March 3, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Jesus.
You are in a better condition tonight and I will continue my messages.
"God is a God of love, and no man can come to Him, unless he receives the Love of the Father in his soul." As men are by nature sinful and inclined to error and the violation of God's laws, they can be redeemed from that sin only by obtaining this Love; and that can be obtained only through prayer and faith in the willingness of God to bestow this Love upon whomsoever may ask for it. I do not mean that there must be formal prayers or compliance with any church creeds or dogmas; but the prayer that is efficacious is that which emanates from the soul and earnest aspirations of a man. So let men know, that unless they have the real soul longings for this Love, it will not be given to them - no mere intellectual desires will suffice. The intellect is not that faculty in man that unites him to God. Only the soul is made in the likeness of the Father, and unless this likeness is perfected by a filling of the soul with the Divine Love of the Father, the likeness is never complete.
Love is the one great thing in God's economy of real existence. Without it, all would be chaos and unhappiness; but where It exists, harmony and happiness also exists. This I say, because I know from personal experience that it is true. Let not men think that God is a God who wants the worship of men with the mere intellectual faculties, that is not true. His Love is the one thing that can possibly unite Him and them. This Love is not the Love that is a part of man's natural existence; the love that men have, who have not received a part of the Divine Love, is not sufficient to make them one with the Father; nor is that love the kind that will enable them to enter the Celestial Spheres and become as the Angels who are filled with this Divine Love, and who do always the Will of the Father. This Love is found only in the souls of those who have received it through the ministrations of the Holy Spirit - the only instrument of God's workings, that is used in bringing about the salvation of men.
I have seen the operations of the Spirit upon the souls of men, and know what I tell you to be true. No man must rest in the assurance that any other instrumentality or medium than the Holy Spirit, will enable him to obtain this Love. He must not rest in the thought that without this he can become a part of God's Kingdom, for no love but this Divine Love can entitle and qualify him to enter that Kingdom.
When on earth I taught the doctrine of salvation only through the workings of the Holy Spirit in fulfilling the commandments of the Father. Mere belief in me or in my name without this Love, will never enable any man to become the possessor of this Love. Hence the saying, "that all sins against me or even against God's commandments may be forgiven men, but the sin against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven them, neither while on earth nor when in the spirit world." This means that so long as a man rejects the influences of the Spirit he sins against it, and such sin prevents him from receiving this Divine Love; and hence, in that state he cannot possibly be forgiven, and be permitted to enter into the Celestial Kingdom of the Father.
God's Love is not that which needs the love of man to give it a Divine Essence, but on the contrary, the love of man in order to become Divine in its nature, must be completely enveloped in or absorbed by the Divine Love of the Father. So, let man know that his love is but the mere shadow of what the Father's Love is, and that so long as he refuses to receive this Love of the Father, he will be compelled to remain apart from the Father, and enjoy only the happiness which his natural love affords him.
I am so certain that all men may receive this Love, if they will only seek for it in the true way and with earnest desire and faith, that I know it is possible for all men to be saved. But men have the great gift of free will, and the exercise of that gift towards the seeking and finding of this Love seems to be a difficulty that will prevent a large majority of the human race from receiving this great redemptive boon.
My Father is not desirous that any man should live through all eternity without this Love; but the time will come, and very soon, when the privilege of obtaining this Love will be withdrawn from mankind; and when that great event takes place, never afterwards will the privilege be restored; and men who are then without It will be compelled to live through all eternity with only their natural love to comfort them and get whatever happiness they may be able to obtain from such love. Men may think that this time of separation will never come, but in that they are mistaken, and when too late, they will realize it.
The harmony of my Father's universe is not depending on all men receiving this Divine Love because in the workings of God's laws of harmony on men's souls all sin and error will be eradicated, and only truth will remain; but the mere absence of sin does not mean that all parts of God's creation will be peopled by spirits and men who are equally happy, or who are filled with the same kind of love. The man who is free from sin and has only his natural love, will be in perfect harmony with other men possessing the same kind of love; but he will not be in harmony with those spirits who have this Divine Love and the supreme happiness which It gives. And yet, such differences in love and happiness will not create discord or want of harmony in the universe.
Adam and Eve, or whom they personify, had not this Celestial Love - only the natural love that belonged to their creation as human beings, and yet, they were comparatively happy; but their happiness was not like that of the angels who live in the Celestial Heavens where only this Divine Love of God exists. They were mortals, and when temptation came to them, the love that they possessed was not able to resist it, and they succumbed. So, even though man may hereafter live forever and be free from sin and error, yet, he will always be subject to temptations which this natural love may not be able to resist. I mean that his nature will be merely the nature that Adam and Eve had - nothing greater or less.
Even in that condition he may be able to resist all temptations that may assail him, yet, he will always be subject to fall from his state of happiness, and so become more or less unhappy. This is the future of men who have not received the Divine Love.
But the spirit who has this Divine Love becomes, as it were, a part of Divinity Itself, and will never be subject to temptation or unhappiness. He will be free from all powers that may possibly exist for leading him to unhappiness - as if he were a very God. I mean that His Divinity cannot possibly be taken from him by any power or influence or instrumentality in all the universe of God.
This love makes a mortal and sinful man an Immortal and sinless spirit, destined to live through all eternity in the presence of and at one with the Father.
So, if men would only think and realize the importance of obtaining this Divine Love, they would not be so careless in their thoughts and aspirations concerning those things which will determine their future state through all eternity.
The importance of these truths cannot be too forcibly placed before men for their consideration; and, when the time comes for them to pass over, the more they have pondered on and obtained a knowledge of these truths, the better will be their condition in the spirit world. The spirit world will not help them so very much to obtain a more enlightened insight into these spiritual matters, because in this world men differ and have their opinions just as on earth.
Of course, they have not all the temptations to indulge their passions and appetites, which they had when in the flesh; but as regards their opinion of spiritual things, the opportunities are not very much greater, except in this, that because of the freedom from the passions and influences of the flesh, they may sooner turn their thoughts to higher things, and in this way sooner realize that only this New Birth in Love of the Divine can save them entirely from the natural results that follow the possession of only the natural love.
A spirit is only a man without an earthly body, and the cares that necessarily belong to the obligations of earth ties. Even as a spirit, some retain these cares for a long time after coming over, and then are relieved of them by paying the penalties of a violated law.
Well, I have written long and must stop. So I say with my blessings and love, good-night.
Your fellow spirit,
Jesus
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