Showing posts with label New Testament. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Testament. Show all posts

Monday, August 25, 2014

Jesus Writes that Many who Think They Have Received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit Have Only Advanced in the Purification of Their Natural Love

May 10, 1920
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

Let me write for a short time upon a subject that will be of interest to you and to those who may read my messages.

What I desire to write upon tonight is the condition of those who think they have received the inflowing or baptism of the Holy Spirit, when the fact is that they have received only that advancement in the purification of their natural love and a harmony with the laws of their creation that causes them to believe that what they experience must be the result of a bestowal of the Love which the Holy Spirit brings to mortals.

In this mistake, so many humans indulge and in the satisfaction, or rather happiness which their experience, growing out of such an increase in the harmony brings to them, they fully believe that the Holy Spirit has taken possession of their souls and caused the happiness. But in thus concluding, they are deceiving themselves and will realize their mistake when they come to an awakening in the spirit life.

The Holy Spirit is that part of God's Spirit that manifests His presence and care in conveying to men's souls His Divine Love. This Love is the highest and greatest and most holy of His possessions and can be conveyed to men only by the Holy Spirit; and this appellation is used in contradistinction to the mere Spirit, which demonstrates to men the operation of God's Soul in other directions and for other purposes.

His Creative Spirit, and His Caring Spirit and the Spirit that makes effective His Laws and designs in the governing of the universe are not the Holy Spirit, though equally part of God's Soul, and equally necessary for the manifestations of His powers and the exercise of the energies of His Soul. These deal with the things of the universe that do not have interrelationship with the Soul of God and the souls of men, and whenever the Holy Spirit is spoken of, it should mean only that part of God's Spirit which transforms the souls of men into the Substance of the Soul of God in its Quality of Love.

I heard the preacher discourse Sunday night on the work of the Holy Spirit as portrayed in the contents of the New Testament, and saw that his conclusions from these contents were wholly erroneous and apart from the truth. As he said, the effects of the workings of the Holy Spirit are shown in more ways than one, and not everyone upon whom it is bestowed is filled with the same powers of displaying its presence and possession. Now in all these evidences of its existence in the experiences given, it must be understood that it is limited in its operations to those conditions and manifestations that have their source in the Divine Love of the Father, that was bestowed upon mankind at my coming in the flesh, and that those evidences of the existence that have no relationship to this Love are not evidences of the presence of the Holy Spirit.

As mentioned in the New Testament, when it was bestowed upon my disciples at Pentecost, it came as with the sound of a mighty rushing wind, which has before been explained to you, that shook the room in which the disciples were assembled and filled them with its powers, which means only that this Divine Love came into their souls in such abundance that they were shaken in their souls to such an extent that they thought the building in which they were assembled was disturbed. But in this, they were mistaken, for the effect of the presence of the Holy Spirit is not to affect the things of inanimate nature, but is confined to the souls of men.

And the preacher must know that because men are possessed with powers to accomplish the mental or material things of their living, they are not necessarily possessed with the Holy Spirit. Much of the physical healing of mortals is caused by powers that are bestowed upon men, or some men that are not connected with or proceed from the Holy Spirit. That there is evidence of this, men will recollect that the Old Testament is full of instances where men were healed of their diseases, and other wonderful things performed, at the time that the Holy Spirit was excluded from man's possession. Yet these marvels, as then considered, were performed by men claiming to be endowed with the Spirit of God, which is working for the good and happiness of mankind, and which will continue to work until men shall become in harmony with themselves as first created.

I understand the object of the preacher in attempting to show and convince his hearers, that because they have not those powers that the Bible describes as having been possessed by my disciples after the bestowal of the Holy Spirit that, therefore, they must not believe and conclude that they, his hearers, have not this blessing. His intentions and efforts were commendable and arose from the desire that his hearers should not become disheartened and disappointed in their efforts to obtain the inflowing of the Love that the Holy Spirit brings to men; but on the other hand, his teachings were dangerous and misleading to these hearers, for the natural consequence of such teaching is to lead men into the belief or persuasion that they possess this power and Comforter, when they do not, and thus prevent them from seeking for an obtaining this Comforter in the only way in which it can be obtained.

The Holy Spirit, primarily, has nothing to do with great mental or physical achievements, and to say that because a man is a great inventor or philosopher or surgeon who does things without knowing where the inspiration or suggestion to do the things comes from, therefore he is possessed of the Holy Spirit, is all wrong and misleading.

All things, mediately or immediately, have their existence and operation and growth in the Spirit of God, and only in that Spirit, and which Spirit is evidenced in many and varied ways in men's experience; and hence, men say that they live and move and have their being in God, meaning only that they live and move and have their being in God's Spirit. This Spirit is the source of life and light and health and numerous other blessings that men possess and enjoy - the sinner as well as the saint, the poor man as well as the rich, the ignorant as well as the enlightened and educated - and are each and all dependent on this Spirit for their being and comfort. This is the Spirit that all men possess to a great or less degree, and the brilliant preacher or teacher or orator, possessing this Spirit to a greater degree than his less favored brother, depends upon the same Spirit. It is universal in its existence and workings, is omnipresent, and may be acquired by all men in this sense to the degree that their mental receptivity permits.

And this further demonstrates the fact that God, through and by this Spirit, is with men always, in the lowest hells as well as in the highest Heavens of the perfect man. It is working continuously, ceaselessly and always at the call of men, be that call mental or spiritual. It is the thing that controls the universe of which man's earth is an infinitesimal part. This is the Spirit of God.

But the Holy Spirit, while a part of the Spirit of God, yet is as distinctive as is the soul of man distinctive from all other creations of God; it is that part of God's Spirit that has to do with the relationship of God's Soul and man's soul, exclusively.

