Jesus Writes on the Importance of Knowing the Way to the Celestial Kingdom and the Plan of Salvation

October 18, 1919
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

Let me write a few lines for I must tell you of an important truth that is necessary for men to know in order to reach the Celestial Kingdom, and a knowledge of the plan of salvation.

I know that the Bible contains many sayings attributed to me in reference to this plan, and many of my alleged sayings are believed in by those who claim to be Christians, which are not true, for I never said them and they are contrary to what I received from the Father as to the true plan of men's redemption from sin, and as to the only way, by which, they can obtain the true at-onement with the Father and a knowledge of their own immortality.

Many of these sayings were written by men who knew not the only way to a oneness with the Father, and were the results of the teachings of the manuscripts that then existed and were received by the Jews as the revelations of Moses, and of many of the prophets who had no knowledge of the Divine Love or of its rebestowal upon humanity. These men made me say those things that accorded with their ideas of what was necessary to a salvation or possibility of their becoming at-one with me and with the Father, and in writing their ideas confused the truth with what they supposed was the truth as contained in the Old Testament; and much harm has been done by attributing many of these sayings to me, because of the supposed authority that is thereby attached to them.

My disciples never taught and never understood that their salvation, or that of any man, depended upon faith in me as the son of God or that I, the mere Jesus, had in me any virtue to forgive sin or to ensure an entrance into the true Kingdom of God or that, I, as the man Jesus, was a son of God in the sense that the Bible teaches. They knew that the Father had revealed to me the truth, and that I had in me that Love, which to a large extent made me like unto and at-one with the Father; that my teachings of the rebestowal of the Divine Love was true and that when they, or any man, should possess this Love to the extent of that possession, they would become at-one with the Father, and also with me, who possessed it to a greater degree than any man. I say, they knew this and taught it to the people as I had taught it to them; but when the compilers of the present New Testament came to declare my sayings and teachings, they knew not of this Love and, hence, could not understand what many of my true expressions meant and gave them an interpretation so far as my real sayings were concerned, that would comply with their knowledge.

No, I am not correctly quoted in many of these sayings, and I may say in the large majority of them, for when they were written, as now contained in the New Testament, men had lost the knowledge of their true meaning, and out of their own minds recorded that which they thought was what I had really said.

I do not see how these false sayings can be corrected, except to take each saying and show, by its incompatibility with what I now say, its falsity. This would take too much time and expend much energy that could the better be employed in declaring what the truth actually is. But this I will say that whenever these sayings impart that I claim to be God, or that I could or did forgive men of their sins, or that whatsoever should be asked of the Father in my name would be received, are all untrue and has greatly misled the true seeker of knowledge of Immortality.

My disciples were close to me and understood better my sayings than all others, and yet they did not understand all the truth, and left the mortal life with many expectations that were not fulfilled and in the very nature of the same could not be fulfilled. They were in certain non-essentials influenced in their beliefs and expectations by their training in the teachings of these Old Testament manuscripts and were very largely Jews in belief when they died. They understood the vital things that determined their relationship to God and to their existence in the future world, but as to many of the non-essentials, they retained the faith of their fathers and were not able to receive all the truth, which I could have taught them.

I must not linger to correct these alleged sayings of mine, but must occupy my time and yours in declaring and revealing the Truth as it exists now and existed then, and you and the world may know that wherever and whenever these Bible sayings of mine conflict with what I have written and shall write you, they are untrue and were never said by me. Thus, in this general way, I will make plain to men that the Bible must not, in all particulars, be relied on or believed in as containing the Truth or my declarations of the Truth.

I will soon come and write a message on a vital truth and hope that you will be in condition to receive it. I will now say good night and God bless your efforts and keep you safely in His care.

Your brother and friend,
Jesus

Jesus Writes on the Only Way Men Can Reach the Kingdom of God or the Way to the Perfect Man

May 5, 1917
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

I come tonight to write on the only way by which men can reach the Kingdom of God, or the way to the perfect man.

This is a subject that many men and teachers have endeavored to explain to mankind, and the ways described have been as varied and sometimes contradictory as the thoughts and education of these men have differed; and all have sought to base their teachings and conclusions on the Bible. I, of course, mean those who profess to be Christians. As to other teachers and reformers, as they have been called, their teachings are based on the doctrines of the various sects to which they have belonged or professed allegiance. But the Kingdom of God is more peculiarly a phrase that is found in and belongs to the Christian Bible, and to some extent in the Hebrew scriptures.

In considering the subject of this message it is first important to understand what is meant by the "Kingdom of God." Some understand or conceive it to be a kingdom on earth in which the will and laws of God will be followed and obeyed by men in the mortal life, and others understand it to be that Kingdom of God, which exists and will continue to exist in perfection in the spirit world; and some few, that Kingdom which will find its home or place of existence in the Celestial Spheres.

Now, the way to each of these kingdoms is not the same, although in pursuing the way to one, and that the Celestial Kingdom, the way to the others, must necessarily be followed, or in other words, he who follows the way to the Celestial Kingdom pursues that course which, in its pursuit, will cause him to do those things and obey those laws of God that are necessary to establish the kingdoms on earth and in the spirit world; but he who pursues only the way that leads to the establishment of the kingdom on earth and in the spirit world cannot possibly become an inhabitant of the Celestial Kingdom. The Kingdom of God on earth, or in the spirit world, may be obtained by man, or spirit, by obeying the will of God in those essentials that will work a purification of his natural love and cause that coming into harmony with His laws which affect and control man as mere man; that is, that will restore man to the condition of perfection that existed before the fall of the first parents; and many of my teachings, when on earth, of which there are preserved a number in the Bible, were intended to instruct men into that way of life that would develop their moral qualities and free them from the taint and destructiveness of sin in which they were then and are now living.

By the observance of my teachings and sincere obedience to these moral precepts, man will lose those things that belong to his appetites and passions and evil thoughts and desires, and realize that in their places will come a purer love and more spiritual desires and thoughts which lead to a cleansing of his heart and soul, and which means a living and thinking in harmony with the will and laws of God. For God is all good, and all His laws require that man shall become good in order that this kingdom in the spirit world shall be established.

Naturally, and I mean according to His creation, man is good, and not the depraved creature that for so many centuries the teachings and doctrines of the church have declared him to be; and when he shall arrive at that state of goodness that was his in the beginning, he will merely have rid himself of those contaminating appetites, thoughts and desires that made him the sinful and inharmonious being that he now is.

So, from this, you will see that the work of man, in order to enable the kingdom to become established on earth, is largely a work of renunciation; and this truth was taught by prophets and teachers prior to the time of my coming to earth and teaching the way to the Celestial Kingdom; and the same truth applies to the spirits that shall make up and establish the kingdom in the spirit world.

In these kingdoms of the purification and regaining of the perfected natural love, there will be nothing of the Divine Nature of the Father, except as may be generally said, all the objects of His creation, by reason of being such objects, may partake of the image of the divine. But this is not the divine. The Divine in its true sense is that which partakes of the very essence and nature of God and not that which is merely the object of His creation.

Man, in body, soul and spirit body, is only a creation of God and, as to the soul, an image of its Creator, but this creation was not made of any, the least part of the essence or substance of God; and this creation can, if it so please the Father, in its composite and coordinated existence, be utterly destroyed and reduced to the elements of which it was created, without in the smallest degree affecting the true substance or nature of God. So you will see that in truth, there is in or of man nothing of the divine; and, hence, when the Kingdom of God shall be established on earth, or in the spirit world, there will be therein, nothing of the divine, only the existence of the perfect creatures, living and thinking in harmony with the laws of God which control their creation and existence.

