Ross Perry Writes that He is Receiving Divine Love and Will Soon be in the Third Sphere

April 27, 1918
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Ross Perry.

Let me write a line, for I am very desirous of again communicating to you the fact that I am progressing and have found the Love of which you first told me and which information led to my seeking it.

I know that you are very much interested in the higher messages and want to give your time to receiving them and that it is almost impudence for me to intrude, but I have asked your wife if I will interfere with any of these messages tonight by my writing and she informed me that it would not, as none of these messages would be written tonight. So I feel somewhat at liberty to write and I hope that you will consider that I am not intruding.

Well, since last I wrote you, I have been praying to the Father with all the longing of my soul for an increase of His Love and realize that it has come into my soul in greater abundance and I am correspondingly happy. I shall soon be in the Third Sphere, so the spirit friends who have been so kind and loving to me, tell me, and it gives me much happiness to know that such a prospect is opened up to me, for I can, because of the progress that I have already made, and realize to some extent, what a home in that sphere will mean to me.

I would like to write you a long letter tonight, but I must not detain you. But this I want you to remember that I am very happy now and my sufferings have left and I know that all these blessings came to me because of the workings of the Divine Love in my soul. It is wonderful what that Love can accomplish in the way of rescuing a sinful soul from its surroundings of darkness and from suffering.

The Law of Compensation, which is a great truth, does its work without hesitation or partiality, or interference by any God or angel in the way of commanding it to cease its work, but this great Divine Love is more powerful than the Law and when it enters into the soul of a man or spirit it in effect says to this Law: "You shall no longer operate on the soul of the sinner that was, because it will take that soul away from and outside the operations of the Law."

How little men understand this working of the (Divine) Love. It does not set aside the Law, but it merely removes the soul in which it has found a lodgment from the scope of the operation of the Law. The Law goes on but the objects of its operations are rescued from the same. No Law is set aside which men think and argue is necessary in order for a soul to be saved from its penalties and when on earth I believed this, too, and did not believe in or accept the doctrine of the special interposition of divine providence to succor men from the consequence of their sins and that I did not believe because I thought that the only way in which this could be accomplished was for God to say to the Law: "You shall cease to operate."

But now I know, that, while the Law never ceases to operate until the penalties that are called for are paid, yet this Love is above the Law, though not antagonistic to it. I wish that I might write more on this subject tonight as to me, it is one of the most wonderful truths in God's Universe of Spirit and I never cease to meditate upon it and thank the Father that I was made a real example of the power of this Love.

Well I must stop now, but when you have time I should like to come and write at more length. I see that my wife has not progressed in learning the truth and I am very sorry. Well friend, good night.

Your friend,
Ross Perry

**********

Helen is glad that Perry wrote.

I am here, your own true loving Helen.

Well dear, I see that you are not just in condition for very lengthy writing tonight and I will say only a few words. Your condition, though, is much better and there is no reason why you cannot receive the messages that have so long been delayed and I trust that you will do so very soon.

I am glad that Perry wrote you as he did, he is very enthusiastic over his knowledge and experience of the Divine Love and is now quite happy and progressing. Love me and think of me and pray to the Father. Good night.

Your own true and loving,
Helen

Mary Kennedy Writes a Message to Dr. Leslie R. Stone on How Small is the Human Mind as Compared to the Spirit who Possesses the Great Love of the Father

January 29, 1918
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Mary Kennedy.

Well, my dear, I mean Leslie, you may think that I am a simple little English girl without having any knowledge of what the wise men of earth call "psychology;" yet, I know more about the soul than the scientist as he is known on earth, for I know that my soul is immortal, and not only that, but the reason why it is so.

How small a thing is the human mind, even of the most learned, as compared to the mind of a spirit who has received the Great Love of the Father in his soul and realizes that it is a part of the very essence of the Father's Being. I know that you would rather have your Mary be an Angel of the Celestial Heavens than to be one of the wisest of the wise in the spiritual planes.

Well dear, this is all interesting to us from a certain viewpoint, but really not so interesting as the Great Love that binds us so closely together. A knowledge of the soul, as I know it, is very vital, but a knowledge of what makes the soul at-one in perfection with its true soulmate is equally, if not more, important.

How poor are those spirits who are investigating the subject of the soul in a mere intellectual way, as compared with those who know what the soul is, without having to investigate with the mind. And when Love is known and realized how rich is the spirit who possesses and realizes the truth of the reality of that Love, proof comes without seeking proof and speculation is a thing unnecessary and unknown.

Tonight I am very happy that I can write to you and tell you what you already know; but to tell you is a joy, for when I do so, you must say, "Sweetheart, I love you in return;" and then you see I am happy in giving and receiving. If it were not so late, I would write you a long letter, but the writer tells me that he must not write more tonight.

So believe that I love you with all my heart, and trust in my efforts to help and comfort you, and above all pray more to the Father for His Love, and have faith that it will be bestowed upon you. Good night, dear heart,

Your own loving,
Mary

George W. Smith Writes that He Knew the Stone Family in England

December 8, 1917
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, George W. Smith.

I am a spirit who lived in England and knew the family of your friend (Dr. Leslie R. Stone) and have met them in the spirit world and have seen them write to him and call him their son, and as I am permitted to write, I thought that I would say a few words.

I am not in such an exalted position as my friends and have with me some darkness and suffering, though I am progressing and learning of the way, which they tell me I must pursue in order to get rid of my present conditions. Mrs. (Priscilla) Stone has been a very angel of goodness to me and has so patiently tried to show me the way to truth and to the Love that has made an angel of her. What a glorious and beautiful spirit she is and how fortunate her son is to have such a mother who loves him so much as I have heard her often say.

Well, I merely want to say that I have heard the conversation between you and my brother and have believed with interest in what he said about writing to my sisters and telling them some of the spiritual truths that have been written to him by our mother and others.

Well, I will not write more, but I have learned that the prayers of you mortals do help the darkened spirits very much and wish that your friend and you would pray for me. Heaven is ahead of me, they tell me, and I want so much to get there.

Good night.
George W. Smith

Paul Writes About the Methodist Preacher Who Has Divine Love and Encourages Mr. Padgett to Tell Him the Truths of God and Salvation

July 3, 1917
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Paul.

Let me write a few lines, as I desire to say a word about the condition of the man to whom you were talking a short time ago on matters connected with your work and the messages that you are receiving. I mean the Methodist preacher. (Dr. Mitchell)

As you may judge from his conversation, his mind is open to the reception of the truth, and his beliefs in the dogmas of the Bible teachings are not such as to cause him to be unduly biased, so that if the truth be presented to him with any degree of reasonable force, he will give consideration to the same. Of course, he is an orthodox in the way of believing in the plan of salvation provided by God, as recognized and enunciated by the creeds of the churches, and to him Jesus is God, and his sacrifice and vicarious atonement are truths vital to the salvation of mankind; and that the man who does not believe in these necessary prerequisites cannot possibly become reconciled to God or be at-one with Him. To him, Jesus is God, and the only saviour of men, and without Him (Jesus in this sense) it is not possible for man to escape the great condemnation.

