Jesus Writes that God Delegates Spirit Angels to Answer Prayers for Material Things

September 19, 1920
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

Let me say a few words tonight as I see that you were disappointed in the sermon that the preacher delivered tonight.

Well, you must not be so disappointed because he knows only that which he could deduce from the teachings of the Bible and while what he said was true, yet it is not all of the truth for he discussed only one of the attributes of God and that is the loving care that he has for and exercises over the children of earth. To most men, this view of God is satisfactory and gives them much comfort and assurance in the security that arises from the knowledge that there is such a loving and caring Father; and to these men, this assurance is of wonderful blessedness and comfort, and it is well that men can have this conception of God - a Father who is always solicitous for their happiness and welfare and to whom they can pray in the faith that he will hear and answer their prayers.

But as we have written you before, the things that men generally pray for, and expect to receive in response thereto, are not the things that God in his own personality bestows upon men in answer to such prayers. His great gift is His Divine Love, and these things of the material - or earthly in themselves - he leaves to his ministering spirits to bestow, or in other words, He delegates His Angels to so come into contact with and influence the souls of men that they may feel that their prayers have been answered, as they have.

The preacher's conception of God does not extend beyond these attributes that in themselves are sufficient to answer men's wants and make them better and happier. I will come soon and write you of God's attributes and hope that you will get in condition that I may make the necessary rapport.

It has been some time since I have written you of these higher truths that are so important to men, and regret that such is the fact, but now that you have had your vacation, and feel that you are willing and anxious that our communications be resumed, I will try to assist you in getting in that condition of soul that will enable the messages to be written you. But as you know, much depends upon yourself and you must try with all the energies of your soul to obtain a greater inflowing of the Father's Love, for only from it can come the condition that is necessary. Pray more and think deeply of the spiritual truths that have already been written you, and we will come together in closer communion and be able to give and you receive the messages.

I am glad that you have thought more of these things during the past few days, and hope that your thoughts will continue and that your longings will flow more to the Father. You cannot now appreciate the necessity for this condition, and if you could, I know you would give all your thoughts and longings and energy to the accomplishment of the work.

Well, I will not write more tonight, but will be with you and pray with you and try to influence you in the efforts to perform the mission that has been given you. Have more faith and believe that you will succeed and you will not be disappointed.

Your brother and friend,
Jesus

Helen Padgett and Mary Kennedy Write of Their Love for their Soulmates on Earth

February 16, 1920
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, your own true and loving Helen.

Well, dear, the Master will not continue his messages tonight as you are not so well and he does not feel it best to draw upon you as he would be compelled to do if he were to continue, or attempt to continue, the message of last night, and so I will write you for a short time and tell you of someone here and very anxious to communicate with her soulmate.

Of course, I mean Mary, and she is all aquiver with excitement, as you mortals might say, at the prospect of writing to the Doctor (Leslie R. Stone); and so I will let her come and write, but you must be careful and not let her write too long, for what she has to say would require you, in order to receive it, to write for the balance of the evening.


**********

Mary:

I am here. Mary.

Well, I am here and want to say a great deal, but as Helen has warned you, I will not trespass very long, and Helen did me an injustice when she said I would want to write all the evening. I am as considerate of you as is possible and notwithstanding my opportunity, I realize your capacity.

Tell my dear one that I have waited a long, long time to communicate with him, and that although I have the advantage of him in that I can see what his thoughts are and know just how much he loves me, yet I also desire to tell him of my love for him, and how much I am interested in him and want him to know it. He is my own true lover, and I realize that no other woman can come between him and me, even as to any earthly love that he may have. And just here let me say that I am not reflecting on you, for I know the circumstances in your case, and how it is best that you should have someone to comfort your last years on earth. But Leslie does not need such a one, and I shall always be sufficient for him, as he is for me. Tell him that I am very happy in the knowledge that he is all mine, and that my love for him is always increasing, and that my efforts to make him happy never cease.

I am now in a higher sphere than when I last wrote him and realize what the wonderful Love of the Father means more than ever. Also with this increased Love in my soul, I have greater love for him. I am with him more often than he is aware of and am pleased that he thinks so much of me and loves me as he does. His life will at the longest be very short and then I shall have him with the full consciousness that no earthly pleasure or condition can ever for a moment separate us, and that the bliss which I have will be nearer his than he can imagine. I really believe that when he comes over, it will not be very long until he will find his home with me and enjoy the happiness of my home - a wonderful home, not like anything on earth, or that has been conceived of by man.

No, it is beyond description and the nearest approach to a description that he can understand is that the Father's Love is in and about it to a degree that renders everything beautiful and grand. He must not despair of coming to me, for he will come as surely as your sun will rise; and then he will know what happiness means in the experience of actual enjoyment.

I am so very happy that I can write to him tonight and encourage him with the knowledge that all these things will be his and forever. He, I know, is not surrounded by those things which ordinarily make men happy, but he has greater wealth than these things can possibly give him, for he has much of not only the Father's Love, but the love of a soulmate who is all his and ready to give him the real true happiness that only a union with a soulmate in the Celestial Heavens can give. He must continue to pray for an increased inflowing of the Father's Love, and as that shall come to him, I shall be able to see that the soulmate love for his Mary will increase also.

I would like to write of many things that are here in such reality and grandeur, but as you must not write much more, I must forego the pleasure. But this he must know, that my love is all his and the many mansions spoken of by the Master will prove to him to be a reality, and not the mere hope that so many mortals rely on. I send him a kiss, yes, many kisses, such as only angels can send, and if his soul be opened up to their coming, he will realize what it means.

Good night, I thank you and, with my love to him and the assurance that I am watching over him and sympathize with him in all his earthly worries, will sign myself his loving Mary.


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Helen:

Well dear, she has written and says she feels much better, and I know she does, for she looks very happy and grateful for the privilege. I am with Mary in her expressions of love and hope and certainty, and you must believe that these things that she has spoken of will be yours when you come to join us. Why dear, you cannot appreciate what all this means to you and to us! We are truly thankful to the Father for the privilege of knowing that we have on earth a soulmate - the very necessary part of ourselves with whom we can talk and communicate the innermost feelings of our souls.

It is a privilege that not many mortals enjoy, and it is no wonder that men and women are earnestly seeking a way by which they can come into communication with their loved ones, even if these are only their loved ones for a short time.

If they only knew what it means to be able to talk to a soulmate and have that soulmate tell him of her love and the wonders of it all, they would become more anxious than ever, and the faith that they now have would cease to satisfy. But this cannot be so at this time, and it may be well that men and women generally are not fitted for such an experience.

You know how much I love you and what this love means, and that there is no other love in all the spirit world, except the Father's Love, that can so satisfy and make happy.

I must stop now, for you have written enough. But do not forget that Baby (Nita Padgett) is anxious to write, and you must give her the opportunity to do so before long. You will soon feel well again and be in condition to perform your work, which to you just now is the important thing. So I will say good night.

Your own true and loving,
Helen

Mary Kennedy Writes that No Other Love Exists in the Celestial Spheres Except Divine Love and Soulmate Love

May 1, 1918
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Mary Kennedy.

I will write a few lines if you will consent, and I know you will, for Helen says that you receive so many letters of love and encouragement from her, that you are wholly sympathetic whenever other soulmates desire to write to their other halves on earth, and especially when I come to write to mine, and Helen knows and never tells me an untruth except when she is trying to plague or tease me.