So that the way in which these two kingdoms of the non-divine can be established, is by man pursuing that course of thinking and living that will enable him to renounce and get rid of those things - foreign to his true nature - which prevent him from coming again into the exact harmony with the will of God as expressed and made obligatory by the law of man's creation.

The observance of the moral law will enable men to accomplish this end. The love with which man was endowed, as the perfect man, enables him, as it becomes purified and more harmonious, to love God and to love his fellow-man as himself, for this natural love is one that in its perfection and nature is universal, and in its exercise every man is his neighbor's brother.

The progressive qualities of this love which every man may obtain, are truly and wonderfully set forth by Peter in one of his epistles as contained in the Bible (II Peter, Chapter 1, Verses 5, 6, 7) and if men will seek these successive steps in acquiring the purifying development of this love, they will obtain the great object sought for. As I have written, the Bible contains many of my teachings which if followed, will lead to this end, and men will realize the Kingdom of God on earth.

And here let me correct one mistaken belief or idea that has so long prevailed among mankind, and which, in its results, has delayed the coming of the kingdom on earth; and the correction is, that God by His mere fiat, or irrespective of the desires and workings of men's souls, will not establish this kingdom. Its establishment depends upon men, themselves, and until their loves become and they become in harmony with God's will, this kingdom will never be established.

I know that it is believed and taught and emphasized, and men place all their hopes and expectations of a heaven of bliss on the statement, that I will at sometime come in the clouds of Heaven with a great shout, to earth, and by the power which they believe exists in me, establish the Kingdom of God - a kind of kingdom in which I will be the king and rule supreme, and receive as my subjects those who believe in and worship me, and send those who do not into eternal damnation and outer darkness.

Well, this is pitiable, untrue and all erroneous. This kingdom will never be established in this way, for only man, himself, can call into existence this kingdom, only by becoming the pure perfect man that existed when God's earthly kingdom had at man's creation, its existence. Man alone, brought sin into the world, and man must himself destroy sin, and then harmony with the Father's will will be restored, and also this kingdom.

But, from what I have written, it must not for a moment or in the slightest degree be inferred even, that God is not taking and will not take any part in the reestablishment of this kingdom, for it is a fact, that He is working through His Angels upon the souls and thoughts of men to bring this kingdom on earth; but He will not force its establishment - it must come voluntarily on the part of men.

When He created man, He gave him a free will - the most wonderful of the natural gifts to man - and He will not, by the exercise of His power arbitrarily control the direction of that will, but as to it leaves man supreme. Of course while this is so, yet if man in such exercise contravenes the laws of God, man must suffer the consequences, for He never changes or sets aside His laws. Man may exercise his free will as he desires and as his thoughts and appetites may influence him to do, but the freedom of exercise does not prevent the imposition of the penalties that the laws prescribe when they are violated. Thus you see there is freedom without limitation, but every inharmonious exercise of that freedom must invite the infliction of that which necessarily follows the violation of harmony.

God wants and is patiently waiting for the love of man, and is always the loving Father who delights not in the suffering of His creatures, for He wants their love to come voluntarily and without constraint or fear of punishment or hope of reward, except that reward which must necessarily follow the blending of God's Love and the love of man.

Then I say, the Kingdom of Heaven on earth is not the Divine Kingdom, and has not in it that which is necessarily divine, except the love of God to His creatures to bless and make them happy. His essence and substance are not conferred upon them, for if they were, men would not remain in the kingdom of earth, but would, to a degree, be in the Celestial Heaven, even while on earth, and as I know some men, while still mortals, are in this Divine Heaven.

Now, what I have said with reference to the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, applies with equal truth to the Kingdom of God in the spirit world, for there the inhabitants are merely the spirits of men after they have surrendered their physical bodies, and become purified in their natural love and in harmony with the will and laws of God controlling their existence as perfect men.

While the Kingdom of God has not yet been established on earth, it has been in the spirit world, for in the highest sphere of that world the souls of men have become purified and harmony has been restored, and the souls of men enjoy the supreme happiness that was bestowed upon them at the time of their first creation, which God pronounced very good. Sometime you will have described to you the bliss and wonderful happiness of that kingdom; and I will not say that this is beyond all conception of men, and was established not by the mere power and will of God, but by the exercise of the will of men after they became spirits in renouncing evil and sin, and having their thoughts and desires and soul in its natural love purified and made harmonious. And here I must say, that all men who have ever lived, or who shall ever live, will, at sometime live in this Kingdom of God in the spirit world, or in the Kingdom of the Celestial Spheres; but the large majority will find their homes in the former kingdom.

The hells and dark places will be emptied of their inhabitants and abolished forever, and, surprising as it may seem to mortals, not by the fiat of God, but the exercise of men's will and desires and longings for the attainment of the purification of their love, and by their reaching the goal of their aspirations. But God will be with them in their efforts, and his angels will do his will in helping mortals and spirits along this way to the spiritual kingdom.

Then how important it is that mortals should understand and realize the great work that they must do in establishing the kingdom on earth and the kingdom in the spirit world, and not rest supinely in the mere intellectual belief that God will in His own way and at His own time, establish this kingdom, and that they who believe in God and observe the creeds and doctrines of their churches and perform their duties as church members, will become inhabitants of that kingdom, and in a moment become pure and undefiled and in harmony with the will of God and His laws.

It is a very harmful belief, because the only way to this kingdom is the way of renunciation and purification, and all the beliefs ever possessed by men that do not lead to this purification of men's souls, will not lead to this kingdom. Man, with the help of the Father, must hew his own destiny, and the Father, without the effort of man will not make for him a destiny that his condition of soul and love do not entitle him to.

But there is a Kingdom greater and different and unlike these kingdoms of which I have been writing, and that is the Celestial Kingdom of God; and only those who receive of the Divine Essence can become inhabitants of this Kingdom. The souls of men must become transformed into the very Nature Divine of God, and the natural love of man be changed in all its qualities and elements into the Divine Love of the Father.

I have written that many of my moral teachings are recorded in the Bible, and that I came, or rather my acceptance by the Father as His beloved son, and the reception into my soul of His Divine Love qualified me to teach the way to the several kingdoms; and as was said in that Book, what was lost by the disobedience of the first man was restored by the coming of the second, and that only means, that by reason of the knowledge that came to me of truth and of the laws of harmony that govern God's universe, I was enabled to teach men the way to a return to the purity and development of their souls in natural love that existed before the great loss caused by the disobedience of the first man. I was not to bring about this restoration by any great power or Godlike qualities of omniscience that I might be supposed to possess, but merely by teaching men to love God and their brothers, and to pursue that course of living and thinking that would necessarily enable them to renounce sin and evil and come into a state of harmony with the laws of their creation.

Now, while I taught these moral truths, I also taught the great spiritual truths that show men the way to the Celestial Kingdom, for in my communions with the Father there came to me not only the Divine Love which transformed my soul into the substance of the Father in its love qualities, but also the knowledge by which this Divine Love might be acquired and the certain way to the Celestial Kingdom, even though to a degree while in the flesh.

