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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Your friend and brother,
Jesus

Jesus Writes About the Individualization and Incarnation of the Soul

March 21, 1920
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

Let me write tonight as you are in good condition, and I desire very much to write you in reference to a subject that is important for men to know.

As I have before written you, there are two destinies for man in the spirit life, and the one or the other of them may be just as he desires and seeks for.

I was with you today as you listened to the preacher (Dr. Pierce) expound the reasons why he is a believer in the faith of the church (Unitarian) to which he belongs, and in which he is a leader and teacher. He is undoubtedly honest and earnest in his beliefs and, so far as they go, they will afford him the happiness that he spoke of, provided he puts such beliefs into actual, practical living and makes them the dominating, dynamic influence that shall guide and control him in his intercourse with humanity.

He said truly that there is a law that operates in wonderful power in shaping men's lives and which, when obeyed, will determine the career not only of men but of nations; and that law is, that when once a truth is ascertained or comes to the knowledge of men it must be recognized and acted upon, or it will lose its beneficent effect upon the lives of men. If he applies this law to his own life, he will experience a wonderful help in meeting the difficulties and cares of life and in overcoming the things that beset him as a thinking man.

This is a wonderful truth, and so far as it pervades the life of a man will result in making that life one of consistent goodness and cause harmony between that man and God, who overrules the secret things of the universe, and that man will enjoy a great happiness even while in the flesh.

But this is not the important object and aim of what the preacher calls religion, nor does it furnish the means by which a man may come into a greater and closer harmony with the will of God. I know, that to man this present mortal life seems a thing of the greatest importance, and that the chief aim of man should be to act in that manner that will make his life successful and happy and, so far as it is suited to make man the harmonious creature that is intended, it is advisable to follow that course of living and loving. But the preacher does not know of and cannot teach the great object of man's appearance on earth, and the goal that is ever before him, waiting to be reached and possessed.

As I have told you before, man's existence in the flesh is only for the purpose of giving his soul an individualization, and all other apparent objects are only secondary, as you may say, accidental accompaniments of this process of individualization.

Hence, you will observe that this great object is accomplished equally in the case of the infant who dies young and in the case of the man who lives to a ripe old age; in each case the object of the soul's incarnation in the flesh is effected. The old man, of course, has his experience - a longer and more diverse existence in meeting and overcoming or submitting to the exigencies of his living than does the infant, but the great object is not more perfectly accomplished in the one case than in the other.

The soul becomes individualized the moment it finds its lodgment in the receptacle prepared by the Laws of Nature in using the human father and mother as its instruments, and time thereafter does not influence or have any determining effect upon that soul so far as its individualization is concerned; and neither does eternity, for that condition being once fixed never can be changed nor annihilated, so far as is known to the highest spirits of God's Heavens. Of course, the soul as thus individualized is subject to the various influences that surround it in its mortal life, and these influences may be retarding, deadly or destructive to the progress of the soul, but cannot possibly affect the object obtained by that soul's coming into the flesh or ever require a new individualization of that soul. Its identity and character, as an individualized thing are established, and no condition of the soul as to its goodness or badness can ever, in the slightest degree, affect this character or identity. The soul once individualized always remains the individual, even though the elements that enter into and make up the form will always find itself being rebuilt and continued by the operations of the law that preserves the individuality of that soul.

Then, I say, the object of the incarnation of the soul is to give it an individualization, and this in two appearances; first, in that of the physical form which men by their perception of their natural organs of sense can perceive; and secondly, a form that is more sublimated and generally invisible to these organs - a spiritual form.

At the moment of incarnation, the soul takes the form which has been prepared for it by the forces that exist in the parents and retains that for during the natural life; and at the same moment, there is created for it or attracted to it, the form of the spirit body, which then and ever afterwards remains with it. Both of these bodies are of the material; one of the visible material of the universe, the other of the invisible but still of the material.

As you know, that body which is made of the visible material lasts for a little while only and then disappears forever, while that which is of the invisible, and which is more real and substantial than the former and exists all the time of the existence of the visible, continues with the soul after the disappearance of the visible1 body; and while changeable in response to the progress of that soul, yet the spirit body never in its composite form leaves that soul. This we in the spirit life know to be true, just as certainly as you mortals know the truth of the existence of the physical body. And as you mortals may in the short space of the life on earth identify the man - which is really the soul - by the appearance of his physical body, so we in the spirit world identify the same man by the appearance of the spirit body, and so this fact must be forever.

Then such being the fact, it must be conceived that the soul has its existence in the physical body for an infinitesimal short time; that is, its life on earth is only the breath of a moment, and then it enters on its career through eternity, and after a few years, as you may say, it may cease to remember that it ever had a lodgment in the physical body.

The preacher criticized the religion that taught man to think of and prepare for the future of the soul, and emphasized the fact that their thoughts should be more of the present, and that duty and good works towards their fellow man should be the object of their living, and their religion. Well, I recognize the importance of duty and good works and approve of them with all the knowledge that I now have of the demands and requirements of God's Love, but on the other hand must say, that their importance to man's future destiny is also the importance of other privileges and obligations possessed by, and resting on man, during the short time that the soul is clothed in the physical body. Duty performed, and good works will lessen the distress and sufferings of the mortal life, and cause the man who performs the duty and does the good works to become more in harmony with God's Laws of Mercy and Truth, but will never suffice to bring a soul into harmony with the will of the Father as regards the higher destiny of man. These things will tend to lead merely to the purification of the soul, and to cause it to come into accord with the laws of its own creation and their end. These constitute merely the exercise of compliance with the moral laws, and bring only a moral effect. And when I say moral laws I mean those laws that demand that, and by the observance of which, man comes into the condition of the perfect man, which was his at the time of his creation. He thereby obtains nothing more than belonged to him when he existed as the perfect man and was in complete harmony with God as such perfect man. He then loved God with all the capacity of his soul in the exercise of the Love that had been bestowed upon him, and could have loved his brother as himself.

And to this condition men are, to a more or less extent, now striving to attain, and many precepts of the Old Testament as well as of the New, will lead men to thus obtain, and if this were the only destiny of man, then the religion of the preacher, which he says is based on these moral precepts of love to God and love to his fellow man, would be sufficient to obtain the goal sought, and love and duty and service would be all that are required of men while on earth as well as after they become spirits; and the exercise of these graces by men while on earth would be just as necessary and helpful as would their exercise afterwards in the spirit world. These things of love to God and love to man, and service and sacrifice constitute the true religion that leads to the perfect man, and makes for that harmony with the laws of God governing the condition of the perfect man, but not the Divine man.

These things should be preached by all ministers and teachers, and practiced by men everywhere, for in their practice are happiness and bliss unspeakable. As these things work to a finality, man again becomes the son of God and obedient to His laws, and realizes the meaning of "love God and love your brother". And so I repeat, the preacher in pronouncing the basis of his religion, declared the truths that will lead him into the condition of the perfect man, in harmony with God's will as to man's creation.

Well, I see you are tired and so we will postpone the further writing. I am very much pleased that you are in so much better condition, and hope that we may continue our messages without further interruption. Only pray more and believe that the Father will answer your prayers. So believe that I love you and want you to be happy and free from care.

Good night. Your brother and friend,
Jesus

A.G. Riddle Writes that Heaven is a Real Place of Matieral Substance as well as a Condition of the Soul

February 27, 1920
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

Let me write a short time tonight as I see that you are anxious to hear from some of your friends in the spirit world.

I have not written for a long time, though, I have been desirous to do so, and tonight will say only a few words in reference to my progress and happiness in my condition as a Celestial Spirit, for I am now in the Celestial Heavens, and know the truth of many things that have been written you.