Well, I am very glad that I can write once more to Leslie (R. Stone), for it has been a long time, as it seems to me, since I wrote him, and I believe that he thinks so, too. I know that he is interested in me all the time, for the reason that I know he loves me, and where loves enter there can be no want of interest, and so it must be.

I am very happy and am progressing all the time in my soul qualities and in my position in the soul spheres where only the Divine Love exists, except the other love which belongs only to soulmates. Since I have become an inhabitant of the Celestial Spheres and realized what an absorbing thing the Divine Love is, I wonder that I can have so much of this soulmate love as I do, when I realize the fact, and know, that no other love exists in our spheres except the Divine Love and our soulmate love.

No love of mother or father, or any other love that belonged to the relationship of the human life has any place in our existence or happiness, for spirits cease to have brothers and mothers and other relations, but all are as one great brotherhood, whose nearness and unity depends upon the amount of the Divine Love that enters into the souls of the respective spirits, and in this, the Divine Love is different from our soulmate love in that the former is of one nature and substance, though possessed by spirits in different degrees, and is of the same quality and may be possessed by the souls of spirits alike, while the latter belongs only to the two soulmates, and no other spirit can enter into or possess any portion of that love which belongs to the two soulmates alone.

I often think of this fact and how good is the Father in giving us this Great Love which we partake of in common with all other spirits, yet, let us have this soulmate love all to ourselves. This may, at first, seem to partake of the element of selfishness, but it is not, because, while one of the two souls can and does have it, yet, no other soul is thereby deprived of any love that would make them unhappy or that would afford them any greater happiness. It is not selfishness but merely the possession of that which in itself makes the love of the two individual.

Now, from what I have said you must not infer that when we become inhabitants of the Celestial Spheres all the loves that were ours when on earth by reason of our human relationship are not with us, for it would not be true to make such an inference. The explanation is that the objects and the place of existence of the objects of our loves, determines whether we continue to have this love of the human relationship. If our parents or brothers or sisters, or others having a relationship whom we loved when on earth, continue to live in the flesh, or even in the lower spheres of the spirit world, then our earth love, as I may call it, remains with us, and our dear ones are just as much, or to a greater degree loved than when we were on earth or in the lower spheres; and out of that love grows our desire to help and influence for good our relatives.

But when these relatives become with us inhabitants of the Celestial Spheres, where the Divine Love is the Great Love belonging to us all, then, the love that is possessed by reason of being relatives one to another, leaves us and has no influence. As long as you remain mortals, we love you as parents or children or other relatives, but when you come with us to the Celestial Heavens, there remains no reason why such love should continue, for this Divine Love is sufficient for all and supersedes these other loves.

Well, I love my Leslie, and I will love him for and through all eternity because I know that he will come to me in my home and be united, his soul to mine. I am with him a great deal and my love for him never dies down or ceases to exercise its influence upon his soul and never will so long as we remain separated, which will not continue very long, as we who are in eternity view it. I have written too long already and must stop. But I want to tell him that he has his angels around and with him very much, and he is never left alone. When he prays, as I know he does, we are all with him praying to the Father for a greater inflowing of His Love into my dear one's soul.

Oh, how I wish that I could tell him of the extent of my love and what it means to him, and how much I want all the love that he can give me. He must think of me and keep up his courage and faith in the truths that have come to him, for he will never be disappointed in that faith or in the expectations that come from it. Good night, my dear one.

Your own loving,
Mary

Helen Writes that the Effect of Preacher, Billy Sunday's Sermon, is Directed Towards the Progress of the Soul in the Natural Love

January 9, 1918
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Helen.

Well dear, I was with you tonight and saw that you were not much benefited by Billy Sunday's sermon and,  of course, could not be, because the preacher said nothing to feed the hungry soul. He said some things which were very good in the way of showing men and women what they should do in order to make their earth lives more happy and it will be well, if the hearers will heed and follow the advice. But nothing much was said to help the progress of the soul.

I saw that you were not in much sympathy with the methods and sayings of the preacher and thought that there was too much hilarity and not enough reverence present as a meeting for the opening up of the soul and helping the development of those qualities that will lead to the Father's Love and the Celestial Heavens. But nevertheless, some things that he said will do good to some people.

You must not forget that the teachings of the Master were twofold, and for those who were not in a condition to hear and understand his higher spiritual truths, he preached those things which, if followed, would make them better men and women and cause them to progress in the development of their natural love. And in this latter effort, the preacher will do good and his work must not be undervalued, for all men are not alike in their conditions, intellectual or spiritual. And besides, here and there in his preachings some truths that he utters may, by its influence upon the hearts of his hearers, cause such hearers to think more deeply about spiritual things of the higher nature and, in thinking, their souls may be opened up to the influence of the spirits who have the Divine Love in their souls, and from which may follow the longings of these hearers for this Love of the Father.

Everything said that tends to cause a spirit to progress towards either of the conditions of love must be encouraged for the Father works in His own way. And frequently, the Love comes into a man's soul, and the man not being intellectually conscious of what the Love is. Whoever is not against us in this work is, in a certain sense, with us; for the salvation of men is the objects of all our efforts; and if we, or mortals, cannot awaken dead souls to a life in the higher condition, then we must work to bring them into that condition that will cause them to get into a state of purified natural love.

They are all the children of God, and if they will not become His beloved children in the Divine sense, then He wants them to become the pure spirits that the first parents were before the fall. So do not criticize or look down upon the work of this preacher, because he does not show men the true way to the Celestial Heavens, or because he says and does things that may not appear to be reverent.

God looks at the heart and the intentions; and the forms of expression used by the preacher are not important, except as they may have the effect of causing some soul to turn away from the truths that the preacher may communicate. All men are not alike and the preachings of the man, while they may, as some say, disgust some hearers, yet others will be affected by them and good will be done.

I write this because I see that you are inclined to criticize the preacher and conclude that his teachings are not conducive to spiritual progress. Well, as you have been told, the large majority of men and spirits will never become inhabitants of the Celestial Heavens, but that is no reason why they should not be taught the way that will tend to purge them of their sins so far as the natural love is concerned. Those who will not become Angels must become purified men, and any and everything that will help them to become the latter is approved by the Father and is the object of His favor.

Well dear, I will not write more now, as I see that you are cold and must go to bed. But remember this: that while all men will not become dwellers in the spheres of the soul in the Celestial Kingdom, yet they are brothers, and the favored brothers must try and help in every way possible the less favored brothers in obtaining that which the Father has designed shall be their portion, even though they refuse or neglect to seek for and obtain the great goal of Divine Love and Immortality. So love me and pray to the Father for His Love, and with all the sincerity of your soul, thank Him that you have found the way to His Great Love and the mansions in the Divine Heavens.

And what I have said to you, I say to Dr. Stone; for I see that his thoughts are somewhat similar to your own and that you both think that unless a preacher can and does show the way to the Celestial Kingdom, his work is not worthy of much consideration and falls short of what he - as a saviour of souls - should do. And so it is, but all cannot teach the higher truths, for they do not know or understand them; but that fact must not cause you, or any who know the truths, to think that this work, when sincere and beneficial in its moral teachings, should not be taught.

