Saturday, September 28, 2013

John Writes about "What should a man do who is not satisfied with any of the churches?"

October 19, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, John.

I was with you tonight and heard the preacher answer the questions, and some of his answers were very satisfactory, but there was one that did not exactly satisfy the true longings of the man who is in search of truth - I mean the one that asks: "What should a man do who is not satisfied with any of the churches?"

Well, if he can find no church that provides truths that satisfy that man's inquiring soul, then that man can never feel that he should go to any church for information as to those things which he has no knowledge of or which he has grave doubts about.

The churches, of course, can give no information of truths that the churches themselves do not know, and if the truths that these churches teach fall short of what the man is seeking for, then these churches cannot possibly be satisfactory to him. While the churches differ in their creed and government and, perhaps, in some particular construction or interpretation of the Bible, yet, they - the orthodox churches - are all founded upon the teachings of the Bible, and they cannot teach greater or other truths than that Book contains and, hence, if a man is seeking for truths that are not in the Bible, his inquiries cannot be answered by those whose knowledge is confined to the Bible teachings.

And the non-orthodox churches cannot give forth the truths of the spiritual kingdom of God for they, to a large degree, reject the Bible and depend very largely upon ethical and moral doctrines, and the results of the works of mere conscience in determining the right and wrong of things. The spiritual things are not known or taught by these churches and, consequently, the inquiring mind cannot get from them the information or help that it is calling for.

I know that in such a condition and want of knowledge of truth on the part of the churches, such a man is without the privilege of having his cravings for the truth and his cravings for spiritual things satisfied. And, as a consequence, he must seek further to get the information which he may consider so necessary, and when he comes to so seek, he will find no place where such knowledge may be found.

The mere intellectual acquirements of students and philosophers will not supply what the man is seeking and he is without any possibility of obtaining what he seeks for. And so the preacher's suggestion, that he and two others form a church of their own, would have some force were it not for the fact that any church that might be so formed would have no greater possession of the truth than the churches that he has failed to find any satisfaction in.

There are many men on earth today in the condition of the man spoken of, and many who refuse to seek in the churches for the truth, are without any recourse to other means or places or teachers of whom they can learn the things that they are searching for.

The spirits have known of this condition of men for these many centuries and have been trying to supply a way or create a medium through which the great spiritual truths of God could be made known to men. And for that very purpose, we are now using you to receive our messages of truth and make them known to mankind and provide a church, may I say, where the seeking man may find answers to his inquiries.

We shall complete our delivery of these truths through you and then the man, who cannot find a church where his searchings can be satisfied, will find a reservoir of truth opened up to him that will not require any preacher or church to explain it. As you proceed in your experience with the churches and teachers of the old truths, as they call them, you will more fully realize the necessity for our work and your work.

I will not write more tonight, but will come soon and deliver a formal message. With my love and blessings, I will say good night.

John

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