The subject of Its operation is the Divine Love of the Father's Soul and the object of Its workings is the soul of man, and the great goal to be reached by Its operations is the transforming of the soul of man into the Substance of the Father's Love, with Immortality as a necessary accompaniment. This is the great miracle of the universe; and so high and sacred and merciful is the transformation, that we call that part of God's Spirit that so works, the Holy Spirit.

So let not teachers or preachers teach, or their hearers believe that every part of God's Spirit that operates upon the heart's and thoughts and feelings of man is the Holy Spirit, for it is not true. Its mission is the salvation of men in the sense of bringing them into that harmony with God, that the very souls of men will become a part in substance and not in image merely of the Soul of God and without this working of the Holy Spirit men cannot become in such union.

I have written you before as to how this Holy Spirit works and the way in which it can bring men the Divine Love of the Father, and what is necessary for it's inflowing. The way described is the only way, and men must not believe and rest in the security of such belief, that every working of the Spirit of God, is the working of the Holy Spirit.

Except a man be born again he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God, and such attainment is possible only by the working of the Holy Spirit.

Oh, preacher, upon whom a great responsibility rests, learn the truth and then lead men into the way of salvation. I will not write more now, but will come again and deliver another message. Believe that I love you and am

Your friend and brother,
Jesus

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Helen Writes that Mr. Padgett's Reading About the Old Prophets Had Little Effect on His Soul

October 30, 1918
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Helen.

Well dear, you have been in two conditions of soul and mind tonight. The one, rather repellent and out of sympathy with us, which prevented us from writing you, and the other, which you now have, congenial and in unison with us.

Your reading the prophecies of the old prophets did not have the effect of awakening in your soul those feelings and aspirations which were suitable to bring your soul in rapport with us, and largely, because those writings did not declare and display the true and loving Father whom we know and love. Our Father never had the feelings of wrath against His children that are in those prophecies ascribed to him. The Jehovah of those prophets was of a very different type from the Father whom we know and love and fear only in the sense that in some possible way we may violate the Laws of His Love.

Of course, as you know, the people of those times, prophets, priests, Kings and common people, never had or knew of His Divine Love, and their comprehension of God, was one who required sacrifice and obedience to his laws of right and justice as they understood them; and undoubtedly their prophets were, to a degree, inspired by the spirits of the higher Heavens as they then existed to warn and threaten and denounce, so that the people might be brought to a realization of their sins and induced to a return to that harmony with the law that would enable them to become rid of their sins and evil doings; and considering their conception of God, the means used by the prophets were the ones necessary to bring about these results.

A consideration of these means in comparison with the ways taught by the Master that lead to the Celestial Heavens will demonstrate the fact that, in those ancient days, neither prophet, priest nor people had any knowledge of the Divine Love, and that the privilege of these ancient people of obtaining the Divine Love was not in existence.

I, and the higher spirits, as they have declared, see no good that can possibly come to mortals of the present from a reading and understanding of these books of the Old Testament. The moral commands contained in them were pronounced and emphasized by the teachings of the Master, which needs no assistance from these old teachings in order that the Master's teachings should have a sanctioning. And as to the higher spiritual truths, these old scriptures contain nothing which can possibly enlighten or help man to acquire knowledge of these truths.

So I advise you not to waste your time in reading these scriptures, but rather use all the time that remains to you outside of the affairs of your practical life to learn and study and meditate upon the truths which have been revealed to you by the messages that you have received.

I would not, by what I have said, desire to be understood as depreciating the reading of these scriptures by people who have not the opportunity and privilege of hearing the truths that have been revealed to you, for in these scriptures are many moral truths and illustrations, which may be of benefit to these people; and undoubtedly essential to them in the particulars and under the circumstances mentioned. So my dear husband, continue to pray and believe.

[Question and answer.]

Well, I meant that these truths are not necessary to be read by the people of the present day, for in the New Testament are found these moral truths; and while not necessary, I would not advise that the people should absolutely fail to read the Old Testament, because some may enjoy the reading of these truths as they are therein contained and associated with the circumstances surrounding them. They may appeal to some people, and if so, work a benefit. I again say that they are not necessary but they may be helpful to some - the minds of all do not work alike.

Think of me in your prayers and love me. Good night.

Your own true and loving,
Helen

Friday, April 25, 2014

Jesus Writes the Religion of the Future Will Be Founded on the Truths of the New Birth and the Transformation of the Soul into the Divine

November 6, 1917
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

I have been with you part of the time as you were reading* the different explanations of the various religions, and tried to direct your mind so that you might conceive the difference between the things taught in those teachings and what we are revealing to you. Many things that are set forth in those teachings - that are mysteries and the results of speculation - will be revealed to you in their true existence and meaning, so that all defects or desiderata that arise because of the insufficiency of these teachings will be corrected and supplied.

I am glad that you read these sermons, for they demonstrate to you a number of truths that were known to the ancients but which fall far short of the truth. At those times there was no source from which our truths could come, either in the spirit world or in the mortal world and, hence, humans could not become inspired as to the vital truths that we are revealing.

The men who appeared as reformers and gave forth the truths that were unknown to their fellowmen were inspired by the intelligences of the spirit world, but that inspiration could not be greater or higher than the knowledge of the spirits by whom these men were inspired. And what I here say applies not only to the prophets and teachers of the Old Testament times, but to those of all the times and among all races preceding my coming to earth and making known the great truths which were revealed to me by the Father.

I noticed that some of these teachers and writers of essays at the great religious gathering attempted to speak of a future or world religion, and their claims were divergent but were based mostly on those foundations that will never support such a religion. They almost entirely based their concepts on principles of morality as understood by them, and the churches based their beliefs on the teachings of the New Testament, which in many and vital particulars are erroneous, especially, the basic one that I am God, the Son, and that my vicarious atonement and sacrifice must be the touchstone of the future great and ultimate religion. Well, as their claims are not true, it is certain that any religion based upon them cannot be true or lasting.

