a barrier, yea, as the Angel, the Cherubim with his flaming sword to keep you away from the Tree of Life, unless you get right with GOD. To keep you away, and yet you are afraid to stay; for you know you are in misery whilst you live. If you go and commit suicide, that will not do any good in the least, for you will be as though you would be in a nightmare in your sleep, and it is a terrible condition if you are in misery whilst your body is sleeping. That is the mystery.
Then I say, it is a privilege to live in such a recognition where you can be abundantly blessed whilst you are awake or whilst you are asleep. If you are in perfect Peace and perfect Harmony with ME, matters not whether you are awake or sleeping, it is all the same -- your Joy and your Happiness, your Peace and your Pleasure will have no end! That is the mystery.
That is why I spoke through the mouth of Jesus and said,
'Fear not him who can destroy the body, but fear the one who can destroy the soul!'
. . . who can make things miserable for you. Then, fear the one who can make
things miserable for you. It is wonderful!
Because he can make things so miserable for you, if you are asleep you will be tormented day and night. Then, HE can make things Peaceful and Pleasant for you, whereby if you are asleep or awake you will be Happy and will be Peaceful and Contented, and will be resting in My Love! So it is a wonderful place to be!
Get to this place in consciousness where it is immaterial to you, even as it is immaterial to ME! Whether you sleep or are awake, it would matter not, whilst yet you know so long as you live in this recognition you will not get sleepy! But even if it was possible that you sleep or wake, as may be termed sleeping according to the mortal version of the religions, you may be sleeping even as was the experience of Lazarus --
'Our brother, Lazarus, sleepeth,'
They said, "Well, if he sleepeth he doeth well." Then I said, "He
is dead," because I wanted them to know, if he was cut off and could not
awaken again, even though he was sleeping in a way of speaking, why, he would
not be doing so well because he was not in a place in consciousness where it
would have been Peace in the subconsciousness continually.
The subconscious mind had not been actually redeemed, therefore it was not eternal Peace there to be seen. But one said,
'If he sleepeth, he doeth well.'
He is doing good to be sleeping. He is not in his trouble, he is not worrying
and so on like that. That was their thought, you see.
But it is a terrible thing to die or sleep, or whatsoever you may call it, in a way of misery, where you cannot wake up out of that nightmare of misery. Now, you all have experienced both of the good and of the evil. You have had that foretaste of it! You have had a foretaste of Glory, and you have had a foretaste of misery in your sleep. It was telling you the mystery of what I AM telling you.
Then I say, it is a blessing to live in such a place in consciousness where you can be satisfied and be Peaceful and Happy. Even if you could die as a person, your Peaceful Mind would be satisfied if you are in harmony with your GOD. You see, at times there are those who speak in ME very Happily and very Peacefully and very Pleasantly and very Contentedly. It is a wonderful place to be in ME in perfect Peace, as I will keep thee if your mind is stayed in ME; but if you know that you find no Peace or no Rest in ME, why, you do not feel so good, do you?
If you are asleep or if you are awake, why, it is not so pleasant, especially if you are conscious of My Presence and then conscious that I AM not pleased with you! You are filled with negation -- there is something burning in your breast! But when you know your are in perfect Peace and in perfect Harmony, how Joyful and how Happy you can be! You can rest at Ease! You can enjoy the sweet Peace and Rest, for the sweet Messenger of Rest will continue to bring to your consideration the conscious recognition and the realization of the Love your Savior has for you.
Then I say, if you do not let go, GOD will not let go you! If you do not let go GOD, GOD will not let go you! As I have often said in speaking of the same, if you give up the Ghost, naturally, you will die; but if you never give up the Ghost, it is a matter of impossibility for you to die, even if you would have to live in misery -- I mean, if you are sinful.
That is why some of the wicked people do not die and continue on and continue on living physically -- because they do not give up the Ghost, though they are living in misery continually.
If you do not give up the Ghost, you cannot die! Ananias and Sapphira, when they had sinned or lied to GOD, as being termed Peter and John, and when they fell at their feet, they gave up the Ghost. If they had not yielded up to the Ghost, why, they would not have died -- they would have been only in agony and in mental coma state of consciousness. They would have been in misery under condemnation. The very physical body could not have died; but because they gave up the Ghost, why, naturally, they died.
