Luke Writes that the Divine Love of God Brings Immortality

April 17, 1922
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

Let me write as I desire to say a few words on the question of immortality of which you have been thinking so much during the past few days.

I was with you today as you listened to the discourses of the preacher upon the subject of immortality, and saw that you realized he did not have a true idea of what the term means, and thought how much you would like to inform him of your knowledge of the subject. Well, I understand just how you felt about the matter, and am in sympathy with you in your desire and hope that sometime you may have the opportunity to converse with him on this subject and give him your conception of the truth.

It is the subject of so many sermons and theories preached by preachers and others, and yet not one of them has the true understanding of what immortality is. They understand it only in the sense of continuous life, and in addition, try by argument and inferences to attach to it the idea of never ending - that is of the continuous life being so established that it can never be ended - and in this they satisfy their longings and desires. But you see, this inference is merely one that is drawn from the desires of the preachers - that they have no true basis upon which to found their conclusions, and as to the ordinary things of life they would not be willing to risk the important things of life upon a basis no better established from which they could draw conclusions that would cause them to act.

No, mankind do not really know what immortality is, and all the arguments that they can put forth to establish the true immortality, are not sufficient to convince the clear, cool and unprejudiced mind as to its being a fact.

As is said in the message that you have received from Jesus, immortality can be derived only from that which is immortal, and all arguments that merely tend to show that a thing must be immortal because of the desires or intentions of God, do not suffice.

All the facts that may be established as premises, are not sufficient to logically prove the conclusion desired to be established and men cannot depend upon such method of reasoning.

It is utterly impossible to derive immortality from anything less than that which is immortal in itself, and to attempt to do so by argument or inference is a mere waste of time by the exercise of the reasoning faculties.

As has been said, only God is Immortal, and that means that the very Qualities and Nature of Himself is Immortal; and if it were possible for Him to have any qualities that are not of a nature that partakes of the Immortal, then these qualities would not be Immortal, but subject to change and dissolution. Among the Qualities of His Being is the great and important one of Love and without It God could not be. His existence would be less than that of a God; and that being a fact, this great Quality of Love must be Immortal, and into whatever this Quality may enter and form a part, that thing is necessarily Immortal, and in no other way could it become Immortal. Then this Love of God brings Immortality in the true sense of the term and when It enters into the soul of man and possesses it, that soul becomes Immortal, and in no other way can Immortality be acquired.

Not all things of God's creation are immortal, for in a shorter or longer time they perform the object of their creation, and their existence is no longer required and they become dissolved into the elements of which they were composed. Man's physical body for this reason is not immortal, for after a short life on earth it dissolves and is no more. His spirit body is primarily of this evanescent character, and it may be that in the course of eternity it will have performed its mission and cease to exist. We do not know this, neither are we assured that it is not true, because it is dependent upon the continuous existence of the soul for its continuous existence, and not all souls will receive a part of the Father's Divine Love, which is the only thing that has within itself this immortality; and it may be that at sometime in the future, this soul without the Love may cease to exist and become no more a creature of the Father.

But this we do know, that whatever partakes of the Divine Love has in it that which is necessarily immortal, and can no more die than can this Love itself; and, hence, must be immortal. So that when men speak or teach that all men are immortal, they speak that which they do not know - only God, Himself, knows that fact - and from the mere exercise of the reason men are justified in saying, that such men or souls that do not obtain the Divine Love are not immortal.

Now while this question of man's immortality is in doubt, and has never been demonstrated to be a fact, yet we do know that, that portion of mankind whose souls have received this immortal, Divine Love, are immortal and can never cease to exist; and the great comfort and blessings to these souls that this possession brings, are that they know that they are immortal because they possess that quality or nature of God that is immortal, and as the latter can never have an ending, neither can that into which this immortal Love has entered and found a lodgment have an ending.

The preachers arguments were strong, and in the ordinary workings of men's minds and reasoning powers, may convince men that immortality is a proven fact for all mankind, but when properly analyzed and the true rule of search for immortality is applied, it will appear that the arguments are not conclusive - hope is stronger than fact, and men have not the assurance that for them immortality holds out its desired arms of certainty.

Well, I thought I would write you this short message upon the question that you and the preacher have been meditating upon, in the hope that he might not depend upon the strength of his argument for the establishing of the fact of immortality, but would see and become convinced that the only way to ascertain and acquire the true immortality is by seeking for and obtaining the Divine Love, and thereby having his soul transformed into the very Essence and nature of God in Love.

