November 30, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Luke of the New Testament.
Yes, I desire to write tonight a few lines upon a subject that has never yet been written on, and I know it will interest you. My subject is: "What is the most important thing in all the world for men to do in order to bring about the great millennium that the preachers proclaim will come before or after the coming of Jesus?"
Of course, in stating the question, thus, I do no intend to be understood as consenting to the doctrine that Jesus will come to earth in physical form on the clouds with a great shout, etc., as many of the preachers teach for that event will never happen because, as we have written you before, he has already come to earth or rather to men in the spiritual way that we have explained.
Neither do I intend to embrace in the phrase, "the greatest thing," the Divine Love, for that, of course, is the greatest thing in all the earth and in the Heavens, as well; but by this expression, I mean the greatest thing that men can do - independently of the assistance of the Divine Love.
Well, as commonly understood, the millennium is a time or period of a thousand years when peace will reign on the earth, and the devil, as is said, will be bound and not permitted to roam over the earth causing sin and destruction of souls and sickness and the other sins that now so generally beset mortals. Of course, there is no personal devil in the sense of a Satanic majesty, but there are spirits of evil, which abound in the unseen world and are constantly with mortals exercising upon them their influence of evil and suggesting to them thoughts and desires that eventuate in sinful and wrong deeds. But these evil ones are merely the spirits of departed mortals and are not beings of a superior kind in power and qualities.
Sin, as we have told you, was never created by God, nor is it the product or emanations of any of God's perfect creations but is wholly the result of the wrongful exercise of man's appetites and will, when the desires of the flesh are permitted to overcome the desires of his spiritual nature. With sin comes all the evils and discords and inharmonies that constitute man's manner of living his earth life, and until these things, which are not a part of his original nature but which are the creation of the inversion of that nature, be eliminated from his thoughts and desires and appetites, the millennium will never be established on earth, and neither will Satan be bound in chains and prevented from doing his work of soul destruction.
Now the converse of this proposition is true. And the possibility of its occurring, is also true. And the question is: "How can this be brought about?" For to bring this about is "the most important thing for men to do."
When the cause of the present condition of mankind in sin and sorrow and unhappiness is definitely determined, then will readily appear what is necessary to remedy the condition and remove the cause; and, hence, when the remedy is applied and removal made, the millennium will surely come, for this glorious time of man's desired and looked for happiness is merely one in which peace rules and discord does not exist, and every man is his own brother's keeper in love.
Then what are the causes of the present condition of existence on earth, marred and tainted and controlled by sin and error and disease?
These causes are two-fold: The one arising from man's fall from his created perfection of body, mind and soul in permitting and encouraging the animal nature to subordinate the spiritual and thereby, by the over-indulgence of the former causing the carnal appetites to grow and transform the man into a lover of sin and things evil; and the other arising from the influences which the spirits of evil, who are always endeavoring to make close rapport with men and exercise their evil influence over him.
While the personal Satan does not exist, yet the idea conveyed by the necessity of binding him in order to bring about this millennium is a true one and applies to the actual relationship of men to these evil spirits, except this: That in the case of the latter, it is not necessary or even possible to bind them, but to loosen them; that is, to loosen their rapport with or influence over men, for when that is done, men become, as it were, free and these evil spirits are as if they were not.
So you see, as a preliminary to the ushering in of this greatly desired time of peace and purity, men must cease to believe that it will come with the coming of Jesus in a manifested physical way, as a mortal conqueror might come with legions of followers and noises of drums and by force of arms or greatness of power subdue his enemies. This will never be, for no man is an enemy of Jesus, but all are his brothers, and he is not now making and never will make war on any human being, only on the sin and defilement that is within his soul. And this war can never be waged by power or force of legions of angels, for so great is the power of man's will and so respected is its freedom of action by the Father, that there is no power in Heaven or earth that can or will change a sinful soul into a pure one by force and threats and conquering legions of angels, even though they might be led by Jesus, which will not happen. No, the soul is the man, and that soul can be made pure and sinless only when that soul desires and consents that such a condition may become its own.
So it should not be difficult for men to understand that this erroneous belief - that Jesus will come in this semblance of a human conqueror and establish this great time of peace - is doing them much harm and delaying the actual time of the coming of this event. The effect of this belief upon the soul is that everything is to be accomplished by the work of Jesus, and nothing by themselves, except to believe in his coming and wait and be ready to be snatched up in the clouds, and then help the hosts of Heaven to destroy all of their late fellow mortals who had not believed with them and put on the robes of ascension, as they literally or figuratively designate such robes.
They, thus, believe and in their minds they may be honest, yet their souls may be disfigured and tainted with sin and the life's accumulation of sin, so that they could not possibly be in condition to enjoy a place of purity and freedom from sin. And some of them expect and claim that they will be the judges of others of their fellow mortals, because of the deeds done in the body and, yet: "in how many cases would it prove to be the blind and sinful judging the blind and sinful?"
But they further claim that Jesus, by his great power, and the fact that they believed that he would come again to earth and establish his kingdom, will in the twinkling of an eye make them fit subjects for his kingdom, and qualified to judge the unrighteous and help cast them out of his kingdom. No, this can never be the way in which the millennium will be established, and the sooner men discard this belief and seek the truth and the true way to purity and perfection, the sooner the hope and expectation of mankind will be realized.
Your brother in Christ,
Luke
Showing posts with label devil. Show all posts
Showing posts with label devil. Show all posts
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Monday, September 9, 2013
Jesus Writes that God is Love and Love Knows No Limitations in its Heights or Depths
September 17, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Jesus.
I was with you tonight at the meeting and heard what the preacher said, and he declared some truths, and also said some things that were not true. He said: "Only those who have been converted are sons of God."
All men are the children of God, and His Love and care are over all, and they are very dear to Him, otherwise He would not have rebestowed His Love upon them and given them the privilege of becoming inhabitants of His Celestial Kingdom.
The mere fact that they are sinners makes them no less His children, who He is so anxious to redeem and fill with the Divine Love, and when the preacher says: "They who are sinners are not the sons of God," he does not declare the truth, for they are all His sons - some to enjoy the pure life and bliss which the purification of their natural love will bring to them, and others to enjoy and inhabit the Celestial Kingdom which the New Birth will bring to them.
But all are His sons, though some have wandered and become strangers to His Love, just as was the prodigal son who left his father's house for a far country. This doctrine of the sinful not being sons of God is a damnable and harmful doctrine and will cause many to give up hope of ever becoming anything else than the sons of perdition - or as these orthodox say - of the devil.
The Father's mercy is for all, and if certain of His children do not choose to seek and receive the Divine Love which, when possessed, will make angels of them, yet they are His sons and will, in the fullness of time or before the time of the great consummation, become pure and happy beings as were the first parents before the fall.
And while this preacher has a great amount of the Divine Love in his soul, and is earnestly and in the right way seeking for more, yet his beliefs and teachings as to the destiny and future condition of those who may receive this Love and become at-one with the Father are all wrong and will tend to retard his own progress in the development of his soul and in his advancement towards the Kingdom of God.
He, of course, is possessed of these beliefs because of his study and construction of some of the declarations of the Bible and, therefore, is not teaching what he does not believe or what, to his own conscience, is false. Nevertheless, it is false and he will have to suffer the consequences of such false beliefs and teachings.
Ignorance, while it will not relieve him from its consequences, and neither will it invoke the penalties of the law that apply to the willful deceiver or teacher of false doctrines, yet neither will it excuse him or relieve him from the penalties of that law which demands the truth, and only the truth to be believed and taught. He will have to get rid of these false beliefs, even though he may have some of the Divine in his soul; for whenever there exists untruth in belief in the heart and soul of man to that extent it interferes with the inflowing of the Love into and the progress of that soul towards perfect unity with the Father.
Truth is of itself a fact. It can have no affiliation with untruth, no matter that untruth is the result of ignorance, for all untruth is the result of ignorance, and must be eradicated from the hearts of men before there can be that harmony between God and man which the very nature of truth itself requires. So that if no man could be the son of God, who has not the perfect harmony which truth absolutely demands, God would have no sons amongst men. The condition of the sinner and that of the man who has experienced the New Birth differs only in the fact that one has not commenced to have in his soul the essence of Truth, while the other, to an extent, has that essence. All may have that essence, and to a great abundance. Some may never have the essence of Divine Truth, yet no man will be left without the essence of the truth which leads to the perfect man. The truth of the angel existence, and the truth of the perfect man are equally truths, though the former is of a higher degree and nature than the other.
Our first parents were the children of God - His own creatures - good and perfect, and after their fall they became no less His children, for His love was so great for them that in the fullness of perfection of His plans He again bestowed upon them the privilege of receiving His Divine Love, and sent me to proclaim the fact and to show men the way to obtain that great love. The death that had existed for all the long centuries was supplanted by life potential, and I became the way, the truth and the life, and immortality became a possibility to men. So that, all men are the sons of God in one relation or the other; depending in the one case whether a man will turn from his sins and be satisfied with the perfection of his natural love and the home that belongs to the perfect man, or seeks for the inflowing into his soul the divine love which will enable him to enter the Divine Heavens and have the certainty of immortality.
When God rebestowed this Divine Love on man, there was no man in existence, or spirit either, who could be called His son, if it were necessary that he had been converted as the preacher said, because none had received this love which is the only thing or power in all God's universe that can convert a man dead in trespass and sin: yet God loved all His children and conferred upon them this great gift, because they were His children. If God had loved only the righteous there would have been no one who could have been the object of His bounty. He would have had no sons or children of His love. And now that He has rebestowed this gift, and some of the sons of men have received and possess it, and are more in harmony with Him, it is not true that those who were His sons and children before its bestowal are any less His sons and children, because they may not have sought and made this gift their own.
No, the Father's Love is so great and broad and deep, that it goes out to all the children of earth, waiting to bestow it upon them, and the lost sheep is as much His child as the ninety and nine who are safe in the fold, and although the lost one may never find or enter the fold, where those are that possess His Divine Love are sheltered, yet that sheep remains and is the object of His love.
So let preachers and others, who have assumed the responsibility of teaching men the truths of the Father, cease from proclaiming the doctrine that only those who have received the new birth are the sons of God. They, of course, are not His obedient sons until they have obtained either the Divine Love and Essence of the Father, or the purity of the first parents before the fall, but yet they are His, even though defiled by their own creations of sin and error.