So it is with every living creature. You never die until you give up the Ghost. Jesus did not die until He gave up the Ghost.
'To Thee I commit My Spirit.'
And the Spirit left Him, and then He died apparently. So the very Life of which
I AM speaking, good or evil, the Life in which you are now living, you can hold
on to it, if you wish to and will not give up the Ghost; for you cannot die unless
you do.
Now, your afflictions, your sickness and your diseases at times may cause you to feel as if though you had just as well to let go. You may feel as if though you are obliged to let go, by what others have said concerning you. The last speaker did not believe that he was obliged to die because the doctors said he would. If he would have been obliged to die according to his version, he would have been obliged to die. He would have died! You see the mystery? For he would have yielded up the Ghost and let go, you see. That is the mystery.
But matters not how severe your conditions may be mentally, spiritually or physically, unless you give up the Ghost, it is a matter of impossibility for you to die. The Ghost will not give you up, neither will it let you go, unless you give up the Ghost! That is the mystery.
His condition was an experience physically as an expression well to be considered -- how the most severe condition of all creation, as it was his physical experience, mental or spiritual, could have been the same. You could have been in the most severe experience in your mentality, in your spirituality, or in your surroundings; you could be in a miserable condition, the worst condition that could be created by the "other fellow" -- if you do not give up the Ghost, you cannot die!
But of course it is true, you will have to give up the Ghost if you are not watchful! If you have sinned unto death, your punishment will be so severe you will eventually get tired of suffering under such an agony, such a mental and a spiritual agony. You will let go and GOD will let you go! But if you do not let go, even though you are a sinner, you can live in your body; even though you live in misery and its torture, it is a matter of impossibility for you to die unless you let go the Ghost! That is the mystery!
Now, if you do not let go GOD, GOD will not let you go . . . will not let you go! So I say, the experience of the last speaker is an experience to be considered and to be copied after, in his experience in all of your daily experiences in the present, in the future, and it should have been in the past.
When you were down and out mentally, spiritually and physically, when you were perturbed mentally and spiritually and filled with negation, sorrow and woe in every way of expression, if you did not and will not let go, GOD will not let you go. That is the mystery. It was an experience that should be considered by each and all of the people; and his experience also fulfilled a part of the Scripture otherwise, after suffering a long time and apparently could not be delivered from such a condition, and the condition of his system was that it could not be redeemed wholly or he could be in his entirety; what said the Scripture concerning the mystery, yea, the Gospel, as a Message for your experience as it was a Message for his experience? There is a promise in the Gospel where his salvation stands, where his salvation stood:
'It is better to enter into life halt or maimed, than for your whole body to be cast into 'the other place.''
Can you not see the mystery?
Therefore, it was better,
'If your right hand offend thee, cut it off. If your right eye offend thee, pluck it out,'
or whatsoever offends thee and will destroy your whole body, if it is possible
to amputate or extract that from you, let it go and enter into life halt or maimed
rather than your whole body to be lost and also your soul.
So, his experience was an experience as a Message of Salvation, to show you how you can and will get victory over all trials and tribulations. You will get victory over all of those conditions by living exactly according to the Teaching and by bringing your body into subjection, and by being meek and lowly in heart, being persistent in your ambition, being determined in your resolve, being substantiated in faith and unshaken in confidence, regardless to what men may say concerning your GOD.
You should be substantiated, you should be unshaken. As I said last evening, you should let GOD have a real emancipation; Emancipate GOD in your consideration and give GOD His exemption from every angle expressible, for if you do not, GOD cannot emancipate you; for you are binding HIM and measuring HIM with the measure of a man. Then how can GOD save you, if GOD is a man -- no more than you are! FREE GOD! As I said, GOD can do as HE pleases! That is GOD'S business, and who can hinder?