I am glad that I can write to you again, and that your condition is so much better than it has been, and permits the rapport to be made. Pray more to the Father and believe, and you will get in a condition that we so much desire. I will not write more. Good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Luke

Samuel Writes About What Actually Happened at Jesus' Crucifixion

March 27, 1921
Received By James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

Let me write a few lines tonight, as I have not written you for a long time and desire to tell you of the scene that was depicted to you tonight by the words and music at the church.

I was present at the time of the crucifixion of Jesus and saw all that took place and the wonderful display of the forces of nature that were presented to you tonight in the drama of the crucifixion. Well, as you may not know, many of the scenes that were so forcibly presented to your imagination never had any reality in fact and the drama was the production of the oriental mind, which was so often used to depict things that had their origin only in such eastern imaginations.

When Jesus was crucified, there was no great concourse of people; because he was considered as a common malefactor paying the penalties that followed the violation of the law that he was charged with violating. Of course, there were soldiers and a large number of the members of the Jewish Sanhedrim and a few followers present, but there was no unusual crowd to witness the execution.

He was not the only one crucified at the time and the other two were considered just as the Jews considered him - violator of their laws and one to be punished by hanging on the cross. The words that he is supposed to have uttered at the time of his extremis were not uttered by him and no words that he may have spoken could have been heard by any of his followers, for they were kept away from the immediate scene of his execution, and it was only after he had been pronounced dead and found ready to be removed from the cross, that his followers were permitted to approach his body and remove it from the tree. The others, who were engaged in the execution did not hear any words of his, and as I have said, his followers could not hear and, thus, be able to report any supposed saying of his. So far as known, he died as bravely - that is without fear or doubt as to the future as did any other who has suffered the same fate.

The words that he is supposed to have uttered were not so uttered, and he did not call upon the Father for His help, or to cause the bitter cup to pass from him, and all reports of what he said or did at that time are not true, but merely the imaginings of those who wrote of him in later times. There was no sudden breaking up of nature or things material, and the accounts of the graves opening, and the bodies arising therefrom and being seen and talked with in the city are purely fiction and have no foundation in fact.

I know that Christians of today will not be ready to receive these statements as true, because of the long years of belief in these things that have obtained during the centuries. Why men should want to believe in these representations of things that never happened, it is hard to understand, for in themselves that have no significance except that mere endeavor to make as dramatic and impressive on humanity the wonderful circumstances that they allege surrounded the death of Jesus. If they will only think, they must realize that the death of Jesus, accompanied by all the startling environments described in the Bible, did not afford one iota of help in way of saving a human soul or teaching that soul the true way to the Father's Kingdom. His life is what had the effect and not his death; and the sooner men learn that Truth, the sooner will they learn the fact that no death of Jesus could save them from themselves, or show them the way to the Celestial Kingdom.

I know that men will not want to believe what I have written and continue in their belief that all these tragic circumstances surrounded the death of Jesus. And I suppose that this belief will continue with them for a long time to come. But what I have said is true, and no man can by any possible workings of God's laws find any hope or assurance of immortality in these things.You may ask me how I know that Jesus uttered no words at the time of his death, and I can answer by saying that he told me so himself.

He has not been present tonight at any of the churches, where his death on the cross is celebrated, and will not be until after the time of the great worship and adoration of him by the churches has gone by. This worship is all very distasteful to him and are such that he does not desire to witness and, hence, he remains in his home in the high Celestial Spheres. He desires men to worship only the One True Father that he worships and, thus, receive the true benediction of the Father.

Well, I see that you are tired and I will not write more. With my love, I will say good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Samuel

**********

Helen confirms that Samuel wrote the preceding message.

I am here, your true and loving Helen

Well dear, I see that you are tired and I will not write much.

The message that you received is from Samuel, who was present at the crucifixion in spirit and heard and saw what took place, and so can be believed. I know also that what the Bible contains as to the crucifixion of Jesus is very erroneous and written by men to impress their followers of the importance of Jesus' death.

I will not write more now. So believe that I love you with all my heart and want you to be happy. Good night.

Your own true and loving,
Helen

Mary Kennedy Writes that Dr. Leslie R. Stone's Parents and Sisters are Now Living in the Celestial Heavens

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

I am here, Mary.