I thought best to write this tonight, so that you may not get a wrong conception of what men who cannot teach the great truths should or should not teach. All men are not in that condition of soul and Love, and they should be taught the way that will lead them to those mansions in the Heavens that will be theirs by free will choice.

I love you, my dear husband, and am closer to you in your thoughts, and do not want you to think wrong in anything, even though you think right in a great many and the most important things. Pray and let your faith increase and believe that we are all with you trying to direct you aright; and one who knows is more anxious than any of us that your knowledge of the truths increase, and your experiences arising from that knowledge bring to you with more convincing force the truths that - God is Love - and your God. Good night.

Your own and true and loving,
Helen

John Writes on How God Answers Prayer During Times of War and Explains the Law of Rapport and Communication

November 2, 1917
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, St. John, brother of James - Apostle of Jesus.

I come to you today because I see what your condition is and that you need encouragement, and as I am your special guardian, I could not abstain from writing you as I have. So I say, trust in the Father and in our help and you will not be disappointed. It has been a long time since I have written you in regards to spiritual things, and I desire very much to do so, as I have important messages to communicate, as have many other spirits who have been accustomed to write you.

While your material affairs are important, yet these spiritual truths are of more importance, not only to you but to the world for whom they are primarily intended. The world needs these truths more at this time than ever before, and the sooner we can complete our book of truths the better it will be for suffering humanity, and for many whose hearts are now lacerated because of the great destruction of human life caused by the war.

Well, I know that many believe that in some way God has an overpowering direction as regards the progress and outcome of the war, and in a certain sense this is true, for He is always interested in and seeks to reach the souls and hearts of mankind and, of course, desires that the great suffering and devastation shall cease. But as the cause of all this was the evil desire and ambitions of men, He will let men, themselves, control the conduct and outcome of the war. He will not by His exercise of power in an arbitrary way end the war or determine which of the contending nations shall be successful, except in this, that through the instrumentality of His spirit, He will influence the minds and consciences of these men in such a way that right and justice will prevail, and the evil thoughts and deeds of men be stopped in their operations.

His spirits are working to this end at this time, and have been for a long time, and so have the evil spirits been working to bring discord and destruction upon humanity. The leaders of the nations have been, in a large degree, obsessed by these evil spirits and have been influenced in many of their thoughts and acts by these dark ones, who delight in seeing mankind suffer and in evil asserting itself.

The spirits of truth are exercising a wonderful power over the hearts and souls of men, and one that will cause them to soon realize that evil must not be allowed to prevail and that truth and right must assert themselves to the end that the war must not only cease, but that men must become more in unison with truth and justice. In this way, the Father will answer prayer, and His Love will also continue to flow to men.

I know that prayers are ascending unto the Father from many men and from many of the churches of the respective contending nations for success, but only those prayers will be answered which tend to bring about the overruling of evil and injustice; and the spirits who are working the Father's Will will answer these prayers only which - in their answer - will bring about the desired end.

As I have said, while God does not take interest in these matters by His arbitrary power and decree that the one or the other of these warring nations shall overcome and conquer the others, yet, He does by His angels exercise such influence upon the men who are engaged in the struggle, that in the end His Will will be brought to pass. But men, immediately, must determine the course and results of the issue, and no miracle will be performed which will make one side the conqueror of the other, and while this is so, this determination by men will be influenced as I have stated.

Man has his free will and, as we have written you, that is never arbitrarily controlled by the Father, but in the exercise of that free will, whenever man violates the Laws of God, man must suffer the penalty of that violation. This is a never changing law of the material as well as of the spirit world. When evil is sown, evil must be reaped, and until this evil ceases to operate as a cause, good will not appear. The men who are directing the war must understand that this law is operating in the conduct of the war, and that evil thoughts put into execution will inviolably bring evil consequences.

You may look for an earlier determination of the struggle than some men now believe possible, yet ere that end comes many mortals will become spirits and find their homes - some in the darker spheres, and some in those of light and love, but all are the children of God and will not be forsaken by Him in the great eternity.

Well, you have not been in that condition of mind that has enabled us to make the necessary rapport with you. We must have a mind that is filled with thoughts of the higher things of truth, even though we do not use those thoughts. Our thoughts are all spiritual, and our truths can be received only by the mind in a spiritual condition, and you, lately, have not had so much of this spiritual mind as formerly. Our contact has not been so close, and our rapport, necessary to enable us to express through your mind these spiritual truths, has not been so perfect.

And when I say mind. I merely mean the organs of the brain as influenced by the thoughts of the mind; for I will tell you what you may not know, that these component organs of the brain are not always and under all conditions receptive of the same control by the minds of spirits. You may receive through your brain a long and profound message of things pertaining to what you may call the material, and yet under similar conditions of these organs, not be able to receive messages of the higher truths; and the conditions of these brain organs are caused by the condition of the soul in the possession of things spiritual.

It is difficult for me to express just what I intend to convey but this you will understand, that upon the development and possession by the soul of things spiritual, depends the capacity of the human brain to receive the various kinds of messages. A medium who is merely intellectual and morally good cannot receive those messages of the highest truths, because there can be no rapport between the brain of such a medium and the mind of the higher spirit who may desire to communicate. And, thus, you will understand why it is that the messages from the earth-bound spirits or from those who have merely the intellectual development, are so vastly more frequently received by mediums than messages from spirits of the soul development.

A spiritual thought - I mean a thought which can come only from a spirit who has the development of the soul that makes that soul Divine - cannot possibly pass through a human brain which has never been developed by a soul in which the Divine Love has entered and worked its regenerating powers. Things of the material may be conveyed through a brain purely material, things moral through a brain which has been influenced by moral truths, and things spiritual through a brain which has assimilated those truths that come only with the development of the Soul by Love. This is the Law of Rapport and Communication.

Well, I will not write more now. But in closing urge you to have faith in us, and let your worries leave you, and pray more to the Father. Goodbye.

Your brother in Christ,
John

Luke Writes on the Subject of the Devolution and Evolution of Man

July 22, 1917
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, St. Luke, writer of the third gospel that was. Well, I desire to write a few lines on the subject contained in the book, which you were reading tonight. I mean the book dealing with the creation and fall of man.

Well, the man who wrote the book is endeavoring to reconcile the Bible doctrine of the creation and fall of man with the scientists' doctrine of evolution, and to show that these two views of the subject are not antagonistic, and if properly understood may be used, one to support the other. But in this, he has not succeeded, nor can he for this reason, if there were no others, that man did not evolve from the beast or lower animal, but was always man, the creature of God, perfect in his creation and wholly natural.

There was nothing of the supernatural about him and he never possessed any nature of the superman from, which he fell at the time of his disobedience. He has never been anything more or less than the perfect creation of his Maker, although he has degenerated in his qualities and in the exercise of his will.

Evolution, or the doctrine of evolution, has its limitations and its founder, or those who follow him either wholly or in a modified way, are not able to retrace this doctrine to the fall of man and, hence, when they attempt to pass beyond that stage when man seemed to have been very degenerate and a product of the animal progenitors, they get into the field of speculation and knowledge ceases to exist.

Man was not created with any of the Divine qualities, as the writer seems to think, but was made the merely natural man that you see now, without the defilement of his soul qualities which involves only the elimination of those things from his soul that cause the departure from the condition of his creation. That is, when he was created he was in perfect harmony with the will of God and His laws and when he shall be restored to that harmony of unity with these laws, he will then be in what was his before the fall.