God is Love and Love knows no limitations in its heights or depths. It exists in the highest Heavens, and reaches to the lowest hells, and will in its own way and in its own time work its own fulfillment. All men will come into harmony with the will of the Father, which is perfect, and even though some, and I may say the majority of men, will not accept the invitation to become angels of His Celestial Kingdom, which is not compulsory, yet they do His will by becoming in the future, near or far, free from the sin and error of their own creation, and pure and perfect as were they, whom the Father first created and pronounced good.
Man's greatest enemy to man is he, who having received the assurance of possessing the Divine Love, and thereby becoming as it were, a divine son of the Father, and who believes in the errors of the Bible and the misinterpretations of its truths, declares that all others of mankind are hated of God, and are objects of His wrath, and certain of eternal damnation and everlasting torment. It is deplorable that such beliefs and such declarations should exist and continue to be made, especially on the part of those who undertake to lead the masses in the way to God's truths and plans for men's happiness, and redemption from the evils and sins that cause them so much suffering.
But all this shows the power and blindness of belief founded upon error and untruthful teachings. And strange as it may seem, these leaders of the ignorant may have some of the Divine Love in their souls, and yet their mental and intellectual beliefs be so fixed and unmoveable that the possession of this love will not cause them to understand that the Father's love is for all, and that wrath is not a part of His being, but a quality of sinful man that these believers in error attribute to Him.
If God may be said to hate anything, He hates sin, but He loves the sinner, who is the creature of His will, and who is so unfortunate as to have created that which defiles him and to wander away, not only from the Father, but from his own perfect and pure creation.
Well, I have written enough for tonight and I hope that what I have said may prove beneficial not only to the sinner, but to the man, preacher, or layman, who possessing some of the Divine Love, proclaims that only he or others like him, are the sons of God.
As Paul said, "They see through a glass darkly," but then they shall see face to face, and when they do, they will see such evidences and manifestations of the Father's Love that they will know that they and their sinning brothers are all sons of the Father, although one may be an heir to the Celestial Kingdom and the Divine Essence of the Father, while the other may be an heir only to the pure love of the Father, to bless and make them happy in the pure natural love and perfect manhood which the so-called Adam possessed before his fall.
I must stop now, but in doing so say, that you must not let what any of these orthodox believers may say disturb your faith in our communications, for they know only what the Bible tells them, and you know the truths that we declare. I will soon come and write to you a message of truth that I have been waiting sometime to write.Believe that I love you and am with you, praying for you and helping you with my influence.
Good night, and may the Father bless you.
Your brother and friend,
Jesus
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Jesus.
I was with you tonight at the meeting and heard what the preacher said, and he declared some truths, and also said some things that were not true. He said: "Only those who have been converted are sons of God."
All men are the children of God, and His Love and care are over all, and they are very dear to Him, otherwise He would not have rebestowed His Love upon them and given them the privilege of becoming inhabitants of His Celestial Kingdom.
The mere fact that they are sinners makes them no less His children, who He is so anxious to redeem and fill with the Divine Love, and when the preacher says: "They who are sinners are not the sons of God," he does not declare the truth, for they are all His sons - some to enjoy the pure life and bliss which the purification of their natural love will bring to them, and others to enjoy and inhabit the Celestial Kingdom which the New Birth will bring to them.
But all are His sons, though some have wandered and become strangers to His Love, just as was the prodigal son who left his father's house for a far country. This doctrine of the sinful not being sons of God is a damnable and harmful doctrine and will cause many to give up hope of ever becoming anything else than the sons of perdition - or as these orthodox say - of the devil.
The Father's mercy is for all, and if certain of His children do not choose to seek and receive the Divine Love which, when possessed, will make angels of them, yet they are His sons and will, in the fullness of time or before the time of the great consummation, become pure and happy beings as were the first parents before the fall.
And while this preacher has a great amount of the Divine Love in his soul, and is earnestly and in the right way seeking for more, yet his beliefs and teachings as to the destiny and future condition of those who may receive this Love and become at-one with the Father are all wrong and will tend to retard his own progress in the development of his soul and in his advancement towards the Kingdom of God.
He, of course, is possessed of these beliefs because of his study and construction of some of the declarations of the Bible and, therefore, is not teaching what he does not believe or what, to his own conscience, is false. Nevertheless, it is false and he will have to suffer the consequences of such false beliefs and teachings.
Ignorance, while it will not relieve him from its consequences, and neither will it invoke the penalties of the law that apply to the willful deceiver or teacher of false doctrines, yet neither will it excuse him or relieve him from the penalties of that law which demands the truth, and only the truth to be believed and taught. He will have to get rid of these false beliefs, even though he may have some of the Divine in his soul; for whenever there exists untruth in belief in the heart and soul of man to that extent it interferes with the inflowing of the Love into and the progress of that soul towards perfect unity with the Father.
Truth is of itself a fact. It can have no affiliation with untruth, no matter that untruth is the result of ignorance, for all untruth is the result of ignorance, and must be eradicated from the hearts of men before there can be that harmony between God and man which the very nature of truth itself requires. So that if no man could be the son of God, who has not the perfect harmony which truth absolutely demands, God would have no sons amongst men. The condition of the sinner and that of the man who has experienced the New Birth differs only in the fact that one has not commenced to have in his soul the essence of Truth, while the other, to an extent, has that essence. All may have that essence, and to a great abundance. Some may never have the essence of Divine Truth, yet no man will be left without the essence of the truth which leads to the perfect man. The truth of the angel existence, and the truth of the perfect man are equally truths, though the former is of a higher degree and nature than the other.
Our first parents were the children of God - His own creatures - good and perfect, and after their fall they became no less His children, for His love was so great for them that in the fullness of perfection of His plans He again bestowed upon them the privilege of receiving His Divine Love, and sent me to proclaim the fact and to show men the way to obtain that great love. The death that had existed for all the long centuries was supplanted by life potential, and I became the way, the truth and the life, and immortality became a possibility to men. So that, all men are the sons of God in one relation or the other; depending in the one case whether a man will turn from his sins and be satisfied with the perfection of his natural love and the home that belongs to the perfect man, or seeks for the inflowing into his soul the divine love which will enable him to enter the Divine Heavens and have the certainty of immortality.
When God rebestowed this Divine Love on man, there was no man in existence, or spirit either, who could be called His son, if it were necessary that he had been converted as the preacher said, because none had received this love which is the only thing or power in all God's universe that can convert a man dead in trespass and sin: yet God loved all His children and conferred upon them this great gift, because they were His children. If God had loved only the righteous there would have been no one who could have been the object of His bounty. He would have had no sons or children of His love. And now that He has rebestowed this gift, and some of the sons of men have received and possess it, and are more in harmony with Him, it is not true that those who were His sons and children before its bestowal are any less His sons and children, because they may not have sought and made this gift their own.
No, the Father's Love is so great and broad and deep, that it goes out to all the children of earth, waiting to bestow it upon them, and the lost sheep is as much His child as the ninety and nine who are safe in the fold, and although the lost one may never find or enter the fold, where those are that possess His Divine Love are sheltered, yet that sheep remains and is the object of His love.
So let preachers and others, who have assumed the responsibility of teaching men the truths of the Father, cease from proclaiming the doctrine that only those who have received the new birth are the sons of God. They, of course, are not His obedient sons until they have obtained either the Divine Love and Essence of the Father, or the purity of the first parents before the fall, but yet they are His, even though defiled by their own creations of sin and error.
God is Love and Love knows no limitations in its heights or depths. It exists in the highest Heavens, and reaches to the lowest hells, and will in its own way and in its own time work its own fulfillment. All men will come into harmony with the will of the Father, which is perfect, and even though some, and I may say the majority of men, will not accept the invitation to become angels of His Celestial Kingdom, which is not compulsory, yet they do His will by becoming in the future, near or far, free from the sin and error of their own creation, and pure and perfect as were they, whom the Father first created and pronounced good.
Man's greatest enemy to man is he, who having received the assurance of possessing the Divine Love, and thereby becoming as it were, a divine son of the Father, and who believes in the errors of the Bible and the misinterpretations of its truths, declares that all others of mankind are hated of God, and are objects of His wrath, and certain of eternal damnation and everlasting torment. It is deplorable that such beliefs and such declarations should exist and continue to be made, especially on the part of those who undertake to lead the masses in the way to God's truths and plans for men's happiness, and redemption from the evils and sins that cause them so much suffering.
But all this shows the power and blindness of belief founded upon error and untruthful teachings. And strange as it may seem, these leaders of the ignorant may have some of the Divine Love in their souls, and yet their mental and intellectual beliefs be so fixed and unmoveable that the possession of this love will not cause them to understand that the Father's love is for all, and that wrath is not a part of His being, but a quality of sinful man that these believers in error attribute to Him.
If God may be said to hate anything, He hates sin, but He loves the sinner, who is the creature of His will, and who is so unfortunate as to have created that which defiles him and to wander away, not only from the Father, but from his own perfect and pure creation.
Well, I have written enough for tonight and I hope that what I have said may prove beneficial not only to the sinner, but to the man, preacher, or layman, who possessing some of the Divine Love, proclaims that only he or others like him, are the sons of God.
As Paul said, "They see through a glass darkly," but then they shall see face to face, and when they do, they will see such evidences and manifestations of the Father's Love that they will know that they and their sinning brothers are all sons of the Father, although one may be an heir to the Celestial Kingdom and the Divine Essence of the Father, while the other may be an heir only to the pure love of the Father, to bless and make them happy in the pure natural love and perfect manhood which the so-called Adam possessed before his fall.
I must stop now, but in doing so say, that you must not let what any of these orthodox believers may say disturb your faith in our communications, for they know only what the Bible tells them, and you know the truths that we declare. I will soon come and write to you a message of truth that I have been waiting sometime to write.Believe that I love you and am with you, praying for you and helping you with my influence.
Good night, and may the Father bless you.
Your brother and friend,
Jesus
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Jesus Writes Further on How a Mortal May Obtain the Development of His Soul Condition Without the Help of the Divine Love
June 17, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Jesus.
I see that you are in better condition tonight, and it may be that we can continue the message.