There will be a religion of the future and a comprehensive and final one, and it will be founded upon the Truths which you are now receiving, for it will be inclusive of all the other religions, so far as the truths that they contain are concerned, with the addition of the greatest of all truths affecting mortals - the New Birth and transformation of the human soul into the Divine.

When men shall come to make a comparative analysis of these existing religions and the one that I shall make known, there will be very little conflict in the vital principles, and my teachings will only add to the old teachings that which all men can accept.

Hence, you see the importance of our working more rapidly in our efforts to disclose and disseminate the truth. I will come in a few nights and deliver another formal message, and others also will come and write you. Many of the Celestial Spirits are qualified to teach the truths of the Father, and they are ready and anxious to do so. I will not write more now, but with my love and blessings will say, good night. Yes, I am with you as I promised and will continue to be.

Your brother and friend,
Jesus

*Mr. Padgett had been reading The World's Parliament of Religions at Columbian Exposition of 1893.

Sunday, September 1, 2013

John Writes that James the Lesser is the Real Brother of Jesus

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

I am here, John.

I merely want to say that you will soon be well and in condition to receive some of our messages, which we are anxiously waiting to write. The time is approaching when the book will have to be published and it is very necessary that you get these messages in full so that you can compile the book. Of course, we want to incorporate every truth that is necessary to make known to mankind and, to do so, we will have to work faster.

Yes, I know him well (James the Lesser, the subject of a question asked by Mr. Padgett) and he was the brother of Jesus, the real brother, having the same father and mother that Jesus had and all speculations as to his having parents who were other than the parents of Jesus are not in accord with the truth and were falsified, to make it appear that Mary was a virgin. He was not in the beginning an apostle of Jesus and came to believe in him late in the ministry of Jesus, but when at last he became convinced that Jesus was the true Messiah, he became a very earnest and hardworking follower of Jesus and, also, the first Christian Bishop of Jerusalem.

I have no personal knowledge as to whether he wrote the epistles ascribed to him or not, but he has said that he wrote some portion of the first epistle and a portion of the second, but that he did not write the third. That in each of these epistles are many assertions of truth, which are wrong and which he did not teach.

All the writings of the New Testament, as they now exist, contain so many things which the original writers did not write and which they did not teach or believe in, that it is with difficulty that the mortal, even though a great student, can separate the true from the false. And that is one reason that enters into our motives for writing a new revelation of the truth. The truths will be made plain and you must not let the writings of the Bible influence you in your receiving a correct conception of these truths.

I will not write more now.So with my love I will say good night.

John

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Luke Writes on the Truth of the Atonement, Part One

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

I am here, St. Luke.

I come tonight to tell you of a truth that is of very great importance to you and to mankind, and desire that you shall be very careful in receiving what I may say. I am in a condition of Love that enables me to know whereof I write and to cause what I may say to be accepted by you as true.

I want to tell you that the Love - of which we have been writing - is the only Love that can make a spirit or man at-one with the Father, and this my theme: The Atonement.

This word, as used in the Bible and as interpreted by the churches and the commentators on the Bible, carries with it a meaning of some price being paid by Jesus for the redemption of mankind from their sins and from the punishment that they will have to undergo because of having committed sin; and, also, the idea that God, as an angry and insatiable God, was waiting for the price to be paid in order for His wrath to become satisfied and for man to stand before Him acquitted of sin and the consequences of disobedience.

This price, according to the teachings of the churches and the persons named, must have been paid by one who in his goodness and purity was capable of paying this price; that is, one who had in him such inherent qualities and, by his sacrifices, was of such inherent worth as to satisfy the requirements of the demands of this angry God whose laws had been disobeyed. And they also teach that the only way by which such price could have been paid was by the death on the cross of Jesus, who was the only person in all creation that possessed these qualities sufficiently to meet these requirements; and that by his death and the shedding of his blood, the sins were atoned for and God was satisfied. This is the orthodox belief of the atonement and plan of salvation.

In short, a perfect human being free from all sin, a death on the cross and a shedding of blood, which was necessary that the sins of mortals might be washed away and their souls made clean and fitted to become a part of the great family of God.

But all this conception of the atonement is wrong and not justified by any teaching of the Master, or by any of the true teachings of the disciples to whom he had explained the plan of salvation and what the atonement means.

I know that in various parts of the New Testament, it is said that the blood of Jesus washes away all sin, and that his death on the cross satisfies the Father's demand for justice; and therein, there are many similar expressions conveying the same idea. But these sayings of the Bible were never written by the persons to whom they are ascribed, but by writers who, in their various translations and alleged reproductions of these writings, added to and eliminated from the writings of the original writers until the Bible became filled with these false doctrines and teachings.

The writers of the Bible, as it now stands, were persons who belonged to the church which was nationalized about the time of Constantine and, as such, had imposed upon them the duty of writing such ideas as the rulers or governors of this church conceived should be incorporated in the Bible for the purpose of carrying out their ideas in order to subserve the interests of the church and to give it such temporal power as it never could have had under the teachings and guidance of the pure doctrines of the Master.

For nearly two thousand years, this false doctrine of the atonement has been believed in and accepted by the so-called Christian churches and has been promulgated by these churches as the true doctrine of Jesus and the one upon which the salvation of man depends; and the consequences have been that men have believed that the only things necessary to their salvation and reconciliation to God were the death of Jesus and the washing away of their sins by the blood shed on Calvary.