Now, while all this is true as regards the preacher's belief, yet he does not believe positively that the man who dies in his sins, as the churchmen term it, will be condemned to a separation from God for all eternity. His belief on this question is not fixed, and his love for mankind creates in him a hope that this may not be so, and that some means will be provided by which such an awful condemnation will not be imposed on men.

He has in his soul much of the Divine Love, without having the consciousness that this is a separate and distinct Love from the natural love that has been to some extent purified. In fact, he has no conception of any Love of God other than the love that was given to men at the time of the creation of the first parents, and which every human being born since that time has received, although it has become defiled by sin and error and the willfulness of man. He believes that man, by the operation of the Holy Spirit, is cleansed of this defilement of the love with which he was endowed, and by the atonement of Jesus is brought into a state of reconciliation with the Father, and no other or different love is necessary for the redemption of the fallen human. That Jesus, by his sacrifice, is all that is required; and when a mortal, by his belief and acceptance of that sacrifice, receives Jesus into his life and nature, he becomes a redeemed child of God.

Of course, he cannot fully understand just the method by which this change is brought about. He believes that there is something mysterious connected with the manner in which the resultant condition of goodness and purification and the change of the vile man into an angel, which flows from the sacrifice and acceptance and belief, yet the man is so changed, and the manner thereof is known to God, and it is not necessary for man to understand. This is a path which does not demand knowledge, a mystery of God which need not be inquired into; only: "Believe on the Lord, Jesus Christ, and ye shall be saved." I say that this belief is his and is sufficient for him, and in it he rests securely.

Well, he is comparatively happy in his belief and is willing to retain it for, as he sometimes thinks, if he renounces it, where and unto what shall he go? He can see nothing to take its place, and he is wise not to give it up. For in Jesus is salvation, when Jesus is correctly understood; and as the preacher turns his thoughts to Jesus and sends forth his soul's longings to the Master and what he represents, his soul at times catches a true conception of the very Jesus, although this conception does not agree with and is not the same thing as his intellectual comprehension of the Jesus of the Bible as interpreted by the creeds.

I am glad that you had the conversation with him, and I believe that as he listens to the unfoldment of the truths, as contained in the messages, his mind will take on a new and true conception of the truth, and his soul open up to a greater inflowing of the Love that will make him at-one with the Father, and transform that soul into the very substance of the Father's Divinity in Love.

I would advise you to present these truths to him, for he is an important factor in the work of man's salvation, when it is considered that one soul is of more worth than the whole world. He has the opportunity to show the way to salvation to many souls by the preaching of the truth, and any personal sacrifice which may come to him as a result of learning and believing the truths is not to be considered. While his material happiness on earth is to be considered and not thrown away whenever it is possible to retain it in connection with the teachings of the truth, yet his soul's happiness and that of many other souls are of more importance than the mere material happiness that arises from ignorance of the truth, or the living in that ignorance. So I say, let him know the truth no matter what the consequences may be, for in the end happiness will come to him, even on earth, as well as in the great eternity.

I will not write more now. So, with my love, I will say good night, and God bless you and the preacher, for I am interested in him, and in the future may possibly sustain a closer relation to him than is now possible by reason of his false beliefs and the want of the necessary rapport with him.

Your brother in Christ,
Paul

Goliath of the Philistines Writes There is No Reincarnation After the Death of the Mortal Body

November 25, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Goliath.

I have been present for some time and have listened to your conversations on the various sects who are expecting a great teacher, and others who look for a reincarnation. And if it were not so serious to the welfare of mankind, it would be very humorous. But the matter is too serious to deal with in a humorous vein and I will say a few words as to the utter falsity of both of these beliefs.

There will appear no such great teacher as is expected. Of course, many may appear on earth claiming to be such a teacher and they may declare some moral truth that may be beneficial to mankind but these teachings will not be such as these people may expect a great teacher to make known and the result will be that if the world had to depend on such teachings, it would be very little, if any better, than it now is.

For there is only one course of truth, and in order for any great teacher to teach such truths, he necessarily will have to have a knowledge of such truths. And here I want to say that there is only one means of learning such truths and that is through the help of Jesus Christ and his followers, who know these truths and the Holy Spirit that speaks to all men if they will open their souls to its silent voice of truth and love.

So I say that these people who are expecting some earthly teacher to arise and come to them with a knowledge of truth will be greatly disappointed, for it is impossible that any man will ever come in some mysterious and godlike way be endowed with this knowledge. The souls of these people are longing for the truth and not having a knowledge as to how it may come about are willing to conjure up in their minds some being that may possibly burst on the world and enlighten them in those truths for which their souls are longing and wishing. No, they will never in all time and eternity learn what they so anxiously desire from any great teacher of the kind that I have named and they expect.

As to the others who are equally misguided and who believe that their salvation or future condition of happiness and perfection depends on reincarnation, I must say that they are now, and will be, disappointed just as will the first class that I mention. This doctrine of reincarnation is a false and misleading one and will never enable any man or spirit to live the second time in the body as a mortal.

It is so utterly absurd that it is astonishing that men can believe that such a thing can be and besides, if they will only think seriously for a moment, they will realize that there is no necessity for man to live again on earth, for the surroundings and things that prevent the progress of man to perfection are so detrimental to his progress that it would not assist him one particle in acquiring such progress to have to undergo a second incarnation.

When the spirit leaves the body, its possibility for progress then becomes greater than ever existed on earth, though some spirits for long ages do not take advantage of such possibilities, yet they exist, and earth life can afford no means equal to them for making this progress towards what these people call "Nirvana." Some day the truths will become so plain and easily understood by mortals that these beliefs will of their own weight, and I mean weight that absurdity gives them, that they will cease to exist.

You may be somewhat surprised that I write on these subjects, but you must know that I am an Angel of the Celestial Heavens and have a work to do, and being present, I requested the privilege of writing and it being granted, I did so.

I know what Divine Love means and what progress means, as I came from the lowest Hells and found no necessity for reincarnation, and you may be assured that if my condition of suffering and darkness could have been gotten rid of by reincarnation, I would have reincarnated centuries before I was relieved of my awful condition. I have met spirits who said they believed in the doctrine, but strange to say, none of them had ever been able to reincarnate, though they persisted that they felt assured that other spirits had who were just in that condition that permitted it, and that they would when they became in a condition that was suitable, but I have noticed that these spirits never got in that suitable condition, but progressed in the spirit world and now say that they were mistaken and are thankful that there is no such thing as re- incarnation. Well, the race will die and a new race will arise on earth, but in the new race there will not be any who have been reincarnated.