Well, as I was saying, the only way in which a mortal may obtain the development of his soul condition, without the help of the Divine Love, is by attempting to exercise his will in the way that will cause the thoughts of evil and error to leave him, and to be replaced by thoughts that will bring his heart and soul into harmony with the laws of his creation as mere man. This can be done by his seeking for those higher things of morality, and the subordinating of the purely animal desires and appetites of the mortal to the aspirations and desires of the higher and nobler part of his nature.
As I have before told you, man was pure and good until he, by the exercise of his will following the suggestions of the animal desires, permitted himself to degenerate from the high and perfect condition of his creation. These sins and desires do not belong to his original nature, for his true nature was pure and in harmony with the Laws of God. And although he has lost it by the excessive and wrongful exercise of his will, obeying the desires of his animal nature; yet he can recover his condition of original purity and harmony, if he will get rid of these sins and errors, so that his nature may again become free from everything that defiles it, or places it out of harmony with the laws that created it.
So you see, it is not necessary for man to obtain, or add to his original condition, any qualities that were not his in the beginning, but merely to get rid of or eradicate from that condition those things which are mere excrescences or parasites - and thereby have his nature in the same condition that was his when he was created and was the perfect man.
So long a time has the nature or condition of the nature of man been in this state of defilement and alienation from the true condition of his creation, that the effort to bring about the restoration will necessarily be great, and he will have to use all his power of will that he is capable of to effectuate this object, and he will find in such efforts two conflicting forces, always fighting each other for the mastery.
The fact that he believes his present condition is the natural one, and that the state and purity and freedom from sin and error is one that does not belong to him naturally, but must be acquired by adding something to what he now has and always possessed, will make the fight more uneven.
Therefore, the first things that man must believe is that his present condition is not his natural one, and that he has nothing more or greater to accomplish than to relieve himself of those things which prevent his condition from becoming as it was when he was the perfect man. If he will get this belief firmly fixed in his mind, and assert that he was made by God, and that God never created anything impure or not in harmony with His laws, he, man, will have accomplished the first step towards his regeneration and towards success in his effort.
He must not consider himself to be a weak, low and unworthy creature of God, not being entitled to those conditions of purity and greatness which made him the beloved child of the Father. Of course, self-esteem and pride and everything of that nature must be eliminated from the estimate that he must have of himself, but on the contrary the idea that he is a degenerated and utterly helpless being must not be permitted to enter his mind. Such thoughts do not make him pleasing to God, as he has been taught they do, but only make him subservient to his masters - sin and error - and prevent him from asserting his own superiority to these things, which is necessary to exist in his conception of his true condition in order that he may obtain the ascendancy over those masters.
When he shall have assumed this position, then he will realize that these animal appetites and desires and evil thoughts, which arise from them and from the belief that he is by nature degraded and unworthy of a better and higher condition of nature, are really beings of his own creation and subject to his will and self control and total destruction. And with such realization will come a consciousness that they are not parts of his nature, but foreign to it; and in order that his nature may become separated from them, he must look upon them as enemies and treat them as such, to be destroyed and utterly extinguished, and never more to be taken to his bosom and cherished as inalienable and dominant parts of his nature.
Of course, in treating them as such enemies, great watchfulness and determination will have to be exercised, for they are very insidious and will at all times and in all ways, whenever the opportunity arises, try to convince him that they are an integral and necessary part of his being, incapable of being separated from him. But by the exercise of this belief, based upon a right conception of what is and what is not a part of him as the perfect man, and by the exercise of his will power in accordance with this conception, he will be able to rescue himself from these unnatural appetites and desires and thoughts of error and sin.
As this belief becomes stronger and this conception clearer, and his will exercised in closer harmony with the two essentials, these excrescences will gradually and one by one fall away from him until, at last, he will rise again - the perfect man - with the pure and harmonious nature which God gave him at the time of his creation.
But this process will be slow and sometimes hardly perceptible, for the long years of misbelief in the idea of original sin, and that God created evil and error for the purpose of defiling man's nature and making a disobedient devil of him, without any inherent goodness or the possibility of becoming regenerated, unless by the operation of some miracle, will make it difficult for the acquiring of the true belief as to what he, and what his nature are and enable him to become the master and not remain the servant.
God is the Father of all, and loves all His children, and as He originally provided for their happiness, so now He desires that all may be happy, even though they may not seek for that Divine Love which makes mortals and spirits more than the mere perfect man.
Forgiveness is, in effect, forgetfulness; and when men in their efforts cause all these things of evil and sin to cease being a part of their nature, and only thoughts of purity and righteousness to find a lodgment in their minds, then these other things are forgotten and forgiveness has taken place. Man no longer is the slave of false beliefs and unrighteousness, nor is he their associates, and even in memory they become things of nonexistence; and when he gets into this condition of purity and freedom and in harmony with the laws of his creation, there exists nothing which can be the object of forgiveness, and he is the man of perfect creation.
But in all this man must realize that he does not exist by and for himself alone, for always he is surrounded by mortals or spirits or both, exercising upon him their influence for good or evil; helping him to turn his thoughts from these things of evil and sin into those higher things which are his by nature, or causing him to receive and foster these evil thoughts with increased intensity. He cannot get rid of these influences, of one kind or the other and, hence, he should seek the influence of those who are good and desire to help him in his efforts towards the recovery of that condition which is his by right of birth.
Among God's Laws, which never change and which work impartially, is the great Law of Attraction; and it works in the case of all mortals and spirits and never rests. And the great principle of this Law is that "like attracts like" and the "unlike repulses the unlike." So man must know that as he is - I mean in his state of mind and soul - so necessarily will be his companions of those who desire his association and, hence, he should realize this important truth and all that it implies.
If his thoughts and deeds are evil, he will attract those spirits or mortals who have similar thoughts and deeds, and who will not help him to higher things, but who will retard his progress towards his first estate; and if his thoughts and deeds are good, then his associates will only be those of like qualities, who can and will help him in his progress.
Every effort to create good thoughts strengthens the desires and will in that direction and assists the coming of other good thoughts, for with these efforts comes the help of these unseen influences and the repulsion of the influences of the retarding forces.
Man is a wonderful being and the highest creation of the Father, and yet his greatest master is his belief in the power and supremacy of these things of evil of his own creation. But beyond all this, a means to accomplish man's restitution to his perfect estate, is the help of the Father, which is never refused when man seeks for it in earnest sincere prayer. Always the Father is willing to respond to the true prayers of man, and by His instrumentalities, will make the efforts of man sure and effective, so that he can acquire that condition that will free him from all sin and error and slavery of false belief in the mastery of his evil creatures.
Man must believe in the love and help of the Father, in the manhood and greatness of himself, and in the utter error of his belief in the mastery of his own children of sin and error.
I have written enough and must stop as you are tired. So assuring you of my love for you and my care and help, I will say good night.
Your brother and friend,
Jesus
**********
Helen Writes a Short Note.
I am here, your own true and loving Helen.
Well, my own dear Ned, you have had a very entertaining letter from the Master tonight, and I am glad that you were in condition to receive it so well. He said that you were very successful and he is pleased.
Good night.
Your own true and loving,
Helen
**********
Martin Luther Writes a Short Message.
I am here, Luther.
I come tonight to say that I would like to write again very soon, as I desire to write further in the line of thought of my last message. I see that you are too tired to write tonight and I will not ask you to do so, but if you can soon give me the opportunity to write, I will be much obliged.
Yes, I know, and I enjoyed his message and believe that it will be readily understood. What a Master he is! So beautiful and powerful and loving.
Your brother in Christ,
Luther
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Jesus.
I see that you are in better condition tonight, and it may be that we can continue the message.
Well, as I was saying, the only way in which a mortal may obtain the development of his soul condition, without the help of the Divine Love, is by attempting to exercise his will in the way that will cause the thoughts of evil and error to leave him, and to be replaced by thoughts that will bring his heart and soul into harmony with the laws of his creation as mere man. This can be done by his seeking for those higher things of morality, and the subordinating of the purely animal desires and appetites of the mortal to the aspirations and desires of the higher and nobler part of his nature.
As I have before told you, man was pure and good until he, by the exercise of his will following the suggestions of the animal desires, permitted himself to degenerate from the high and perfect condition of his creation. These sins and desires do not belong to his original nature, for his true nature was pure and in harmony with the Laws of God. And although he has lost it by the excessive and wrongful exercise of his will, obeying the desires of his animal nature; yet he can recover his condition of original purity and harmony, if he will get rid of these sins and errors, so that his nature may again become free from everything that defiles it, or places it out of harmony with the laws that created it.
So you see, it is not necessary for man to obtain, or add to his original condition, any qualities that were not his in the beginning, but merely to get rid of or eradicate from that condition those things which are mere excrescences or parasites - and thereby have his nature in the same condition that was his when he was created and was the perfect man.
So long a time has the nature or condition of the nature of man been in this state of defilement and alienation from the true condition of his creation, that the effort to bring about the restoration will necessarily be great, and he will have to use all his power of will that he is capable of to effectuate this object, and he will find in such efforts two conflicting forces, always fighting each other for the mastery.
The fact that he believes his present condition is the natural one, and that the state and purity and freedom from sin and error is one that does not belong to him naturally, but must be acquired by adding something to what he now has and always possessed, will make the fight more uneven.
Therefore, the first things that man must believe is that his present condition is not his natural one, and that he has nothing more or greater to accomplish than to relieve himself of those things which prevent his condition from becoming as it was when he was the perfect man. If he will get this belief firmly fixed in his mind, and assert that he was made by God, and that God never created anything impure or not in harmony with His laws, he, man, will have accomplished the first step towards his regeneration and towards success in his effort.
He must not consider himself to be a weak, low and unworthy creature of God, not being entitled to those conditions of purity and greatness which made him the beloved child of the Father. Of course, self-esteem and pride and everything of that nature must be eliminated from the estimate that he must have of himself, but on the contrary the idea that he is a degenerated and utterly helpless being must not be permitted to enter his mind. Such thoughts do not make him pleasing to God, as he has been taught they do, but only make him subservient to his masters - sin and error - and prevent him from asserting his own superiority to these things, which is necessary to exist in his conception of his true condition in order that he may obtain the ascendancy over those masters.