Let me write a few lines to my dear one, as you disappointed me when he was last here. I thought that certainly you were going to let me write and when you did not, I just couldn't help telling Helen that you were real mean, but you know I did not mean it - for you have been very kind to both the Doctor and myself. So I hope you will not feel bad, because of what I said. You see, we are not very different here from what we were on earth when something interferes with our love-making.

I noticed also a side remark of Helen, and I want to say that she was only jealous of me or very antagonistic for me to write. Of course, she did not know what I was going to write about and I will prove it!

Well, the Doctor knows how much I love him and I know how much he loves me, and it is not always necessary to write of this, but thinking of my messages, I believe I do always say something of love and I am glad of it.

But last night when he was with you, I wanted to say something else and I will tell you now what it is. I know that he is much interested in the progress of his own folks and their happiness. I wanted to tell him that his father and sisters are in the Celestial Spheres and know to the extent that this makes their certainty of immortality and a home in the Father's house that can never be taken from them. His father has been so very earnest in his prayers and longings for the Love that it came to him in such abundance that he found himself an inhabitant of the Celestial Spheres where his mother is, and Kate is with them. So that now we are all safe in the shelter of the Father's Love and know that forever and ever, we will abide in the Heavens of the Father. We are all so glad, that we had a regular old-fashioned love feast and praised God for His goodness and mercy.

I have been with Leslie a great deal lately and feel that he, too, is getting more of this Love in his soul, and if he could fully realize what it means, he would feel like shouting as the old Methodists sometimes do. I sometimes wonder at what all this means, and why we should be privileged to possess this Love and have the corresponding happiness; and this I know, that no matter how much men are disappointed in the earth life or spirits in the spirit world, the Father never disappoints them who long for the Love that is free for all, but how few realize what this freedom means. Only those whose Love from God enters and takes possession of the soul can have a possible realization of what God's free Love means.

I am so glad that day by day this knowledge is coming to my soulmate. And when I say knowledge, I mean something more than a mere intellectual knowledge. This latter, of course, is necessary, but it is not the knowledge that comes to the soul.

Tell the Doctor to pray more and more and believe with all his soul that there is no limit to the inflowing of the Divine Love to become his. I have written enough for tonight and notwithstanding Helen's remarks, I am going to tell him that I love him with all my heart and soul and will never leave him until the time comes for him to join me, and not then, of course.

I thank you very much for permitting me to write tonight, and you must believe that I love you as a sister, and would not for all the world call you hard names or make you feel that I am not your true, loving sister. His parents send their love to him and the assurance that they are helping him with all their powers and love. Good night and God bless you both, and in the end lead you to one of the glorious mansions that are waiting for you.

Your true friend and the only true love of the Doctor.
Mary

Jesus Writes on Immortality

June 2, 1920
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

Let me write tonight on a subject that is of importance to mankind and should be fully explained, that they may know the truth that will show them the way to immortality and light.

I know that men have debated all down the centuries the question of man's immortality and have attempted to prove the reality of its existence by various arguments and by reference to the analogy of the workings of God's universe in the fulfillment of His designs as displayed by the various creations of animate nature. In all these discussions they have not succeeded in definitely and satisfactorily established the fact of immortality. And why? Because they have not, in the first place, understood what immortality means and without a correct conception of that which it is desired to prove, it becomes very difficult to successfully prove the existence of the thing sought for.

I know that at times some idea of what immortality is has been conceived of and almost understood by some of the writers on the subject, and their efforts have been directed to show that by man's inner consciousness, as well as by the appearance of those things in nature which die and live again, man is justified in inferring that man himself is immortal, or was intended by his Creator to be immortal.

But the inner consciousness of man, meaning the knowledge of the possession of certain desires and aspirations, as well as the realization that his life on earth is too short to enable him to accomplish those things that his efforts and strivings attempt, and that what he really accomplishes in the way of his own mental and moral development, if they end with the physical death of men would mean only a useless exercise of the faculties and powers given him by God is not sufficient to prove the immortality of the real man. Neither is it evidence of the uselessness of man's creation, though he is in one moment deprived of all the learning and other benefits of a developed intellect, as well as of moral progression.

There is a difference between the state and condition of a human soul that continues in the spirit world - the life that it had when embodied in the flesh - and the state that not only continues this life but makes the extinction of this life an utter impossibility even by God, who in the beginning of man's existence created that soul.

True Immortality then, is the state or condition of the soul that has knowledge that because of the essence and qualities of itself, it cannot ever cease to live - the impossibility of it's ever ceasing to live being known to it and a fact.