But my spiritual teachings that show the way to the Celestial Kingdom were not so well understood by my hearers - and not even by my intimate disciples - but more so by John, and consequently were not preserved in the Bible, as were my moral teachings. And as to the Bible, I mean the original manuscripts were not written until many years after my death. Even in these manuscripts not many of my teachings as to the way that leads to this Celestial Kingdom, were contained; and afterwards when these manuscripts were copied, and the copies recopied, these important truths were not preserved - scarcely any. Though the fundamental ones, namely: God is love, and except a man be born again he cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven were retained.

And as time went by and the recopying continued, fewer and fewer of my precepts were preserved, and men came to know less and less of these higher truths, and, consequently, the mere moral teachings became better understood and were used by the teachers and instructors of the masses to lead men to a kingdom of God.

And in addition to this, these leaders changed even these moral truths and the interpretations of the early writers in such a way as to enable these leaders to attain to wealth and power and control over the common people in their beliefs and observances of worship. The God of love then, to a large extent, became a God of hatred and wrath, inflicting punishment upon those who dared to disobey those injunctions that the hierarchy of the church placed upon them as the demands and will of God.

But these matters have been written upon more fully elsewhere, and I will not further enlarge upon them, and will now disclose the true way that leads to the Kingdom of God in the Celestial Heavens. Well, we have written a long time tonight, and I think it best to postpone my further writing till later. I must say this though, that I am pleased that you are in so much better condition, and I feel that now we can proceed more rapidly with our messages.

Remember this, that my promises will be fulfilled, and you must have faith. I am with you very often, and love you as you know, and will continue to pray to the Father for you. So trust me and be assured that I am helping you in your desire. Good night and God bless you.

Your brother and friend,
Jesus

John Writes About the Glories of the Third Heaven (Third Sphere)

December 8, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, St. John, Apostle of Jesus.

I desire to finish my comments on the preacher's (Dr. Ratcliff) sermon on Heaven.

As I said, these apocalyptic writings (Book of Revelation) were made for the purpose of encouraging the people of those days to believe that God would intervene in their behalf and save them from their sufferings and persecutions, and in the one case establish a Messiah's kingdom on earth that would cause the Jews to become the ruling nation of the universe and, in the other, to establish a Kingdom in Heaven where the Christians would find rest and happiness in becoming inhabitants of that Kingdom and children of the Father, and participants in the glories of Christ's reign as king and priest. Well, as the subject of the sermon was that Kingdom or Heaven and the preacher endeavored to tell his people what that Heaven is, I will consider that subject.

In the first place, as I have said, that Heaven is not one universal place where all the Christians, irrespective of their soul development go, but in that Heaven are many Heavens or spheres in which the spirit of mortals will find homes and also happiness according to their soul development or their spiritual development. And in order that there may be no misunderstanding, I must say that the soul development comes only through and by the operation of the Holy Spirit. The spiritual development involves only the result of the correct workings of the moral faculties of a man and the purification of his natural love which, of course, comprehends the development of his soul so far as the same may be developed by this purifying process. The results of each operation is very different and lead to a perfection and relationship to the Father, which is in harmony with the laws controlling the respective Heavens - for the place of final habitation of each may be called Heaven.

But my object tonight is to describe to you the appearance and condition of one of these Heavens, and as mortals have heard more about the "Third Heaven," which we in our information to you have called the "Third Sphere," than of any of the other Heavens, I will confine my description to that place.

Well, it is occupied by the spirits of mortals who have received considerable of the Divine Love, as well as by those who have progressed to a great extent in the purification of their Natural Love and the expansion of their minds and intellects, though the latter do not remain very long in this Heaven, but progress to the Fourth where there are more opportunities and more instructions in those things which have to do with the mind's advancement. While those who have made progress in the soul development and those in the intellectual are all in the Third Heavens, yet they occupy different and distinct planes in that Heaven, for those things that attract the one class do not attract the other, and there is very little intermingling of these spirits except that those who know that the Divine Love is real sometimes attempt to show those who do not the desirability of obtaining it and the happiness that it brings to spirits.

As we have already told you, the condition of the soul - not of the mind - to a large degree makes the Heaven of the spirit, and in the providence of the Father, He has made the surroundings and the appearances of the environment suitable to the condition of the soul and fitted to increase the happiness of those spirits who may, because of their soul progress, be attracted to the particular places in which they find themselves - their homes.

The appearance of this Heaven to those who have this Divine Love in their souls is far excelling the capacity of your mortal language to explain, even if I had the ability to describe the same. But in one general statement I may say that for these spirits there is everything to make them happy to the extent of their capacity to receive and enjoy. There are trees and flowers, and hills and dales, and rivers and lakes, and beautiful landscapes, and above all the wonderful atmosphere, as I may express it that is created by this wonderful Love of the Father, and a glorious light that illuminates and gives life to all who live in it, which comes from this Love of the Father. It is the sun, moon and stars, and sunrise and sunset, and summer clouds, and evening shadows and morning glories. Your material sun and moon and stars do not appear in this Heaven for the effulgence of the light from the Father's Love eclipses and eliminates the light of these material creations of the mortal world.

And then there are homes of the grandest splendor and beauty suited to the conditions of the various spirits, which have in them everything that will tend to cause happiness and joy to their occupants and visiting friends: musical instruments and books, and paintings, and furniture of every kind fitted to bring to the spirits contentment and joy, and a realization of peace and rest from the cares that you mortals have with you all through your earth life. And above and more important than all, a wonderful atmosphere of Love which makes all these spirits realize that they are the children of the Father and brothers of one another and lovers of all humanity.

And, in addition, the social life is beyond all conception. The spirits have their times of visiting as well as those of staying in their homes; and many pleasures as well as of work and helping spirits and mortals; of singing and music and laughter as of prayer and contemplation of deep spiritual truths. Yes, in the lighter social pleasures as well as in the solitary meditations and aspirations of the soul's progress, there is happiness and enjoyment and freedom from those things which defile or make inharmonious the thoughts and heart's desire of these spirits. All is gladness and there are none who have solemn downcast countenances, that many of earth imagine portrays the truly righteous and redeemed of mortals. No, Love knows no sadness, and as the soul speaks, its condition by the appearance of the spirit body's countenance, the soul being so full of gladness and joy, the countenance can express only those emotions of the soul. This is the result of the law which declares nothing can be hidden, and every spirit must show forth the truth of its condition.

There are no walled cities or streets of gold or pearly gates or other of the material things, which the book ascribes to me sets forth, so that man can get some conception of what Heaven is. These things in Heaven would not be gold or pearls or diamonds or jasper, for when they are compared to the real beauties of the things which it contains, they are as the faint light of the candle compared to the light of your noon day sun. Truly the mind of man cannot conceive of the glories that await the lovelit soul when it comes to its Heavenly home.

There is another misconception that the preacher had following the teachings of Revelation, and that is that the Kingdom of Heaven is a walled city, the New Jerusalem, in which all the spirits of the redeemed live, singing their loud hosannas to God. There are cities of which your earth cities may be called correspondences, but there are also villages and hamlets and homes in the country, as you would say, surrounded by green fields and shady vales through which run rivers and streams of silvery hue and clear as crystal, and also placid lakes, which afford the pleasures of boating and sailing and other amusements. For each spirit is provided the place that is most attractive to him and it is optional with him where his home shall be. But all love and worship the Father and endeavor to make their neighbors happy and help the development of the soul towards a progression to the Heavens, which are higher yet. All spirits are controlled by law, but that law is the Law of Love, and that love is the Love Divine: the essence of the Father's Divinity.