When he shall have assumed this position, then he will realize that these animal appetites and desires and evil thoughts, which arise from them and from the belief that he is by nature degraded and unworthy of a better and higher condition of nature, are really beings of his own creation and subject to his will and self control and total destruction. And with such realization will come a consciousness that they are not parts of his nature, but foreign to it; and in order that his nature may become separated from them, he must look upon them as enemies and treat them as such, to be destroyed and utterly extinguished, and never more to be taken to his bosom and cherished as inalienable and dominant parts of his nature.
Of course, in treating them as such enemies, great watchfulness and determination will have to be exercised, for they are very insidious and will at all times and in all ways, whenever the opportunity arises, try to convince him that they are an integral and necessary part of his being, incapable of being separated from him. But by the exercise of this belief, based upon a right conception of what is and what is not a part of him as the perfect man, and by the exercise of his will power in accordance with this conception, he will be able to rescue himself from these unnatural appetites and desires and thoughts of error and sin.
As this belief becomes stronger and this conception clearer, and his will exercised in closer harmony with the two essentials, these excrescences will gradually and one by one fall away from him until, at last, he will rise again - the perfect man - with the pure and harmonious nature which God gave him at the time of his creation.
But this process will be slow and sometimes hardly perceptible, for the long years of misbelief in the idea of original sin, and that God created evil and error for the purpose of defiling man's nature and making a disobedient devil of him, without any inherent goodness or the possibility of becoming regenerated, unless by the operation of some miracle, will make it difficult for the acquiring of the true belief as to what he, and what his nature are and enable him to become the master and not remain the servant.
God is the Father of all, and loves all His children, and as He originally provided for their happiness, so now He desires that all may be happy, even though they may not seek for that Divine Love which makes mortals and spirits more than the mere perfect man.
Forgiveness is, in effect, forgetfulness; and when men in their efforts cause all these things of evil and sin to cease being a part of their nature, and only thoughts of purity and righteousness to find a lodgment in their minds, then these other things are forgotten and forgiveness has taken place. Man no longer is the slave of false beliefs and unrighteousness, nor is he their associates, and even in memory they become things of nonexistence; and when he gets into this condition of purity and freedom and in harmony with the laws of his creation, there exists nothing which can be the object of forgiveness, and he is the man of perfect creation.
But in all this man must realize that he does not exist by and for himself alone, for always he is surrounded by mortals or spirits or both, exercising upon him their influence for good or evil; helping him to turn his thoughts from these things of evil and sin into those higher things which are his by nature, or causing him to receive and foster these evil thoughts with increased intensity. He cannot get rid of these influences, of one kind or the other and, hence, he should seek the influence of those who are good and desire to help him in his efforts towards the recovery of that condition which is his by right of birth.
Among God's Laws, which never change and which work impartially, is the great Law of Attraction; and it works in the case of all mortals and spirits and never rests. And the great principle of this Law is that "like attracts like" and the "unlike repulses the unlike." So man must know that as he is - I mean in his state of mind and soul - so necessarily will be his companions of those who desire his association and, hence, he should realize this important truth and all that it implies.
If his thoughts and deeds are evil, he will attract those spirits or mortals who have similar thoughts and deeds, and who will not help him to higher things, but who will retard his progress towards his first estate; and if his thoughts and deeds are good, then his associates will only be those of like qualities, who can and will help him in his progress.
Every effort to create good thoughts strengthens the desires and will in that direction and assists the coming of other good thoughts, for with these efforts comes the help of these unseen influences and the repulsion of the influences of the retarding forces.
Man is a wonderful being and the highest creation of the Father, and yet his greatest master is his belief in the power and supremacy of these things of evil of his own creation. But beyond all this, a means to accomplish man's restitution to his perfect estate, is the help of the Father, which is never refused when man seeks for it in earnest sincere prayer. Always the Father is willing to respond to the true prayers of man, and by His instrumentalities, will make the efforts of man sure and effective, so that he can acquire that condition that will free him from all sin and error and slavery of false belief in the mastery of his evil creatures.
Man must believe in the love and help of the Father, in the manhood and greatness of himself, and in the utter error of his belief in the mastery of his own children of sin and error.
I have written enough and must stop as you are tired. So assuring you of my love for you and my care and help, I will say good night.
Your brother and friend,
Jesus
**********
Helen Writes a Short Note.
I am here, your own true and loving Helen.
Well, my own dear Ned, you have had a very entertaining letter from the Master tonight, and I am glad that you were in condition to receive it so well. He said that you were very successful and he is pleased.
Good night.
Your own true and loving,
Helen
**********
Martin Luther Writes a Short Message.
I am here, Luther.
I come tonight to say that I would like to write again very soon, as I desire to write further in the line of thought of my last message. I see that you are too tired to write tonight and I will not ask you to do so, but if you can soon give me the opportunity to write, I will be much obliged.
Yes, I know, and I enjoyed his message and believe that it will be readily understood. What a Master he is! So beautiful and powerful and loving.
Your brother in Christ,
Luther
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Luke Writes About the Doctrine of Original Sin and the Principle Involved in "Whosoever Will"
April 27, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Luke.
I have not written you for some time and desire to write a short message tonight on the subject of: "What is necessary for a man to do to recover the purity of soul and love that was possessed by the first parents - I mean as a man possessing the natural love only."
Well, in the first place, he should realize that he is a perfect creature of God, and that his sins and diseases are merely the results of his own thoughts and of qualities that have come to him down the long ages of his ancestors living on earth.
He need not suppose that these sins and desires are inherent in or a part of his creation, for they are not, but merely accretions that fastened themselves upon him by reason of the thoughts he has had and the resultant course of life he has led, and when he changes these thoughts, which will necessarily bring about a change in his manner of living, he will find that he can progress toward the condition of the perfect man.
I know that many of these thoughts are so deep seated that they seem almost a part of his very nature and can only be eradicated by the death of his physical body; but this is not true, for man, even while in the full vigor of his manhood and possessed with all the appetites and desires, which arise from the perverted indulgence of these desires either on the part of himself or on the part of those from whom he is said to have inherited them, may relieve himself from these desires and become a man having only the thoughts of good and desires for those things, which are in harmony with the nature of his perfect creation.
This I know seems to man a thing impossible and so thinking, he does not try to accomplish what I say he may accomplish and to become free from these sins and unnatural appetites. The almost universal belief in original sin has caused men - all along the ages - to think that such a task is hopeless, and that they are thinking and acting only in accordance with the appetites and desires that God has implanted in their natures, and that so long as they indulge these thoughts and desires in a moderate or respectable way, they are not doing that which is contrary to God's Will or to their own nature.
But this doctrine of original sin is a mocking, damnable lie, and the sooner man realizes the fact that it is a fraud and deceit, the sooner he will be able to get rid of those things, which have placed him in his present condition and held him there bound, as it were, hand and foot. This supine submission to this old and ever recurring belief is the great thing that prevents man from starting to progress towards the attainment of that condition, which is purity and health and the perfect man.
Man must decline and no longer submit to this belief, which, I am sorry to say, is fostered by the teachings of the orthodox churches in order to sustain and make forcible their creeds and dogmas, and to show to man that he is not to be considered worthy of the mercy of the Father and cannot possibly obtain that mercy and be relieved from the great wrath and punishment that God has prepared for him, unless he believes and acknowledges that he is a dependent and lost man, unworthy of the Father's favor, or the help of the instrumentalities which the Father uses to assist men in regaining their lost estate.
If men would only think, and in thinking realize that they are dear children of the Father and His highest creation, and that He prizes them above all His creatures and wants them to know that they are beings of such wonderful qualities and possibilities, they would then have come to them an overpowering and convincing sense of what they really are, and of how necessary it is for them to assert their rights as such exalted creatures of the Father and would realize that they are masters of sin and disease, for they are the creators of the same.
When they shall assume such position and become possessed of such knowledge, they will find that they have a wonderful power as creatures of the Father, they will realize that they are masters of sin that must be gotten rid of.
Let men for a moment think again and thinking, know that God does not desire His greatest creature to become or be less than the perfect being that He created. He is not flattered nor does He have any pleasure in the thought that man is degraded and fallen from His perfect creation, and that in order to rise again he, man, must believe that God may show His power in rescuing him from his low and hopeless condition. No, God is not pleased by man assuming such an attitude, nor does He need any such helpless condition of man that He may show His power or gratify what the teachings of these orthodox imply, His vanity, which He has not.
In this particular, man must work out his own salvation, but it will be a difficult task so long as he continues to believe and act upon that belief, that he is a creature of original sin, and that as God in the beginning failed to make him the perfect man, so now, only God can remedy what He failed to provide in His creation, and that man of himself can do nothing; that all he has to do is to wait until God is pleased to recreate him and thereby take from his very nature this great curse of the original sin. See the great fatality of such belief and how it tends to make man a slave of and obedient to this false belief in this blight of original sin?
God gave to man, in his creation, the great power of will and the right to its unlimited exercise, subject only to the penalties of a wrongful exercise; and by the exercise of that will, man created sin and disease and became depraved and fallen, and the possessor of false beliefs as to the perfection of his nature. By the exercise of that will, man - himself - must redeem himself from this condition of depravity and false belief and again become the perfect man - God's wholly perfect creation.
As man was in the beginning the perfect son of God, and by his own will created his own and only devil, so must he - by this same power - kill this devil and again become the perfect son. He must believe and declare and show the sincerity of his beliefs by his acts and living, that he is a perfect son of the Father needing no new creation.
This I have written to show what man was in the beginning, and what he really and truly is now; although covered with sin and disease and false beliefs. To recover this lost estate or better, condition, he will find that by searching for and learning and acting upon many of the moral precepts of the Bible and of other so-called sacred writings, he will be greatly helped and strengthened in his efforts. But above all, let him understand and believe with the certainty of knowledge, that he is God's highest and most perfect creation.
Now, from what I have said, it must not be inferred that man is his own God, and has not - and needs not - any tender, loving Father, who is interested in him and always ready to help him whenever he earnestly and in sincerity asks the help of that Father. Always is man dependent upon God; but that dependence is not recognized by God, unless man first recognizes it and by his longings and thoughts shows to the Father that he needs His help.
This may seem unbelievable, but man was created so independent in his great will power, as regards the dualities of thought and desire both spiritual and material, that God never interferes to compel. The principle involved in "whosoever will" must be exercised by man before the Father will intervene. But when it is exercised, He does intervene and never refuses or fails to answer the call of the sincere cry of man for help.