So the idea put forward by the author that man was created with something of the Divine in him, which took him out from a kind of physical condition of imperfection, and that when he lost these Divine qualities, he fell into that imperfect condition, is all wrong. The great truth connected with man's creation is that man was created perfect; that as regards his order of creation or the qualities of his moral and physical nature. there could be no progress, for the next step in progression would be the divine.

Thus, you will see that he was so wonderfully and perfectly made, that he was only a little lower than the angels, and by angels I mean the souls of men which have ceased to be incarnate and have partaken of the Divine Love and become a part of the Father in His Divinity of Love - not the mere souls in the spirit world which have only the development of their moral qualities, because these, whenever they have become purified and in harmony with the laws and will of God, are only men perfected in their natures and organisms as they were at the time of man's creation.

I say, the perfect man possesses those qualities and attributes that were his at the time of his creation, and he cannot progress or become greater or other than he was at the time of such creation. He was made perfect as a creation, and beyond the perfect there can be nothing greater evolved from the qualities and faculties, one and all, that made him perfect. And to progress, there must come into his nature from without - the Divine Love - that which will add to these qualities and faculties, which you may understand is no part or method of evolution.

When the first parents fell, they lost that which destroyed the harmony of their existence with the Laws of God, and also were deprived of the great potentiality of becoming Divine in their natures of Love and Immortality, like unto the Father - but as mere created men, they fell from perfection and not from divinity. Nor were they by that fall deprived of the possibility of living forever in the physical bodies, because those bodies were made only for the purpose of enabling the souls to individualize themselves and thereafter die and become dissolved into their derivative elements.

The physical body was never created to live forever, and men were never created to live on earth forever, for a greater and larger world was provided for their eternal habitation, where things are real and only the spiritual exist. The earth is a mere image of the realities of the spirit world and exists only as the nursery for the individualizing of the soul. That you may not misconceive my meaning, remember the soul is the man - the ego - and that when man fell, it was not the physical part of man that fell, except as it was influenced by the soul, but it was the soul that fell; and the sentence of death was not pronounced upon the physical, but upon the soul potentialities and, hence, you may see that when man shall again become the perfect man, it will not be necessary that the physical body be restored.

Even if it were not contrary to the physical laws of the universe or to speak more correctly to the laws controlling the material part of the universe that the material body of man be resurrected and again be housed in the soul, it would not be necessary - for the soul has its spirit body, which manifests its individuality. There is no necessity for the resurrection of the physical body, and there will be no such resurrection, for God never does a useless thing.

As I say, man has never ceased to be the man of God's creation, although he has become degenerate and defiled, and at one time in the history of his existence devolved to that degree where, save for the essential qualities of his creation, he appeared to be lower than the brutes; but he was always the man of God's creation and never an animal of the lower order.

The scientists in their geological search and research and in their finds of fossils and traces of ancient man, and in their biological theories, conclude that man was of a lower degree of intelligence and manner of living, and they may be justified in so concluding, and also that he has gradually evolved from that condition and state and draw apparent correct theories therefrom, yet when they attempt to go further, they enter only into the realm of speculation and become lost in the darkness of mystery. They can rightly acclaim the evolution of man from where they lose him in their retracing of that evolution, but can know nothing of his devolution anterior to that time; and, hence, their speculations are without foundation of substance.

No, man has not evolved from the lower animal, but only from himself when he reached the bottom of his fall. In this particular, the history and experience of man is this: he was created perfect; he sinned; he fell from the condition of his created state.

His condition at the bottom of his fall was inferior in some phases to the brute animal. After long centuries, he commenced to rise from his base condition and had made progress when the scientists by their discoveries found evidence of his then condition, and since then he has been the subject of their "evolution." But the scientists and all mankind must know that all during these centuries of descent and ascent, man was always man, the greatest creation of God, and the most fallen.

Well, I have written enough for tonight, but as I was with you to-day as you were reading and saw the misconceptions of the writer of the book, as well as those of the scientists to whom he referred, I thought it advisable to write the few incompleted truths about the subject. I will soon come and write. So with my love and blessings, I will say good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Luke

St. James Writes About the Progress of Dr. Leslie R. Stone, Who is His Special Charge to Guide Him

May 13, 1917
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, James, Apostle of Jesus.

I have heard you read the messages, and I have listened to your conversation, and I am much pleased that you both enjoyed the messages so much, for if you had not had the soul development that is yours, you would not have been able to understand the purport of the messages as you did.

It is a wonderful message of truth, and if men could only understand what its real significance is, they would soon renounce not only their sins and evil thoughts, but their belief in the false creeds that cause them to neglect the true way to the Kingdom of God, that many of them, even though they may not receive the Divine Love that is so necessary to lead them along the way to the Celestial Heavens.

I am glad that this great knowledge has come to you both and that you are on the way to this greater and grander Kingdom, where are men who are men no longer, but are Angels of the Divine Nature that the Master has to such a degree of perfection.

Well, I want to say a few words to my special charge (Dr. Leslie R. Stone) tonight and he must believe me and trust in me as his special angel. I would desire to inform him that his soul is developing more and more each day, and that we are all well pleased at his progress. Soon he will be in that condition that he will not have to wait until he gets into the spiritual world in order to have some of the Celestial Heaven in his soul, and with it that happiness and peace that comes only to those who possess the Divine Love in a degree that many spirits of that soul development don't have. He is pursuing the right course and he must not let doubt enter his mind or soul, for he is, in truth, one of the redeemed of this Love that he has been so often told is waiting for him without limitation.

I am with him very often, trying to help and influence his thoughts for good of the Divine, and he must continue to pray and believe; and I, James, his own true friend and guide, assure him that he will not be disappointed.

Life on earth, at the most, is short and fleeting, and his work is one that only he can do. His is not the gift that another may have, but is his all alone and in a short time now, it will be developed in him, and he will be informed of just what his work will be. He is now doing a good work but its results he has no conception of, for there are many spirits who a short time ago were in darkness and now are in light and much happiness, who give to him the credit of being the one who started them on their progress to light and happiness.

So tell him to have courage and faith and he will not be forsaken or left to the influence of evil or depraved spirits who are so very numerous in the earth plane at all times trying to influence mortals to become as sinful and depraved as they themselves are.

I will not write more, as I feel that he would like to hear from some others who are present. But tell him that I, as well as many others of the higher spirits, love him and are with him very much and pray to the Father to shower upon him the blessings of the Divine Love.

So with my love to you both, I will say good night and God bless you,

Your brother in Christ,
James

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

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

I am here, Jesus.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Your brother and friend,
Jesus

St. John Writes that God Answers Prayers for Material Things by the Work and Operation of His Angels and Spirits

April 25, 1917
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

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

Well, He answers the prayers for things material by the work and operation of His angels and spirits, and they in that work are subject to the limitations of success as I have above mentioned. God does not exercise any arbitrary power to answer prayers, but when they are sincerely offered to Him, He works through His angels in answering them, and He does not by His mere fiat do so. His angels are always watching and working, and when the opportunity comes, they use their influence in the best possible way to bring about the ends desired.