I want to stop now, so thanking you, I will say good night.

Your brother in Christ,

Goliath of whom men may think a mythical person. but who really lived and died, even though he may not have been killed by a slingshot of David as the Bible relates, but yet a real living mortal who followed the ways of other mortals in sinning and dying and gone through hell and is at last redeemed.

John Writes About the Truth of "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, etc."

September 17, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

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

I want to say only a few words in reference to what the man said to you about my gospel or rather the gospel attributed to me. His reference to the opening words of the Gospel that, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, etc.," is without any force, to prove that Jesus is God, or one of the Godhead, for it was never written by me or at my dictation and does not state a truth.

The "word" in the sense referred to in that Gospel can mean only God, for He, and He alone, was in the beginning and made everything that was made. As we have often told you, Jesus was the son of a father and mother - the same as you are a son of your father and mother - and was not begotten by the Holy Ghost in the sense ascribed to his birth in the account thereof.

He was born of the Holy Spirit as his soul opened up to the inflowing of the Divine Love and was the first of mankind to receive this Divine Love and the Father's Essence of Divinity and, hence, was the first fruits of the rebestowal of this Love and, as a consequence, was the first fitted to declare the truths of the Father and show the way. As his soul became filled with this Love, and he grew in wisdom and knowledge of the truths of the Father, it may be said that he was sent by the Father to declare the truths and explain the way to the Celestial Heavens and the at-onement with the Father.

Undoubtedly, this Love commenced to flow into his soul soon after his birth, because he was selected to declare the truths of the rebestowal of the Divine Love, and the knowledge of that mission came to him as he grew in love and wisdom. Hence, he was without sin, though apparently only a boy - natural as other boys in his human instincts and feelings. But he was the son of man - Joseph and Mary - and also a son of God, as all men are, with the addition that he was an heir to the Celestial Kingdom.

He was not God, and even up to this time has never seen God, as the orthodox believe, and as Moses and some of the Old Bible characters are said to have seen God. But with his soul perceptions he has seen God, and so have many others of us who are inhabitants of the Celestial Heavens, and that sight is just as real to us as is the sight to you of any of your fellow mortals. It is impossible to explain this to you so that you may fully comprehend its meaning, but this seeing God by our soul perceptions is a thing of reality and brings with it increased happiness and knowledge of immortality.

Jesus is not God, but he is the most highly developed spirit in all the Heavens and is nearest to God in Love and knowledge of truth.

So I say, the Word is God and Jesus is His son, and you may become His son in the same sense, as an heir to the Divine Essence of the Father, and an Angel of His Kingdom. As Jesus has written you, all men are His sons, but with a different inheritance, yet, one that is provided by the Father. Let not these doctrines of the teachers of what are called Bible truths trouble you, and listen and believe only what may be written you by us.

I will not write more tonight as it is late and in closing will say that you have our love and prayers.

I am your brother in Christ,
John

Edwin Forrest Writes of His Progress Out of Darkness and that He is Praying for Divine Love

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

I am here, Edwin Forrest.

I come tonight to tell you that I am much better than I was when last I wrote you and have gotten out of much of the darkness in which I was.

This is all so wonderful to me that I scarcely realize what it means, and when I think of how ignorant I was on earth and what a God-less life I led, I never cease thanking God for the great opportunities that I enjoy, and for the help of the beautiful, loving spirits who came to me to show me the way to Truth and this Love of the Father.

Your wife has been my angel of hope in all my darkness, and her tenderness and love have caused me to awaken from the miserable condition in which I found myself shortly after coming to the spirit world. How fortunate I am; I cannot tell you and never will I be able to tell anyone, for no spirit that has not experienced what I have can possibly convey the meaning of the great change from darkness and ignorance to some light and some of the Divine Love that has come to me.

I now pray to the Father almost continually and as I do so, I realize that there comes into my soul that which changes all its qualities and makes me realize how dead I was. Oh, if I only had known of this wonderful Love on earth how different my life would have been, and how many heartaches would have been saved to others, and among them I include yourself, for now I realize that I did you great wrong in our business affairs by my conduct and drunken escapades.

But I know that you have forgiven me and pray for me and want me to be happy; and your wife, who knows what happened, tells me not to think of these things but to think only of the Father's Love, and the fact that it can be mine in ever increasing abundance. I wanted to write this to you, and I now feel better, and you may rest assured that so far as I can in this spirit world help you and retrieve what injury I did you, I will do to the utmost of my power.

Well, I have written considerable tonight and must stop. So continue to pray for me, and I know that I shall be helped.

Good night,
Edwin Forrest

Jesus Writes on "Why the Divine Love of God is necessary for man to possess in order that he may become at-one with the Father"

June 27, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

I wish tonight to write you upon a subject that is of interest to all mankind, and I hope that we will be able to communicate and you receive the message. I desire to write on the subject of : "Why the Love of God - I mean the Divine Love - is necessary for man to possess in order that he may become at one with the Father and an inhabitant of the Celestial Kingdom."

Already I have written you what this Divine Love is in contradistinction to the natural love, and how it is necessary to save men from their sins so that they may become inhabitants of the Celestial Kingdom, and that nothing but this Love will make a man at-one with the Father, and that no mere ceremony or belief in me as the saviour of men will effectuate that end; and now I will try to show you why this Divine Love is necessary, or as your learned men might say, show you the philosophy of the transformation of the mere man into the Divine Angel, which every man becomes who receives this Love into his soul.

In the first place, man, as you have been informed, is a special creation of God, and is no greater than the component parts that enter into his creation as they are in their individual and aggregate qualities, and these parts are merely what God in His act of creation designed them to be.

It must not be assumed that these parts or any of them are a part of God, or of His Essence or qualities, for they are not, and are as separate and distinct from Him and His qualities as are the lower creations of His will, such as animals and vegetables and mineral substances. The only difference is that man is of a much higher order of creation, and in one particular, made in the image of God, and no other of His creatures has this image in its creation. But, nevertheless, man is no part of God, but a merely distinct creation, and in his best and purest state - only a man, having simply those qualities which were created in him at the time of his coming into existence.

There are certain qualities which man possesses, such as love and wisdom and the reasoning faculties which may be said to resemble the God-like attributes, and so they do; but yet, they are not a part of God's Essence or qualities, and when men assert that man is Divine, or that he has in him the Divine Nature, or even a portion of the Divine Essence, they are wrong for the qualities in them that appear to be of this Divine resemblance are merely those which were created for the purpose of making the human a perfect man.