I have written enough for tonight, and I hope from what I have said that you may catch some faint conception of what the glories of this Third Heaven is for those who have found, to some extent, this Love and possess it; and then, when as you must know there are many Heavens above this, each successively possessing increased glories and happiness and beauties of place as well as beauty of spirit, you may imagine what the Master meant when he said, "In my Father's house are many mansions."

I know that my attempted description may be unsatisfactory to some mortals, but it is the best that I can do, because mortal words cannot convey and mortal thoughts cannot conceive the realities; and man in his imaginings may better get a spiritual view of these things. I will not write more tonight.

I am with you quite often, throwing around you the influence of my love, and endeavoring to help and encourage you. Let your faith in us and in our communications increase, and believe above all that the Master wrote you the prayer, which you received a few nights ago. Study it deeply and grasp its spiritual meaning, and let your longings and aspirations go out to the Father as suggested by the prayer, and you will find a wonderful and satisfactory response to them. We are praying for you and your friends, and you must believe that the Love is coming into your souls. So with my love and blessings, I will say good night.

Your brother in Christ,
John

Jesus Writes About the Difference in Progression and Limitations of the Natural Love versus the Divine Love

September 28, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

I come tonight to tell you that you are in a better condition to write than you have been for sometime and I think it best that I deliver to you a message. Well, I will write on the subject of: "The destiny of the man who has not the Divine Love in his soul, and dies with only the natural love and a belief in the creeds and dogmas of the churches."

I know that many men believe that the creeds of the churches is what is necessary for the salvation of mankind. I mean as to baptism and observance of the sacraments and the belief that in my name men may be saved are sufficient and all that are necessary to ensure them an entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven; and in such belief rest with the feeling of assurance that nothing else is required or in any way to be sought for and acquired.

The large majority of professing Christians are in this state of belief and, hence, the greater number of mankind will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven, or become in their natures Divine. I have already told you what is the future of those who possess this Divine Nature of the Father and now I will confine my message to the future of this great majority.

As you may know, "the river can never run higher than its source," and neither can this majority attain to a perfection and happiness superior to that which was possessed by man before the time of the fall from the state of his perfect creation and, hence, no matter how great his progress may be in his natural love or in his moral or mental qualities, he can never excel  the first created man as he was before the fall. And the only possible future for this vast majority is the condition and development that existed in the perfect man of God's first creation.

I know it is said that man has in him that which is a part of the Divinity of God, and that by his own efforts he may develop that Divine Substance until he becomes Divine himself and of the nature of the Father. But this is not true, and it is not possible to develop the Divine Love or any Essence of the Divine out of that which has not (that) in itself. There is nothing of the Nature of the Divine (in man).

In the spirit world, and I mean the spiritual as well as Celestial, laws prevail, and are just as certain in their operations as are the laws of the material world and a fundamental law is that only like produces like; although in the physical world it may appear that a derivative is not like that from which it is derived, but this is in appearance only, for in substance and essence the likeness exists and cannot be eradicated.

And so as to the real condition of the soul of man. If he has only the natural love - the created love - the development of that love will result in that which cannot possibly be greater or other than that which in its constituent parts is only the natural love, and no matter what the perfection may become, the Divine element is absent and all the limitations that are inherent in the created being still continue to form a part of and control that being. There is a limit to the development of this natural love and to the state of happiness beyond which it is not possible for this being to go, and that limit is the qualities and excellence possessed by the first man before he became defiled and impregnated with sin. The mind of such being is also limited in the progress which it may make in obtaining knowledge, for that mind being a thing of creation is bound by the limitations that that creation imposed.

So I say, such a man can never progress higher than those attributes or qualities with which he was endowed when he was the perfect man, either spiritually or mentally, unless he seeks for and obtains the Divine Love. When spirits come and write that life in this spirit world is always progressive, these spirits who write have never attained to this limit of which I speak and, hence, to them progression is endless and this belief is very beneficial, because it inspires them to make an effort to progress.

There are many spirits in this perfect state in the highest sphere of natural love or mentality, but they are spirits who have been in the spirit world for a vast number of years and are what you might call ancient spirits. These spirits have realized this limitation of which I write, and while they can change the objects of their seeking and the sources of their happiness, yet their progress has its ending, and often there comes to them dissatisfaction and a realization that over and beyond their sphere, there must be something that may be obtained that surpasses their perfect state and development. And as a result of this dissatisfaction many of these spirits, in moments of their unrest, give heed to the suggestions of those spirits who have become possessed of the Divine Essence, and upon whom is no limitation of progress; for these latter spirits are at all times in the highest sphere of these spirits of perfected natural love trying to show them the way to the higher development and happiness of the Celestial Spheres.

It may seem surprising to you, but it is a fact, that these spirits of the natural love, during their periods of progression and especially as they make nearer approach to their perfection in the satisfaction and happiness that they experience in that progression, will not listen to the spirits of the Divine Spheres, or believe that there can be any other methods of progress more desirable or excellent than the ones that they are pursuing, and only when they come to realize the dissatisfaction that I speak of, will awaken to the fact, or consent to be awakened to the fact, that there may be a way that leads to things beyond their limits of progress and the perfection that they may have acquired. So, as I say, the higher the progress of these spirits and the farther away they advance from the earth plane, the greater the difficulty in persuading them that there is a state of perfection and happiness surpassing that which they are seeking for, and a way, different from the way they are pursuing.

As these spirits progress in their natural love and in the development of their created minds, much happiness and satisfaction come to them, and in each stage of progress, so much greater do these experiences become, that they readily conceive that there can be no way superior to the one that they are travelling and, hence, having such belief, the difficulty of convincing them to the contrary becomes almost insurmountable. As a consequence, the spirits of the Celestial Spheres and those of the spirit spheres, who are progressing in the Divine Love, give the greater part of their time and efforts to convincing spirits of these higher truths while they are in the earth planes, before the happiness that I mention is experienced.

The life on earth and that in the earth planes of the spirit world are the states in which the souls of mortals and of spirits have the best opportunities for learning and believing these truths that show them the way to the progression that is without limitation or ending and hence, the importance of men knowing these truths, and of spirits also, before they experience the satisfaction and pride, I may say, that the advancement in the development of their natural love and mental and moral qualities gives them.

Until the time comes when the Father shall withdraw from man and spirit the privilege of obtaining this Divine Love and Essence, which time will bring the second death, these spirits and all spirits and mortals will have the opportunity of seeking for and finding the way to the Celestial Spheres and Immortality. But after that time, this privilege will no longer exist and then those spirits and mortals, who have not found and followed the way of that privilege, will be and become only the perfect beings, as were their first parents. They will have no assurance of Immortality, or even continuous life, and that dissatisfaction and longing for something unknown, will be theirs.

They will remain only the created beings in spirit body, soul and mind, and as the first parents had all the qualities that these restored men will have, and fell, and why may it not be that they will fall (or) that there may come some change in the individualized spirit that will destroy that individuality and dissolve it into its elements of pre-creation? No spirit knows that such a change will take place, that the perfect spirit will not always retain the same individuality, or that the happiness of such spirit will not always exist. And neither does any spirit know that these things will continue to be.