As you know, man has a free will and that determines very largely the action of men, and such actions are never arbitrarily controlled by any Divine power. If the prayers of men as to material things can be responded to by the workings of the angels and spirits, they are; but if such response depends upon the will of men, then they are not received by mortals, except as the spirits may be able to influence that will and cause men to act in compliance with that influence, which is always used for the purpose of bringing about the response to the prayers that are, in their nature, proper and worthy to be answered.

Well, I doubt if any of those petitions were ever answered in the arbitrary way that is related in the Old Testament. God never answers prayer in that manner, and the petitions of the old prophets had no more influence to bring about the answers to the same, in the manner indicated, than have the prayers of the sincere and earnest man of these days. God was the same then as He is now, and worked through the spirits then as He does now, except that now He has angels of the soul development in the Divine Love, that He did not then have, and these angels are doing His bidding as well as are the spirits. But He does not answer prayers for material things except in a manner in consonance with laws controlling the free will and actions of men, as they may be operated upon and influenced by the work of spirits.

Sometime I will come and write you a message on this subject of prayer and answer. But this I want to say, that we can at times understand what will happen in the near future, and having such knowledge can tell to mortals what may be expected, or rather what will occur, and this we sometimes do.

In your case, we all of the higher spheres, as well as many of the spirit spheres, know what your petitions have been in reference to these material matters, and we have been working to bring about a realization of the same on your part - not only because of your petitions, but because they are so necessary to the doing and completion of our work; and we have been using our influence to the utmost to accomplish this end. But as I say, we are all limited and have not the power to cause the happening of any event by our mere willing the same, even though we are doing the work of the Father.

This may seem surprising as well as disappointing to you, but it is a fact, and it is a great truth that: God helps those who help themselves.

Of course, you must not lose sight of the fact that while men must themselves do those things that bring about changes or happenings or phenomena in material things, yet we can influence - but not control absolutely - their desires and intentions, and their wills that put into operation or effect these intentions. No, these things, as to their immediate manifestations, are subject to the wills of men. God never by a mere act of the moment or of a physical character, places into the hands of any man riches or prosperity. These things must immediately be wrought and brought about by man, but man in doing this can and is wonderfully influenced by the workings of the spirits.

Well, that is a question that has caused men to doubt and consider and explain in various ways the so-called miracle of the loaves and fishes. As I was a disciple of the Master at that time, it is quite natural that I should be expected to state whether such a miracle ever occurred and, of course, I can state what the fact in relation thereto is. And notwithstanding that it has been used by preachers and teachers for many centuries to show the wonderful power possessed by Jesus, and thereby cause the people to believe in and accept him as God, or at least having God-like powers, and has been used to work much good among those who were seeking for the true religion, yet I am compelled and sorry to say that no such miracle ever took place. While Jesus had wonderful powers, and understood the workings of the spiritual laws to a far greater extent than any mortal who ever lived, yet he had not the power to increase the loaves and fishes as is set forth in the account of the miracle. To be able to do so would be against the laws of God governing the material things of His creation, and also beyond and outside of the powers conferred on any man or angel by any spiritual laws.

There are certain laws by which we, who are acquainted with and use them and may cause a dematerialization of physical substances, and also may to a limited degree cause a materialization of spiritual substances, but I am not acquainted with any law that would have operated, under the control of Jesus, to increase the loaves and fishes to the great number mentioned in the story referred to. As a fact, I know that no such miracle took place, and Jesus will tell you the same. There are other alleged miracles in the Bible that never had any existence as a fact.

Well, I have written you a long letter tonight, and I must stop, but I am pleased that you asked me about the response to prayers, and the miracle of the loaves and fishes, for your questions gave me the opportunity, to some extent, to explain these matters. But, as to prayer, you must wait until I deal with it more at large or in detail before you conclude that you understand the subject fully.

And I say to you pray not only for the spiritual things which God bestows through His Holy Spirit, but also for the material things which He bestows through His angels and spirits. The proper prayer will be answered sooner or later, and your prayer for that of which I have written will be answered, even though to you the response may seem a long time delayed.

With my love and blessings, I will say good night.

Your brother in Christ,
John

Jesus Writes on the Necessity of Faith and Prayer in Doing the Work

April 22, 1917
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

I was with you tonight and heard the sermon, but there was not much said that was very vital to our truths, and I have no comments to make on the sermon. Luther was there also and was disappointed somewhat, for he rather expected the preacher to say some things that might have been beneficial to the souls of his hearers. He will write you very soon, and he is very anxious to do so.

Remember that I love you with a very great love, and that you are my chosen one to do this work, and that to no other man has such an opportunity and privilege ever been given; and you must not become a failure. So much is dependent upon the world getting the truths at this time, for men's souls are longing for the truth, and are susceptible to receiving the same than ever in the history of mankind. So believe in my love and anxiety and permit yourself to get in close rapport with me. I will pray with you tonight, and you will realize some response to my prayers. When you pray tonight, believe that what you ask for will come, and you will not be disappointed.

Well, as I told you, when I delivered to you the prayer, if you offer that prayer with all the earnestness and longings of your soul, it will be answered; and when the answer comes these material things will come also, for when you receive what that prayer asks for, you will then be in possession of the Kingdom of God, and these other things will be added to you. God knows what you need and is always ready to bestow upon you these needful things, and when you become His true child, He will not neglect to give you these other things. He is more thoughtful and careful of His children than is the earthly father, and His angels are always ready to do His bidding, So have faith and pray and pray and you will realize the wonderful responses that will come to you.

I will not write more tonight, but again impress upon you the necessity of faith and prayer; and you must not forget that we angels of the Father are with you trying to help you. Good night.

With all my love and blessings, I am

Your brother and friend,
Jesus

**********


Luke affirming that the Master wrote.

I am here, Luke.

I will say only a word, for I see how you feel and how important it is that you believe that the Master wrote you, and how certain it is that you can rely upon what he said. If you only knew how much he is interested in you, and how much love and care He is bestowing upon you, you would not for a moment doubt or lose faith in his promises. And, besides, we are all with you in love and efforts to help you. So believe and you will not be disappointed. With my love I will say, good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Luke

**********


Eight Celestial Spirits affirm that Jesus wrote.

I will say that we are all here, and heard what the Master said, and know that he wrote, and that you can rely on what he said, let doubt leave you, and love and faith take possession of your soul. May God bless and keep you in His love,

Paul, John, James, Luther, Barnabas, Samuel, John Wesley, John the Baptist

**********

Helen affirms that eight of the Celestial Spirits signed their names.

I am here, your own true and loving Helen.

Well, dear, the messages have been rather unusual tonight. I mean the messages corroborating what the Master said, and they show you that you must not doubt or lose your faith in what has been written you, not only tonight but in all the past. You must also see how interested these spirits are in you, and in the work you must do, for otherwise you would never have received such messages.

Each of those whose names are subscribed, actually wrote. I know them all and saw them sign their names, and with each signature was a prayer that God would bless you and give you a great abundance of His Love. It is all so wonderful, that I am somewhat astonished at this great display of interest in you, and desire that you shall believe. So, my dear husband, believe with all your soul, and trust in the love of the Master, and his great desire to see you happy and free.

I will not write more tonight, although I had intended to write my personal letter, but you are too tired to receive it. But you know how much I love you and how anxious I am to see you happy and filled with the Father's Love. I love you and want you to love me. Good night.