It is a little difficult for me to recite to you the wonders of these Heavens and the perfect happiness that is enjoyed by those spirits that have found their home and abiding place in the many mansions that Jesus spoke of while in the flesh. You must know that Heaven is a place as well as a condition, notwithstanding the fact that so many of the spiritualists teach that it is only a condition or state of the soul. No, this is not all of the truth, but is a great part of the truth; for the condition of the soul determines just what Heaven it shall occupy and find its harmony and happiness in; but the all-loving Father has provided that the soul shall have a place corresponding to its condition in which it may live and progress.

If Heaven were only a state of the soul, then it would not be a real, existing thing, with the substance and reality that the soul, even in its state of bliss, must have as a necessary accompaniment to the enjoyment of what the Father has provided for its true condition of living. Heaven, as a place, is real and independent of the state of the soul, though it is necessary for the soul to be in a corresponding state in order that it may enter into this Heaven and fully realize that it is a home suitable for its condition and enjoyment.

If it, I mean Heaven, were not a real objective and perceptible place, then the soul would be limited by its own condition that would be very narrow, as I may say, and confined to the limits of its own state and separated from the states of other souls and without the social intercourse that makes Heaven a place of such happiness and contentment. Every soul would then be in the condition of the ascetic in human life, and introspection and contemplation would be the source and only means of possible bliss, and knowledge of those things that are spoken of as beyond the heart of man to conceive of, and which are truly and certainly provided by the Father's Love for the continuous and never-ending progress of the soul towards higher and greater enjoyment would have no real, conscious existence in that soul.

As man, in his earth life in which condition of the soul determines his Heaven, is provided with those surroundings and material things that are intended to make him happy or miserable, so in the Heavens things material are provided to enable the soul of man to better enjoy its own condition. The things of Heaven are not all spiritual, as conceived by so many men, but are partly composed of the material of the universe and are so constituted and formed as to supply the desires and wishes of the soul with that which will satisfy the soul's longings for beauty and harmony and perfect enjoyment.

In the several Heavens are homes, real and substantial, suited to the states of the souls and differing as those states differ in their requirements. These material things are not subjective as so many mortals teach, but are objective as are things of earth and are the objects of sight and touch and of the other spiritual senses.

When I desire to go into a city, and indulge my desires, I find a city with streets and avenues and houses and other things that belong to a city, just as do you mortals of earth when you visit your cities; and so, when I desire to go into the country and enjoy the fields and hills and streams and gardens, they are all here, real and existing, and not the subjects of mere thoughts or state of my soul; and when I am absent from city or country, that city or country continues to exist in all its beauty and magnificence just as truly as when I am present.

Men must know that the soul in its Heavenly life requires these material things and has them, just as a soul when enveloped in a body of flesh requires the material things of earth. While the condition of the soul determined its place of living, yet that place is also existing and real and awaits the coming of that soul in a condition of harmony.

In these Heavens, there is nothing nebulous or impalpable or only a reflection or image of the soul's condition, but everything is real and substantial and lasting as the eternal hills; and when the soul finds a habitation, it is not the effect of its own condition, but a place already prepared for the habitation of that soul and in accord with its true condition. Otherwise, Heaven would be a place of confusion and of appearances and disappearances, with no stability or abiding qualities, and the many mansions, spoken of by Jesus as existing in his Father's house, would have no real, permanent being, but depending for their creation and existence upon the mere state of the soul. The mansions are there and change not, and whether or not they shall have occupants depends upon the harmony of souls in their correspondence with the harmony of God's Laws creating these mansions.

l have written you this short description of the Heavens, as based upon my knowledge and experience, devoid of speculation or metaphysical musings. I am glad that I could write you again.

I am very happy and know that the Divine Love of the Father is a thing real and transforming, and the all sufficient thing to create in the souls of men, and of spirits, that state which will enable them to have and enjoy the mansions of the Father in the Highest Heavens. I will not write more now. Good night.

Your friend and brother in Christ,
A.G. Riddle

Jesus Writes that People Who Believe in the "New Thought" are on the Wrong Track

June 15, 1919
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

Let me write just a line for I desire to tell you that I was with you tonight at the convention of the New Thought people, and saw the impression made upon you by the discourses, and am pleased that what they said only confirmed your faith in our teachings. They are sincere in their efforts to obtain a knowledge of the truth, but the difficulty is, that while they are free from many of the orthodox teachings of the church, yet they have only the natural love and perceptions of the intellect, and to some extent, of the awakened soul in its natural condition.

They know nothing of the Divine Love or the way to the true Kingdom, and are depending entirely upon the spiritual feelings that come to them with the consciousness of an awakened soul, in its conflict with the things that prevent its purification and development into the perfect man.

These people are to be encouraged in their efforts and teachings so far as they disclose the true natural condition of man and the possibility of his becoming in harmony with the will of the Father in their natural love, and to that extent they are progressing beyond the old orthodox ideas of what the real man is, and what is incumbent upon him in order to get into the condition of happiness that comes with a purification of his love, and a longing in harmony with the laws of God governing that purification.

It is to be wished that these men will proceed in their teachings and thus give to mankind a knowledge of what man really is, and the possibilities that lie before him when he exercises the inherent powers that exist within. For concerning sin and inharmony, until the great truths of the New Birth and the transformation of the soul and the wonderful Kingdom of the Celestial Spheres are made known to men through our teachings of these things, these greater truths which lie beyond the knowledge of men at this time will not be his.

In their search for God, they are on the wrong track and will never find him, if they pursue the search in the way indicated by their discourses. God is not within men, nor do they live and move and have their being in Him, nor is He everywhere, waiting to be developed by men as they grow better and purer. No, they are mistaken in their thought as to God and His habitation and will learn when they come into a knowledge of the truth, that God is not in man or in everything that surrounds him, but is separate from him and from the environments in which they live and move and has His locality in the Highest Heavens, where He works out his purposes, and makes Himself and the evidence of His existence known to men by the energies that control the universe in which men exist. He can only be seen by the soul perceptions of a soul that has been transformed into the Divine Angel; to men in every other particular He is unseen and unknown, except as His laws and the effect of their operation disclose His being.

Well, I merely wanted to write this short message, and I am glad that you can receive it. Good night.

Your brother and friend,
Jesus

John Writes Further on the Laws of Rapport and Communication

October 22, 1918
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

Let me write a few lines tonight, as I have not written for a long time and am anxious to say a few words which may be of help to you. I have been present on many evenings when you were expecting to receive communications and was disappointed because of reasons or causes that you could not understand, except that you were not in that condition which would enable the spirits to make a rapport with you.

Well, this is true and is the immediate cause of the want of power of communicating; but it is well that you understand more than this, for in order to remedy the difficulty you must have some knowledge of the seat (reason) thereof. I have explained to you the Law controlling rapport and communication and endeavored to make it as plain and understandable as possible, so that you, at least, might grasp its meaning; but, I see there are some things that you do not understand and, because thereof, you have had the recent experience of not being able to receive the many messages that were waiting to be delivered through your brain and hand.

As I have said, the first and important requirement is that you be in that condition of soul which will, because of its qualities, enable the spirits who may desire to write the higher messages to form a rapport or union with you, which means simply to take charge and control of your brain - a brain which, because of certain qualities and thoughts having possessed it, will be in harmony with the thoughts that these spirits desire to transmit through it, just as it is absolutely necessary that the medium through which it is desired that the electric fluid shall flow must be a medium possessing such nature and qualities as will permit the fluid to flow through it.

A wire or medium may be made of wood and the electric fluid (electricity) be present ready to flow through it, but cannot. And why? Not because the wire or wood may not be perfect in itself as such wire; but, because the wire has not that nature and quality that will permit the electric fluid to make a union with it and thus control it. And so it is with the brain of the mortal, that such brain has the possibility of possessing, when properly prepared, those qualities that will admit of this union and control, while the wood has not. But the brain, when devoid of this preparation, is just as non-receptive to the union with and control of these spirits - as is the rapport - as is the wooden wire to the union with the electric fluid.