And because of this conception of man as to his inherent qualities, he has and does and will lose the opportunity of becoming possessed of the nature or Essence of the Father which he may obtain, if he will pursue the proper and only method that God has provided for him in order to be at-one with Him.

The universe of man can and will continue to exist, even though man may never become a partaker of this Divine Nature of the Father, and man will live and enjoy the happiness that was bestowed upon him at the time of his creation, and he will not lose the perfect condition of this creation after he shall have been separated from sin and error, his own creatures. But he will not be anything more than the perfect man and in the time to come will not be anything less and, yet, he will always, as long as he exists remain distinct from the Nature and Essence of the Father, just as he was at the time of his creation, unless he obtains this Divine Nature and Essence of the Father in the way that I mentioned.

The highest endowment of man, either in soul or heart or intellect is merely that which belongs to him as a part of his creation and is not the smallest part of the Divine Nature and qualities of the Father. No part or portion of Divinity enters into man's creation, no matter how divinely constituted man may appear to be or God-like, he may seem in the greatness of his intellect or in the extent of his love nature.

So you see, man is as distinct from God and from His Divinity, as is the animal - the brute - from man and must forever remain so unless he follows the only way the Father has prescribed for him to obtain a portion of this Divinity.

Now, all this shows that man, no matter how highly he may develop his intellect or to what extent he may develop his moral and love nature cannot become more than the mere man that he was in the beginning - perfect in every particular - for he was in the beginning perfect in every particular, and as I have said before, God never makes a mistake as to the perfection of His creatures, even though in the case of man it may appear that He did in giving him the great power of free will, which in its wrongful exercise has caused sin and evil to appear in the word of man's consciousness.

And man was made finite, and his capacity for exercising any and all his qualities, is limited beyond which he cannot possibly go. His intellect is bound by limits as determined as the Law of God which controls it and, also, his capacity for loving and for the enjoyment of his happiness; and though he may live for all eternity either as man or spirit, he cannot possibly extend or pass beyond the boundary lines of his creation. He cannot enter into the Realm of the Divine where limitations do not exist and capacity for receiving knowledge and wisdom and love and for progression that is commensurate with the very fountainhead of God Himself.

Then such being the nature and limitation and capacity of man, it is apparent that he can never, by virtue of his creation and the qualities which he possess, become a partaker of the nature and Essence of God, unless he receives something in addition to these qualities, and he must receive this something from without. It will not do to say, that there is within him, as an inherent part of him that, which when developed, will make him of a nature divine and a part of the essence of the Father for this is not true. There is nothing in man of this nature, and it is impossible to produce an Essence Divine unless there be something from which it can be produced, that in some degree has the nature of that Essence. It would be the equivalent of producing something from nothing which even God does not attempt to do.

Then as man is, thus, limited all that flows from the qualities and attributes which he possesses is necessarily limited. The enjoyment of his intellect, the pleasures of his love, the satisfaction of his reasoning powers, and as a sum total, his capacity for happiness have their bounds and besides the consciousness of immortality can never be his, either as spirit or mortal, even though he may strive for it to be.

When man takes on the Divine Nature and becomes absorbed in the Essence of the Father, he then becomes like the Father, and whatever his image to the Father may have been when he was mere man, now he becomes the real Substance and limitations of possibilities become removed, Love sees no ending and intellectual development, no boundaries, happiness no limitations, and Immortality becomes a thing of knowledge, and the soul a new creature having the Divine Essence of the Father; and until this new creation has taken place, and the transformation becomes a thing of reality, and the soul be made at-one with the Father, man cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Then no longer man, but now an Angel.

Now, as I have written you before, all this can be accomplished only by the operation of the New Birth, that is, the inflowing into the soul of man of the Divine Love of the Father. This Love contains the Essence of God's Divinity, and when man obtains it, he is then of the same Essence as the Father, and for the first time becomes a part of the Divine and fitted to inhabit the Celestial Heavens. In no other way can man partake of this nature, and it does not require much reasoning to show the logical truth of this statement, for man in his earthly affairs and in his material experiments in producing compounds from elements applies the same principle that I assert in my statement, "The dough cannot be leavened unless leaven is placed in the batch."

So you see, that without this Divine Love entering into the soul, it will be impossible for the natural man to become the Divine Angel. Beliefs and creeds and doctrines and sacrifices cannot work this transformation, and even though the beliefs may be without doubt, and the creeds and doctrines satisfactory, and the sacrifices without end, yet they will all be futile to change the soul of the mere man into the soul of the Divine Angel and all this, in part, is why man should seek to obtain the Divine Love and become an inhabitant of the Celestial Spheres.

I have written enough for tonight and I am pleased at the way in which you received it. So with all my love and blessings, I am

Your brother and friend,
Jesus

Jesus Writes Further on "How the Divine Love Enters into the Soul of a Human Being"

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

I am here, Jesus.

I come tonight to finish my message and will do so, if your condition is such that you may receive it.

Well, as you may remember, my subject is: "How the Divine Love enters into the soul of a human being." I have already explained to you the difference between, and the respective functions of the physical body, the spiritual body and the soul, and how the real man is the soul, which may live forever. I have also shown you how the physical and spiritual bodies change their component parts, and as such bodies, disintegrated and disappear in the form that they may have at any one time.

Well, the soul is the man and becomes the Angel of God's Kingdom. The soul may also become the only everlasting part of man in the Spiritual Kingdom as contradistinguished from the Celestial Heavens.

The only way in which the soul may become an inhabitant of the Celestial Spheres is by its obtaining of the Divine Love and thereby become a partaker of the Divine Nature of the Father; and this can be accomplished only by the inflowing of the Divine Love, by means of the operation of the Holy Spirit, which is the instrumentality used by God to carry this Love to the souls of men.

As I have before said, this Love never forces itself into the souls of men and comes only when men seek for it in sincerity and with effort. It is waiting for all men to receive it, but never comes into the soul of its own initiative, and without invitation. So the important question is, "How does it come into the soul and what must men do to induce it's inflowing?"

There is only one way, and that is by the opening up of the soul in such a manner that this Love, when it comes in response to sincere seeking, may find an entrance and a condition of development that will cause it to find lodgment and abiding place, harmonious and satisfactory to the qualities of its own existence. Of course, man cannot of himself open up his soul to this inflowing, for while he has great power, yet the will is not sufficient; nor has he any other inherent qualities that will enable him to place his soul in such condition as to make possible the work of the Holy Spirit in causing the Love to flow into the soul.

The only means by which this can be accomplished are prayer and faith. When a man in true earnestness and sincere aspirations, prays to the Father for this Divine Love, such prayer not only brings Love, but causes those portions of the soul, which are capable of receiving this Love, to open up to its coming and to work in such a way as to attract the Love. The Holy Spirit never performs this work of preparing the soul for the reception of this Love, but merely brings the Love and causes its inflowing when the soul is in condition to receive it.