And God does help man in his recovery from the state of false beliefs and degradation, that I have mentioned. His Love overshadows men, and His instrumentalities are always ready and waiting to answer the call upon Him for His help in assisting them out of their condition of sin, disease and false beliefs; for, as I have elsewhere written you, in God's universe there must be perfect harmony, and the present man, so far as his own creation of inharmony is concerned, is not in that harmony. Ultimately, man, all men, will become again the perfect man.
Of course, you will understand that what I have written does not apply to the redeemed sons of God who receive the New Birth and become partakers of the Divine Nature of the Father, for in their case, the perfect man is absorbed in the Divine Angel.
I have written longer than I intended, but as the theme is an interesting as well as important one, I thought it best to write just as I have. I will now say good night and leave with you my love and blessings.
Your brother in Christ,
Luke
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Luke.
I have not written you for some time and desire to write a short message tonight on the subject of: "What is necessary for a man to do to recover the purity of soul and love that was possessed by the first parents - I mean as a man possessing the natural love only."
Well, in the first place, he should realize that he is a perfect creature of God, and that his sins and diseases are merely the results of his own thoughts and of qualities that have come to him down the long ages of his ancestors living on earth.
He need not suppose that these sins and desires are inherent in or a part of his creation, for they are not, but merely accretions that fastened themselves upon him by reason of the thoughts he has had and the resultant course of life he has led, and when he changes these thoughts, which will necessarily bring about a change in his manner of living, he will find that he can progress toward the condition of the perfect man.
I know that many of these thoughts are so deep seated that they seem almost a part of his very nature and can only be eradicated by the death of his physical body; but this is not true, for man, even while in the full vigor of his manhood and possessed with all the appetites and desires, which arise from the perverted indulgence of these desires either on the part of himself or on the part of those from whom he is said to have inherited them, may relieve himself from these desires and become a man having only the thoughts of good and desires for those things, which are in harmony with the nature of his perfect creation.
This I know seems to man a thing impossible and so thinking, he does not try to accomplish what I say he may accomplish and to become free from these sins and unnatural appetites. The almost universal belief in original sin has caused men - all along the ages - to think that such a task is hopeless, and that they are thinking and acting only in accordance with the appetites and desires that God has implanted in their natures, and that so long as they indulge these thoughts and desires in a moderate or respectable way, they are not doing that which is contrary to God's Will or to their own nature.
But this doctrine of original sin is a mocking, damnable lie, and the sooner man realizes the fact that it is a fraud and deceit, the sooner he will be able to get rid of those things, which have placed him in his present condition and held him there bound, as it were, hand and foot. This supine submission to this old and ever recurring belief is the great thing that prevents man from starting to progress towards the attainment of that condition, which is purity and health and the perfect man.
Man must decline and no longer submit to this belief, which, I am sorry to say, is fostered by the teachings of the orthodox churches in order to sustain and make forcible their creeds and dogmas, and to show to man that he is not to be considered worthy of the mercy of the Father and cannot possibly obtain that mercy and be relieved from the great wrath and punishment that God has prepared for him, unless he believes and acknowledges that he is a dependent and lost man, unworthy of the Father's favor, or the help of the instrumentalities which the Father uses to assist men in regaining their lost estate.
If men would only think, and in thinking realize that they are dear children of the Father and His highest creation, and that He prizes them above all His creatures and wants them to know that they are beings of such wonderful qualities and possibilities, they would then have come to them an overpowering and convincing sense of what they really are, and of how necessary it is for them to assert their rights as such exalted creatures of the Father and would realize that they are masters of sin and disease, for they are the creators of the same.
When they shall assume such position and become possessed of such knowledge, they will find that they have a wonderful power as creatures of the Father, they will realize that they are masters of sin that must be gotten rid of.
Let men for a moment think again and thinking, know that God does not desire His greatest creature to become or be less than the perfect being that He created. He is not flattered nor does He have any pleasure in the thought that man is degraded and fallen from His perfect creation, and that in order to rise again he, man, must believe that God may show His power in rescuing him from his low and hopeless condition. No, God is not pleased by man assuming such an attitude, nor does He need any such helpless condition of man that He may show His power or gratify what the teachings of these orthodox imply, His vanity, which He has not.
In this particular, man must work out his own salvation, but it will be a difficult task so long as he continues to believe and act upon that belief, that he is a creature of original sin, and that as God in the beginning failed to make him the perfect man, so now, only God can remedy what He failed to provide in His creation, and that man of himself can do nothing; that all he has to do is to wait until God is pleased to recreate him and thereby take from his very nature this great curse of the original sin. See the great fatality of such belief and how it tends to make man a slave of and obedient to this false belief in this blight of original sin?
God gave to man, in his creation, the great power of will and the right to its unlimited exercise, subject only to the penalties of a wrongful exercise; and by the exercise of that will, man created sin and disease and became depraved and fallen, and the possessor of false beliefs as to the perfection of his nature. By the exercise of that will, man - himself - must redeem himself from this condition of depravity and false belief and again become the perfect man - God's wholly perfect creation.
As man was in the beginning the perfect son of God, and by his own will created his own and only devil, so must he - by this same power - kill this devil and again become the perfect son. He must believe and declare and show the sincerity of his beliefs by his acts and living, that he is a perfect son of the Father needing no new creation.
This I have written to show what man was in the beginning, and what he really and truly is now; although covered with sin and disease and false beliefs. To recover this lost estate or better, condition, he will find that by searching for and learning and acting upon many of the moral precepts of the Bible and of other so-called sacred writings, he will be greatly helped and strengthened in his efforts. But above all, let him understand and believe with the certainty of knowledge, that he is God's highest and most perfect creation.
Now, from what I have said, it must not be inferred that man is his own God, and has not - and needs not - any tender, loving Father, who is interested in him and always ready to help him whenever he earnestly and in sincerity asks the help of that Father. Always is man dependent upon God; but that dependence is not recognized by God, unless man first recognizes it and by his longings and thoughts shows to the Father that he needs His help.
This may seem unbelievable, but man was created so independent in his great will power, as regards the dualities of thought and desire both spiritual and material, that God never interferes to compel. The principle involved in "whosoever will" must be exercised by man before the Father will intervene. But when it is exercised, He does intervene and never refuses or fails to answer the call of the sincere cry of man for help.
And God does help man in his recovery from the state of false beliefs and degradation, that I have mentioned. His Love overshadows men, and His instrumentalities are always ready and waiting to answer the call upon Him for His help in assisting them out of their condition of sin, disease and false beliefs; for, as I have elsewhere written you, in God's universe there must be perfect harmony, and the present man, so far as his own creation of inharmony is concerned, is not in that harmony. Ultimately, man, all men, will become again the perfect man.
Of course, you will understand that what I have written does not apply to the redeemed sons of God who receive the New Birth and become partakers of the Divine Nature of the Father, for in their case, the perfect man is absorbed in the Divine Angel.
I have written longer than I intended, but as the theme is an interesting as well as important one, I thought it best to write just as I have. I will now say good night and leave with you my love and blessings.
Your brother in Christ,
Luke
Friday, June 14, 2013
Maurice Smith, a Brother Lawyer of James E. Padgett, Seeks His Help in Getting Out of Darkness
March 19, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Maurice Smith.
Let me say a word too. As Hay had the opportunity to write I would like to do so, also. I will not detain you long, as I merely want to let you know that I am alive. Well, I am not very happy and am in darkness and suffering and don't see any prospect of relief.
I noticed that as he left you, he was much happier than when he commenced to talk to you, and I thought that maybe you said something to help him, and that you might help me, also. I know you will, if you can.
I saw some spirit who was very bright looking, but I could not see distinctly or recognize him, and I suppose it was some acquaintance of Hay, that you had something to do with his meeting. Well, you surprise me for I did not know that Mr. Riddle was that kind of spirit. I thought that he was like the rest of us lawyers, who all seemed to be grouped together in darkness and suffering, and some say, Hell; but I don't like that word and I shall insist that I am in the darkness only, and, besides if it were Hell, I should see the devil and the fires, etc., which I have never seen.
A long time ago, as it seems to me, I saw Taggart. It must have been when he first came over, but I have not seen him for some time, as he appears to have left us.
Well, you astonish me some for I have never thought that you could help a spirit and, in fact, I am so astonished at the knowledge that I can communicate to you in the way that I do, that I am ready to believe most anything, and I assure you that I am very willing to follow your advice if there is any hope of my changing my condition for a better one.
Yes, I see some spirits, and they certainly are bright and beautiful. They must belong to another sphere, for I don't often see spirits of that kind, and when I do, they don't seem to be quite natural. But, as you have called my attention to them, I see that they are real, and they seem to have looks of love and kindness about them. And now, I see one who is not so bright or beautiful as the others; but he seems to be happy and does not have the darkness surrounding him, and he comes to me and says: "Hello, Maurice, I am glad to see you," and lo, and behold, it is Taggart!
Well, don't this beat the devil! Who would have thought that he could look as he does? And he says he is very happy and wants to help me and will tell me the way to get into a condition similar to his own, and if I want to argue the matter, he is ready to do so. The same old Taggart, ready for an argument. I wonder what he has to say? He says come with him and he will tell me, and I must go.
So thanking you, I will say good night.
Your old friend and fellow lawyer,
Maurice Smith
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Maurice Smith.
Let me say a word too. As Hay had the opportunity to write I would like to do so, also. I will not detain you long, as I merely want to let you know that I am alive. Well, I am not very happy and am in darkness and suffering and don't see any prospect of relief.
I noticed that as he left you, he was much happier than when he commenced to talk to you, and I thought that maybe you said something to help him, and that you might help me, also. I know you will, if you can.
I saw some spirit who was very bright looking, but I could not see distinctly or recognize him, and I suppose it was some acquaintance of Hay, that you had something to do with his meeting. Well, you surprise me for I did not know that Mr. Riddle was that kind of spirit. I thought that he was like the rest of us lawyers, who all seemed to be grouped together in darkness and suffering, and some say, Hell; but I don't like that word and I shall insist that I am in the darkness only, and, besides if it were Hell, I should see the devil and the fires, etc., which I have never seen.
A long time ago, as it seems to me, I saw Taggart. It must have been when he first came over, but I have not seen him for some time, as he appears to have left us.