You have been told on numerous occasions that you were not in condition and that the spirits could not make the rapport, and that you must make the effort to get in condition; and this assertion and advice are all true. You were told to pray more to the Father and think of spiritual things, and then you would become in that condition. This is true, and the advice is helpful. But you were not told what this praying to the Father or thinking of spiritual thoughts means and, hence, you may do these things in a way and yet not get in the condition.

I know that during a long period in the past you have been receiving many messages of the higher truths, and for the delivery of which a brain highly prepared was necessary to receive the same, and the thought has come to you, why were you able to receive these messages at the time of their delivery and not be able to receive them now because, as you further think, your brain is in as good condition now as it was at those times.

Well, in the latter thought, you are mistaken, and the fact of such mistake should be sufficient to convince you that your inability to receive the messages should not surprise you. During the periods mentioned, you prayed more often for the inflowing of the Divine Love and your longings were intense and the desires to possess this Love, which is so vital to the preparation of your brain, were so much more active. And also your thoughts of things spiritual were so much more frequent. In other words, you were then seeking with your whole heart to learn the truths of God and to possess His Love; and, hence, your brain was continually in that condition which enabled the spirits to make the union and control it for the purpose of their higher expressions.

Lately you have not had the longings or prayed the prayers for the Love as frequently and, as a consequence, the qualities and elements of thought that have possessed your brain were not such as to put your brain in that condition which made it receptive to the passing through it of those thoughts of the higher truths. Now from this, you must not infer that this condition is a mere matter of brain condition produced by itself, for it is not. You have had the intellectual desire to write and receive the messages as much as you ever had, and also to receive messages of the higher truths that should be new as well as edifying to you, and your desires were real, and you were disappointed because they were not realized. And this merely demonstrates to you that there is something more than the mere mental or intellectual necessary to prepare the brain for the reception and transmission of that which partakes of the nature of truth that has its source in something else than the mere human mind.

These higher truths come from spirits whose minds, as you might say, are of the soul, and as only soul can deal with soul, it requires that the preparation of the brain should come from the exercise of soul powers upon the organs of that brain. And, hence, the necessity for your soul being in that condition that will produce in the brain the qualities that will unite and permit the truths of the soul to be received and transmitted.

You must not only pray to the Father for the inflowing of this Divine Love but you must pray often, until you realize almost constantly the possession of this Love in your soul; and also, you must turn your thoughts, and I do not mean the merely intellectual thoughts, but the thoughts of the soul, which as you have already had you may have again, to the spiritual truths which have been revealed to you, and to the spiritual realm where you believe other spiritual truths are waiting to be revealed. If you will thus pray and think, you will find coming to you the desires and expectations of the fulfillment of these desires and an enthusiasm which will come from the development of your soul by the possession of this Love, and also the soul thoughts. This is what is meant by the condition necessary to enable the spirits to make the rapport.

Of course, as to the ordinary matters of the spirit world where no special soul condition is required, the spirits can make rapport as they desire, and in your case, many of them could have written at the times you thought you were unable to receive any writings. But we thought it best that no spirit be permitted to write you, as it might endanger the probability of your getting in the condition that we desire and which is necessary in order for your brain to receive our vital and important messages. And, hence, your Indian (guide) was directed to not permit any spirit to write you, and he did not though many made the effort to do so.

Well, I am glad that I can write you in this manner tonight, and hope you will consider what I have said, and realize the importance of your getting into the condition of which I speak. The brain must be used by the soul having the Divine Love active and so prepared to receive the rapport.

I will not write more tonight, but will merely say that we have many more messages which we desire to transmit. So believe that I am frequently with you in my love and desire to help and protect and make your mission a success. Good night.

Your brother in Christ,
John

John Writes that Men or Prophets Cannot Tell What Will Happen Centuries Ahead.

March 10, 1918
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, John.

I see that you are in a much better condition tonight and that your soul is more in harmony with the spirits of the higher spheres, and we could write now, but your hand and arm are tired, and this is a matter that we always consider and try not to cause you any unnecessary fatigue.

Other spirits are here tonight, hoping that they might have written, but under the circumstances they will not. The Master is here also, and says that he will not attempt to write tonight as he intended, but will soon come and deliver a message.

I am glad that you are feeling so much better spiritually and physically, and I feel that you will continue to do so. So pray more to the Father and turn your thoughts to spiritual things, and you will find a wonderful happiness that even the worries of your daily life cannot take from you.

(John responds to questions asked by Mr. Padgett.)

No, emphatically. And those who believe that there ever lived such mortals are greatly mistaken. The highest of us spirits cannot know or foretell the future in the sense in which the seers and prophets are supposed to have done in the centuries of which the Old Testament wrote.

No man, whether in the flesh or in the spirit, ever has the omniscience of the Father and to foretell what will happen centuries ahead is a power that belongs only to the Father. So that all the attempted application of prophecies as contained in the Bible to the happenings, or future happenings of the present day, are futile and without any justification. Man must depend upon the condition and acts of this day to determine what will happen in the short time that some expect the world to last.

What a position for them to take, when we, who live so close to the Father, cannot possibly know. All this, of course, refers to the material affairs of men in their lives on earth. As to spiritual things, we can tell what the future of each man or nations of men will be if certain conditions are observed or not observed.

Well, I will write you on this subject when the opportunity presents itself. I will not write more now. With all my love and the blessings of the Father I will say good night.

Your brother in Christ,
John

Jesus Writes He is Very Much Interested that James Padgett Get in that Condition of Soul to be in Rapport With Him Again

February 19, 1918
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

Well, my brother, I see that you are in much better condition tonight than you have been for some time past, and I desire to tell you that it is due to the facts that you have turned your thoughts more to spiritual things, and have prayed more to the Father. If you will continue to do these things you will soon be in that condition of soul where I can make the necessary rapport with you in order to deliver my messages.

I have been very much disappointed in not being able to deliver my messages of the higher truths as I intended, and have felt that we have lost much valuable time in pursuing our work, and it is true but now I hope that we will not have to delay longer our communications. And we will not, if you will take my advice and in that way try to remedy the difficulties that beset us.

I know that you are interested in the work, and intellectually desire to receive the messages, but this, as I have told you, is not sufficient. You must get in that condition of soul development that will bring you in rapport with me as I come to you for the purpose of writing these higher truths. It has been explained to you that a particular quality of rapport is required in order that we may be able to get in that condition of harmony that will enable us to use your brain and hand so that the messages may be delivered. So for the next few days try to have your soul opened up to the inflowing of the love so that the development may come to you.

I have many messages to write before the book will be completed, and so have many other spirits who are engaged in the work. Pray, and let all the longings of your soul go to the Father, and you will realize the response that will fit you for the work. With my love I will say good night.

Your brother and friend,
Jesus

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Your brother in Christ,
Luke

John Writes About a Talk by a Lecturer Whose Conception of God Was Wrong

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

I am here, John.

I was with you tonight at the talk (on New Thought) of the lecturer and display of what has no foundation in truth. She has an idea that God is what man makes him to be, and that only as man's consciousness realizes the existence of a God in harmony with that consciousness does that God really exist.

She seems to have no conception as an absolute, unchangeable being, not dependent upon man's realization of Him or of man's consciousness that He exists in any other form or substance than as man sees Him. No, she has not a true conception of God or man. To her, man is just what his status demonstrates him to be and no matter whether a formless, senseless amoeba or a perfect man as originally created by God, he is still man and dependent upon his knowledge of the different conditions of himself in order to determine what he may have been in any state of his evolution.