It has been said that whatever has a beginning may have an ending - that which was created may be dissolved into its elements. And the possibility of this is true, and no man or spirit can deny the truth of the assertion. In your earth life, you find that all things have an ending; that is, in their individual and composite form; and in the spirit world, why may not the same fate attend created things? The fact that there are things in the spirit world that exist as a continuation of things of earth does not mean that they shall endure forever.

The mere change, caused by the death and disappearance from the vision of men, of things that were once alive does not establish the fact that as they continue to live in the spirit world, they must live forever. Death, which is looked upon as a destroying angel, is merely the result of the change from that which is visible to the invisible and does not in any way determine the everlasting existence of the thing changed.

The soul of man, while in the flesh, is the same soul as to its identity and individuality, as it is when it becomes an inhabitant of the spirit world, and if it is immortal while in the spirit world, it is also immortal while in the body; and if it may cease to have an immortal existence in the one state, it may in the other.

Suppose that men by their arguments of the nature mentioned show that the soul of man does not die when the physical body dies but that it continues its existence in the spirit world as the identical, personal soul, and then I ask, does that prove immortality as I have defined it?

Death of the body and the continuing life of the soul thereafter do not work any change in the qualities or essence of that soul. It is still the same created soul that it was in the beginning, and why may it not be true, that being a thing created, it may have an ending? This is logical and not unreasonable.

Then I say, even if men by their arguments prove to the satisfaction of many, that the soul after the death of the physical body continues to live in the spirit world with all its faculties and powers in active operation, they do not prove, nor do all the facts possible for them to discover and marshal prove, that that soul is immortal. The soul of man did not always exist - it is not eternal, self existing or independent of everything else, but dependent upon the Will of God that called it into existence, and why is it not reasonable to infer that in the long period of time to come, it will have served the purpose of its creation and be disseminated into the elements of which it was created?

But I will say here, for the benefit of those mortals who believe in the immortality of the soul that from the time of the creation of the first man to the present, no spirit in the spirit world has any knowledge of any human soul that has ceased its existence and been dissolved into its elements. And further, that there are myriads of souls in the spirit world that are in just the condition of perfection that was the condition of the soul of the first man when created and God pronounced His creation: "Very good."

But as mortals have no assurance that at some time the life of their souls will not end, so also spirits who have gained the perfect condition of their creation have no such assurance. They have hope and belief that such may be their destiny, and also a knowledge that their progress as the perfect man has ended. They are in that state which limits their progress as the perfect man, although their enjoyment as such is not limited. To them in God's universe, there is always something new and unknown appearing. But yet they have not the knowledge that they are immortal and realize that they are dependent upon the Will of God for their existence, and to many of these spirits, immortality is as much a subject of concern and speculation as it is to the mortals of earth.

Men in their meditation, study and arguments of this question of immortality do not start from the foundation of the subject. They have no truthful premises from which they can draw a correct conclusion and, consequently, their arguments fail. They reason that because of the existence of certain things in and outside of man - all things of mere creation that tend to show God's intentions and plans as regards man, therefore, in order to carry out such intentions, man must be immortal. They do not consider or lose sight of the fact that all these things that they use as the foundation for their conclusions are things dependent and not self existing, and at one time or another the objects of God's creation. What God has called into existence He can also declare shall exist no longer. And knowing this, man cannot, or spirit either, rightfully conclude that the soul is immortal.

But there is a way in which the immortality of the soul, or some souls, can be proved and which, assuming the facts that enter into the argument to be true, necessarily establish the conclusion without possibility of refutation.

Then in commencing the argument, what is the only reasonable way to approach the subject? First, to discover and establish that which is immortal, and next to search for and find that which though not immortal, yet by reason of certain operations and effects upon it of that which is immortal, becomes itself immortal. Only from the immortal can immortality be acquired.

Well this is a good place to stop as you are tired; I am well pleased with the way in which you have received my message. Have faith and pray, and all will be well. Good night my dear brother, for you are in truth my brother.

Your friend and brother,
Jesus

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 on the Importance of Knowing the Way to the Celestial Kingdom and the Plan of Salvation

October 18, 1919
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

Let me write a few lines for I must tell you of an important truth that is necessary for men to know in order to reach the Celestial Kingdom, and a knowledge of the plan of salvation.