Well, you astonish me some for I have never thought that you could help a spirit and, in fact, I am so astonished at the knowledge that I can communicate to you in the way that I do, that I am ready to believe most anything, and I assure you that I am very willing to follow your advice if there is any hope of my changing my condition for a better one.
Yes, I see some spirits, and they certainly are bright and beautiful. They must belong to another sphere, for I don't often see spirits of that kind, and when I do, they don't seem to be quite natural. But, as you have called my attention to them, I see that they are real, and they seem to have looks of love and kindness about them. And now, I see one who is not so bright or beautiful as the others; but he seems to be happy and does not have the darkness surrounding him, and he comes to me and says: "Hello, Maurice, I am glad to see you," and lo, and behold, it is Taggart!
Well, don't this beat the devil! Who would have thought that he could look as he does? And he says he is very happy and wants to help me and will tell me the way to get into a condition similar to his own, and if I want to argue the matter, he is ready to do so. The same old Taggart, ready for an argument. I wonder what he has to say? He says come with him and he will tell me, and I must go.
So thanking you, I will say good night.
Your old friend and fellow lawyer,
Maurice Smith
Monday, April 15, 2013
Jesus Writes That There Are No Such Things as Fallen Angels
January 2, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Jesus.
I come to tell you that you have not been in a very good condition of spirituality since last night when you read that book.
Well, in the first place I want to say that there are no such things as the fallen angels, or any spirits except the spirits of those who once lived as mortals, and who are living now as spirits. Of course, many of them are what may be called evil spirits, but they are not devils in the sense that the author describes them.
There never were any rebellions in Heaven of any of the Angels of God and, whenever such a thing is mentioned in the Bible, it has no foundation in fact for there never was a Seraphim or any other angel that fell and became the devil or Satan, as he is called, and you must not let your thoughts disturb your belief in our writing to you for we who profess to write to you actually do write.
I know that it is very largely believed in the churches that there are such beings as devils of whom Satan is the chief, but such belief is wholly erroneous and has worked a great injury to the cause of truth and to my teachings.
The men who teach this false doctrine will have a great sin to atone for when they come to the spirit world and especially will the author of the book you were reading and not only for this false doctrine but for others which he teaches. He will find as soon as his breath leaves the body that there is a spirit world, and that he is a living spirit and one who will find come to him the recollections of all his false teachings. I know that it may be said that he actually believes what he preaches but that fact will not alter the fact that his teachings are untrue and that he must pay the penalties of these false teachings until at last they shall no longer exist on earth.
This may seem unjust when it is considered that he may be honest in his beliefs but, as I said, on earth the man who believes these false doctrines and teaches other men to believe them will have to pay the penalties of results of these teachings, not because they injured him and not even if taught insincerely, but because they injured others and as a consequence, placed those whom he taught in a condition which is not in unison with the truth or with the laws of God. And that condition can only be reversed (reinclosed - as printed) by the truth (or knowledge of the truth) being possessed by these misguided beings. They can only come into the possession of the truth by being untaught as it were these falsehoods and being taught the truths. This will be the work of the author mentioned and all those who assist him in teaching these doctrines until all who have ever been deceived by such teachings have been shown the error of the same and brought to a knowledge of the truth.
This will arise not because of any special punishment inflicted upon him by God, but because of his realization of the great harm he has done to those who believed in and followed him in these teachings. He will need no other punishment than that of his own recollection and his conscience.
So I say, give no further heed to what you may have read and believe that I, Jesus, am actually writing to you and that all the others who claim to write are the spirits that they actually represent themselves to be.
I was with you tonight at church and heard the lecture and, while it was undoubtedly interesting to many in the audience, yet it has no basis of fact upon which to rest. The medium did not know the things that she predicted and no spirit controlled her to make the prophecies and, if such had, she would not have been able to make such predictions. The only reason that the medium had for making the prophecies were the facts that she knows now exists that will probably bring about the future as she stated it. But no reliance can be placed upon what she attempts to foretell, and if some of the things happen that she predicted, it will not be because she predicted them or because any spirit inspired her to make such predictions, but because they will be the natural effects of course that now exist or which will probably arise in the future.
Well, as to the discourse of which she spoke, she doesn't know any more nor have any greater reason to declare that such a disease will prevail in your country than you have, and she has no reasons upon which to found any such prophecy. I do not see any condition which will bring about such disease in the way that she describes it. Of course, there are men dying all the time of some disease or other and men will continue to so die and some may die of the trouble that she speaks of or of those akin to the same. But such disease will not prevail in the way that she described. So on the whole you need not give any credence to what she said in the particulars mentioned.
I have been with you a great deal today and I was glad when you went to the church of your birth this morning, while you do not believe in the wine and the bread as representing my blood and body, yet many of the people who partook of these have the Divine Love of the Father in their souls and are very close to the Kingdom and the influence that attended this service was very spiritual. Many of the spirits of mortals who had attended this church were present exercising a very spiritual influence on the worshipers and you could feel the presence of the same.
I must not write more tonight, but will say that you must trust in my love and believe that I am with you very often trying to help you and make your soul feel the great Love of the Father flowing into it.
And with my love and blessings and that of the Father, I will say good night.
Your friend and brother,
Jesus
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Jesus.
I come to tell you that you have not been in a very good condition of spirituality since last night when you read that book.
Well, in the first place I want to say that there are no such things as the fallen angels, or any spirits except the spirits of those who once lived as mortals, and who are living now as spirits. Of course, many of them are what may be called evil spirits, but they are not devils in the sense that the author describes them.
There never were any rebellions in Heaven of any of the Angels of God and, whenever such a thing is mentioned in the Bible, it has no foundation in fact for there never was a Seraphim or any other angel that fell and became the devil or Satan, as he is called, and you must not let your thoughts disturb your belief in our writing to you for we who profess to write to you actually do write.
I know that it is very largely believed in the churches that there are such beings as devils of whom Satan is the chief, but such belief is wholly erroneous and has worked a great injury to the cause of truth and to my teachings.
The men who teach this false doctrine will have a great sin to atone for when they come to the spirit world and especially will the author of the book you were reading and not only for this false doctrine but for others which he teaches. He will find as soon as his breath leaves the body that there is a spirit world, and that he is a living spirit and one who will find come to him the recollections of all his false teachings. I know that it may be said that he actually believes what he preaches but that fact will not alter the fact that his teachings are untrue and that he must pay the penalties of these false teachings until at last they shall no longer exist on earth.
This may seem unjust when it is considered that he may be honest in his beliefs but, as I said, on earth the man who believes these false doctrines and teaches other men to believe them will have to pay the penalties of results of these teachings, not because they injured him and not even if taught insincerely, but because they injured others and as a consequence, placed those whom he taught in a condition which is not in unison with the truth or with the laws of God. And that condition can only be reversed (reinclosed - as printed) by the truth (or knowledge of the truth) being possessed by these misguided beings. They can only come into the possession of the truth by being untaught as it were these falsehoods and being taught the truths. This will be the work of the author mentioned and all those who assist him in teaching these doctrines until all who have ever been deceived by such teachings have been shown the error of the same and brought to a knowledge of the truth.
This will arise not because of any special punishment inflicted upon him by God, but because of his realization of the great harm he has done to those who believed in and followed him in these teachings. He will need no other punishment than that of his own recollection and his conscience.
So I say, give no further heed to what you may have read and believe that I, Jesus, am actually writing to you and that all the others who claim to write are the spirits that they actually represent themselves to be.
I was with you tonight at church and heard the lecture and, while it was undoubtedly interesting to many in the audience, yet it has no basis of fact upon which to rest. The medium did not know the things that she predicted and no spirit controlled her to make the prophecies and, if such had, she would not have been able to make such predictions. The only reason that the medium had for making the prophecies were the facts that she knows now exists that will probably bring about the future as she stated it. But no reliance can be placed upon what she attempts to foretell, and if some of the things happen that she predicted, it will not be because she predicted them or because any spirit inspired her to make such predictions, but because they will be the natural effects of course that now exist or which will probably arise in the future.
Well, as to the discourse of which she spoke, she doesn't know any more nor have any greater reason to declare that such a disease will prevail in your country than you have, and she has no reasons upon which to found any such prophecy. I do not see any condition which will bring about such disease in the way that she describes it. Of course, there are men dying all the time of some disease or other and men will continue to so die and some may die of the trouble that she speaks of or of those akin to the same. But such disease will not prevail in the way that she described. So on the whole you need not give any credence to what she said in the particulars mentioned.
I have been with you a great deal today and I was glad when you went to the church of your birth this morning, while you do not believe in the wine and the bread as representing my blood and body, yet many of the people who partook of these have the Divine Love of the Father in their souls and are very close to the Kingdom and the influence that attended this service was very spiritual. Many of the spirits of mortals who had attended this church were present exercising a very spiritual influence on the worshipers and you could feel the presence of the same.
I must not write more tonight, but will say that you must trust in my love and believe that I am with you very often trying to help you and make your soul feel the great Love of the Father flowing into it.
And with my love and blessings and that of the Father, I will say good night.
Your friend and brother,
Jesus
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Inaladocie, an Ancient Spirit, Writes of His Beliefs When on Earth, but Now Lives in the Celestial Spheres and is a Follower of Jesus
September 25, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington D.C.
I am a spirit who has never written you before, and would not now, except that I have the opportunity to tell you of some things that you may not know. I am a spirit who lived as a man when the earth was young, and men had not become so filled with sin and error and all those evil things which cause so much unhappiness on earth.
In my time men had not the ambition and greed for accumulating worldly possessions that they have now and, consequently, worth - individual interior worth - determined a man's standing in our community and his real character before us.
I don't want to write much at this my first coming, as I desire to come again and write. I am not able to tell you how many thousand of years ago I lived, but it was before the time of the Bible description of creation.
I now live in the Celestial Spheres, for I am a Christian and a follower of Jesus.
I was an Indian and lived in the Himalaya mountain country, far removed from where your large cities now are. We were pastoral people and hunters. We were followers of our own doctrines, which were not those of any sect or people that you know of. My race is not now in existence and the teachings of our seers have never been preserved.
My name was Inaladocie. I was a ruler of my people when I lived on earth. We believed in one God only, and in doing justice to our fellow man. We did not believe in any possible blood atonement or in any Messiah to come who would save us by his death and sufferings.