She cannot define God or man. And that being so, how can she possibly help man to know these matters? It is all pitiable that any human should let his own salvation or future destiny depend upon such unreliable and erroneous conceptions.

I do not think that such lectures as this do you any good and I advise you not to attend them. Rely only on what you have received and shall receive from the Master and other high spirits as to what God and man are.

I see that you are in better condition tonight, and I hope that we may resume our messages and continue to reveal to you the truth as regards God and man, and the plan, and the only one given by the Father for the full salvation of him.

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

Your brother in Christ,
John

Jesus Writes that the Father's Love is Never Far Away When Temptation Strikes

May 23, 1917
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

I come tonight to say a few words that you may be encouraged in your spiritual condition and made to feel that I am with you in your doubts and despondency.

I was with you last night and realized just what your condition is and tried to influence you with my love and sympathy, and when you felt that you were all alone, I endeavored to impress you with my help and the power of the Love that I have received from the Father.

I know that while you are in the flesh and temptations come to you, there will be times when you will think that you are forsaken, or that the Father's Love is not in and about you in all its beauty and sustaining influence, and that then thoughts will come to you, such as Job speaks of in the book that you have been reading, and God will seem a long way off.

But, my brother, let me tell you with all the knowledge and love that I have that God is never a way off from you in his love and that he is always ready and willing to help and comfort you, if you will only have faith and let your longings go out to him for the inflowing of this Love into your soul. It is never absent from you, and awaits only your invitation for making itself real and consciously present with you. You only can prevent its coming into your soul and, if you will believe that this is true and endeavor to realize how close this Love is to you and how anxious the Father is that you receive it, you will be able to overcome these thoughts that arise from the weakness of the flesh or, rather, from the strength of the animal part of your nature.

So try to remember what I say, and whenever these thoughts come to you, look upon them as merely thoughts that come in the visions of the night and have no real foundation for their existence. As you may not know, real thoughts can arise only from that which is real, and when this Love of the Father comes into your soul, appetites and passions that arise from the perversion of the animal nature of your being cease to be real and are merely the recollections of what has been - a resultant of that perversion. This Love makes that - which aforetime was perverse - a genuine thing of truth in harmony with God and goodness.

Life is of God and, when not perverted by the will of man, is like unto the goodness from which it comes; and good and evil are conditions which are only, as in the one case God is real, and in the other, evil is not real as being a part of the creation of God. It, sin, is the creation of man, and that man disobedient and out of harmony with his own creation and the laws of his creator.

I write this to encourage your faith in the goodness of God, and in the inherent goodness of yourself, and to confirm your faith and knowledge in the truth that in God's universe all is good, and only that is sinful which man himself, in violation of the will of the Father, had created and afterwards cultivated and nurtured. So believe this, that when this Love comes into your soul you have the possession of that which will enable you to forget the creatures of your own will and make successful your efforts to cease the cultivation of this resultant of your own creation.

It is only when you, for the moment, forget or cease to realize that this Love is yours does the existence of the evil, which was as you may think to be naturally yours, become to you real, at least in your thoughts appear to be real. You have experienced the condition of soul when these thoughts had no place in your life, and were to you as if they had never been; and what you have thus experienced may, if you let live your faith in the possession of this Love continue to be your condition without intermission, and you be enabled to enjoy consciously the reality of its continuous existence.

And I further know that this state of freedom from thoughts of evil requires you to watch and, upon the first suggestion of such thoughts, pray to the Father for the increased expression of His Love and you will not be disappointed. As in the prayer, which I have given you, you are taught to ask that help may be given you to overcome all temptations of the flesh and the influence of the evil ones, so I repeat, let your supplications for this help ascend to the Father when first you feel the temptation, for so far as regards your condition of soul qualities, these temptations and influences are real.

The evil ones are with all mortals, and the condition of the soul determines whether they, the evil ones, can or not make a rapport with the mortals; and when this Love comes into the soul, such rapport is impossible. Then the secret of overcoming temptations is to have the soul qualities in such condition that the rapport cannot be made.

I know that men, sometimes, by their course of thinking of things good and pure invite this rapport, but this is not to be relied on as a sure preventive, for thoughts are changeable and the results of the appetites and emotions, and the natural, as I may say, tendencies of men are to gratify these appetites when not curbed by the higher development of their moral qualities, which qualities are very susceptible to the influence of the sensual natures of man.

I felt the necessity of writing to you as I have, for it is so important both for yourself, personally, and as my instrument for the work that has been given you to do, that you acquire more of this Love and the knowledge by which you may be helped so very much to overcome these temptations and influences. The more Love, the less the power of temptation and the possibility of thoughts that do not find their source in this Love. So I say to you: watch and pray.

Well, I will not write more tonight, and with my love and blessings will say good night and God bless you. I will come soon and write another message and hope that you may be in condition to receive it as successfully and correctly as you did my last one.

Your friend and brother,
Jesus

Paul Writes About Spiritualism and the Importance of Embracing the Truth of the Way to Salvation

May 20, 1917
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Paul.

Well, my dear brother, I have not written for a long time, and I now will embrace the opportunity to say a few words. I do not intend to write a formal message, though I should like to do so, but conditions are not just right to enable me to write as I desire.

I have been present quite often when you were receiving messages from the other spirits and used my influence to make conditions favorable to your receiving these messages, and also to cause you to feel that there was surrounding you an atmosphere of Love and harmony that enabled you to enjoy not only the messages but the feelings of Love and benevolent influences that came to you.

While I have been listening tonight to your friend read extracts from the book and the comments that both made on the same, there was suggested to me a text upon which I will write, and that is the spirit and the spirit body as to their nature and creation. I know that you have received writings dealing more or less with this subject, but I desire to enter more into detail in order to show that the writer of the book is all wrong in his conception of these things. Of course, you will remember Jesus' message on "The Soul," and it will not be necessary for me to say anything about the soul; but you can read my message in connection with that message.

As Mark has just written you, it is a great pity that a man in the position of a teacher of spiritualism should not know more of the truth so that he may disclose it to those who may listen to him and have confidence in his knowledge. And it may be that at some time, you will have the opportunity to read both messages to him, and the result may be he will seek for the truth in the way that shall be pointed out and, when he does so in earnestness, he will find it and make his find a blessing to many with whom he may come in contact.

It is very unfortunate that a leader of this great truth of spiritualism - and it is a truth and one that will ultimately supersede the old religions whenever it comes into contact or association with people who think for themselves - should have such little knowledge of what a true understanding of it would enable them to teach. We spirits have for a long time endeavored to enlighten these leaders and at times have been able to impress upon them some of the vital truths; but these efforts have not been very successful until now, when we are to deliver our messages through your writings. But this endeavor will become more and more earnest or successful in the future, and many of these people who are anxious to learn the true religion and are waiting only for some authoritative source will learn, and among them will be many leaders of what is now called Spiritualism.

The work is one that must become world-wide in its results, for the soul of every man on earth, no matter where he may be, is worthy to be saved; and, as you know, if the start towards regeneration can be made on earth, the progression in the spirit world will be so much more rapid. I know that the spread of the truth will take much time, but when the commencement is made the progress will become more rapid.

I do not think that I should write more tonight and will only add that the evangelization must start very soon, and those who work to start the truth on its way to the knowledge of men must put all their energies and love into the work. You know that now there are very few - only three (James E. Padgett, Dr. Leslie R. Stone and Eugene Morgan) who have any conception of the truth and what the plan is for the making known of these truths to the world. Yet Christianity was started by only one besides the Master, I mean John the Baptist, and he, as I must tell you, did not have the knowledge of the truth as you three have this day, and did not have behind him the power of the Celestial Heavens, as you have. His mission was performed and Christianity would have been a success if its truths had not become lost and perished by the acts of men who did not have in their souls the Love that has been given to you. The truths perished, and men perished as far as their souls' salvation was concerned, to a large extent.