I know that the Bible contains many sayings attributed to me in reference to this plan, and many of my alleged sayings are believed in by those who claim to be Christians, which are not true, for I never said them and they are contrary to what I received from the Father as to the true plan of men's redemption from sin, and as to the only way, by which, they can obtain the true at-onement with the Father and a knowledge of their own immortality.

Many of these sayings were written by men who knew not the only way to a oneness with the Father, and were the results of the teachings of the manuscripts that then existed and were received by the Jews as the revelations of Moses, and of many of the prophets who had no knowledge of the Divine Love or of its rebestowal upon humanity. These men made me say those things that accorded with their ideas of what was necessary to a salvation or possibility of their becoming at-one with me and with the Father, and in writing their ideas confused the truth with what they supposed was the truth as contained in the Old Testament; and much harm has been done by attributing many of these sayings to me, because of the supposed authority that is thereby attached to them.

My disciples never taught and never understood that their salvation, or that of any man, depended upon faith in me as the son of God or that I, the mere Jesus, had in me any virtue to forgive sin or to ensure an entrance into the true Kingdom of God or that, I, as the man Jesus, was a son of God in the sense that the Bible teaches. They knew that the Father had revealed to me the truth, and that I had in me that Love, which to a large extent made me like unto and at-one with the Father; that my teachings of the rebestowal of the Divine Love was true and that when they, or any man, should possess this Love to the extent of that possession, they would become at-one with the Father, and also with me, who possessed it to a greater degree than any man. I say, they knew this and taught it to the people as I had taught it to them; but when the compilers of the present New Testament came to declare my sayings and teachings, they knew not of this Love and, hence, could not understand what many of my true expressions meant and gave them an interpretation so far as my real sayings were concerned, that would comply with their knowledge.

No, I am not correctly quoted in many of these sayings, and I may say in the large majority of them, for when they were written, as now contained in the New Testament, men had lost the knowledge of their true meaning, and out of their own minds recorded that which they thought was what I had really said.

I do not see how these false sayings can be corrected, except to take each saying and show, by its incompatibility with what I now say, its falsity. This would take too much time and expend much energy that could the better be employed in declaring what the truth actually is. But this I will say that whenever these sayings impart that I claim to be God, or that I could or did forgive men of their sins, or that whatsoever should be asked of the Father in my name would be received, are all untrue and has greatly misled the true seeker of knowledge of Immortality.

My disciples were close to me and understood better my sayings than all others, and yet they did not understand all the truth, and left the mortal life with many expectations that were not fulfilled and in the very nature of the same could not be fulfilled. They were in certain non-essentials influenced in their beliefs and expectations by their training in the teachings of these Old Testament manuscripts and were very largely Jews in belief when they died. They understood the vital things that determined their relationship to God and to their existence in the future world, but as to many of the non-essentials, they retained the faith of their fathers and were not able to receive all the truth, which I could have taught them.

I must not linger to correct these alleged sayings of mine, but must occupy my time and yours in declaring and revealing the Truth as it exists now and existed then, and you and the world may know that wherever and whenever these Bible sayings of mine conflict with what I have written and shall write you, they are untrue and were never said by me. Thus, in this general way, I will make plain to men that the Bible must not, in all particulars, be relied on or believed in as containing the Truth or my declarations of the Truth.

I will soon come and write a message on a vital truth and hope that you will be in condition to receive it. I will now say good night and God bless your efforts and keep you safely in His care.

Your brother and friend,
Jesus

St. Luke Writes on the Erroneous Teachings of the New Thought Movement

March 9, 1919
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

St. Luke.

Let me write a few lines tonight as you are in better condition, and I am able to make a rapport with you and deliver my message.

I was with you today at a meeting of the New Thought people and saw the impression made upon you by the speaker in his efforts to show that God is within man, and that only the opening up of the soul or mind of man to the development of that God is all that is necessary to bring that man into a perfect at-onement with the truths of God's Will.

Well, I have to say that this speaker, when he comes to a realization of himself in the spirit world, will find that God is not in him or in anything that he may have possessed in his earth life; and that his development of the kingdom within him, as he termed it, was a mere delusion and a snare to the progress of his soul in its career through the earth life, as well as through the Heavens or spirit world.

He is mistaken when he announces that the Kingdom of Heaven is within him, or that he has that within him which can, by its development, lead to the condition of the perfect man, in the sense that he spoke of. He is following a false way, and all the efforts that he may make will not lead him into the paths that end in the perfect man that partakes of the Father's Divinity.