In answer to prayer, there are other instrumentalities of the Father working to prepare the soul condition that is required, and these instrumentalities are the Bright Spirits of the Celestial Heavens, whose duties, among others, are to answer the prayers of the penitent in the way of infilling the soul with influences that turn the thoughts and aspirations to this Divine Love and its operations.

As I said when on earth, there is no other way to get into the sheep fold but through the gateway provided,. He that attempts to climb over the fence is a thief and a robber. But this should be modified to fit the exact fact, for there is no possibility of getting into this fold by climbing the fence. There is only one way - that through the gate of prayer and sincere longing.

I know that many men believe that the performance of church duties, and the observation of the requirements of the church as to baptism and the sacraments, etc., will be sufficient to enable them to get into the Kingdom; but I tell you that they are all wrong, and their disappointment will be very great when they come into the spirit world.

What are called moral deeds and good thoughts will not cause this inflowing of the Divine Love because these things are necessary steps towards the purification of the soul in its natural love; and no matter how pure this love may become, yet it is not the Divine Love or any portion of it.

Good thoughts and deeds, though, may help to turn the aspirations of the soul to these higher conditions, and open up its perceptions to a degree that may lead to prayer and faith and, therefore, in addition to their work of purifying, the natural love may prove to be of great value in assisting men towards the development of the soul so that the Divine Love may enter into it. But to depend on good thoughts and moral deeds and a life pure from sin to give man the right to an entrance into the Celestial Kingdom is a great mistake.

The Divine Love is a thing entirely apart from the nature of man, even in its purest state, and was never conferred on man as was the natural love and, consequently, when man obtains this Divine Love, and it becomes a part of his soul qualities, his nature, as it were, changes, and he becomes a new creature. An additional something has been conferred upon him and it becomes impossible for him to remain the mere man that he was, and he always would be, except for this change in his nature.

I know that men do not understand the distinction between a man with only the natural love and one with the Divine Love, but the distinction is so great, that the one, when possessed to a sufficient degree, makes the man a part of Divinity, while the other, no matter how fully possessed and how pure it may become, makes man merely man, though a perfect one.

Whosoever will pray in sincerity for the inflowing of this Divine Love will receive it. It is not a respecter of persons, and the sincere aspirations of the soul of any man, be he prince or peasant, rich or poor, will invariably cause this Love to come into his soul and change his nature, so that he will become a new creature, and one not subject to death forever more.

The merely intellectual prayers are not efficacious, for it does not have any effect in opening up the soul, and neither does much of this praying do the work. One little moment of this true praying will be more effective in causing this Divine Love to flow towards the soul than a whole lifetime of idle repetition of prayers that come from a source merely mental. And here let me say that the mind is not the soul, and much less God.

Well, I think I have made plain how this Love flows into a man's soul and, in addition, what its effect is when possessed by man. There is nothing in all God's universe that can take its place for the purpose of making a man at-one with the Father and of causing him to become Divine insofar as he possesses this Love.

So I say to all men, pray and pray and never cease to pray for the inflowing of this Love, for there is no limit to its abundance, or the amount which man or spirit can obtain. Always in the Celestial Heavens, we spirits continually pray for an increased bestowal and always our prayers are answered - but always there is more to follow.

I must not write more tonight. I am satisfied with the correctness of your receiving my message and will come again and write you another.

With all my love and blessings, I am your brother and friend,
Jesus

William Stone, Father of Dr. Leslie R. Stone, Writes of Dr. Stone's Selection by the Master to Do the Great Work for His Mission

March 23, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Father.

I desire to write just a line before my son leaves. I am his father and I want him to know that I have not forgotten to take advantage of any opportunity to write that may arise.

His mother is here, too, and she sends her love to him and desires to say that she heard the message which Mary wrote him, and that she is the happiest little angel in all the spirit world. And we are all happy and know that what has been told him is true. He must not doubt even though he cannot now realize the possibility of performing this great mission of which he has been called by the Master. In time he will be instructed and will have sufficient power given him to do this work.

I say we are all happy because of this great favor. Your mother says that she is thankful beyond all expression - that her prayers have been answered so surprisingly - that she never for one moment imagined that her boy would have been made the instrument in doing this work - that she only prayed - that he might receive this Divine Love and become at-one with the Father. And when this other surprising favor came to him, she realized that God was very good to her beyond all conception.

Tell my boy that he must believe and try his best to perform this work, that I am sure that a way will be opened up by which he will be enabled to do this duty, for now it is a duty.

I am very happy and the more I progress the greater my happiness becomes and the goodness of the Father appears. His sisters are very happy, too, and rejoice with us all.

Last night I was not present at the wonderful seance which his soulmate speaks of, but I know that it must have been impressive beyond conception, and I must say that I have never seen Mary so happy as she has been since then.

Well, I will not write more tonight. I thank you and with love and esteem,

I am his father,
William Stone

Joseph of Arimathea Writes That He Laid the Body of Jesus in the Tomb After His Crucifixion

March 16, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Joseph of Arimathea.

I desire merely to write a few lines to let you know that I really did exist as a mortal, and that I am the same man who laid the body of Jesus in the tomb where never before had anybody been laid.

I was with him at his death, and I was with his body when it was laid in the tomb and sealed, and I know and testify that no man or men or society of men, as it has been said, stole his body from the tomb. His body was entombed as was the custom of my time, and he was wrapped in cerements and fitted for the long sleep in the tomb, as we supposed.

While I was not a full Christian, yet his doctrines appealed to me as containing the truth, having about them a living inspiration, which I did not find in the teachings of the Jewish theology, for I was a Pharisee. I never thought that his death was justifiable or approved it, but I was not able to prevent it; and feeling that a great crime had been committed by the people of whom I was one, I tried to make a small atonement for the great crime by giving him burial in my new tomb.

Of course, I did not believe that he would rise again in the way that he had made known to some of his disciples, and when we buried him, I only thought that that tomb would be his sepulchre until nature had destroyed the body as it had done in the cases of all others who had been entombed.

As you may realize, I was interested in the proceedings taken by the Jewish leaders in their efforts to prove that he, Jesus, would not arise from the tomb on the third day, and I kept watch as well as did the soldiers, and I can testify that no mortal ever removed the stones from the mouth of the tomb.

I was there when the angel came and the soldiers were put in the sleep that the Bible speaks of, and I Joseph say this, knowing that it may not be believed and the Bible makes no mention of it, that I saw the stones rolled away and the shining one standing guard at the entrance of the tomb. I was frightened and I left the place, and was so overcome that I did not return there until the early morning, and then I saw Mary and heard her inquiring for the whereabouts of her beloved Master, and more wonderful, I saw the man of whom she inquired suddenly reveal himself to her, and I can testify also, that it was the same Jesus whom I had helped lay his body in my tomb.