You try to measure GOD with the measure of a man from every angle expressible! You need to go back and get a GOD that is Infinite and Eternal, a GOD that is Omniscient, Omnipotent and Omnipresent; for you have some places or you have some place you do not want HIM to be and go; you need to go and get one where HE has access everywhere in all things and in all places and in all conditions, where HE can go as HE pleases. Being Infinite by Nature and Omnipresent in Characteristics and in Activities, GOD HIMSELF will function from every angle expressible and still be absolutely Independent!
Because of your thoughts at times, the reaction of your thoughts concerning your GOD will bring such conditions upon you as was the experience of the last speaker. By hearing negative talk and by being in such an environment, and by compromising with it or indulging in it, the reaction of this condition came upon him after I had healed him. Nevertheless, by being persistent in his ambition and regaining mental and spiritual consciousness concerning the mystery, and recognizing ME with the Spirit of Sincerity, I lifted him again.
Even though I lifted him, there was still something in the limb by transmission of the thoughts, that caused amputation. It was necessary, for it offended the body; therefore it was necessary in the fulfillment of the Gospel:
'If thy right hand offend thee, cut it off.'
It was in fulfillment of the Gospel, that the limb would be amputated that the
Spirit of My Presence might be still in him, that he might be a living witness,
even though he be maimed of one limb.
It is better to enter life halt or maimed than for your whole body to be cast into the grave. That is the mystery of what he was saying and the interpretation thereof. But because he did not give up the Ghost as both a witness for ME in the Truth as was given by Jesus, and also a witness in the truth of what I have spoken recently, saying, "If you do not give up the Ghost, you cannot die," matters not when death comes. What do you care about him? The last enemy to be conquered is death, and GOD is greater and better than death; therefore, if such an expression as death would come, if you do not let go, and know within yourself GOD is in you and you are ONE with HIM, it is a matter of impossibility for death to overcome you; but you as in HIM will overcome death and death will have no longer an access over your mentality or in your consideration.
Matters not where you are, if you do not let go GOD, GOD will not let go you. If you are faithful and if you are true, GOD will not let go you. That is the thought of it. But it is essential to be in harmony with GOD, that GOD might be in harmony with you. It is through GOD'S condescension HE came on the earth plane to you, to reach you in your condition; even if you or your condition was the best one in expression, yet you have declared it was not Perfect! If it was not perfect, you are classed or should consider the worst one.
GOD has as much right to reach the worst one as HE has to reach the best one. If it is not perfect, HE is reaching imperfection. HE is reaching the imperfect! Therefore, if GOD goes down low enough to reach the best of the imperfect, HE is reaching imperfection and the imperfect; therefore you should consider HE should reach all imperfection if HE wishes to, without accusation or condemnation.
Then I say, who has known the Mind of GOD that they might judge HIM or correct His Mind? They must be the perfect one! Then bring them forth and I will know what to do in the act of serving them! But do not let go the Ghost or let go GOD, which is the same; for if you do, GOD may let go you. Then how great will the fall be when GOD withdraws Himself from you. Now whither should you or shall you go?
I thought I would drop that little thought for consideration, for the consideration of My hearers present and millions of others that will hear it hereafter; for when I speak to you as individuals, especially when I AM speaking publicly, My Message goes forth universally to every nation, language, tongue and people. They all shall hear My Message, for I will send it.
Now, do not let go GOD, unless you wish to. If you let go GOD, GOD will let you go, and misery and woe will follow you. It is something to consider when you think of how it is with the individuals trying to measure GOD with the measure of a man. Because of His condescension, because of His Love and Compassion, because of His Mercy to the people, HE came and comes in the likeness of the people.
Then I say, it is well worth considering:
'Let this mind be in you that 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 taken upon Himself the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men.'
'Meek and lowly is the way!'
With a meek and lowly and contrite heart is the way to your GOD.
'I AM meek and lowly in heart, and thou shalt find rest for thy soul.'
He could have said, "You will find rest for your soul by being meek and
lowly in heart."
Take these thoughts to consideration. The Spirit of My Presence can and will be with you, and if you live it and express it and will not give up the Ghost, neither let go GOD, GOD will not let go you, neither let you go if you will not allow HIM to, by being faithful and true in all you say and do. I thank you.
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