He is also mistaken when he asserts that God is everywhere - in the flowers and in the thoughts of men and in the heart - for God does not find his habitation in any of these things, and men do not live and move and have their being in Him. He is a distinct and individual entity and is not spread over all His universe, as the preacher proclaimed, and can only be found by the longings of the soul followed by a development of that soul in His Love. No, God is in His Heavens, and man can reach Him only by the persistent longings of that soul for the inflowing of His Love.

These things that the preacher declared were the presence of God are only the expressions of His being, and they do not declare His presence in any other sense than as the evidence of His existence - in His habitation, from which these expressions flow and make known to man His presence, as these things reflect it.

I am sorry that this speaker has not more knowledge of the true God, and of His seat of habitation, for then he would realize that these things upon which he places so much belief as being the very God, Himself, are but the expressions that flow from Him.

Man has within him that which has in itself wonderful possibilities - I mean the soul. And it may, by the observance of the way that transforms it into a Divine Angel, become Divine itself, or it may only by the slow process of renunciation become merely the perfect man with his natural love in a pure state, which was the condition of the first parents. If men will listen to the call to their souls, they will realize this possibility and receive this Divinity, and with it, immortality; but without this transformation they never can become other or greater than the perfect man.

I know that men teach that there is implanted within the souls of all men, that which is capable of being developed into an existence like unto God, that man needs only this development in order to become a God, and that there is nothing else necessary to make a human soul a part of the Soul of God. But in this teaching men are mistaken and will find themselves, at the stage of their highest development, nothing more than the perfect man.

Man has within him only that with which he was created and can of himself add not one thing that will change him from this condition of his creation. It is true that he can by a right course of thinking and living renounce those things that have tainted his soul and alienated it from the Father and made it sinful and disobedient; but when this is done, he is still only the perfect man, and nothing of the Divine is in him.

Jesus was the perfect man and, as such, was an exemplar of what all men will ultimately become; and if Jesus had never become more than the perfect man, he would not now be an inhabitant of the Celestial Heavens and the beloved Son of the Father. Yet he became more than the perfect man, and it was only after he attained to this condition of excellence, that he could say, "I and my Father are one," for it was then only that he possessed the Divine Love to that degree which made him at-one with the Father.

Only he is at-one with the Father that realizes that he is possessed of the very nature and Essence of the Father, and there is only one way in which this can be obtained, and that is by the inflowing into the soul of the Divine Love. Jesus could not say to the multitude that they were at-one with him and with the Father, for they had only the natural love and had not experienced the transformation of their souls; and such sayings as this were addressed only to his disciples, or to those among his hearers that had received this Love.

The speaker spoke of the New Birth, but had no conception of what it meant and, like many other teachers in and out of the churches, believes that a mere condition of the purification of the natural love constitutes this New Birth, and that that is all Jesus meant when he taught the necessity of being Born Again. There is only one way in which this New Birth can be brought about, and that you already know.

As to the moral truths taught by the Master, such as are referred to in the Sermon on the Mount, undoubtedly they will, if observed in the heart, bring about a regeneration of the soul that will lead men to the glory of the perfect man and make him at-one with the laws of his creation. This condition is devoutly to be wished for and sought after by all men, and when they attain to this condition they will experience the beatitudes that are mentioned in the sermon; but this is only the state of the perfect man and nothing of the Divine enters into their condition.

"New Thought," as it is called, has in it something that is an improvement on orthodoxy, and men will be the better if they will embrace some of its teachings. The great stumbling blocks of the Trinity, and the vicarious atonement and the blood would be moved from the worship of men, and they would then rely on the moral truths in the development of their souls for salvation, and would not rest supinely in the belief of the efficacy of the vicarious atonement. But some other things that it teaches are all wrong, and its followers will find when they come to the spirit world that there is a God to be worshipped, and that man has not within him that God to be developed by his own thoughts and deeds.

I know that according to the orthodox teachings too little is thought of the natural goodness of man, and too much emphasis placed in his innate depravity, and that nothing in man is worthy of the release from the sin and disobedience in which he is now living; and that of himself he can do nothing to bring about his purification and restoration to his original condition of the perfect man. This is wrong, for very largely upon man's efforts depends his redemption; "and as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." He is naturally good, and his present condition was brought about by his permitting his soul to be contaminated with sin, and to become again good he needs only to pursue that way that will remove sin and its consequences from his soul.