If men only knew how futile his death was and how inefficacious his blood is to wash away sin and pay the debt to the Father, they would not rest in the assurance that all they have to do is to believe in this sacrifice and this blood, but would learn the true plan of salvation and make every effort in their power to follow that plan and, as a consequence, have their souls developed so that they would come into harmony with the Father's Love and Laws.

Atonement, in its true meaning, never meant the payment of a debt or the appeasing of the wrath of God, but simply the becoming at-one with Him in those qualities that will insure to men the possession of His Love and the Immortality that Jesus brought to light. The sacrifice of Jesus could have no possible effect upon the condition of man's soul qualities, and neither could the blood shedding make a vile and sinful soul pure and free from sin.

God's universe is governed by laws as immutable as they are perfect in their workings, and the great thing to be accomplished by the plan, which He provided for the redemption of men, is to have every man come into harmony with these laws, because just as soon as that harmony exists there, will be no more discord and sin will not be known to humanity. And so only that which will bring man into this harmony can possibly save him from his sins and bring about the atonement that Jesus and his disciples taught.

Man, when created, was endowed with what may be called a natural love, and that love, to the extent of the quality that it possessed, was in perfect harmony with God's universe, and so long as it was permitted to exist in its pure state was a part of the harmony of the universe; but when it became defiled or impregnated with sin or anything not in accord with God's Laws, it became inharmonious and not at-one with God, and the only redemption required was the removing of those things that caused the in-harmony.

Now, the only way in which this in-harmony could be removed was by the natural love becoming again pure and free from that which defiled it. The sacrifice on the cross could not furnish this remedy and neither could the blood atonement accomplish it, because the sacrifice and the blood had no relation to the evil to be remedied. So I assert, if these things paid the penalty and satisfied God and thereby He had no further claim upon man for any debt supposed to be due Him from man, it necessarily implies that He kept the souls of men in this condition of in-harmony and would not permit the same to be removed until His demands for satisfaction and blood had been met; and that then, when He should be appeased, He would permit men by His mere ipse dixit to again come in harmony with His Laws and the workings of His universe. In other words, He would be willing to let men remain out of harmony with His universe and the workings of His laws, until He had His demands for sacrifice and blood satisfied.

This, as is apparent to any reasonable man, would be a thing so foolish that no mere man in matters pertaining to his earthly affairs would adopt as a plan for the redemption of those sons of his who had been disobedient.

I see you have a caller and will continue later.

Sunday, January 27, 2013

St. Paul Writes That the Bible Cannot Be Depended On As Containing Things That He and Others Wrote Because Their Original Writings Are Missing

October 26, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, St. Paul.

Yes I am, and I want to say just a few words. The book on the "vicarious atonement" that you have been reading - about the ransom price and the blood of Jesus and the sacrifice on the cross - as to these things is all wrong, and you must not believe what it says.

Well, I know the Bible ascribes to me the teaching of these things, but I never did; and I tell you now, as I have before told you, that the Bible cannot be depended on as containing things that I wrote, for there are many additions to what I wrote and many omissions of what I wrote; and so with the others whose names are stated as the writers of the New Testament - many things contained in that book were never written by any of the alleged authors of the book.

The writings of any of us are not in existence and have not been for many centuries; and when they were copied and recopied, great additions and omissions were made, and, at last, doctrines and dogmas were interpolated that we never at anytime believed or wrote.

I have to say this, and I wish to emphasize my statement with all the conviction and knowledge of the truth that I possess: Jesus never paid any debt of man by his death or his blood or vicarious atonement. When Jesus came to earth, his mission was given him as he progressed in his soul development and not until his anointing was he wholly qualified to enter upon his mission or the work thereof.

The mission was twofold, namely: To declare to mankind that the Father had rebestowed the Divine Love which Adam or the first parents had forfeited; and, secondly, to show man the way by which that Love could be obtained so that the possessor of it would become a partaker of the Divine Nature and Immortal.

Jesus had no other mission than this and any statement by the preacher or teacher or church doctrines or dogmas or by the Bible, that his mission was other than I have stated, is untrue. He emphatically never claimed that he came to earth to pay any ransom for mankind, or to save them by his death on the cross, or to save them in any other way than by teaching them that the Great Gift or privilege of obtaining immortality had been bestowed upon them and that by prayer and faith, they could obtain it.

The author of the book is all wrong in his theories, but if you accept the statement of the Bible as true, he makes a very forcible presentation of the Scriptures. But the Scriptures do not contain the truth on this subject, except by the New Birth that Jesus taught; and that being so, his explanations and theories must fall to the ground. Some day and that very soon, he will come to the spirit world and have an awakening, which will cause him much suffering and remorse, because of his teachings of the false doctrines that his book contains.

I did not intend to write so long a letter when I commenced, but your questions required answers, and I could not give you answers in less space. But nevertheless if you shall obtain any benefit from what I have written, the time consumed will be compensated for. I must stop now but will come again sometime.

Your brother in Christ,
St. Paul

Friday, January 4, 2013

James the Lesser, Jesus' Brother, Writes His Testimony and is Helping James E. Padgett With the Work He is Doing

October 8, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington D.C.

I am here, James the Lesser.

I come because most of the apostles have written you, and I want to be in the number who testify that Jesus is the living and true son of God, and that he has selected you, and also your friend, to do his work. I know that this has been told you by many spirits, but yet I want to add my testimony for the time may come when you will meet such unbelief and skepticism that you will need all the testimony that you can get.

The work that you will have to do will not be an easy one. You will have many antagonists, especially in the churches and among the preachers and rulers of the churches, and you will need all the help that the spirit powers can give you.

I am one of the band of Celestial Spirits that will sustain and help you in your work, and I am so interested that you shall succeed that I want you to know the fact that back of you both is the most wonderful power that has ever been given to mortals to carry out the plans of the higher Celestial world.