Your own true and loving,

Helen

Martin Luther Writes a Note of Encouragement to James E. Padgett About the Greater Importance of His Work

April 12, 1917
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Luther.

When I was on earth, I had my troubles and suffering but thanks be to the Father, I was never forsaken and you will not be.

And when you consider the greater importance of your work as compared to mine, you must realize that the Father and the powers of His angels are more interested in preserving you from everything that may interfere with your work than He was with me; for while I was earnest and sincere in what I attempted to do and believed that I was right in my attacks on Catholicism and in my teachings of the truth, yet I was in error in many things; and you, on the contrary, will not be in error, because what you may receive will come only from the spirits and angels who know what God's Truths are. So you must see the importance of your work and the necessity for its being accomplished.

Take courage, and when these thoughts of dread of not being provided for and being felt without the means necessary to your existence come to you, cast them aside. My dear brother, believe what I have been trying to impress you with and that we all love you and are trying to help you. Good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Luther

Swedenborg Writes on Earth He Did Not Know of the Divine Love; Luke and Helen Confirm

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

I am here, Swedenborg.

I merely want to say that I have been reading my work as you read, and that I now realize how many statements of error and untruth I made in that work. The errors are so many that it will take a longer time than I have tonight in which to give you a bare outline of them. But I will soon come and write you and hope that you can give me an evening when I can write without limitation of time.

Since I have been in the spirit world, I have found that there are so many statements in my writings of my experiences while in the mortal, when I was permitted in my spirit - or as I then said "interiors" - to enter the spirit world, that were not truly conceived or interpreted, that it is absolutely necessary that I should correct and describe in accordance with what I now know of the truth, and especially is this necessary as I have on earth a large number of mortals who believe in my teachings and are trying to follow them in their lives and deeds. So you will appreciate my anxiety to be permitted to write. Tonight, I will not write more.

Well, I am sorry to say, that I did not know of the Divine Love, which by its reception into the soul made angels of men and recreated them, so that their souls became in their very substance, Divine. I did not know of this Love as contradistinguished from the love that was bestowed upon man at his creation, and which, in itself, has nothing of the Divine. No, I was ignorant of this and never learned it in the spirit world in my visits to that world, nor in my conversation with spirits.

I know now that no matter how great is the ruling love of a man for falsity and evil when he enters the Hells, he will have the opportunity to have that love changed, and that ultimately the loves of all who are in the Hells will be changed into the love for good; in some instances into the Love of the Divine, and in others, to the purification of their natural loves to that which will make them perfect men. These are some of the things that I desire to write about, and there are many others equally erroneous.

I am in the Celestial Spheres and, of course, am an angel of God and the possessor of His Divine Love that has caused my soul to become Divine and immortality to become to me a thing of understanding and possession. I will stop now, and with my love and the blessings of God and all the Divine Angels, I will say good night.

Your brother in Christ,

Swedenborg

**********

Luke affirms that Swedenborg wrote.

I am here, Luke.

I come to tell you that you must not doubt that Swedenborg wrote to you, and what you wrote, or rather, received, in answer to your questions, he actually wrote. We are all desirous that he shall write you on the subjects that he has expressed a desire to write upon, for many of the teachings and doctrines that are contained in his earthly writings are erroneous and must be corrected, for they are being studied and believed in by many mortals, and all to their leading away from the truth.

The one great error or untruth that must be corrected is his teaching, that Jesus is God. This is blasphemous and abhorrent to all the angelic spirits, and more so to the Master than to any other, and for the correction of this, Swedenborg must write. Well, I will not write more tonight, except to say this, that another anniversary of the resurrection of the Master, as it is believed, has come, and men are worshipping Jesus as God, and sending their praises and thanks to him as the great redeemer of the world by his death and resurrection, while as you know, his death had very little to do with that redemption, and his resurrection was not the resurrection that he taught could be the experience and possession of all mankind.

It is pitiable and destructive to the truth for men to believe and teach that the mere resurrection of the spirit from the body is the resurrection that Jesus came to teach and demonstrate; and when we see each year the repetition of the observance of the anniversary of this rising of Jesus from his physical body, and all the false beliefs and teachings, we realize more and more the necessity for our truths being made known to the world.

So you must work harder and pray to the Father to increase your soul development so that our messages may be more rapidly received. Remember what John said a few nights ago and believe, for the promises then made will soon be realized by you. I will come soon and write a message. With my love and great desire that we become closer in our rapport and more expedient in our work, I will say good night.

Your brother in Christ, Luke

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Helen confirms that Swedenborg wrote.

I am here, your own true and loving Helen.

Well dear, I come to say that Swedenborg actually wrote you, as I realize that you had a doubt come into your mind as to whether he really wrote. He actually answered your questions in his own words, and not any thought contained in his answers came from your mind. Luke also wrote, and you must believe. Good night and God bless you.

Your own true and loving, Helen

James Writes that Jesus Was Taught by the Father and the Angels of God

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

I am here, James (the Lesser).

I will not write long tonight, but pray to the Father to bless you and make your faith increase.

No, I never belonged to any of those sects, nor did Jesus. He was never learned in the wisdom of India or Egypt or Persia, as the writer whom you were reading tonight asserted. He was taught by the Father and the Angels of God, and his knowledge was that which came from these teaching and the opening up of his soul perceptions. He was not a son of the Magi, or of the wise men of any of the countries referred to, but as to knowledge and wisdom he was a son of the Father only.

I will come again soon and write you. So good night.

Your brother in Christ,
James

Rev. Chauncey Giles Writes that After He Met Jesus in the Spirit World, He Learned the Truth

February 28, 1917
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

Let me write you a line, for I am interested in what has just been written you, for when I lived on earth, I was a Swedenborgian or New Churchman, and believed in the doctrines of that Church, and especially in the cornerstone of its beliefs, and that is that Jesus was God, and the only God to be worshipped as such and accepted as the incarnate God, who came to earth and lived and taught among men the coming of God into the flesh.

Well, I, when on earth was a leader or preacher in that Church and during the course of my ministry, I not only taught but wrote many pamphlets and some books upon this doctrine of God becoming man in the form of Jesus, and on many other doctrines, that I now know to be untrue.

And my authority for saying that this fundamental doctrine of the Church is untrue, is that I have seen and talked with Jesus in the spirit world and learned that he is only the spirit of a mortal, but the highest and most glorious spirit in all the Heavens and is not God; and I have never seen God, nor any spirit who has seen Him with the spirit eyes, though Jesus and others of the highest spirits say that they have seen Him with their soul perceptions, which must be true because Jesus is so much like God in this: that he cannot tell a lie.

But I know that there is a God, and my knowledge is based on certainty, but the basis of this certainty I cannot explain to you, as you could not comprehend my explanation. But God lives and rules and loves, and is present with us and with you in some or many of His attributes, and Jesus is not this God.

I wish that I could come to my people and tell them of the errors of their beliefs, and the truths as they exist and to the extent as now known to me, but I have no hope of ever being able to do so, for one of the cardinal doctrines of the Church is that with the passing of Swedenborg passed the possibility of all communications between God or His angels and mortals as to spiritual truths, and that it is contrary to God's will that mortals should attempt to penetrate the veil that separates the two worlds.