But now these truths will not perish because they will be presented in living type, and no copying or recopying will be needed, and no addition will be made to, or anything taken away from the writings of the spirits who are now engaged in formulating these truths. It will not be a failure this time, and the way to the Kingdom of God in the Celestial Heavens will be made plain and no man will have an excuse for not walking therein. And those who do not will have a greater penalty to pay than was required of the Jews and pagans who lived in the time of Jesus, or who have lived since that time; for with increased opportunity to learn the truth will come increased obligations, and the one who neglects will have that lost opportunity as a part of his consciousness, and this may be even after he becomes the perfect man, for I tell you here that the memory of man lasts even when the highest perfection is reached, as to those things which it is not necessary for him to lose in order for him to become the perfect man.

Well, you are tired, and I will not write more. So, with my love to yourself and your friend, I will say good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Paul

St. James Writes on the Powers of Temptation and our Dual Natures

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

I am here St. James, Apostle of Jesus.

I come to write my message as Elias told you I would. Well, I desire to write on the subject of: "What is the great truth respecting the way that the destruction of the powers of temptation that arises from the perverted man may be restored to the condition of perfection which the first parents possessed before their fall?"

You will understand that this does not involve any consideration of the operation of the Divine Love upon the soul, but exclusively the consideration of the method by which the soul may be so purified by the operations of the actions and the will power in conjunction with, or influenced by, the workings of the powers of the spirits who have been relieved of the sins and errors that followed the fall.

When man was created, as has been told you, he was created perfect and every quality and function and attribute that was a part of him was so created. That harmony - the most exact with the laws of God that governed his existence - became his and no discord of any kind was in existence to mar that harmony. But as the spiritual nature of man became subordinated to the appetites and passions and fleshly desires, sin and error and inharmony appeared and increased until man became degraded and desired only those things that would satisfy these sinful desires.

And so this degeneracy continued until man reached his lowest degradation, and the turning point came in his career, and then he commenced slowly and gradually to rise from this condition of depravity until at last, he arrived at the stage of his condition of inharmony with these laws of his creation that now exists; and his destiny is to a complete restoration to the perfection of his first estate.

This improvement and gradual restoration depend upon two causes: one, man himself by his own thoughts and reformation of the animal appetites and desires; and the other, the influence and guidance of spirits who, in the spirit world, have arrived at that perfection, or are progressing thereto, and are in a condition of harmony with these laws, superior to that of mortals to whom they lend their influence and help.

Men, in their degeneracy or progression, are controlled very largely by their thoughts, and these thoughts are created by the operations of their desires, and which on the other hand, cause these desires to increase. But back of the thoughts are always these appetites and passions existing in their abnormal conditions, and they constitute the basic or moving cause of desire and thought and act. So that in order for men to become relieved of his abnormal desires and thoughts and acts, the cause thereof must be eradicated, and the seat or function of the cause be brought into harmony with laws of the creation of these functions or seats of emanation.

And strange as it may seem to you, and by a process that is contrary to the ordinary workings of the Law of Cause and Effect, men must first deal with the effects in order to control the cause and thereby destroy the effects. This may seem to be an impossible operation, and contrary to the laws that govern the material world and its ordinary functioning, but yet it is possible, and the only possible way in which the causes may be destroyed. Notwithstanding the fact that the animal or material part of man has had the ascendancy, for all these centuries, over the spiritual part of his nature, yet that spiritual part exists and has always existed and is waiting to assert itself whenever the opportunity occurred, and this assertion was prevented or suppressed only by reason of the want of opportunity.

The spiritual may be said to be the natural state. I mean that in that state, the animal is subordinate to the spiritual and is controlled by it, and man's true tendency is to exist and act in accord with that natural state. Then such being the fact, it may be asked why, or in what manner did this natural spiritual condition become, in the manifestation of what man's dominant dualities are supposed to be, subordinated to the control of the inordinate exercise of this animal side of his nature, which resulted in the sin and unhappiness that so many of the teachers and philosophers proclaim to be his natural condition?

Well tonight, I will not attempt to explain the manner in which this inversion or perversion of man's true nature took place, but will at some future time write on this subject.

The question now is: "How can man obtain the restitution to his created perfection?

As I have said, this can only be accomplished by making the perfect adjustment of the two apparent conflicting sides of his nature. And first, he must recognize that he has the spiritual nature, as well as the animal, and that there is such a relationship and coordination between the two that the supremacy of the latter disturbs the harmony of his perfection as man. The spiritual having been subordinated, the remedy is to remove the subordination and restore the equality. The spiritual, notwithstanding its condition, is always fighting to regain its place in the true adjustment and will always answer the call of man to come to his rescue; and the only thing that has prevented that response is that man has not called for it to assert itself.

Well I am sorry, but we had better postpone until later. Try to get in greater rapport. Good night.

Your brother in Christ,

St. James

**********

Helen Confirms St. James' Message

I am here, your own true and loving Helen.

Well dear, I see that you are disappointed tonight in not receiving the message from James, so that you could write it as he intended to deliver it. Well, the conditions were not good and the rapport not sufficient to enable you to finish the message. He was disappointed, also, but he will come again and deliver it to you. I see that you are very sleepy and must go to bed. So have faith, and love me, and say good night.

Your own true and loving,
Helen

Luke Writes that No Man Can Possibly Reach the Condition of Perfection Unless His Mental Beliefs Are in Accord With the Truth

January 4, 1917
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Luke.

I will write a few lines tonight on a subject that I desire to make known to you and others, for I know it will be of interest to all who may read it. The subject is the truth of the statement that: "No man can possibly reach the condition of perfection unless his mental beliefs become in accord with the truth."

This perfection, you will understand, is the perfection that man possessed before his fall; that is, the perfection of his creation.

It has been asserted by many, that the beliefs of a man do not count for much in determining his condition of soul and mind, and that only his acts and deeds and the qualities of his heart determine that condition; but this assertion I declare to be untrue, unless these acts and deeds and qualities of heart are the results of beliefs being in accord with the truth.

Belief is the mainspring of man's acts and the result of his thoughts; and "Thoughts are Things" that cause the realities of man's consciousness, and as he thinketh in his heart so is he. "Thinketh in his heart" means, or comprehends, the idea that the thoughts of his mind, which is the only part of man that has the powers or faculties for thinking, are suggested by, or flow from, the desires and appetites of the emotional part of man.

No thought originates itself, although it may seem to be a spontaneous creation, but is the result of some spiritual or physical perception; that is, of the perception of the spiritual qualities or of the sensuous organs of man's physical constitution. And belief is the result of thought and that agency which causes man's acts or want of acts and, hence, the only guide or way shown to man in the progress of the development of his soul in its natural love, or of the mind, to the state of perfection that I speak of.

Now belief does not create truth or change truth, for it is absolute and unchangeable; and truth does not create belief unless that truth is comprehended by the thoughts from which emanate the belief. So it is apparent that unless the belief, if erroneous, changes so that it becomes in accord with the truth, man, the possessor of the belief, can never get into a state of perfection, which can only exist when a man is in a complete condition of harmony with the truth. Belief being the effect of the operations of the mind, unless these operations are in harmony with the truth, the belief cannot possibly cause the development of the man who is possessed of and controlled by that belief into the perfect man, because every cause has an effect, and that effect must be, necessarily, only such as is the natural and inevitable result of that cause.