When on earth, I was the brother of Jesus and called the "Lesser" to distinguish me from James, the brother of John and son of Zebedee. I was not the son of any Alphaeus, such as that name is understood in the New Testament, but the son of Mary and Joseph, as was my brother Jesus. Jesus himself will one day come and tell you exactly who Alphaeus was.

So have faith and believe what we write you for it is all true. You must not doubt as you do sometimes, or let your earthly affairs turn your thoughts from the great truths, which we come to teach you. So without writing more, I will say, believe.

Your brother in Christ,
James the Lesser

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

St. Luke Writes That the Gospel in the New Testament is Not as He Wrote It

August 28, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, St. Luke.

Well, I came to tell you that you are not in such a condition of faith as will enable you to take my messages in a satisfactory way, and I will not write as I expected and give you some account of the errors and untruths that are in my gospel.

I am the one who first collected the different writings or manuscripts of the history of the times of the New Testament and of the sayings and doings of Jesus and compiled them in one gospel. The present gospel is not as I wrote it, for many things have been added and a number extracted from what I wrote and what the truths are. Tonight I will not attempt to tell you but will come again soon.

I know, and I will tell you with all my emphasis that it was Jesus the Nazarine, and the person of that name around whom the New Testament centers. He is the same Jesus and waits to write through you his messages to the world. So you must believe and listen to what He says and try to do your best in receiving these messages for they will be the truths of God. I will stop now and say goodnight.

Your brother in Christ,
St. Luke

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Josephus, a former Jewish Historian, Writes that God Has No Chosen People and He Loves All of His Children

August 8, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am Josephus.

I am the Jewish historian and now a Christian. You are not a man to let alone. I mean that I must write some of my knowledge of the things of those ancient days, for I see that you are selected to do a great work and I want to contribute to the truth of Jesus' life on earth. He lived just before I wrote, but I had heard of him many times, and I know that he was a real existing being. In my history of the Jews, I mentioned him and when the learned say that what is there said is interpolated, they say what is not true; for he did live and taught in Palestine as the New Testament claims.

I never met him, but the wonders of his works were circulated all over the country and caused much agitation on the part of the leaders of the Jews. I never wrote much about him, because we all looked upon him as a mere agitator and destroyer of our religion, and to such we never gave much notoriety in our writings.

But this same Jesus of Nazareth lived as a man and was crucified by the Romans at the clamor of the Jews. I want to tell you this, because it is claimed that he never lived on earth.

I am a follower of him and believe in his teachings and have received the New Birth that he taught. I live in the Celestial Heavens where only his followers live. He was the true son of God, and his mission was to show men the way to God's Love and to declare the rebestowal of the Divine Love. I tell you that this is the most important truth in all the Heavens, except this, that God is Love. These two constitute the hope of mankind and furnish the means by which man may acquire immortality.

Without this New Birth, men will remain merely men, and will not partake of the Divine Love, and the home in the Celestial Spheres. I say this, because I know from experience what this New Birth means, and from observation, that those who have never received it cannot enter these Spheres. So man must believe this great truth.

Many Jews have become believers since becoming inhabitants of the spirit world, but the large majority of the inhabitants of the Celestial Heavens are those whom we called Gentiles. God had no chosen people in the sense that He designed to save any particular nation in preference to all others. He knows no preference. All are His children and the great gift is for all who ask for it in faith.

I must not write more tonight, but with your permission will come again.

Vespasian is a Christian now, but he never was while on earth, notwithstanding that it was said that he was. He continued a pagan as long as he lived, but he knew something of the Christian teachings. And after he had been in the spirit world a considerable time, he received the light and was Born Again. He is in the Celestial Heavens and a follower of the Master.

So you see, many Jews and Gentiles and pagans who rejected the Master and his teachings on earth have since becoming spirits, had the opportunity, and embraced it, of becoming partakers of the Divine Love and followers of the Master.

Well, you may be surprised to know that Herod is also a Christian. But no pen can portray the sufferings that he had to undergo. Oh, the long years of repentance and torment and darkness. His experience was a Hell, indeed. But the Love and mercy of the Father were even sufficient for his redemption, and among all the spirits of our Celestial Heavens, none are more humble and meek than is this same Herod. His life, voluntarily assumed, is one of service and devotion to the Master. I think that his love for the Master is so great, that even he cannot appreciate it.

I will, with all my love and earnestness, accept your invitation, for the work is of the greatest importance and the time is ripe. Oh, what an awakening there will be when the truths of God, which the Master is communicating through you, shall come to the knowledge and consciousness of mankind.

I am your brother in Christ and a fellow worker and so I will say with all my love and best wishes,

Goodnight,
Josephus

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Professor Joseph Salyards Writes Further About the Law of Compensation and Explains the Law of Soulmates

May 3, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Professor Salyards.

Yes, and I am very much pleased that you have, and that you are in such good condition to write tonight. Well, I desire to continue my discourse on the laws of the spirit world, as known to many spirits.

The next Law is:

That no matter how much knowledge of material things and of purely Physical Laws
a man may have acquired on earth, his knowledge is not sufficient to fit him 
for the higher things of the spirit life.

Many men think that because they have this great knowledge of the material universe, they need not attempt to learn the Laws, which control the operations of spirit life, or the Laws which determine the position and development of that part of man commonly known as the soul. This is a very great mistake and all human beings, sooner or later, will realize the necessity of learning these more important Laws of the soul development, and of the spiritual part of man.

I never, while on earth, attempted to investigate these Laws and, consequently, when I came into the spirit world, I was as a new born babe in my understanding of these Laws; and so will all humans be who have neglected the investigation and study of these Laws, as I did. I would, therefore, advise every man to give his best endeavor to the study of these Laws, and especially that part of them which deals more particularly with the soul's development and progress towards the greatest happiness.