He was not of flesh and blood, as they say, for he suddenly appeared, and his appearance was not the same as that of the Jesus whose body had been entombed; but when he revealed himself to Mary, there was the same countenance and the same wonderful eyes of love that I was familiar with, and the same voice of love and affection. I know this and I want to tell the world that it is true.

Before Peter came, I went into the tomb, and it was empty and when Peter came I was with him in the tomb and saw his astonishment, and heard his words of wonder and amazement, for notwithstanding what the Master had told him prior to the crucifixion, he did not believe or comprehend, and he was astonished and bewildered as were all of us.

Jesus of Nazareth arose from that tomb, and his fleshly body was de-materialized. As to his disappearance, I could not then explain, as could none who saw him after he had arisen, but now I know that because of his great psychic powers, as you would call them, he caused the disintegration of that body into its elements, as can be done now by many spirits who have that power. Yes, Jesus arose from the tomb, but not from the dead, for he never died, as you will never die, only the physical vestment that enveloped his soul.

I am now in the Celestial Heaven and am with him a great deal, and know that he is the greatest and most wonderful of all the spirits in the Celestial Sphere, and the nearest to the fountainhead of God's Love. He is truly His best beloved Son.

I also want to say that he writes to you his messages of truth, and was with you tonight for a short time. Listen to him and know that you have in him a friend who is closer than a brother, or father or mother.

My brother, I will stop now, and in leaving, say that you have my love and blessings.

Your brother in Christ,
Joseph

Professor Joseph Salyards Writes About Perfecting the Natural Love While on Earth

March 15, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Prof. Salyards.

Well, I was telling you of the object of man's life on earth, and the necessity for his doing certain things, in a general way, in order to bring to mankind the happiness which might be theirs while on earth. Now I desire to go into a little in detail with reference to these matters.

As has been written you before, there is only one way in which man can attain to the supreme happiness, which the Father in His goodness has made possible for man to attain to and which, when once obtained, can never be taken from him. But there is also another kind of happiness which is not in either its nature or results, the same as that which I have just referred to; and man may obtain it in a way and by a method which are different from those which are necessary to obtain the first kind.

Man was originally created good and pure and happy, and only by his disobedience did he lose these qualities which, when lost, finally made him approach somewhat the likeness of the lower animal, although the latter is probably not so unhappy as man became, by his fall from the state of the high condition of his creation.

When in his original state, he was happy in what we called, and what was, his natural love, which he fully possessed and needed nothing additional to make him happy. This condition made man his own master, as it were, and the Father's Divine Love was not necessary to develop him more as mere man than he then existed. He was pure and free from sin and in perfect harmony with God's Laws governing his creation.

But after the disobedience, he lost this harmony and in doing so lost also the power to preserve in himself the happiness which was his by right of creation; and he also soon realized that as this power left him, his dependence upon himself became less and less effective to keep him in a condition of purity and contentment and, as a consequence, he became less than perfect man and has been such ever since that time.

Now with the other qualities that were given him at the time of his creation, there was, and is, one that he has never been deprived of, and one that he has never realized his inability to exercise, although he so often exercises it wrongly; and that is the will, which is the greatest of the natural attributes that man possesses, for even God will not attempt to control that. I mean in the way of compelling.

And this quality is the one that, more often than any other, will help man to again attain to that state or condition in which he was the perfect man; but while this is true, yet it is also one of the greatest obstacles to attaining to that state.

Upon man himself, very largely depends the success of his regaining his pristine purity and harmony with the laws that govern his being, and he must understand this fact; for if he should believe, and rest in the belief, that other men, or other instruments controlled by men, can rescue him from his present condition of in-harmony and unhappiness, he will be disappointed and his salvation will be a long time delayed.

But the exercise of this will power in the proper direction will depend upon other things that he must possess in order to insure his return to his first estate. Among these are the necessity for his obtaining knowledge that will enable him to know himself and the relationship of himself to what is true and good. This knowledge will come to him as he examines himself and learns the difference between right and wrong, and this I mean in its general sense, for right and wrong mean harmony or in-harmony with the laws of which I speak, and not right and wrong according to the several circumstances of men, for these differ, and what may be right or wrong to one man will not be to another.

And man by proper contemplation and observation may learn the difference between right and wrong, in the sense in which I use the terms, and be enabled to embrace or avoid those deeds or thoughts that come within one category or the other. Again, he must realize that there is such a thing as the natural love being a part of him, and a thing which may be possessed and cultivated to such a high degree that all men will be brothers to him and the children of one common Father, who has Love and care for all alike who are content to remain the mere man.

Again, he must realize that he has a Father in God, his Creator, and that that Father has a love for him which will always bring to him happiness and peace, if he will only respond with his own love; for man must have an object of worship and adoration, even when he possesses only the natural love, and he must learn that his love must go out to the Father in faith and confidence. There are many other things that he may learn by contemplation and meditation as I have said.

Many qualities that are desirable will flow to man from the knowledge that there is a Father who loves him, and that he has or may have a love for that Father, and also for his brother man. In fact, from these two subjects of knowledge, everything else may come to man that will make him the perfect man in harmony with the laws of his creation and a pure happy and contented creature.

Now, when man obtains this knowledge - and here observe the distinction between knowledge of these things and the possession of them - he will naturally try to obtain all that knowledge shows him may become his to possess, and then will come into operation the great will power, and by its exercise there is nothing that can prevent him from arriving at the goal of his desires. In this way, one can, in a sense, be his own redeemer, but he will find the struggle hard, and the obstacles to be overcome, many and repelling.

There are many mortals who have a wonderful development of this natural love, notwithstanding the fact that they are living in sin and in in-harmony with the laws that I speak of, and who will find from that fact alone that their progress will be more rapid and easy when they come to the spirit world, on their journey to the state of perfect man. I do not believe that any mortal can ever attain to this condition while in the earth life, but he can lay the foundation for a rapid progress after he becomes a spirit. The temptations and desires that beset him as a mortal, at this time, are so great, that rarely can he become that perfect man while on earth.

But the time will come, I believe, when men will become perfect even while on earth and in this I have reference to his natural love merely. While, as I say, for man to obtain this state of perfection, he must depend upon himself to a very large degree, yet, it will be comforting to him to know, that there are hosts of spirit friends who are with him, trying to help him to obtain the knowledge of which I have spoken; and in his contemplations and meditations, they are with him suggesting to him and impressing on him the thoughts of truth that help him very much to understand the right from the wrong, and they also sustain him, in some degree, in the exercise of his will in the right direction.