Out of untruth it is impossible for truth to emanate, and from the imperfect the perfect can never be constructed; and so it is impossible to develop a perfect love and mind out of an imperfect belief. The law that declares the effect of its operations to bring this result is invariable, and only by the observation of its requirements can the imperfect ever become the perfect. So, therefore, I assert that no man can ever become the perfect man unless his beliefs become in harmony with the truth. As a matter of fact, irrespective of reason established by my knowledge resulting from observation and experience in the spirit as well as in the mortal world, I declare the same to be a truth.

Then how important to man it is to seek for and obtain those beliefs that are in harmony with the truth in order to become as he was originally, the perfect man. This true belief may be found and acquired even by the mortal, and no man will be excused from the penalty of the great Law of Compensation by his plea that he did not think it very material what his beliefs were if he tried to do right in the world towards his fellow man.

But here, you will see that in addition to the fact that this great law accepts no excuse is the fact that man's acts and deeds proceed from his beliefs, whenever such are strong enough to control him; and when the beliefs are unformed, and man acts from emotion or impulse or desire only without the constraint of any belief, the result upon his progress to the perfect man is substantially the same, because this law, in order to escape the penalty for its violation, demands that beliefs, formed or unformed, or acts and deeds resulting from emotion or impulse, which are really beliefs without definite form, shall be in harmony with the truth.

The infidel who says he doesn't believe, the agnostic who says he doesn't know, the orthodox who believes, but whose belief is erroneous, and the free thinker who believes only what reason teaches him as he proclaims, if such beliefs are not in accord with the truth all come under the same penalty - that is, the impossibility of becoming the perfect man while such erroneous beliefs or want of true beliefs exist.

So I say, belief is a vital thing in the progress of a man towards perfection, and men should cease to declare and rest on the assurance of such declaration that it makes no difference what a man believes if he does what he may consider to be right and just.

Why, I, who know, tell you that the earth planes of the spirit world are crowded with the spirits of men who are in darkness and stagnation in their progress towards the perfect man solely from the causes that I have above written, and some men have been in that condition for many long years, and will not find progress except as such erroneous beliefs leave them and beliefs in accord with the truth take the place of the former. But for man and spirits, there is this consolation: that at some time, how long in the future I or no other spirit know, these erroneous beliefs will all be eradicated and man will again come into his original perfection. But the waiting may be long and distressing and wearisome to many.

I have written enough and in closing will say to all men: "Know and realize that the belief of a man is a vital and determining element in his progress to the perfect man." I am pleased to write you tonight, and will soon come again. Keep your faith and courage and you will realize the promises. Good night and God bless you.

Your brother in Christ,
Luke

Esau, Son of Isaac, Writes on the Beliefs of Some Ancient Jews in the Spirit World Haven't Changed Since Their Earth Lives

December 4, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Esau, son of Isaac.

I was the son of Isaac and the brother of Jacob, and the one whom the Jews regarded as having sold his birthright for a mess of pottage, but I was misrepresented in this regard, as I did only that which necessity compelled me to do. But all that is long past, and now I am an inhabitant of the Celestial Heavens, for in the world of spirits all things are made right, and I became a possessor of the Divine Love after I had received knowledge of its rebestowal at the coming of Jesus.

Many of the characters of the Old Testament have never yet realized this great transformation, because in their conception of self righteousness are contented in that conception and worship God as they did on earth, although they have ceased to offer sacrifices of animals, because they have none in spirit life to offer, yet they still have the belief that sacrifice is necessary, and in their imaginations, they offer what to them is symbolical of the offerings that they made in the earth life.

Yes, that is quite a natural supposition, but you must know that mind and the beliefs of mortals continue with them when they become spirits and who will not permit themselves to be convinced of the errors of their conceptions of Deity, and many of these spirits of old are in that condition now. They refuse to believe or even listen to the truths of existence and their relationship to God, as they did when on earth. They have eyes but they see not and ears but they hear not, and enveloped in the darkness of their beliefs, they decline to let in the light, or to permit the truths that are so apparent to others to illuminate their souls. A mind that is shut in by bigotry and intolerance is just as persistent after the mortal becomes a spirit even though a change in its surroundings in what you might call its physical existence and in its possibilities for learning the truth, yet many of these spirits absolutely refuse to recognize any change, or possibility of change, in their spiritual condition.

It is not surprising that you may not understand how it is possible that these spirits of the kind mentioned could live all this great period of years, as you estimate time, in this condition, surrounded by spirits who have found the truth and display that possession in their appearances and happiness, and especially by some of their old associates who have entered into the light and not be influenced by these appearances and the experiences of these associates but, nevertheless, it is true, and the difficulty of converting these bigoted spirits seems to grow the greater as they advance in their progression of mind and natural love. They are happy in a relative sense and in their beliefs they can conceive of no other belief or cause of progress that could bring to them greater happiness and, besides, they are firmly convinced that they are doing the will of God in their manner of worship and in their symbolical sacrifices.

These ancient spirits, as you call them, but who are young as compared to many in the spirit spheres, have their synagogues and temples of worship, and their priests and servants and worshipers according to their old beliefs. And the ceremonies attending their gatherings for worship are very little different from what they were on earth. They have all their vestments and attire and other accompaniments that on earth distinguished them from the common people, and they say their prayers in public and delight in appearing as holy spirits, the specially chosen of God, just as they did on earth, and as they are developing more and more in their natural love and taking on the condition of perfection, so far as the perfection of the first parents as they existed before the fall, they may remain in this condition of belief as to their relationship to God and as to their proper and only way to worship Him throughout all eternity.

They decline to receive the knowledge of the truth of the New Birth, and as that is a thing that is optional with them and its rejection does not prevent them from becoming the "perfect man," as you have had explained to you, there is no absolute necessity as they think they should be Born Again in order to enable a restoration of the harmony of that condition and relationship that they may have to the Father.

Of course, until the day of the consummation of the Kingdom of the Celestial Spheres, they will have the opportunity to become recipients of the Divine Love and the transformation into Angels redeemed, but it is doubtful if very many of them will ever elect to accept this great privilege.

I am glad that I could write to you tonight, as it is a new experience with me, but one that gives me great satisfaction, and I will come again, if agreeable to you, and write further.

I wish to say in closing that I know the difference between the spirit who has in his soul the Divine Love, and one who has not, and that the mere time of a spirit's existence in the spirit world does not necessarily indicate that the spirit possesses the Divine Love. As Jesus said when on earth: "The first shall be last, and the last shall be first." And I may add that some will never be first or last, but only the reminders of what might have been. I will not write more.

Your brother in Christ
Esau

Paul Writes About "Hell: What It Is and What Its Purpose Is"

November 21, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, St. Paul.

I desire tonight to finish my message on: "Hell: What it is and what its purpose is."

As I said before, Hell is a place as well as a condition and, the man who believes that it is nothing more than a condition of his mind or soul will be wonderfully surprised as well as disappointed. I know the condition of mind and soul to a very large extent creates a man's Hell and is the chief source of his suffering and the darkness that surrounds and envelops him; yet, this condition is not the only source of that suffering or of darkness in which he finds himself.

Hell is a place; and a place that has all the appearances and ingredients that are in exact agreement with his state as produced or caused by the condition of his mind or soul and is not a place of universal character and fitted for the habitation of souls, irrespective of conditions of degrees of defilement and sin and darkness.

It is not a single place forming a common home for all fallen souls, but is composed of many and different places and as has been said, there are many Hells having gradations of appearances and surroundings that are suitable for causing additional sufferings which souls may have to endure.

The expression, "The lowest depths of Hell," is not a meaningless one, but portrays a truth, a real existing fact that many spirits are now experiencing the reality of. In its broadest sense, Hell is every place outside of Heaven, and Heaven is that place where everything entering into it - its appearance and qualities and its inhabitants - is in perfect harmony with the respective Laws of God and His will concerning the same.