We had our creeds, too, and elaborate ceremonies and even sacrifices, but these were not exercised to avert the wrath of any angry God; but rather to preserve us from the evil influences and harm of a Devil. We loved God, but feared the Devil. Now, I know how the plan of salvation teaches no such doctrine of sacrifice and vicarious atonement.
I must stop now, so good night.
Inaladocie
Received by James Padgett
Washington D.C.
I am a spirit who has never written you before, and would not now, except that I have the opportunity to tell you of some things that you may not know. I am a spirit who lived as a man when the earth was young, and men had not become so filled with sin and error and all those evil things which cause so much unhappiness on earth.
In my time men had not the ambition and greed for accumulating worldly possessions that they have now and, consequently, worth - individual interior worth - determined a man's standing in our community and his real character before us.
I don't want to write much at this my first coming, as I desire to come again and write. I am not able to tell you how many thousand of years ago I lived, but it was before the time of the Bible description of creation.
I now live in the Celestial Spheres, for I am a Christian and a follower of Jesus.
I was an Indian and lived in the Himalaya mountain country, far removed from where your large cities now are. We were pastoral people and hunters. We were followers of our own doctrines, which were not those of any sect or people that you know of. My race is not now in existence and the teachings of our seers have never been preserved.
My name was Inaladocie. I was a ruler of my people when I lived on earth. We believed in one God only, and in doing justice to our fellow man. We did not believe in any possible blood atonement or in any Messiah to come who would save us by his death and sufferings.
We had our creeds, too, and elaborate ceremonies and even sacrifices, but these were not exercised to avert the wrath of any angry God; but rather to preserve us from the evil influences and harm of a Devil. We loved God, but feared the Devil. Now, I know how the plan of salvation teaches no such doctrine of sacrifice and vicarious atonement.
I must stop now, so good night.
Inaladocie
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Jesus Writes That People Have Received Divine Love Even Though Their Belief That His Blood Saves Sin is Wrong
September 19, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Jesus.
I heard the discussion between you and the other man about my blood saving from sin, and I felt that you were not benefited by what was said, because his faith is based on ignorance of the true plan of salvation and my mission on earth.
But he is so firmly fixed in his belief that no argument that you might make would convince him that anything but my death and atonement could save from sin. So I do not think it would do any good to attempt to argue with any of these people in reference to the matter of my blood as the means of salvation.
They have received the Divine Love to a considerable degree and the Holy Spirit is with them in their worship and is in their hearts, but it does not come to them by reason of their belief in my atonement, but because they pray to the Father for its coming and making them a new being so far as their soul development is concerned. They do not know that only the flowing of this Divine Love into their hearts in answer to prayer is what gives them this New Birth.
They think that my blood has something, or rather that it is the great and only cause of this New Birth and they will continue to think so. I would not let this matter deter you from attending their meetings because, as I have said, the spirit is present with them. Of course, they will learn differently when they come to the spirit world and see that I am not God.
Yes, I know that is what all the orthodox believe but that does not make it a fact, for no devil ever comes and teaches the things that I have written you.
I will not write more now. So with the assurance that I am with you very often, and that I will guide you in the ways of truth, I will stop.
Your brother and friend,
Jesus
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Jesus.
I heard the discussion between you and the other man about my blood saving from sin, and I felt that you were not benefited by what was said, because his faith is based on ignorance of the true plan of salvation and my mission on earth.
But he is so firmly fixed in his belief that no argument that you might make would convince him that anything but my death and atonement could save from sin. So I do not think it would do any good to attempt to argue with any of these people in reference to the matter of my blood as the means of salvation.
They have received the Divine Love to a considerable degree and the Holy Spirit is with them in their worship and is in their hearts, but it does not come to them by reason of their belief in my atonement, but because they pray to the Father for its coming and making them a new being so far as their soul development is concerned. They do not know that only the flowing of this Divine Love into their hearts in answer to prayer is what gives them this New Birth.
They think that my blood has something, or rather that it is the great and only cause of this New Birth and they will continue to think so. I would not let this matter deter you from attending their meetings because, as I have said, the spirit is present with them. Of course, they will learn differently when they come to the spirit world and see that I am not God.
Yes, I know that is what all the orthodox believe but that does not make it a fact, for no devil ever comes and teaches the things that I have written you.
I will not write more now. So with the assurance that I am with you very often, and that I will guide you in the ways of truth, I will stop.
Your brother and friend,
Jesus
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Robert Ingersoll Writes That He Knows Nothing About Divine Love, But is Willing to Learn the Truth
August 5, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Robert G. Ingersoll.
I am a spirit who when on earth taught men that the only salvation required for them was good deeds and kind hearts, and that the Bible, outside of its moral precepts, was not worthy of belief, that many of its sayings were untrue, and that all of its teachings as to belief and faith were not worthy of consideration.
I was perfectly sincere in what I taught and thought and, hence, I don't feel that I was guilty of any very great sin, although I have now changed some of my beliefs, or better, thoughts. I did not believe that Jesus ever really lived, as was set forth in the Bible, and I certainly did not believe in a vicarious atonement, or any salvation through blood or propitiation of an angry God. Neither did I believe in any New Birth or in any of the doctrines of St. John having reference to a soul being redeemed; but believed that every man's future state, should there be a future state, depended upon his deeds of love and mercy towards his fellow man.
I believed that God was not to be worshiped or consulted, neither would He, nor could He, save a man from anything that might tend to make him unhappy; but that man's love for one another was the great thing that would determine his condition in the future life, should such life exist.
I did not deny that there would be a future life. I merely didn't know anything about it and, hence, all my teachings were directed to making men live on earth in a way that would bring to them happiness while mortals. And my foundation stone, as it were, was love, one towards another. And with this went love, kindness and forgiveness and good feeling and fair dealing. Especially did I emphasize the necessity for love at home.
I am still of the opinion that these qualities, if possessed and expressed in action, will make men happier, make the world better, and finally do away with evil and distress.
I now see, though, that there is a future life and that men who would enjoy the greatest happiness in this future life must not only have this love and kindness for one another, but must also seek the Love of God, and believe that God is a Father of Love and believe that He is interested in the soul of each individual man.
I am in the Fourth Sphere and have much happiness in my intellectual pursuits and in my love of my fellow man, and am trying to help them get the best out of life on earth. I do not yet believe in the teachings of those parts of the Bible which, in effect, say that you must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ in order to be saved, for I do not believe that any mere belief will save a man from anything. I know that many here believe that Jesus is the saviour of men, as taught by the orthodox churches, but I think that such spirits are as much mistaken as were those who believed the same doctrine when on earth.
I consider myself as saved. I have not found any hell as taught by the churches, although each man has to pay the penalties for his evil deeds done on earth, and many men are suffering here since they became spirits. I will confess that I was somewhat surprised to see that spirits who did not live correct lives on earth are suffering very serious tortures; but this I suppose is the effect of the law that demands a penalty for every violation of its command.
But I do not understand that this suffering will have to continue forever, or that the state of these men is fixed. Progression is the law of the spirit world, and I cannot conceive that any spirit will remain the same through all eternity. To me, the great satisfaction is that there is no orthodox hell and no devil to punish the wicked. I am myself not entirely satisfied that the condition of those who suffer from their evil deeds may not last a long time, as I am told that many of these spirits have been in a condition of suffering for a long time.
Well, I am satisfied with the condition that I am in, and in the possibility of progression, and I need not the teachings of the spirits who profess to have knowledge of a higher love that brings happiness of a kind that enables them to enjoy supreme bliss. Such spirits, I believe, are those who had the old ideas of the churches, against which I taught. I was not compelled to undergo such suffering when I came into the spirit world or to endure much darkness; but I suppose there were some deeds which I had to pay the penalties for and, hence, I had to suffer some. But as my love for all mankind was my principle and feeling when on earth, this love gives me a position which I now enjoy.
I could write much longer, but I will not do so tonight, and will come again sometime and explain some of the laws of the spirit world.
I am Robert G. Ingersoll and was called an infidel.
Well, my friend, that is a very astounding proposition, and you must be either a very ignorant man or a very self-conceited one to make such a statement. Well, as to the last statement, you are right. I have an open mind and am willing to learn any truth that may be presented to me in such a way as to convince me that it is a truth. You are stating things of which I have no knowledge, and which I do not believe to be true. I have thought a great deal of God and believe in a God, but as to this Divine Love, I have never heard of it nor ever thought of it.
I know of no love but the love for man, and that means spirit for spirit, and a certain love of God for man. But as to a Love that makes one partake of divinity, I have never heard. And as to the New Birth that you speak of, I don't believe in it any more than I did on earth. To me it seems foolishness. What is there about me or any other spirit to be Born Again? You might probably say that when I left my body and became a spirit I was born again, and in a sense that is true, but when you tell me that I must be Born Again and that by such birth I will become a partaker of divinity, I cannot believe what you say or understand what you mean.
Well, you state your proposition very fairly and very clearly, and I must say that I am impressed with what you say, and it might be that you are right. At any rate, I will keep an open mind and will stand ready to hear any argument from you or any spirit that you have mentioned; and if they can show me the truth of your propositions, I will not hesitate to embrace them. I want to learn everything possible, and as I was an honest inquirer on earth, I will be an honest one here. You make your assertions very strong and you seem to be in earnest in what you say, and for those reasons I must listen to you.
Yes, I knew Riddle very well, and he was a believer somewhat like myself. I have not met him since I have become a spirit, but would like to do so.
I will keep in mind what you say and will observe any difference in beauty that may exist, because if such be a fact there must be some cause for it, and that cause I shall endeavor to understand. I have done as you suggested and I see Riddle, but hardly recognize him, as he is so changed and is so much more beautiful than I conceived of. He has shaken my hand and introduced me to the others. And what beautiful spirits they are! The one who, he says, is your grandmother is glorious in her beauty and brightness and love seems to be a part of her very being. How I thank you for the experience! I am going with Riddle, who says that he has a wonderful truth to tell me and that I will become convinced of its reality.
So, my friend, I thank you for our conversation and if you desire, I will come again and tell you of the result of our interview - I mean between Riddle and myself. I have made the request of your grandmother and she says that she will be pleased to tell me of this Love that you speak of. But let me tell you this before I stop; that what you said about the difference in beauty and brightness of the spirits is true, and that I am as a dark night compared to the noonday sun in my appearance compared with theirs.