These Laws are set forth and declared to a very large extent in the New Testament, and in some parts of the Old [Testament] are many suggestions as to what a man should do to save his soul from death; and by this I mean the death that comes with neglecting to exercise all the qualities of the soul that a man is capable of exercising, when in the mortal life. A man may let his faculties of mind die by neglecting to feed them the proper mental food, and so with the soul. Of course, the soul never dies, as far as known, in the sense of absolute destruction and disintegration, but it can get into such a state of inertia or lethargy that, so far as it is a part of the activities of man, it may as well be dead.

I don't mean to say that the mere neglect to exercise these soul faculties will cause a man's soul to remain dead forever, for that is not so. Sooner or later, either in the mortal life or in the spirit life, this soul will have an awakening, but that awakening may be delayed for many years, and even centuries and, in its highest sense, it may never have an awakening. So let men know the importance of studying and applying these spiritual laws to their own selves while mortals, and when they come to be spirits, they will find what a great advantage to their progression and happiness such study and application have proved to be.

There is another Law of the spirit world that is of vital importance to those in the mortal life, and one which they can learn, and that is that:

No man can, of himself, save himself from the penalties of the Law of Compensation. 

I have written about this before, but it is of such vast importance, and affects all human beings to such an extent, that I feel justified in saying something more on the subject. This Law of Compensation is as fixed as any of God's Laws and cannot be avoided under any condition or circumstances, except one, and that is the redemption of a man's soul by the Love of the Father entering into it, and making it at-one with His own, and like His in all the qualities that partake of the Divine Essence.

I know that many men do not believe that there can be any forgiveness of sin, because they say it is impossible to make clean, in a moment, the soul of a man that has been steeped in everything vile and sinful while living the life of a mortal. Well, this I believe to be true, and I do not think any of our greatest teachers of these highest truths attempt to declare the doctrine of instantaneous cleansing of a vile and sinful soul; at least, that is not the doctrine taught by the greatest of all teachers, the man of Nazareth, whom I sometimes see and converse with. And he, I believe, knows more of the Laws governing the salvation of men, than any other or all other teachers combined.

His teaching here is, that while a soul is not instantaneously cleansed by receiving a portion of the Divine Love, as we have heretofore explained it to you, yet the inflowing of such Love into the soul of a man starts him into the way of right thinking and causes him to realize that his soul is open to the influence of this Divine Love. So mortals, as well as spirits, may receive this awakening of Divine Grace, to a very large extent, as soon as they realize that this Love is the only thing that will remove the penalties of this Law of Compensation.

I do not believe that immediately after the sinner feels this Love coming into his soul, he becomes a saint and at once gets rid of his evil nature, for that can hardly be. Such an instantaneous cleansing would scarcely serve the purpose for which the work of this redemptive Love is intended. Some persons seem to be able to receive more of this Love in a short time than do others and, consequently, their complete redemption is more quickly accomplished. But to me - and I have experienced the inflowing of this Love and its effect upon my sinful nature, and upon my recollections of the deeds of my earth life, which call into operation this Law of Compensation - there does not seem to be any probability of an instantaneous cleansing of the soul, so that a man suddenly becomes fitted to live in the Celestial Heavens where the Father's Love, in all its purity and completeness, exists.

I know it is taught by many preachers, and it is also the dogma of some churches, that the blood of Jesus cleanses from all sin and that - in the twinkling of an eye. But you must not believe this, for it is not true. The blood of Jesus was spilled many centuries ago and is now become a part of other elements of the natural world and cannot save anyone. And I go further and say, as Jesus has taught me, that his blood never had any efficacy in saving anyone. He never taught that his blood could do any such thing, or that the shedding of his blood was in any sense, means of saving a soul. He is not now teaching any such doctrine, and is disappointed that those who lead the masses of mankind should teach any such doctrine, because it takes their attention away from the one and vital principle which is necessary to their salvation. And that is, the New Birth: which means merely the flowing into a man's soul and becoming a part of it of the Divine Love of the Father. It does not come to a man because the blood of Jesus was a sacrifice to appease the wrath and requirements of the Father, or because of any vicarious suffering of Jesus.

But to return to this Law of Compensation. No man, by his own exertions, can save himself from the operations of this Law and he, so long as he has this idea of depending on his own powers, will have to pay the penalties. Of course, as he pays these penalties, he progresses nearer and nearer to a time and condition when the Law will cease to operate upon him, and he will become comparatively happy; but such payment may require long years of suffering and unhappiness.

So I say, let man know that for every act and deed, and for not doing what he should have done, he will have to answer the Law. I do not mean by this repetition to cause men to think that I delight in showing them that they will have to suffer and live in darkness for a time uncertain, for I do not take any pleasure in calling their attention to this great Law and the certainty of its operations. Rather I do this to help men to avoid these sufferings and unhappiness by seeking the Love of the Father while on earth because, from my observations, I believe that it can be found more easily while in the flesh, than after a man becomes a spirit.

Another Law of the spirit world is that:

 Every human being of one sex has, on earth or in the spirit world, 
one of the opposite sex, who is his soulmate. 

The importance of this provision of the Father for the happiness of humans and spirits has never been fully understood by those who have not with certainty met and recognized their soulmates. I know that on earth men have claimed that certain of the opposite sex were their affinities, and with such claims as an excuse, have done much wrong and sin. But the soulmate is not an affinity which may be suggested by the passions or desires, but is one provided by the Grace and Love of the Father to live with the other soulmate through all eternity.

Before they took on the form of flesh, they were united, and when, in accordance with God's plan, they separated and became mortals, they became no less soulmates, although they may not recollect their former unity or relationship while living the mortal life. But as certain as God lives, these two soulmates, at some time after they become spirits, will learn their true relationship to each other and will, if nothing insurmountable intervenes, come together again in true union and happiness.