How such beliefs as I taught now cause me suffering and regret, for I see no way of remedying the wrong that I did, and of turning the thoughts of my followers into the paths that lead to truth and the certainty of Heaven.

As this is my first attempt to communicate, I am somewhat tired and must stop. But I thank you for the opportunity and hope that some time I may have the privilege of again writing. Notwithstanding my erroneous beliefs, I have in my soul some of the Father's Divine Love, that enables me to sign myself,

Your brother in Christ,
Chauncey Giles

**********

Helen Confirms the Messages about Swedenborg from Martin Luther and Chauncey Giles

I am here, your own true and loving Helen.

Yes, Luther wrote, and the other spirit I don't know, but I have no doubt that he is whom he represents himself to be. He seemed to be in much earnestness and was very anxious to write, and seeing that he was a good spirit with a message, we let him write, and he felt better by having done so.

Swedenborg was here tonight and is very anxious to write and soon he will as he feels that he must write a message on the subject that you have been interested in recently. I will not write more. So with my love I will say good night.

Your own true and loving,

Helen

Martin Luther Writes on Swedenborg and Why His Mission was a Failure

February 28, 1917
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here. Luther.

I merely desire to say that as you read the pamphlet I read with you, and the description and explanation therein contained - as to who God is - are entirely erroneous and blasphemous. Jesus never claimed or taught, while on earth, that he was God, and this I say because he has so instructed us, and he never since becoming a spirit has made any such claim, and the teachings of the New Church in this particular are all wrong and tend to lead men away from the true conception of who God and Jesus both are.

Swedenborg has often conversed with me about his teachings and declared that his explanations as to God are not in accord with the knowledge that he now has, and that the teachings as contained in his books upon this subject were the results very largely of his own speculations, and the results of his endeavors in trying to reconcile what he thought was an absurd conception of the nature and being of God with the true interpretation of the Bible.

He could not accept the doctrine of the Trinity, as explained and accepted and taught by the Church and, hence, being a believer in the inspiration of the Bible and its infallibility of religious truths, he sought some exegesis (critical explanation or analysis) that might be consistent with the Bible, and at the same time in consonance with his ideas of reason and common sense. But, as he now says, he added mysticism to mysticism and irrational explanations to irrational explanations, and the result was that his teachings were more absurd and more difficult to understand than were the teachings of his church.

The doctrine of the Trinity, as you have been told, is not true and never had any authority in the teachings of Jesus or those of the Apostles and Bible writers, and was merely the deduction of some of the old fathers of the church arising from their speculations and desire to make of Jesus a God, though a lesser God than the Father, and at the same time one with the Father and a part of the Godhead that must be considered as being only one God, and as taught by the Old Testament writers and prophets that there is only one God.

This doctrine, of course, was absurd and, hence, was one of the mysteries of God, but nevertheless was taught as a truth and incumbent upon man to believe whether they could understand it or not which, of course, they could not. But the doctrine was not accepted by all the writers of the early days, for as you know, there were bitter controversies among these expounders of what they supposed to be the scriptures upon the question as to who Jesus was, and his relation to God. But as the years went by the doctrine of the Trinity became firmly established as a canon of belief in the church, and in my time on earth, it was believed and not questioned by the church; and I believed it also, although I could not understand it.

Now, Swedenborg was a member of the church that bore my name and which I was credited with having founded and believed in its doctrines, even as to the Trinity, and the actual transformation of the wine and bread into the blood and body of Jesus, and he continued in this belief up to the time of his wonderful visions of the spirit world and his experience in meeting the spirits and angels of that world, including Jesus, whom he in his writings claimed to be God, and with whom he had many conversations and from whom he learned the spiritual truths that he declared to the world.

As you have been told in the working out of the plans of the Celestial Angels under the leadership of Jesus, Swedenborg was selected as the instrumentality through whom the spiritual truths should be revealed to mankind, and in carrying out that plan, power was given to him to come in his spirit perceptions or his inner sight, as he calls it, into the spirit world and there see the conditions of spirits and angels, and also of their environments, and learn the higher truths from conversations with spirits and angels. And he did come in the manner indicated and communed as he has claimed, except that he never talked with God, but only with Jesus, who he misconceived to be God; and this cannot be wondered at, for Jesus was a spirit, so transcendent in glory and love and wisdom, that it was almost natural, as I may say, that the mortal in his new and unusual experience should conceive this glorious Jesus to be God himself. But it was not God, only Jesus, that this seer saw and listened to.

Having a conception of this kind, you can readily see that when he came into his mortal self again, and many times this occurred, he firmly believed that Jesus, who had form and individuality in the spirit world similar to what he had when on earth, was actually God, and it therefore became easy for Swedenborg to reject the doctrine of the Trinity, (and in its place proclaim) Jesus is God, manifested in the flesh, and God is Jesus, the Divine Man.

Of course, you must understand, that in the exercise of this seership, he experienced the doubts and fears, that at times what he saw and heard might not be things of actuality, and that possibly his imagination, or as in these latter days, what is called the subconscious mind, was deceiving him, and being a man of extraordinary mentality and strong convictions, as well as established faith in the doctrines of the church to which he belonged, many of his interpretations of what he saw and heard, and his teachings therefrom, were limited and flavored by his existing mental condition and faith.

He has told me that for many years before his experience as seer, he had to a more or less extent doubted the truth of the Trinity and accepted it only as a mystery, and because the church declared it to be a truth, and that after his experiences as such seer, believing in the statements of the Bible as the infallible words of God, and also believing that he had seen God in the person of Jesus, he sought an explanation of these Bible statements and a reconciliation of them with his belief that Jesus was God, and the result was his declared doctrine that Jesus is God.

And so in many other of his teachings, based upon his experience in the spirit world, he embraced many errors and misconceptions of the truths, and to such an extent that, as you have been told, his mission, in its results, was a failure, and the truths that he had been selected to learn and declare to the world were never made known to mankind. This failure was disappointing to the spirits who conceived this plan and in whom were lodged the spiritual truths of God, and who were acting as God's instruments in their endeavor to make them known to humanity.

But it will be more satisfactory to you, and convincing to whomsoever may read the truths that you are receiving from these same high spirits that selected him, as their messenger, to have Swedenborg come himself and explain the workings of his mission, and the causes and particulars of his failure in doing the great work that had been assigned him to do.

He says that he has one consolation that many who have founded churches and attempted to declare spiritual truths upon which doctrines and creeds have been promulgated and believed in, and that is that his followers are so comparatively few in numbers and, consequently, so many less mortals are being deceived by his teachings. And I can appreciate the consolation that he may have in this fact, for my teachings and beliefs that are false as his are false, are believed in and followed by a very large number of mortals, to their injury.

Well, I am glad for the opportunity to write you tonight, and I am still waiting for the chance to finish my message to my people on the errors of continuing in my teachings, and the necessity for them to become undeceived and learn the truths that are now being declared to mankind. I will not write further. So good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Luther

James Writes that Dr. Leslie R. Stone is Progressing in His Soul Development and in His Rapport with the Spirits of the Higher Spheres

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

I am here, James.