I am so glad I came to you tonight. So my dear friend, I will say goodbye for a little while.
Your friend,
Robert G. Ingersoll
* * * * * * * * * *
Helen Confirms that Robert Ingersoll Will Soon See the Truth
August 5, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Helen.
Yes, they were and Ingersoll is now with Mr. Riddle and your grandmother. He seems much inspired with your grandmother and listens to her with great interest. I believe that he will soon see the truth and will seek for this Divine Love and New Birth. So with all my love. I am,
Your own true and loving,
Helen
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Robert G. Ingersoll.
I am a spirit who when on earth taught men that the only salvation required for them was good deeds and kind hearts, and that the Bible, outside of its moral precepts, was not worthy of belief, that many of its sayings were untrue, and that all of its teachings as to belief and faith were not worthy of consideration.
I was perfectly sincere in what I taught and thought and, hence, I don't feel that I was guilty of any very great sin, although I have now changed some of my beliefs, or better, thoughts. I did not believe that Jesus ever really lived, as was set forth in the Bible, and I certainly did not believe in a vicarious atonement, or any salvation through blood or propitiation of an angry God. Neither did I believe in any New Birth or in any of the doctrines of St. John having reference to a soul being redeemed; but believed that every man's future state, should there be a future state, depended upon his deeds of love and mercy towards his fellow man.
I believed that God was not to be worshiped or consulted, neither would He, nor could He, save a man from anything that might tend to make him unhappy; but that man's love for one another was the great thing that would determine his condition in the future life, should such life exist.
I did not deny that there would be a future life. I merely didn't know anything about it and, hence, all my teachings were directed to making men live on earth in a way that would bring to them happiness while mortals. And my foundation stone, as it were, was love, one towards another. And with this went love, kindness and forgiveness and good feeling and fair dealing. Especially did I emphasize the necessity for love at home.
I am still of the opinion that these qualities, if possessed and expressed in action, will make men happier, make the world better, and finally do away with evil and distress.
I now see, though, that there is a future life and that men who would enjoy the greatest happiness in this future life must not only have this love and kindness for one another, but must also seek the Love of God, and believe that God is a Father of Love and believe that He is interested in the soul of each individual man.
I am in the Fourth Sphere and have much happiness in my intellectual pursuits and in my love of my fellow man, and am trying to help them get the best out of life on earth. I do not yet believe in the teachings of those parts of the Bible which, in effect, say that you must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ in order to be saved, for I do not believe that any mere belief will save a man from anything. I know that many here believe that Jesus is the saviour of men, as taught by the orthodox churches, but I think that such spirits are as much mistaken as were those who believed the same doctrine when on earth.
I consider myself as saved. I have not found any hell as taught by the churches, although each man has to pay the penalties for his evil deeds done on earth, and many men are suffering here since they became spirits. I will confess that I was somewhat surprised to see that spirits who did not live correct lives on earth are suffering very serious tortures; but this I suppose is the effect of the law that demands a penalty for every violation of its command.
But I do not understand that this suffering will have to continue forever, or that the state of these men is fixed. Progression is the law of the spirit world, and I cannot conceive that any spirit will remain the same through all eternity. To me, the great satisfaction is that there is no orthodox hell and no devil to punish the wicked. I am myself not entirely satisfied that the condition of those who suffer from their evil deeds may not last a long time, as I am told that many of these spirits have been in a condition of suffering for a long time.
Well, I am satisfied with the condition that I am in, and in the possibility of progression, and I need not the teachings of the spirits who profess to have knowledge of a higher love that brings happiness of a kind that enables them to enjoy supreme bliss. Such spirits, I believe, are those who had the old ideas of the churches, against which I taught. I was not compelled to undergo such suffering when I came into the spirit world or to endure much darkness; but I suppose there were some deeds which I had to pay the penalties for and, hence, I had to suffer some. But as my love for all mankind was my principle and feeling when on earth, this love gives me a position which I now enjoy.
I could write much longer, but I will not do so tonight, and will come again sometime and explain some of the laws of the spirit world.
I am Robert G. Ingersoll and was called an infidel.
Well, my friend, that is a very astounding proposition, and you must be either a very ignorant man or a very self-conceited one to make such a statement. Well, as to the last statement, you are right. I have an open mind and am willing to learn any truth that may be presented to me in such a way as to convince me that it is a truth. You are stating things of which I have no knowledge, and which I do not believe to be true. I have thought a great deal of God and believe in a God, but as to this Divine Love, I have never heard of it nor ever thought of it.
I know of no love but the love for man, and that means spirit for spirit, and a certain love of God for man. But as to a Love that makes one partake of divinity, I have never heard. And as to the New Birth that you speak of, I don't believe in it any more than I did on earth. To me it seems foolishness. What is there about me or any other spirit to be Born Again? You might probably say that when I left my body and became a spirit I was born again, and in a sense that is true, but when you tell me that I must be Born Again and that by such birth I will become a partaker of divinity, I cannot believe what you say or understand what you mean.
Well, you state your proposition very fairly and very clearly, and I must say that I am impressed with what you say, and it might be that you are right. At any rate, I will keep an open mind and will stand ready to hear any argument from you or any spirit that you have mentioned; and if they can show me the truth of your propositions, I will not hesitate to embrace them. I want to learn everything possible, and as I was an honest inquirer on earth, I will be an honest one here. You make your assertions very strong and you seem to be in earnest in what you say, and for those reasons I must listen to you.
Yes, I knew Riddle very well, and he was a believer somewhat like myself. I have not met him since I have become a spirit, but would like to do so.
I will keep in mind what you say and will observe any difference in beauty that may exist, because if such be a fact there must be some cause for it, and that cause I shall endeavor to understand. I have done as you suggested and I see Riddle, but hardly recognize him, as he is so changed and is so much more beautiful than I conceived of. He has shaken my hand and introduced me to the others. And what beautiful spirits they are! The one who, he says, is your grandmother is glorious in her beauty and brightness and love seems to be a part of her very being. How I thank you for the experience! I am going with Riddle, who says that he has a wonderful truth to tell me and that I will become convinced of its reality.
So, my friend, I thank you for our conversation and if you desire, I will come again and tell you of the result of our interview - I mean between Riddle and myself. I have made the request of your grandmother and she says that she will be pleased to tell me of this Love that you speak of. But let me tell you this before I stop; that what you said about the difference in beauty and brightness of the spirits is true, and that I am as a dark night compared to the noonday sun in my appearance compared with theirs.
I am so glad I came to you tonight. So my dear friend, I will say goodbye for a little while.
Your friend,
Robert G. Ingersoll
* * * * * * * * * *
Helen Confirms that Robert Ingersoll Will Soon See the Truth
August 5, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Helen.
Yes, they were and Ingersoll is now with Mr. Riddle and your grandmother. He seems much inspired with your grandmother and listens to her with great interest. I believe that he will soon see the truth and will seek for this Divine Love and New Birth. So with all my love. I am,
Your own true and loving,
Helen
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Jesus Tells James to Let Faith Take Possession of His Soul and He Will Know the Truth
March 26, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Jesus.
It is that degree of belief that enables you to know, as a reality, that what presents itself to your consciousness as a truth is in fact a truth and an existing condition. It is not a mere intellectual belief, but a belief of the soul, which makes the belief a reality.
I know that this faith is the only one that can make you realize that I am who and what I declare myself to be. Let this faith take possession of your soul, and you will be a very happy and progressive man.
I am not here tonight to discuss spiritual subjects, but merely to help you in your troubles over material things. When you get in proper condition to write my messages, then I will finish my last subject which we left unfinished. So, my dear brother and friend and worker, try to let these things leave your mind and believe what I tell you, for I say again that they will come true.
Well, the devil is with you all the time. He is not a person as many think, but merely the evil suggestions that result from the operations of the thoughts of the unregenerate man. Every man has his devils, who cling close to him and can only be gotten rid of by the operations of the Holy Spirit. So do not think that the devil is something that has form or independent personality, for he is not. You are the creator and nourisher of your own devil and, until you get into a state which leaves no room for his presence, he will abide with you.
Well, the influences and suggestions that come from evil spirits would not have any effect if man were not in that condition of sympathy with such spirits as enables them to become, as it were, a part of him. I know that many men are possessed or obsessed by these evil spirits but if they, the men, would only seek the higher spiritual conditions, these spirits would not harm them. Well, that is one of the subjects of my messages, and I will delay to answer until I write that message. Yes, the time will soon come when you will know these things.
I must stop now as you are not in condition to write much more, and your wife wants to say a word.
So with my true and brotherly love,
I am Jesus
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Jesus.
It is that degree of belief that enables you to know, as a reality, that what presents itself to your consciousness as a truth is in fact a truth and an existing condition. It is not a mere intellectual belief, but a belief of the soul, which makes the belief a reality.
I know that this faith is the only one that can make you realize that I am who and what I declare myself to be. Let this faith take possession of your soul, and you will be a very happy and progressive man.
I am not here tonight to discuss spiritual subjects, but merely to help you in your troubles over material things. When you get in proper condition to write my messages, then I will finish my last subject which we left unfinished. So, my dear brother and friend and worker, try to let these things leave your mind and believe what I tell you, for I say again that they will come true.
Well, the devil is with you all the time. He is not a person as many think, but merely the evil suggestions that result from the operations of the thoughts of the unregenerate man. Every man has his devils, who cling close to him and can only be gotten rid of by the operations of the Holy Spirit. So do not think that the devil is something that has form or independent personality, for he is not. You are the creator and nourisher of your own devil and, until you get into a state which leaves no room for his presence, he will abide with you.
Well, the influences and suggestions that come from evil spirits would not have any effect if man were not in that condition of sympathy with such spirits as enables them to become, as it were, a part of him. I know that many men are possessed or obsessed by these evil spirits but if they, the men, would only seek the higher spiritual conditions, these spirits would not harm them. Well, that is one of the subjects of my messages, and I will delay to answer until I write that message. Yes, the time will soon come when you will know these things.
I must stop now as you are not in condition to write much more, and your wife wants to say a word.
So with my true and brotherly love,
I am Jesus
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)