And this statement involves the fact that there are several Heavens, because the Heaven of the redeemed, or those who have received the Divine Essence in their souls and become of the Divine Nature of the Father, is a distinct Heaven from that wherein live those who have been restored in their natural love to the perfect condition that the first parents possessed before the fall - the condition of the restitution to mankind of that perfection which was lost by the disobedience of the first man and woman.

Mortals usually believe that Heaven is a condition, and the Bible, in which so many believe, attempts to describe this Heaven with its streets of gold and pearly gates, etc., and as a fact, it is a real substantial place having all the elements and appearances of a home of bliss, which help to bring to its inhabitants happiness and joy in addition to the happiness which their soul perfection and development cause them to have.

Then as Heaven is a place having real substance perceptible to the spirits that inhabit it, why should not Hell be a place of real substance, also, with those qualities and appearances exactly suited to add to the unhappiness of those who are fitted for it? The spirit world, both Heaven and Hell are places of substance having their planes and divisions and limitations of occupancy and not mythical, invisible conceptions of mind as you mortals ordinarily conceive ghosts to be. The spirits of mortals are real and more substantial than are the physical bodies of mortals, and these planes and divisions, whether of Heaven or Hell, have a more real existence than have the mortals in their places of habitation or confinement in the earth life.

The Hells are places of darkness and sufferings but in them are no fires or brimstone, etc., as have been so commonly represented by the preachers and teachers of the orthodox churches, because there is nothing therein that would feed fires or that fires could affect, and there are no devils or Satan, though there are evil spirits of men that are more wicked and vicious and horrifying than have ever been pictured of the devil and his angels.

In your communications, you have had some very realistic descriptions of Hell from those who are actually living therein and are realizing its tortures and realities, and I will not take the time here to attempt to describe it in detail and will only say that as it has not entered into the minds of men to conceive the wonders and beauties of Heaven, neither have they ever conceived of the horrors and sufferings of Hell. But from all this, men must not understand that the punishment and darkness which the spirits of evil endure in the Hells are specifically inflicted by the Father because of any wrath that He may have towards these spirits, or to gratify any feelings of revenge, or even to satisfy any outraged justice, for it is not true.

Man, when he becomes a spirit, is his own judge and executioner, submitting to and receiving the inexorable results of the Law that: "Whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap." This is a law that is necessary to preserve or bring about the harmony of God's universe, which, of course, is absolutely necessary, and while it may appear to man, at first sight, to be a harsh and cruel Law, yet in its workings and results, even to the individual spirit who may suffer in the reaping, it is a most benign and beneficial law, for the darkness and sufferings of a few years, as you mortals say, bring about an eternity of light and happiness.

The Law must rule; and in all the apparent harshness and suffering and want of mercy, the Great Divine Love of the Father overshadows the sufferer and finally makes the defiled and wicked soul become one of purity and goodness. Men may never have thought of the fact; that if it were possible for these evil spirits to live in Heaven, their sufferings and unhappiness would be greater than what they endure by living in the place that is more in agreement in its surroundings and appearances with their own distorted conditions of soul. So even in their Hells, the Father is Merciful and Good.

And regarding the second proposition of the preacher (Dr. Ratcliff) in his sermon, namely, the duration of suffering or of the life of the spirit in Hell. His conclusion was that this duration of the spirit is eternal, everlasting and without end. How it must have hurt and violated the teachings of his soul and his conception of the loving Father to come to such a conclusion! But, yet, being bound by his creeds and the domination of his belief that the Bible is the sole authority upon Hell, as well as Heaven, in the conviction of his mind - and here I want to emphasize mind, for his heart was not in agreement - he declared that the duration of the sufferings and life of the Hells is eternal and the saying of Jesus proved it to be, not only because it was in the Bible, but because the true meaning of the original Greek word can have no other translation; not knowing, or if knowing, not recalling, that Jesus, even if he used such expression, did not speak in Greek, and that back of the Greek word, in order to obtain the true meaning of the word used by Jesus, he, the preacher, must go to the word as it was uttered by Jesus and its true meaning.

So many preachers and commentators on the Bible attempt to determine a most vital truth by a shade of meaning that they conceive a particular word in its original, may have, when they are not justified in concluding that such word had at the time used, such shade of meaning, or that the original as they conceive it to be, was the original word actually spoken or written. They seem to lose sight of the fact that the writings of the Bible, I mean the manuscripts, to which they make reference to prove the correctness of their conclusions, are far removed from the original writings, and that by reason of the copying and recopying of the word upon which they rely, and the shade of meaning that they give it in their interpretations may not have been the word originally used. Of course, they have no way of learning this fact and, consequently, they have to resort to the best authority that they can have access to. But under such circumstances, it is not a justifiable thing to have a vital question of man's future and destiny determined by the shade of meaning that may be given to one word or more words, without reference to other declarations of the same Book having relation to the subject matter of the inquiry.

The preacher said that in his conclusion as to the question, he must be governed by the Bible alone and had no right to indulge in speculation of the philosophies of other men and, that in the Bible, he could find nothing that would justify him in coming to any other conclusion than that the duration of punishment in Hell is eternal. Well, he was not honest with himself, for if he had searched a little more deeply and have given as much credence to other parts of the Bible as to the passage that he quoted, he would have found a strong statement to the effect that the evil spirits in Hell have the possibility of leaving it, and not only that but that a part of the great mission of Jesus, upon whose supposed declaration the preacher based his conclusion, was to show the way and induce these spirits of evil to leave their Hells.

This was the Master's first work after he became a spirit, and he would not have attempted to preach to these wicked spirits in Hell, so wicked, according to the Bible, that God because of their great sins when mortals, punished them as He never punished any other of His children, for their disobedience, utterly destroying them as a race and His only living human creatures from the face of the earth, by one great catastrophe, leaving only Noah and his family as a reminder of the great failure of God in His creation - the most perfect and the "very good." So I say, if the preacher had searched the Bible, he would have found that the Hell that contained the spirits of all the human race that was living at the time of the flood, except Noah and his family was not in its duration eternal.

And again, had the preached searched further he would have found that the Master Himself declared by necessary implication, that, at least, for some of the wicked who became inhabitants of Hell, there was possibility of release and certainty upon conditions. I refer to the declaration attributed to him where he said, "He that sinneth against the son of man, it shall be forgiven him, but he that sinneth against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in the world to come." (Matt. Chapter 12--Verse 32)

Now, to any reasonable man there is only one interpretation of this declaration and, that is, that for any and all sins, except that against the Holy Ghost, there is forgiveness in the next world as well as in the mortal world, and that being a fact, it is an irresistible conclusion that the Father would not compel a spirit to remain in Hell after He had forgiven that spirit's sins.

No, the preacher had not searched the Scriptures, as he was in duty bound to do, else his conclusion, could he have ridden his mind of the beliefs that the creeds of his church had driven into his intellect, and of the teachings of the ancient fathers, and of the churches that had taught such false and damnable doctrines for so many years, would have been very different. The preacher repudiated the old teachings that there would be physical suffering in Hell, or fire or brimstone, etc., and expressed his commiseration for those preachers and others who had taught such doctrine and for their awful responsibility and accounting, and his commiseration was needed and appropriate. But l want to say here that he needs as much, if not more, commiseration for the preaching of his false doctrines, as did those preachers to whom he refers. He has more light, or may have, and his accounting will be correspondingly greater.

I have written a long letter, and you are tired and I must stop, but before doing so, let me declare the truth to be that:

"Hell is not a place of eternal punishment; that all the Hells as well as other parts of the spirit world are places of progression and the privilege of probation is not taken from any spirit no matter how wicked, for all are God's children and in His Plans for the perfecting of the harmony of the universe, and man's salvation, all the Hells will be emptied and the Hells themselves destroyed."