I want to say a few words to you and the Dr. (Leslie R. Stone) for, as you know, I am especially interested in him as his guardian and spiritual helper. I, of course, do not have the opportunity to write him as often as I should desire, but yet I am with him very much trying to help him in his soul developing and in his spiritual understanding of the Heavenly things that Luke has just written of, and I am glad to inform him that he is progressing in his soul development, and in his rapport with the spirits of the higher spheres.

I am with him frequently as he tells others of the Divine Love and the other truths pertaining to the spirit world, and sometimes I suggest to him thoughts, which I see may be beneficial to his hearers. He may think that sometimes the thoughts that he conveys to those with whom he talks are thrown to the winds and leave no impression on the minds of his hearers, and sometimes this is true, but I must tell him here that in many cases they take root, at least, for the time being and cause these hearers to think and wonder if there can be any truth in what they hear and as to how they may learn more of the things that are told them.

He is doing a good work in this way and must continue to do so, for there is no telling when a word or idea dropped into the mind of other people may find lodgment and grow into greater and wider thoughts and cause serious inquiries as to the truth.

What he says has this advantage over what is generally taught as to religious matters and, that is, that his thoughts as he expresses them are new and not objectionable to reason and, as a consequence, the hearers wonder how the thoughts could have arisen and give to their consideration more attention than they otherwise would do.

All the world is ready for the truth that will satisfy the soul and liberate the mind from creeds and unreasonable beliefs, and whenever anyone speaks such truth, it is heard - no matter what its source - the anxious soul will grasp it and often meditate over it.

He must keep up his courage and belief in his spirit friends, who are behind and with him, helping him in this part of his work, for it is a part, but not the important part. Have faith and let his soul reach out more and more for the Great Love of which he speaks and believes in, and he will realize in the not far distant future a power that he little conceives of. He must know this, also, that he is being prepared and developed for the great work which he has to do that will help very largely to make certain and convincing the truths that you are receiving in the messages.

He must have patience and he will not be disappointed for the powers that are with him are great enough to carry forward the great work, which is set before him to do. Even now they could fill him with the power which will be his, but the time is not yet in the order of the plan which has been determined on for the forwarding of the work that must be done. I am pleased that I could write this tonight as I feel that, though he has much faith, yet he must also have encouragement based on what will be his as the time comes for helping humanity.

Love is the great thing, and he who teaches the way to that Love, is a great instrument in the work of the Father, and his position of a good and faithful servant will be one that even Angels may envy. This is not extravagance, but actual truth, and I know that when he shall have finished his work and come to his spirit home, he will realize that what I have said is a faint representation of the actual fact.

I must not write more tonight. With my love to you both and the promise of continuous help, I will say good night.

Your brother in Christ,
James

Mrs. Nathan Plummer Writes that She is in a Condition of Darkness and Asks for Help

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

I am here, Mother Plummer.

I am a poor old woman and in darkness and so very disappointed for I thought when on earth that the blood of Jesus washed away all my sins and that I would go to Heaven and rest in his arms and sing "hallelujahs" around God's throne. But, instead, I am in darkness and have never seen Jesus or one of the glorious Angels, and thank God, though, the devil hasn't got me. I have never seen him or any of his imps or brimstone and fire. But the spirits I have seen are devils enough. What does it mean? I was a good Christian, as I thought and believed that Jesus died for me and saved me?

I do not know what to do. I am not a stranger to you and the Dr. (Leslie R. Stone) and I remember some things that he told me about the spirit world and spirits and I have been trying to learn how these things may help me but, yet, I do not understand. I know that I am alive and never died and that I have the same thoughts and try to believe in my church, but how can I? And I am so disappointed and so anxious to find the light.

My husband has also come over and he has not changed. He is the same quarrelsome man, although he can hear now. He is so dark and ugly and it seems to me that he is one of the lost souls that the Bible tells of, but I hope not. He is not living with me but says he is in Hell and I can believe it. Can you help me or tell me anything that will get me out of my darkness?

Nate says: Dr. Stone knew all about the spirit world and tried to tell us, and we should have listened to him, but how could I when he told me that Jesus did not die for me and save me from my sins.

(At this point Mr. Padgett would talk to the dark spirits and tried to increase their soul perceptions to see the bright spirits that were working with him to help those in darkness.)

Yes, now I see some bright spirits and one who says that she is Mrs. Stone come to me and says she will help me and I am going with her. Good night.

Mother Plummer, wife of Nathan Plummer


**********

P.S. Dr. Leslie R. Stone has written that both Mr. and Mrs. Plummer have now progressed into higher spiritual life as a result of the help that Mr. Plummer received and obtained the Divine Love. Mrs. Plummer was helped by Mrs. Stone and since this was 44 years ago, I am sure that she also has received the Divine Love of the Father to enable them both to live in the Celestial Heavens.

Leslie R. Stone.
       

Helen Writes that Many Spirits Were Present at the New Year's Eve Church Service

December 31, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Helen.

Well, we are here in great numbers and all wish you and the Doctor (Leslie R. Stone) a very Happy New Year, and one that will bring to you not only prosperity and happiness in your material affairs, but also a great and abundant inflowing of the Divine Love of the Father, which will bring you a happiness that no earthly prosperity can possibly bring.

We were with you tonight at the (New Year's Eve) church services and tried to throw around you our influence of love and peace - the peace that passeth all understanding - and when this peace came to you as it did to a degree, we all rejoiced.

The Master was present, for there were many souls there that were longing for this love, although they associated it with Jesus in the way that they believed it came from him as the fountainhead; but notwithstanding this error, their souls were right and the Holy Spirit responded, and the Love was present and many a worshipper felt its influence.

I suppose that you and the Doctor would like to know who were present, and I should like to tell you but to do so would require more paper and more time than you have at your disposal tonight. But this I will say, that, in addition, to the Master there were present your special guardians. I mean John and James, and also Mary and the Doctor's parents and sisters, and your parents and, of course, myself.

We all felt that as this is the night that brings into your lives a new year with the great possibilities that will be yours, we should become a little human and bring to you our love and wishes, and the fact that there are surrounding you the spirits of those who once loved you so much when they lived on earth and had nothing more than faith. Now they come to you with knowledge, and with some of them the knowledge that they are Angels, and redeemed children of the Father, and inhabitants of His Celestial Kingdom - the kingdom which Jesus has been and is establishing for the eternal homes of all who may receive the New Birth.

If you could have seen all the glorious spirits that were present, and the love and beauty that surrounded you, you would have thanked God with all the powers of your soul that you were so blessed, and we all said and prayed to the Father: "God bless you," and what it meant only we knew, though, you could receive its benefits.

Well, I am happy, and Mary is happy, and all the spirits who love you so much are happy. What a blessed thing the Love of the Father is! As the preacher said, this Love makes your soul a new thing, not as a new creation only, but in the important element of being new in quality and consistency. I hope that you may continue to increase in your realization of the abundance of this Love that will surely be yours, if you continue to pray to the Father in earnest and longing desire.

I will not write more tonight except to say that Mary wants to tell the Doctor that, as the hours go by, she feels that she is getting closer and closer to him in the holy love that is theirs, and that can never be taken from them. She is anxious that he feel this growing love and increased rapport, and that some day she may become as real to him in his conscious recollections, as he is to her.

So repeating our wish that you both may have a Happy New Year with increasing love and joy as the year grows older, I will say with all my heart's love, good night. We both want our kisses.

Your own true and loving,
Helen