Then why should he not choose that course which leads to Divinity and certainty of Immortality and progress, rather than the one which leads to limitation of progress and happiness, and to uncertainty of Immortality?

I have written enough for tonight. I will come again soon. So remember that I love you and am with you trying to help you spiritually and that I pray to the Father to bless you. Good night.

Your brother and friend,
Jesus

Caligula, the former Roman Emperor and Murderer, Writes His Testimony of Meeting His Soulmate Who Helped Him Get Out of Hell

October 11, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Caligula.

I was the Roman Emperor and the murderer of the Christians and have, since that time and for my sins, suffered all the horrors of a Hell which I can't describe. Suffice it to say that the Hell of the Bible, or of those who interpret the Bible, is not equal in its torments and horrors to the Hell that I passed through. I tell you this that you may know that every man will have to pay the penalties for the evil deeds he does when on earth, and as my deeds were so extremely evil my penalties were correspondingly great.

But thank God, I have paid my penalties and am now enjoying the happiness of the Christian Heaven, for I am now a follower of that Jesus, whose followers I persecuted. Strange as it may seem to you, the cause of my conversion to Christianity was one of the very Christians whom I murdered. She was a beautiful spirit when I first saw her in the spirit world, and when she came to me and told me of the Great Love of the Father and the kindness and humility of the Master, I was then in much darkness, though I had suffered for many long years and my thoughts were commencing to turn to things that ultimately helped me to get out of my darkness and find relief from my sufferings.

But this Christian spirit came to me with such love and forgiveness in her speech, that I was greatly affected by what she said and by her appearance, and I listened to her as she told me of the wonderful Love of the Father and the great desire of the Master that I should seek for that Love and the happiness, which it brings to spirits who obtain it.

She had many interviews with me and at last she told me that her happiness depended, to some extent, on my getting this Divine Love in my soul and progressing with her to the sphere of light and love. She said that I was her soulmate and that my love was necessary for her happiness, and that I could not give her that love until I had become the possessor of the Divine Love to some extent. So you can imagine what an effect this declaration had on me.

I saw that she was beautiful and pure and loving, and that I was not a fit soulmate for her, and that I must try to make myself a suited soulmate in order that I could be with her. And, in addition, when she told me of her love for me, and that we were necessary to each other's happiness, I had a most wonderful longing to be with her and enjoy her love and the desire soon took possession of me, that I commenced to inquire the way by which I might get this Great Love, or start to get it; and she told me then of the love of the Master, and how he could teach me the way and what power he had to help spirits like myself to get out of the darkness and torture into light and happiness.

And so I continued in my longings and desires, until at last my spirit seemed to have a power to rise out of the darkness and to meet other spirits who were not dark and forbidding as I was. She often came to me and taught me to pray, and I did pray and ask forgiveness and for just a little of that Divine Love of which she had told me. At last as I was praying and hoping for this Love and for deliverance.

The Master came to me and such a wonderful loving spirit he was; the most beautiful and loving and, yet, the most humble that I had ever seen or ever have seen, and he commenced to tell me of this wonderful Love of the Father, and how it was working for me to fill my soul and make a child of God and at-one with Him. And he told me that the only things necessary were for me to pray to the Father and have faith and in all earnestness repent of my great sins; that if I did so, the Love would come to me, and as it came into my soul all the sins and recollections of my sins would leave me, so that I would be able to progress to a higher sphere where light and love were.

I could not resist his influence, and I did not want to for my soulmate was with me in her love with pleading eyes and anxious looks, and I commenced to have this faith and to pray with all the earnestness of my soul; and, at last, light came to me and Love came flowing into my soul; and what a happy spirit I became, and thanked God for his mercy. My soulmate rejoiced with me and we were so happy in our loves and in the Great Love of the Father.

From thence I have been progressing ever since, until now I am in the Celestial Spheres where Love is the ruling principle and only those who possess this Divine Love can live, and where Jesus is our Prince and elder brother. Caligula, the Emperor, is now a humble follower of the despised Nazarene and happy in his humility and in his following of such a loving saviour.

My soulmate is with me and whenever I look upon her and think that I was the cause of her sufferings and death upon earth, my whole soul goes out to her in great streams of love and she knows it, and that is a part of my great repentance. So you see that even though a man may be the vilest of sinners on earth, yet, the Father's Mercy is so great that His Love is never turned away or is His mercy ever withheld.

I tell you that Love - the Father's Love - is the greatest thing in all the universe, and like unto it is the pure, holy love of the soulmate who has in her soul the great Love of the Father.

I must not write more tonight, but as I was passing I saw the brilliant light that is with you and I embraced the opportunity to write. Yes, it was Celestia. And what an appropriate name.

My friend, you must also thank God for His goodness to you for I have seen your soulmate and she is a most beautiful spirit.

So with the love of a brother in Christ, am your friend, Caligula. The Roman Emperor that was and the Christian that is.

White Eagle Writes About Jesus' Glory and Tells James Padgett That He is With Him Often

October 1, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

White Eagle.

I want to say that you are in a very good condition tonight and that a great spiritual power has been with you and made you stronger in your physical as well as in your soul condition. I have not written for a long time and I feel that I must say something.

I was present and I was so astonished that I could not withstand the glory. It was wonderful and I am more convinced than ever that he is the true son of the Father. Yes, there were a host of spirits present, and many of them not Christians and the effect on them was surprising. They were awed by the brightness and magnificence of his presence, and I believe that many of them will become Christians.

He is here and wants to be remembered to you. He is with you nearly all the time watching over and protecting you. He seems to love you so very much, and since the night of the great transformation he is proud that you are his charge. So you see, we are both glad that we have you for our special care.

I am with you nearly all the time, too, and love you very much. So think of me sometimes and love me.

Your own true guide,
White Eagle

Robert G. Ingersoll Writes That He is Praying for Divine Love

September 23, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Robert G. Ingersoll.

I come to you again because I desire to thank you and tell you of the great good you have done me in introducing me to the beautiful spirits who form your band. Of course, I knew Riddle, but I must confess that he was so beautiful and bright that I hardly knew him, and also I wondered at his appearance because it was very different from mine and that of a number of other spirits who are here with me and who are friends of mine.

As I said before, Riddle was on earth a man who thought somewhat as I did, and I had never heard of his becoming a convert to Christianity and, consequently, when I met him here I was impressed at his appearance for it was the same as the appearance of a great number of spirits whom I have met here and who claim to be Christians. And when Riddle told me the cause of his appearance, I was more surprised than before, because I did not think that he would let himself become convinced that there was any truth in the Christian doctrines. But once I have talked with him, I find that his belief is not in the Christian doctrines as taught by the churches on earth, but rather in the teachings of Jesus, which Riddle has learned since he became a spirit.

I also talked to your grandmother and what a beautiful, wise and powerful spirit she is. She explained to me the meaning of the New Birth as taught by Jesus and as believed in by all his followers; and I must confess that it appears to be very reasonable and simple of understanding.

I have thought a great deal about this matter and I am commencing to think that there is some reality in this question of the New Birth and that it has a substance as well as a theory for its existence. Your grandmother told me many wonderful truths about spirit life, and especially the life in the higher spheres, and I am inclined to believe what she said because they are all so in harmony with reason and common sense. She is so very lovely that I cannot but believe that her appearance is due to the possession of this Divine Love of which she tells me, and I am now trying to follow her advice and seek to obtain it.