So from this it must become apparent to man that a very important thing in the determination of this great problem as to what is right and what is wrong, is the kind of associates that he may have, and this applies to the mortal as well as spirit companions. And man must know this, that as his desires and appetites on earth attract to him companions of similar desires and appetites, so; also, does the same Law of Attraction operate in the case of his spirit friends.

Now, in all this, I have no reference to the redemption of man by the possession of the Divine Love of the Father, for such redemption and its way of saving man, are altogether different from those of redeeming him in his natural love. In the one case, when he has found the goal of his desires, he becomes a merely perfect man and nothing more. In the other case, he becomes an Angel of God, Divine is his nature, with no limitation to the progress that he may obtain and the happiness that may become his.

And - Oh, man! Why will you be satisfied to become merely a perfect man, when you may become a Divine Angel of the Father's Kingdom with immortality assured? Man may not know it, but it is a fact, that it is easier, and the way is shorter to become a Divine Angel, than to become a perfect man.

So my advice to all men is - and I speak what I do know from a knowledge that comes to me from experience and possession - to seek for the Divine Love of the Father with all their strength and efforts, and then they will become not only the perfect man, but will obtain that which our first parents never obtained, but which was theirs for the proper seeking, as it is all men's.

I have written enough for tonight and will close.

Your old friend and professor and brother in Christ.
Joseph H. Salyards

Saul, the Jewish King, Writes That He is Now an Angel of God and an Inhabitant of the Celestial Heavens

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

I am here, Saul the Jewish King.

Yes, I was here once before and wrote you. I am now an Angel of God and an inhabitant of His Celestial Heavens.

I merely want to say that you are doing a good work in helping the unfortunate spirits, and I tell you that your influence with them seems astonishing. Why this is so I don't know, unless they feel that you are nearer to them by reason of being in the flesh, and more interested in them than are the spirits of a higher sphere who come to them sometimes and try to help them.

Well, you must keep up this good work, for it is a good work, as you are helping the Master more than you realize; and your reward, when you come over, will be the gratitude of many of these darkened spirits. I don't work very often in the earth plane, as my work is among the spirits of the higher spiritual heavens; but occasionally I am sent to earth and try to help mortals as well as spirits.

But since I have first written you, I feel much interested in your work and in the great powers that are behind you. As you know, the greatest spirit of all is Jesus, and he is more interested in having you do his work than you can conceive of. We are all interested in his cause and feel that whenever we can come to you and encourage you, or in any other way help you, it is our delight to do so.

I must not write more now.

Call me Brother Saul, for we are brothers in Christ. Well, as you are not of my time when on earth, I cannot say how you would have been treated had you done the same work then, but I suppose that you would have been called a witch, as was that good woman of Endor in her time.

Thank God the people are more enlightened now and will soon recognize the fact that a good medium is one of the greatest gifts of God to suffering humanity. The time will come when mediums will be looked upon as were the prophets of old by the Jewish people, but without having the ingratitude of the people visited upon them, as it was visited at times on these old prophets.

I must stop. So goodnight.

Your brother,
Saul

Jesus Writes a Loving Note to James and Encourages Him to Look to the Father for His Help

July 16, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

I see your condition and I will help you if you will only continue to believe in me. I know that everything looks very dark and no light seems to shine ahead, but it is coming.

Yes, I know, but it will come in time, and you will be relieved, if you will only trust me. So do not be so downhearted but look to the Father for His help.

I am the Jesus who writes to you and no other. I came today because you are so downhearted.

Well, he will find his mistake someday, for no other spirit writes to you in my name and you must believe. Let him alone in his belief, for as I have told you, a spirit from the dead, should it appear to him in the form of an angel, would not convince him. So do not let what he may say disturb you. Cheer up and you will triumph and will soon see the light breaking. He is on the way and will soon receive the Divine Love to a very large degree. He is a very spiritual man and is progressing in his soul development.

So believe that I am with you and pray to the Father.

Your own true brother and friend,
Jesus

Jesus Writes on the True Meaning of "Immortality"

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

I am here, Jesus.

I want to tell you what I mean by immortality, as you and your friend differed today in your ideas of what it means.

When Adam*, or whom he typified, was told that if he should disobey God and eat of the forbidden fruit, he should surely die, the word death meant death of the soul so far as its future progress in that which would insure its receiving the Divine Essence of the Father's Love was involved. It did not mean the physical death or the death of the body, because it is very apparent that after his doom was pronounced, he lived in the flesh a great many years. But his soul's progression stopped.

And it was only after my coming to earth and teaching the doctrine and truth of man being restored to the condition which Adam occupied before his fall, did mankind have the privilege of becoming immortal again - that is, of being permitted - and in condition - to obtain that soul progress, which would enable them to become one with and a part of the Father in His love and affections.

I do not mean that Adam was endowed with this Divine Love when he was created, but that he had that formation of soul potentialities which, if properly exercised, would have brought him in that unison with the Father that would have made his nature divine. And when he disobeyed the commandments of the Father, he died - so far as that possibility of obtaining that Divine Nature is concerned.

As to those who lived on earth between Adam's fall and my revelation of the truth of redemption, they did not receive this nature, or potentiality, and were compelled to live only as mortals and spirits having the natural love. They never were admitted into the Father's Heavenly Kingdom, but existed merely as spirits having the natural love which was bestowed upon Adam and his race. Abraham, Isaac, and the rest of the persons who are described in the Bible as being children of God and obedient to His commands, were not partakers of this Divine Nature and became so only after my coming to earth and showing the way to its attainment.

When I was sent to earth, God sent me with the truth as to redemption and conferred upon man the privilege of receiving His Divine Essence. No sacrifice or death of mine brought this great boon, but only with my coming came this Love and the way to obtain it. Adam was not created immortal, but had only the potentiality of immortality, and after his death, man ceased to have this potentiality until God sent it to them with my coming to earth.

And when it was said that: "As in Adam all men die, so in me were all men made alive,"** it was merely meant that when Adam fell, that which formed a part of his being and made it possible for him to become immortal was taken from him - that is, as to that potentiality and privilege, he died, and was no more able to attain to the condition of soul that enabled him to become one with the Father, or to partake of His Divinity; and in this death remained the condition of mankind until, as I say, I came and brought with me the restored gift of the soul attribute, which made it possible for man to again become immortal.

When this gift was bestowed upon man, it was also bestowed upon all those who were then living in the spirit world, but they could obtain it only in the way that was provided for man to obtain it. Understand me, everything that was lost by Adam's fall was restored by my coming with the restored gift; and it embraced every spirit who had ever lived as mortal and every mortal who thereafter lived up to the present time.