But men must not think from this that the duration of suffering in these Hells is necessarily short, for that is not true; some of the evil inhabitants of these places have been in such darkness and suffering for centuries, as mortals count time and may be for centuries more, but the time will come when they will have the awakening to the fact that they may become children of light, and then when they make the effort to progress, they will succeed. The sooner that mankind learns that Hell is not a place of punishment to satisfy the wrath of an angry God, but merely the natural and necessary living place of the spirit, whose condition of soul and mind demands, and that condition changes, and it will change, the Hell of its habitation will change until finally for that spirit all the Hells will disappear.

You are tired and I must stop. So thanking you, and leaving you my love and blessings,

I am your brother in Christ,
Paul

St. Paul Writes There is No Fire and Brimstone in Hell and Punishment is Not Everlasting

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

I am here, St. Paul.

I merely want to say that I was present at the church tonight and listened to the preacher (Dr. Ratcliff) tell his congregation what he didn't know about Hell, because what he said, in many particulars, was untrue and it was pleasing to hear him tell his people that there was no physical suffering, although he didn't explain to them why there could be no such suffering, and I mean that no spirit, when he goes into Hell carries with him his physical body, or any other body, that has such substance as would be affected by fire and brimstone and the other unreasonable things that the churches have for so many years taught and terrified their members with and, as a consequence, caused them to believe that the Father is such a cruel and wrathful Father demanding that His cravings for satisfaction be supplied by the sizzling in fire of the bodies of His children. No, this damnable doctrine is not true and I am glad to see that the churches are ceasing to believe or teach it.

But the doctrine that the preacher taught is quite as bad, and as useless as the former, for the reason, that punishment of sinners and those who are out of harmony with God is a fact which they all will realize when they come to the spirit world, and that being so, to teach that this punishment is everlasting is as harmful as the one that I first mentioned. How strange that preachers and teachers will try to cause their people and listeners to believe that God is such a wrathful and vindictive being, having less love and mercy than the most wicked and earthly father has for his children. It is so very deplorable that such attempts are made by these supposed instructors of what God is, to blaspheme Him in His great qualities of Love and Tenderness, and the desire that all His children become happy.

Oh, I tell you that these preachers will have a woeful sin to answer for when they come to an accounting, and that will not be at the great judgment day, as they teach, but just as soon as they enter spirit life and realize the great harm that they have done to many who have followed them in their teachings; and they will realize that awful result very soon after their entrance into the spirit world, for they will have come to them, as clouds of witnesses, the spirits of those who were under their instructions on earth, bringing with them all the evidence of the results of their erroneous beliefs and the stains of this great sin of blasphemy.

I, Paul, write this for I know. I have suffered from this very cause myself because, when on earth, I taught some doctrine like unto the one that these preachers are now teaching, and even now I realize that to some extent I am responsible for many false beliefs; but I thank God that all that is ascribed to me in the Bible, I am not responsible for, and that if my true teachings were known and taught, the blind and erroneous beliefs that are now so prevalent among Christians would not exist. I tell you that mortals do not conceive the great harmful and deplorable results that flow from their beliefs in the Bible in many particulars.

This Book is one of falsehoods and forgery and imputations that have no resemblance to what the Master or any of his apostles taught, and you can readily realize how anxious we all are that these errors and untruths be removed from the minds and souls of men. But I must not permit myself to become too enthusiastic in considering these things tonight, or I might not stop as I should under the circumstances.

I will come, though, very soon and write you on the subject, as it is a vital one to mankind, and I will explain the truths connected with it as fully as is possible for men to understand. I should like to write more tonight but I must not. So with my love, I will say, good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Paul

Luke Writes About the Necessity for Men Turning Their Thoughts to Things Spiritual

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

I am here, St. Luke, of the New Testament.

I desire to write my promised message, and if you feel that you can receive it, I will try to write. Well, I desire to declare certain truths with reference to the necessity for men turning their thoughts to things spiritual and letting the material things of life consume less of their time and thoughts.

In the first place, that which is eternal is of more importance than that which is temporal and has an existence for a short time only, even though these things of time are necessary to sustain and preserve man while living his life on earth.

I would not be understood as implying that these material things are not necessary and important for man to acquire and use to the best possible advantage, for they are a necessity to his earth existence, and it is not only a privilege but a duty for man to make the best use of these material gifts that is possible, and to place himself in that condition which will enable him to enjoy to the utmost these things that have been provided for his material comfort and happiness.

And further, it is his duty to bend his efforts to develop the use and application of these things, so that the greatest possible benefit and utility may be derived from the proper use of them. And to do this, I understand that man has to give a portion of his thoughts, and devote a part of his time to their consideration, and to the means and methods by which the best results may be brought about, and in doing this man is not disobedient to the Father's laws, or to the requirements which the laws of his own being calls for.

The discoveries of the inventors are desirable and men's work in making these discoveries is commendable, and so are efforts of the merchant and mechanic and financiers to succeed in their different undertakings and as a result accumulate money and use it for their comfort and sustenance. But these things, or the thoughts and efforts used to accomplish these results, do not help the soul development, or even the development of the spiritual side of man's nature, and if man devotes himself for the greater number of his hours of living to these pursuits, when he comes to lay these burdens down and pass into the land of spirits, he will find that he is very poor, indeed, and that the eternal part of his being has little developed, and his soul fitted for a place where those who have laid up their riches on earth must necessarily go.

So attractive is this accumulation of money, and the gaining of fame or position to man, that when once engaged in, and especially when accompanied with what he calls success, he naturally devotes his whole waking time and thoughts to these efforts and, as a consequence, very little of this short time on earth is given to thoughts of and striving for things of the higher kind.

If mortals, and especially those who are so arduously and constantly engaged in the effort to win the success that I have just mentioned, could only see and know the condition of those who when on earth were engaged in similar pursuits with like aspirations, and who are now in the spirit world, they would realize the utter futility of such efforts, and the great soul-killing harm that the so-called success on earth has brought to these spirits.

And while we may assume that many of these spirits did not do affirmative wrong or injury in their work and did not enter into the condition to which I refer because of any such among or injury, yet they are in a stagnated and shriveled condition of soul and spiritual qualities, and all because when - in their earnest pursuits of these material things - they neglected the development of their souls or the cultivation of their spiritual qualities.

Their sin was that of omission and it is a sure one in its results, and the more common one among men who think too much of material things, or think not at all or are indifferent to everything, and are satisfied to live in an atmosphere or state of vegetating contentment. The law operates the same upon the man who neglects his spiritual nature because of his absorption in the things material as upon the man who is guilty of such neglect because of indifference, or contentment with the pleasures that these material things give him. In both cases the results are the same - the soul remains stagnant and the spiritual qualities lie dormant; and the man of such neglect will find his place in the spirit world to be one of darkness and suffering.

Life is short and time is fleeting, even though a man may live his allotted time of three score and ten years, and there is no place in all God's universe where it is so important that man should start on his way to eternal progress as in the earth life. There the soul should have its awakening and be fed with thoughts and strivings for the things spiritual. When the start is, thus, made on earth, it is so much easier for the continuous progress of the soul in the spirit world, if not the awakening may be delayed for years, and the progress which follows it may be and generally is very slow.

So I say, let men not devote so much of their time to those things which are of time only, and while they remain in the world of time until the mortal becomes a spirit.

Thoughts are things and when applied to man's spiritual development, they are things of the most vital importance. A little thought may start a soul to a dormant, hardly living state, or cause it to grow and increase into a thing of beauty and harmony with the spiritual possibilities of its possessor. And as it has been said, where your treasures are, there will your heart be also, so also will your thoughts that turn man's soul into darkness or light.

So with all my love, I will say, good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Luke