I do what I did not do on earth and that is pray to God in the hope that He will answer my prayers. This will appear most surprising to many who read my books and believe in them, for I always in a manner ridiculed the idea of prayer. But so it is now that I am earnestly praying for light and for an inflowing of this Divine Love into my soul. I am just as open-minded now as I was when on earth, and if the truth of a thing can be shown me, I am ready at all times to investigate and learn whether it is true or not.

As regards the truth of the Divine Love, I have so many evidences as to its existence and the wonderful work that it does that I feel that it is due to myself to learn what this Love is and, if possible, obtain it for myself.

All the spirits of your band claim to have obtained this New Birth and to be possessed of this Divine Love of God, and their appearances certainly indicate that they are possessed of something which beautifies and makes them lovely over and above what the spirits who do not believe in Christianity possess.

I will write you again when I learn the result of my prayers and what effect this Love -, should I get it - has on me. If what they tell me is true and proves so in my case, I will proclaim the same from every housetop in no uncertain words, and I may ask you to receive my expressions of belief and joy that I have found such a truth.

I will not write more tonight, as you have written a great deal already.

I have seen Jesus, but I have never talked with him. He seems to be a very close friend to you, for I see him with you a great deal and writing to you. I will emphatically say that I have never seen any spirit in all this world compare with Jesus in beauty and grandeur and power and love and humility. I will soon have an interview with him and ask him to tell me the truths of the plan of man's salvation.

So I will say goodnight.

Your friend,
Robert G. Ingersoll

St. Luke Writes That God is Love and People Must Believe in the New Birth and Seek to Receive Divine Love to Assure Immortality

September 17, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, St. Luke.

I came tonight to tell you of some things which are in the Bible, and which are not true as they were never written by me, or by any one at my dictation. I never said that Jesus came to earth as the only begotten of the Father, in the sense that he was born differently from other mortals, for he was not. I mean that his father and mother were Joseph and Mary, and he was their natural son, and that they never supposed that he was begotten in any different way from what the other children were begotten.

Of course, he became more truly the son of God than did any other mortal who was ever born, but that was because he became filled with the Divine Love of the Father to a greater extent than any other human being. He became so close to the Father that in his soul development, he was able to commune with the Father in such a way as to realize exactly what the Father said to him, and his Love made him one with the Father as he said. Now he is closer to the Father than he ever was on earth, and his Love is very much greater than when on earth, greater than any other spirit and, as a consequence, he knows more about the Father's attributes and about His will and plans for men's redemption than does any other spirit. And when he comes to you and tells you that you must receive his messages to be transmitted to mankind, he imposes upon you a mission, which is greater than he ever imposed on any other man, not even excepting the apostles.

He now knows more of the truths of His Father than he did when on earth, and he realizes that the truths, which are so necessary to man's salvation and their future happiness, have never been revealed to mortals in their fullest extent. When he was on earth he declared many important truths, which have not been preserved and, hence, he is anxious that these truths and others shall be given to mankind.

Many things which men, who are professed Christians, believe are not truths and stand in the way of their progress in spiritual things and in the soul's development. I would like to tell you of more of these things which men should not believe but I have not the time tonight as others want to write.

But this you must know and forever proclaim that - God is Love - and that they who want to get immortality must believe in the New Birth and seek to obtain it. Without this, no spirit can enter the Celestial Spheres and partake of the Divine Nature of the Father. There are many other truths that must be learned and believed in but none are so important as those, which I have just written. I am writing this not as a matter of mere belief but as a matter of knowledge. There can be no doubt arise in my mind as to the reality of these things and none must arise in yours.

I will come again when you are in a better condition to take a long message and write you.

With all my love I am your brother in Christ,
St. Luke

John the Baptist Writes that Men are Longing to Know the Truths of God

September 7, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, John the Baptist.

I come because I want to encourage you to pray more and to believe. The Father's Love is waiting for you to fill your soul to its utmost, and the only things required on your part are prayer and faith. We are all interested in you and want you to get into a condition that will enable you to take the Master's messages as rapidly as possible for the time is now ripe when they should be given to mankind, and started on their work of redeeming men from false beliefs and erroneous doctrines and dogmas.

I, John, tell you this, for I can see that men are longing for the truths of God - such truths as will remove from the teachings of the spiritually guided all superstition and errors. Such truths as will accord with the reasoning of men who are not biased by erroneous beliefs either in matters spiritual or material.

I tell you that these truths will be easier for the mere materialist to receive and understand, than by those who are bound by the beliefs which the creeds and dogmas of the churches have inculcated. And the acceptance of this New Revelation of the truths of God will be by those who have no preconceived ideas of what the nature and relation of man to God, in the spiritual sense, is - rather than by the learned theologian and the simple worshipper at the altars of the churches, who believe whatever may be told them by the priests and preachers.

As I was, at one time, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, I am now the voice of many spirits of God, who know that the Master will teach the truths of his Father, and that these truths must be accepted by mortals on earth,and by spirits in the spirit world in order that they may receive that salvation, which the Father has prepared for them and which, when accepted and realized and possessed, will fit them to become partakers of the happiness and immortality which the Father has promised them.

I have written you in this manner tonight, because I want you to realize more fully and deeply the important work which the Master has selected you to do, and also the necessity of continuing this work at the earliest possible moment.

Well, I have been interested in the great amount of discussion on that point, and how the belief one way or the other has caused those calling themselves Christians to form distinct sects. If they only knew or would know, that it does not make a particle of difference to their soul's salvation, whether Jesus was immersed or sprinkled, they would not let the bitter feeling arise that frequently does in discussing this matter.

But to settle this dispute to the satisfaction of those who may read the book, which you may publish, and believe in its statements, I will say, that when I baptized Jesus, I went with him into the water and then took the water in my hands and placed it on his head - there was no immersion. As this water was merely symbolical of the washing away of sin and error, and does not actually accomplish that great necessity in order for men to become one with God, it did not make any difference whether the recipient of baptism was immersed or sprinkled.

It is strange that many men who profess to have received the forgiveness of their sins and become reconciled to God should let a trifling thing of this kind cause so much strife and bitter disputations. I will now stop.

Your brother in Christ,
John the Baptist

St. John Writes That His Revelation as Contained in the Bible Was Merely a Vision He Had While in a Trance

September 7, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, John of the Revelation.

I saw you studying the Bible, or rather those portions of the book which treated of the salvation of mankind through the blood of Jesus, and that you made extracts from the Revelation, which declared that the blood of Jesus washed away sins of mankind and redeemed them.

Well, I want to say that while I wrote a Revelation or rather dictated it to another to write, I never wrote the words declaring the salvation of mankind through the blood of Jesus, which declared that the blood of Jesus washed away sins of mankind and redeemed them, for I did not believe any such doctrine and had never been taught such a belief by Jesus.

Much of the matter contained in the Revelation I never wrote; but men or scribes who professed to copy the description of my vision, added to it for the purpose of incorporating therein the views of the Christians of that early day, so that their views might be emphasized and in union with similar views that had been added to the Gospels and Epistles in the copies which these same persons or their predecessors in these views had made.

The Revelation is merely a vision which I had when in a trance and was undoubtedly intended to illustrate or predict those things which would be visited upon the believers and the nonbelievers in the truths of God as taught by Jesus and his apostles.