The mere fact that a certain man and a certain woman are husband and wife on earth does not mean that they will live together as husband and wife through all eternity. If they are soulmates, they may, but if they are not, they will certainly separate after they enter the spirit world. That true relationship cannot be hidden here, and no mere form of relationship of husband and wife will suffice to keep the persons together.

The great truth of soulmates is one which needs further elucidation, and one which I will try hereafter to explain more fully. But for now it is sufficient to say that every man born of woman has his soulmate, either on earth or in the spirit world, and vice versa.

Well, I have written a great deal tonight and you are tired, and so am I, and so I will continue at another time the rest of my discourse. With all my love and best wishes for your happiness and success,

I am, your old professor and friend,
Salyards

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Jesus Writes the First Message of Truths: He is Not God and People Must Not Worship Him in That Way

January 24, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

You are now in condition, and I will give you a short message. When I was on earth I was not worshiped as God, but was considered merely as the son of God in the sense that in me were imposed the Truths of my Father and many of His wonderful and mysterious powers. I did not proclaim myself to be God, neither did I permit any of my disciples to believe that I was God, but only that I was His beloved son sent to proclaim to mankind His Truths and show them the way to the Love of the Father. I was not different from other men, except that I possessed to a degree this Love of God, which made me free from sin, and prevented the evils that formed a part of the nature of men from becoming a part of my nature.

No man who believes that I am God has a knowledge of the truth, or is obeying the commandments of God by worshiping me. Such worshipers are blaspheming and are doing the cause of God and my teachings great injury. Many a man would have become a true believer in and worshiper of the Father and follower of my teachings had not this blasphemous dogma been interpolated into the Bible. It was not with my authority, or in consequence of my teachings, that such a very injurious doctrine was promulgated or believed in.

I am only a son of my Father as you are, and while I was always free from sin and error as regards the true conception of my Father's true relationship to mankind, yet you are His son also; and if you will seek earnestly and pray to the Father with faith, you may become as free from sin and error as I was then, and am now.

The Father is Himself, alone. There is no other God besides Him, and no other God to be worshiped. I am His teacher of truth, and am the Way, the Truth and the Life, because in me are those qualities of good and knowledge, which fit me to show the way and lead men to eternal life in the Father, and to teach them that God has prepared a Kingdom in which they may live forever, if they so desire. But not withstanding my teachings, men and those who have assumed high places in what is called the Christian Church impose doctrines so at variance with the truth, that in these latter days, many men in the exercise of an enlightened freedom and of reason have become infidels and turned away from God and His Love and have thought and taught that man, himself, is sufficient for his own salvation.

The time has come when these men must be taught to know that while the teachings of these professed authorities on the truths of God are all wrong, they, these same men, are in error when they refuse to believe in God and my teachings. What my teachings are, I know it is difficult to understand from the writings of the New Testament, for many things therein contained I never said, and many things that I did say are not written therein. I am now going to give to the world the Truths as I taught them when on earth, and many that I never disclosed to my disciples or inspired others to write.

No man can come to the Father's Love, except he be Born Again. This is the great and fundamental Truth, which men must learn and believe, for without this New Birth men cannot partake of the Divine Essence of God's Love, which, when possessed by a man, makes him at-one with the Father. This Love comes to man by the workings of the Holy Ghost causing this Love to flow into the heart and soul and filling it so that all sin and error must be eradicated.

I am not going to tell to-night just how this working of the spirit operates, but, I say, if a man will pray to the Father and believe, and earnestly ask that this Love be given him, he will receive it; and when it comes into his soul, he will realize it.

Let not men think that by any effort of their own they can come into this union with the father, because they cannot. No river can rise higher than its source; and no man who has only the natural love and filled with error can of his own powers cause that natural love to partake of the Divine, or his nature to be relieved of such sin and error. Man is a mere creature and cannot create anything higher than himself; so man cannot rise to the nature of the Divine, unless the Divine first comes into that man and makes him a part of its own Divinity.

All men who do not get a part of this Divine Essence will be left in their natural state, and while they may progress to higher degrees of goodness and freedom from sin and from everything that tends to make them unhappy, yet, they will be only natural men, still.

I came into the world to show men the way to this Divine Love of the Father and teach them His Spiritual Truths, and my mission was that in all its perfection, and incidentally, to teach them the way to greater happiness on earth as well as in the spirit world by teaching them the way to the purification of the natural love; even though they neglected to seek for and obtain this Divine Love and become one with the Father.

Let men ponder this momentous question, and they will learn that the happiness of the natural man, and the happiness of the man who has obtained the attributes of Divinity, are very different, and in all eternity must be separate and distinct. My teachings are not very hard to understand and follow, and if men will only listen to them and believe them and follow them, they will learn the way and obtain the one perfect state of happiness which the Father has prepared for His children. No man can obtain this state of Celestial bliss, unless he first gets this Divine Love of the Father, and so becomes at-one with the Father.

I know it is thought and taught that morality and correct living and great natural love will assure a man's future happiness, and to a degree this is true, but this happiness is not that greater happiness, which God desires His children to have; and to show the way to which I came to earth to teach. But in some hearts and minds my Truths found a lodgment and were preserved to save mankind from total spiritual darkness and a relapse to worship of form and ceremony only.

I have written you this to show that you must not let the teachings of the Bible, and what men wrote or professed to have written therein, keep you from receiving and understanding what I write. I shall write no more to-night, but I will continue to tell you the Truths, which will be "my New Gospel to all men," and when they have heard my messages, they will believe that there is only one God, and only one to be worshiped.

With my love and blessings, I close for this time.