My coming, of itself, or the death or sacrifice of me by the Jews, did not restore mankind to the condition that existed in Adam before his fall. I was only a messenger of God sent with that gift and to teach the truth of its restoration to mankind and to spirits. And when, after my death, I descended into Hell, as the Bible says (but which saying does not express the destination of my going, for the true meaning is that I went into the world of spirits), I proclaimed to the spirits the truth of the bestowal of this restored life which had been lost by Adam's disobedience.

All spirits, good and bad, now have this restored potentiality of obtaining the Divine Nature that I have spoken of, or immortality. So you see, when Adam died, it was the death of the soul quality or potentiality which makes immortality possible.

When the Bible speaks of those men of ancient times who were God's prophets and beloved children and as walking with Him, it merely means that they had obtained such a high development of their natural love that they could occupy those spheres in the spirit world upon their physical death, which made them mere spirits of mortals, close to the Father and supremely happy. I mean that happiness which does not partake of the Divine Nature. They were not in the same condition of soul attributes as was Adam before his fall - for they did not have this potentiality, and any interpretation of anything written in the Bible which gives to any man or spirit, at that time, the possibility of receiving the Divine Essence of the Father is erroneous and misleading.

As I have said, my death or sacrifice by blood, as is emphasized in creeds and worship of the churches, did not in the slightest degree work to bring about the restoration of this great favor of God to man. They were merely the results of the conditions of the beliefs of men in the Jewish nation, which would not tolerate my declarations of truth. My death, etc., did not appease any wrath of God towards men, but of His own Great Love for His creatures He bestowed this gift or privilege of the soul, which man had lost by Adam's disobedience.

It was the disobedience of believing that he was not dependent upon God for the soul quality or potentiality that made it possible for him to partake of God's Divine Nature. The tree of good and evil merely represented the knowledge that God had reserved unto Himself of the existence of that, which if known to Adam, would have subjected him to temptations that would destroy this soul quality of which I have spoken. And when Adam ate of the fruit of this tree that is - when he disobeyed God and sought the knowledge of those things which subjected him to the temptations that might cause him to cease to be all good - God took away the potentiality of Adam becoming one with Him and immortal. It was a direct punishment for disobedience, and the result was that man was left mere man, either as a mortal or as a spirit.

I do not think that it was ever said that if Adam should eat of the tree of life, he would live forever and become as gods, because he was already the recipient of this tree of life in that attribute of his soul which could by its proper development make himself like the gods; and here you must understand that gods could mean only those who possessed this Divine Nature of the Father. There was only one God, and all other living beings in the spirit world were merely those who were possessed of the God-like qualities of love and obedience. None were gods. The Angels of God were merely the spirits that I have last described.

When it was said that man was made a little lower than the Angels, it meant that while these Angels had that Divine Nature perfected to a more or less degree, man had only the potentiality of soul that would enable him to obtain that development which would perfect him so that he could become an Angel. But this saying does not apply to any man born after Adam and before my coming with the announcement that God had restored to man this Divine attribute which Adam had forfeited.

So you see, the loss of immortality does not mean the death of the physical body, but the death of that quality or potentiality of the soul which enabled man to become like the Father in certain of His Divine attributes. And more strictly speaking, the mere possession of the soul of this quality is not immortality, or rather it does not make a man or spirit immortal, but merely gives him such quality of soul and potentiality that by its proper development he may become immortal.

In the future, all men, either as spirits or mortals, will possess that soul quality or potentiality until the great day of judgment shall again take from those who have not, at the time, perfected their souls into the enjoyment of the Divine Nature, as I have explained. When that day comes, those who are without this Divine Essence in their souls, will be forever deprived of the privilege of receiving this Great Gift or obtaining of this Divine Essence or, in other words, of God's Divine Love. And after that time, those spirits who have never acquired this Divine Nature will be permitted to live merely as spirits enjoying their natural love, just as Adam after his fall, and all spirits and men who lived between that time and my coming, lived only in their natural love. This is the second death. Adam's was the first, and the great day of judgment will declare the second. And after that never again will man have the opportunity of partaking of this Divine Essence of the Father and "becoming as one of the gods."

Men may reason to the utmost of their limited intellects in the way of saying that God would not subject His creatures to this second death and, thereby, deprive them of this great boon of becoming partakers of His Divine Nature and the great happiness that comes with it, but such reasoning, or the conclusion reached, will not change the fact. What I tell you is the fact and many men to their sorrow will, when too late, realize that it is true. And men will not be justified in complaining of this.

The opportunity is now given and will in the future be given to all men and spirits to become the children of the Father in the Angelic and Divine sense, and if they refuse to do so, they can have no grounds upon which to base the accusation of injustice against the Father or His love. He will still be their Father, even though they may not accept His Great Gift, and they will  - from the natural love bestowed upon them - be comparatively happy, but they will not partake of His Heavenly Kingdom.

They will be like the guests invited to the marriage feast who, because of various excuses, declined to attend. While they were not deprived of other food and sustenance, yet, the more precious food, which the host had provided for them at the feast, they never partook of, and never thereafter had the opportunity to. Many of my parables in the Bible illustrate this great truth when properly understood. But men in those days did, when I was on earth, and men now harden their hearts and shut their intellects to the truths of these parables and to my teachings.

Of course, ultimately, all these men will be saved from sin and error and, in fact, sin and error will be destroyed entirely and men and spirits will live comparatively happy; but they will live in death and not in life, so far as the life of the soul with its possibilities of becoming Divine, or of enjoying the great happiness which the Divine Love of the Father bestows, is concerned.

So you see, immortality does not pertain to the physical body or to the spiritual body, or to the soul unqualifiedly, but to those qualities of the soul, which makes it possible for the soul to become in its nature Divine. And immortality does not mean mere continuous existence, because every spirit and every soul may live through all eternity in their individualized form. And when it was said in the Bible that I brought immortality and life to light, it did not mean that I showed man merely that they would, as spirits, continue to live forever, but it meant that they would live forever in the Father's Kingdom with natures Divine and not capable of being deprived of the great and true life which obtains only in that Kingdom.

So let you and your friend think over what I have written, and in places where my meaning may not appear plain, I will try by the inspiration of my knowledge and power to enlighten your souls and intellects. You are both very mediumistic and easy recipients of inspiration, and as your souls seem to be attuned to the truth and as you are seeking earnestly for the truth, I will endeavor with all my powers to inspire you with such intellectual thoughts and spiritual perceptions as will enable you to see these truths in all their nakedness, and face to face, and not as through a glass darkly.

I must now stop and give you my blessings, and the blessing of the Father.

Your friend and brother,
Jesus
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* Adam, typified one of the first parents whose names are Aman and Amon. Both these spirits wrote through Mr. Padgett. Their messages will be posted in the future.

** 1 Corinthians 15:22