At the present day, I cannot see that this book can serve any good purpose in making men acquainted with the truths of God, or with the relationship of man to God. Many of the things therein contained are not true as a Truth, but were used merely to illustrate a truth. There are no streets of gold or pearly gates or dragons or beasts or white horse or other material things which are depicted in that book; and it is valuable only so far as imagery may show to mankind some spiritual truth.

And besides it has been so embellished and added to, that many of its figures or images do not illustrate any truth, or anything else, but merely serves to give the book the character and appearance of a book of mysteries.

So I advise you in attempting to search for the truths that the Bible contains, do not waste your time in trying to discover the meanings of the various dark sayings and mysterious descriptions which this book contains.

There are enough truths in the Bible, though mixed with many errors, to lead men to the light and to salvation. Love is the great principle, and the fact that God is waiting to bestow that Love on mankind, if they will only seek for it, as it is the principle which is sufficient to lead men to the Celestial homes and happiness.

I am not an advocate of all the "isms" which men draw or formulate from the Bible, but on the contrary, deplore and condemn the misconstruction of the truths which it contains, and which men may understand, if they will search for them in humbleness and in the spirit of a little child.

But whatever of errors may be written in the Bible will be shown by the messages which Jesus shall write to you, and after they are transmitted and made known to mankind there will be no occasion for men to accept or believe these errors.

So I tell you that while the Bible, even as now written, is a grand old book, yet, it is not the true mouthpiece of God in very many particulars, and is a stumbling block to man's acquiring a correct knowledge of the truths of God.

These truths will not conflict with the reasoning of the normal man who is not prejudiced by views which are erroneous, either in the scientific or the religious world.

A man who believes what is not true is just as much an infidel whether that belief relates to the sciences or to religion. A belief in the false is a want of belief in the true and, hence, as to the true, he is not a believer. I will not write more tonight.

So will say goodnight and God bless you and your work.

Your brother in Christ,
John of Revelation

St. Luke Writes About the Errors That Others Wrote in His Gospel of the Bible and That This Saying That "The Blood of Jesus Saves From Sin," is Not True

September 5, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I will write a little as I am interested in what you have received from Luther tonight. And as I am supposed to have written the Gospel of Luke, I desire to say a few things in reference to the correctness - or rather incorrectness of many things contained in my gospel.

As you infer, I am St. Luke. the writer of the third gospel and a follower of Jesus.

My Gospel was not founded on anything I had personal knowledge of, but upon the writings of others and the traditions, which were the common knowledge of many Christians at that time. I knew several of the apostles and obtained much of my information from them, as well as from many of the Christians who were members of the congregations to which these apostles preached and expounded the sayings of Jesus.

In my gospel, as now contained in the authorized version, there are many things that have been interpolated. This version was not based on what I wrote, but upon pretended copies of my writings; and the persons who made these copies did not follow literally my writings, but added to my text and gave their own interpretations of what I had written in such a way as to destroy the true meaning of what was intended to be conveyed by my writings.

There are many truths contained in the gospel as now written in the Bible, and they are the truths of God, but there are also many errors which contradict these truths. For instance, I never wrote that Jesus commanded his disciples to believe that the wine was his blood or the bread his body, and to eat and drink these things in remembrance of him. How this interpolation could have been made I do not know, but will observe that the same things are said in all the four gospels, and this saying must have been derived from a common source, and that must have been the minds of those who pretended to copy the gospels.

I tell you now that this saying, that the blood of Jesus saves from sin, is not true, and if men depend upon this blood for their salvation they will never be saved, but will enter the spirit world in all their sins, and will be surprised to learn that Jesus is not waiting to receive them in his arms and carry them to the mansions prepared for the truly redeemed of the sons of men.

I know that a vast number of the members of the various churches believe this harmful doctrine and that, as a consequence, many persons claiming to be Christians will realize that their sins have not been forgiven them when they come into the spirit world.

Sometime, as these writings continue, I will point out the errors of my gospel to an extent that will show you the fact of what great additions and misinterpretations have been made thereto. I will stop now.

Your brother in Christ,
St. Luke

Selim, a Natural Love Spirit, Never Knew About the New Birth and Wants to Learn More

August 20, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Selim.

I was the first Mohammedan Sultan of that name, and I want to write you for a while, if you don't object.

I have listened to what Paul wrote and some things that he said I do not understand. I mean the difference between the spirit who receives what he calls the New Birth, and the spirit who has only his natural love.

I know that I have a love for God and a love for my fellow man, and that I am very happy and do not desire greater happiness and have surroundings that I cannot conceive can be excelled in their beauty and desirability.

I know nothing of the other love and fail to comprehend how there can be any other love than the one which God has given us. This love, in varying degrees we all have, and according as we possess it and have become freed from the sins and errors of life, I mean the earth life, are we happy.

Our Prophet, may Allah bless him, never taught us of any other love than the one I speak of, and I don't believe he knows of any other love.

But I confess that my curiosity is excited to learn just what Paul means by his doctrine of the New Birth, and I shall make the effort to find out. Of course, I will have to have something more than his mere statement, or even the statement of all the Christians, to cause me to believe in the reality of this doctrine, but I feel that there may be some truth in it and, if so, I want to learn it.

I will not write more tonight but will, with your permission, do so later.

I will say goodnight and God bless you.
Selim

Jesus Writes That a Mere Belief in Him Will Not Save Men From Their Sins

August 15, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

I was with you tonight at the meeting of the Christians and I saw that you were thinking of several things that I had written and wanted to tell the preacher of my truths but, of course, you could not. He took a bit from the Bible, which I am credited with having uttered and I did, but I did not mean exactly what he explained it to mean when I said, "He that liveth and believeth on me shall never die."

I meant that the man whose soul was not dead to sin and believed in the truths that I had disclosed, that is, that God's Divine Love was waiting to enter into and fill his soul with its essence and substance and that means by prayer and faith received that Divine Love - he should never die. That is, he would become immortal as God is immortal.

No mere belief in me as Jesus the man or as the son of God is sufficient to give a man eternal life for while he must believe that I was sent by God to proclaim the great truth that He had again bestowed on man, the possibility of obtaining this Divine Love by his prayers and faith, yet, unless he believed this and became the possessor of this Divine Love he could never claim eternal life.

I wish that the preachers would pay more attention to the truths which I taught, that is, those truths which showed men the Father's Love waiting to be bestowed and the way to obtain it, thanks to my personality.

I, Jesus as the son of man or of God, do not save any man from his sins and make him one with the Father, but the truths which I taught and which were taught me by the Father are the things that save.

I know that the preachers attempt to explain these things by the light of the Bible as they understand that light, but so often it is so obscured that instead of preaching from light they preached from darkness.

For these reasons among others, I am so anxious to declare to you my teachings of these truths that the world may know what truth is, and what the individual must do in order to attain eternal life or immortality. I will try with all my power to bring about this opportunity for your receiving my messages and believe that very soon I will succeed.

So believe in my love and my desire for your success.

Your brother in Christ,
Jesus

Leetelam, an Ancient Spirit Who Died 4,000 Years Ago, Writes That He Suffered in Darkness for His Beliefs But Now Lives in a Natural Love Sphere

August 13, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Leetelam.