Jesus

Monday, March 19, 2012

Jesus tells James to be a True Follower of God and He Will Teach Him the Truths of God

September 24, 1914
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

Be of good cheer for I am with you always. Do not let your heart fear - for the Lord is your keeper, and He will be your guide and shield. Only believe and trust in Him and you will soon be Born Again into the spiritual world of His Kingdom. Let me teach you and give you the thoughts that He gave me while on earth. Let me show you that the things of this world are not the things that save the soul from sin and unhappiness. Be a true follower of your God.

It is the flowing of the Holy Spirit into the soul of a man and the disappearing of all that tended to keep it in a condition of sin and error. It is not the workings of the man's own will, but the Grace of God. It is the Love of God that passes all understanding.

You will soon experience the change, and then you will be a happy man and fit to lead others to the truths of God. Let your heart be open to the knockings of the Spirit and keep your mind free from thoughts of sin. Be a man who loves his God and his fellow man. Your love is only now of the earthly kind, but it will soon be of the things spiritual.

You must not let the cares of this world keep you from God. Let His Spirit come into your soul. Your will is the thing that determines whether you will become a child of God or not. Unless you are willing to let the Holy Spirit enter into your heart, it will not do so. Only the voluntary submission to or acceptance of the Holy Spirit will make the change.

I was the instrument in God's hands of leading men to His favor and Love. When I said "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life," I meant that through my teachings and example men should be able to find God. I was not God and never claimed to be. The worship of me as a God is blasphemous, and I did not teach it. I am a son of God, as you are. Do not let the teachings of men lead you to worship me as a God. I am not.

The trinity is a mistake of the writers of the Bible. There is no trinity - only one God, the Father. He is one and alone. I am His teacher of truth. The Holy Spirit is His messenger and dispenser of Love to mankind. We are only His instruments in bringing man to a union with Him. I am not the equal of my Father. He is the only true God.

I came from the spirit world to earth and took the form of man, but I did not become a God - only the son of my Father. You also lived as a spirit in that Kingdom, and took the form of man, merely as a son of your Father. You are the same as I am, except as to spiritual development, and you may become as greatly developed as myself.

I am the only son when on earth, who until then, had become bested with the Divine love of God to the extent of being wholly free from sin and error. My life was not a life of earthly pleasure or sin, but was given wholly to my Father's work. I was His only son in that light. He was my Father as I knew Him to be. He is not a spirit of form like myself or yourself.

I was born as you were born. I was the son of Mary and Joseph, and not born of the Holy Spirit as it is written in the Bible. I was only a human being as regards my birth and physical existence. The account in the New Testament is not true and was written by those who knew not what they wrote. They have done the cause of God's truths much injury. Let not your belief in that error keep you from seeing that my teachings are the truth.

Be only a believer of God and His truths and you will soon be in the Kingdom.

You will soon be able to understand, as I understand.

Goodnight.

Jesus Christ

Friday, March 16, 2012

Jesus tells James to be a True Follower of God and He Will Teach Him the Truths of God

September 24, 1914
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

Be of good cheer for I am with you always. Do not let your heart fear - for the Lord is your keeper, and He will be your guide and shield. Only believe and trust in Him and you will soon be Born Again into the spiritual world of His Kingdom. Let me teach you and give you the thoughts that He gave me while on earth. Let me show you that the things of this world are not the things that save the soul from sin and unhappiness. Be a true follower of your God.

It is the flowing of the Holy Spirit into the soul of a man and the disappearing of all that tended to keep it in a condition of sin and error. It is not the workings of the man's own will, but the Grace of God. It is the Love of God that passes all understanding.

You will soon experience the change, and then you will be a happy man and fit to lead others to the truths of God. Let your heart be open to the knockings of the Spirit and keep your mind free from thoughts of sin. Be a man who loves his God and his fellow man. Your love is only now of the earthly kind, but it will soon be of the things spiritual.

You must not let the cares of this world keep you from God. Let His Spirit come into your soul. Your will is the thing that determines whether you will become a child of God or not. Unless you are willing to let the Holy Spirit enter into your heart, it will not do so. Only the voluntary submission to or acceptance of the Holy Spirit will make the change.

I was the instrument in God's hands of leading men to His favor and Love. When I said "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life," I meant that through my teachings and example men should be able to find God. I was not God and never claimed to be. The worship of me as a God is blasphemous, and I did not teach it. I am a son of God, as you are. Do not let the teachings of men lead you to worship me as a God. I am not.

The trinity is a mistake of the writers of the Bible. There is no trinity - only one God, the Father. He is one and alone. I am His teacher of truth. The Holy Spirit is His messenger and dispenser of Love to mankind. We are only His instruments in bringing man to a union with Him. I am not the equal of my Father. He is the only true God.

I came from the spirit world to earth and took the form of man, but I did not become a God - only the son of my Father. You also lived as a spirit in that Kingdom, and took the form of man, merely as a son of your Father. You are the same as I am, except as to spiritual development, and you may become as greatly developed as myself.

I am the only son when on earth, who until then, had become bested with the Divine love of God to the extent of being wholly free from sin and error. My life was not a life of earthly pleasure or sin, but was given wholly to my Father's work. I was His only son in that light. He was my Father as I knew Him to be. He is not a spirit of form like myself or yourself.

I was born as you were born. I was the son of Mary and Joseph, and not born of the Holy Spirit as it is written in the Bible. I was only a human being as regards my birth and physical existence. The account in the New Testament is not true and was written by those who knew not what they wrote. They have done the cause of God's truths much injury. Let not your belief in that error keep you from seeing that my teachings are the truth.

Be only a believer of God and His truths and you will soon be in the Kingdom.

You will soon be able to understand, as I understand.

Goodnight.

Jesus Christ