I was a Tartar, and lived in Tibet, and died nearly four thousand years ago. I was a Brahman and was a priest of the temple and the chief of the brothers of sacrifice. In my day, we sacrificed human beings to appease the wrath of our God, and they the most beautiful and virgins - so that our God would have a sacrifice that had never been defiled by man.

This was one of the chief tenets of our religion and was observed with all the strictness and pomp that we, who were fanatical in our beliefs, could give the occasion of the sacrifice. Many a beautiful victim just emerging into the full flower of her youth was made to suffer a cruel death in order, as we supposed, to save the rest of us from the wrath of our God, who was always hungry for blood and the cries of his human victims.

But this sacrifice was one of the chief ceremonies of our religion, and we believed in the necessity for it just as you Christians believe in the necessity for prayer. And when we, the priests who performed the act which consummated the sacrifice, had performed our duties, we considered that we had obeyed the will of God and that He was pleased with our great act of devotion and worship.

No rank or position could save the victim from the sacrifice when once the priests had selected that victim; and the parents of such victim were taught and believed that it was a great honor to have their young daughters chosen as brides for the great God who was not satisfied unless He could have the most beautiful and virtuous maidens for His brides of death.

Since I have become a spirit and learned some of the truths of the spirit world, and that love - and not sacrifice - is required by God, all these evil deeds that I and the others performed in the name of our religion have become to me monstrous and shocking, and for many long years after I had learned the truth, the recollections of these deeds caused me to suffer the tortures of the damned. The fact that I, at the time, thought that I was performing a duty did not assuage my suffering or relieve my darkness.

Truth is truth, and every violation of its demands must be atoned for, no matter if the intention at the time of committing these violations is supposed or believed by the actor to be in accordance with the truth. No belief, if it violates truth, will excuse.

As on earth, ignorance of law excuses no one for his acts done in violation of truth, so in the spirit world ignorance of the truth will not excuse deeds committed in violation of that truth. Every cause must have its effect, and no God interposes to prevent that effect from following the cause.

Now that I have been awakened to the truth, I see with the perceptions of not only a clarified intellect but of the soul, that no act or deed done in the name of religion actually believed in will be excused because of the fact that it was done for the sake of that religion. I am now in the Nirvana of the Brahmans, and am very happy. My soul has been purified by the long years of suffering and discipline, and I love God and my fellow man. My sphere is high up in the spirit world - just what its location is I cannot tell you. There are no Christians or other sects in my sphere, although I see them at times and converse with them.

I came here because I was travelling in this earth plane and saw a bright light which is unusual in this plane, and it led me to you, and I found that you were receiving communications from spirits, and I listened to some of the messages and concluded that I would write also if I could have the opportunity. And after the dark spirits left you, I commenced this writing.

I did not know English when I lived, but you must know that the advanced spirits who have been in the spirit world for many years have not let the years go by without study and investigation. I understand most all the languages of earth, and so do most of the ancient spirits, and this for the purpose of being able to understand what the peoples of all lands may think and say. Our work is to help mankind and spirits whenever we can.

Well, I will not write more tonight.

I hear what you say and cannot understand you, but if there be such a supreme happiness as you speak of, I should like to possess it. I will accept your invitation and attend your writings on Wednesday night. And so with my best wishes and kind regards, I am

Your friend,
Leetelam

Selim, the Sultan, is Happy and Loves All Christians

August 12, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Selim the Sultan.

I came to tell you that I am also happy in my paradise, which my God has prepared for me.

I am no longer a hater of the Christians, but love all men as I believe. I don't mean that I think all men are following the truths of God in their lives, or that they believe in God in a way that will enable them to reach the happiness which He has provided for them but, nevertheless, they are his children, and I love them as one brother should love another.

I will come to you at some time and tell you of our paradise and our lives here.

I will say goodnight and God bless you,
Selim

Salaalida, a Moslem, Did Not Know About Divine Love but is a Lover of God and Christians

August 12th, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington D.C.

I am here, Salaalida:

I am a Moslem and I lived in the time of the crusaders and helped to defend Jerusalem from the Christians. I was an officer of high rank, and a general who was known among my own countrymen for my prowess in battle. I merely want to tell you now that I am a lover of all mankind and know no difference between the Christians and the Moslems, for all are God's children and are the objects of His Love, and of my love, for I am a lover of God.

I am an inhabitant of the highest Mohammedan heavens and am very happy and satisfied with my spiritual condition, and am still a follower of the Prophet who lives in our heavens and still teaches the truths of the Father, Allah.

I have no criticism to make of the Christians and believe that they are also followers of God in the way that their Jesus taught, but I cannot yet believe that his teachings are the only truths of the Father. He and his followers live in a different sphere from our sphere, and those whom I have met seem to be happy and are very beautiful.

So while I was once an antagonist of the Christians, and hated them with all the hatred that my religion taught me to hate, yet, now I see that hatred is not a thing which God recognizes as being a part of the faith or practices of His true followers.

I came merely to tell you this and to inform you that love is the ruling principle of the spiritual world where I live. By love, I mean love for God and for my fellowman. This is the only love that I know of and I find it sufficient for my happiness.

I don't know what you mean by the Divine Love. It cannot be anything more than the love which we have for God. Well, I must stop now, and will say good night.

Your friend,
Salaalida the mussulman 

Nicodemus Writes That the New Birth is the Inflowing of God's Divine Love into the Soul

July 30, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

A master in Israel and, yet, I did not understand this New Birth. How few understood it then, and how few now. Oh, the long years that have gone by since Jesus told me that I must be Born Again to inherit eternal life, and how comparatively seldom this great truth is taught by the churches and the teachers of religious matters.

This truth is at the very foundation of mankind's redemption, and until a man receives this New Birth, he cannot possibly enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Men may claim to have faith in God and believe on Jesus' name and conform to all the essentials and sacraments of the churches and yet, unless they have this New Birth, their faith and works as Christians are vain. This I know from my own experience as well as from the teachings of the Master, and I desire to emphasize, with all the powers that I have, that it is the only important requirement to immortality.

The New Birth means the flowing into the soul of a man the Divine Love of the Father, so that that man becomes, as it were, a part of the Father in His Divinity and Immortality.

When this truth comes to a man, he commences to take on himself the Divine Nature of the Father, and all that part of him that may be called the natural nature commences to leave him, and as the Divine Love continues to grow and fill his soul, the natural love and affections for things of the earth will disappear, and as a result he will become at-one with the Father and immortal.

Why don't those who profess to be teachers of Jesus' truths - which are the truths of the Father - and all followers of him, pay more attention to this vital truth?

When you shall have received the messages from the Master, I think you will find this Truth of the New Birth to be the one thing that Jesus will emphasize and reiterate most. It is the most important thing for men not only to hear about and acquiesce in their intellectual beliefs, but also to actually experience. I wish that I had understood it when on earth as I do now.

He meant as no man could see the wind or tell from whence it came or whither it was going, so no man who received this New Birth could see the operations of the Holy Spirit or know whence it came. But this latter expression must be modified, because we all know it comes from the Father; but just how we do not know. The Holy Spirit is as invisible as the wind and, yet, it is just as real and existing.

But men need not trouble their intellects to know exactly what this Great Power is for it is sufficient to know: that which causes the New Birth is the Divine Love of the Father coming into the souls of men.

I must stop as I have written enough for tonight. So let me subscribe myself a brother who has received the New Birth and a lover and follower of the Master.

Nicodemus