Man created sin, and he will have to remove sin, and the process will be slow, but ultimately it will be accomplished, and by the efforts of man himself. He will be helped by spirits who are God's ministering angels in these efforts, but upon him depends the removal of that which he created and imposed. And here let me say, that unless man wills it, he will forever remain in sin, and God will not, contrary to man's desires, make him a pure and undefiled being; and man's belief, unaccompanied by striving and seeking, will not be sufficient to bring about this remedy.

The speaker is a good man, and has experienced to a large degree the workings of his own will upon the conditions of his soul, and knows that his own efforts have caused him to renounce many things that tended to defile him and cause doubt, and in this condition realizes much happiness, and thinks that he is of himself sufficient to attain to that which will bring him into a perfect unison with the God that he thinks is within him. In this he is deceiving himself, for what he thinks is God is only an unusual condition of soul development in its natural love, that gives him a happiness which causes him to believe that God must be in and a part of him.

As you have been told, the happiness of the purified soul is beyond all conception of humans, and the nearer a man approaches to that condition of purification of his soul, the greater becomes his happiness, and the belief that God must in some way be in that happiness and form a part of it, when the fact is that this happiness is only that which was bestowed upon man in the beginning. As the soul becomes purer and relieved from the defilement of sin, man becomes what he was in the beginning and has regained only that which by nature is his. He does not receive any part of the Divine, nor does the Father bestow upon him anything that was not his at the creation, and he must realize that by the removal of sin, his soul becomes more and more in harmony with the will of God, and less and less in harmony with his own perverted will.

Let "New Thought" progress until men may realize that they are at-one with themselves, their created selves, but let it not teach them that what they experience as a removal of sin from their own souls by their own efforts and thoughts, is evidence of a development of any supposed God within them, for it is not true; but is merely the development of their own natural created selves, freed from that which defiled and made them unnatural.

The speaker said that the Kingdom of Heaven is within all men, and needs only for men to realize that fact, and declare its truth, and that then they will become pure and like unto God, and find themselves in the presence of God, and see Him face to face. Well, in this he is all wrong, for the Kingdom of Heaven or Celestial Kingdom is not within men, though it may be, and neither is God in their souls and capable of being seen face to face. These men - who teach purification of their natural love and a superior state resulting from that purification and nothing more - will never see God, and they will always remain in the mere image in which they were created, a merely purified man made in the image of God, and nothing more. The Father will then be the same unseen Creator as he is now, and men will worship Him in faith only, for their soul perceptions, which are the only eyes of the soul that can see God, will not exist, and to them God will still remain the unseen and unknowable being that exists today in the knowledge and belief of men.

Well, I have written enough for tonight, but saw that you were somewhat interested in the teachings of the day, and thought it best that I should write you as to the truth of the subject of which he discoursed and evidently believed.

With my love to you, and the hope that our messages may now continue without interruption, I will say, good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Luke

Job Writes on the Book that Mr. Padgett Was Reading, Which is About the Natural Love and not the Divine Love

February 19, 1919
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Job.

Let me say a few words tonight upon a subject that is of importance to mankind and to the future of man.

I see that you have been reading a book professing to give communications from a spirit who claims to be possessed of a divine mission in the way of teaching men the truths of the soul and of the way to immortality and life. Well, you may accept what is said with some degree of truth as to the condition of spirits who are progressing in the development of their natural love, and as to the facts that await a soul after it has left the mortal life. Many of the statements contained in the writings are true and should be accepted and acted upon by mortals who desire a knowledge of the true way to a kingdom of the purified soul and to a reconciliation to God in the way of renunciation.

God is good and not the hateful and merciless being that your orthodox beliefs teach and is always the same now as in the days of old when men's conception of Him were determined by their own ideas of what a God should be, and what men should believe him to be. But there are many things taught in the writings of the book that are not true, though in accord with the knowledge possessed by the writers and suited to the condition of the medium through whom the messages were delivered.

The writers were spirits who were highly developed intellectually and morally and had knowledge of the truths to an extent that made what they said powerful expositions of the truth as they knew it to be; but beyond the fact that men must, in order to become pure and holy, do those things which the Law of Harmony in their natural love demands, they could not teach.

Now, while this is all true, yet they did not know of the higher truths that make a man or the soul of a man divine and at-one with the Father and could not teach, because they did not possess any knowledge of, and only so far as they knew, must, their teachings be accepted as truth. They were far in advance in their renditions of the disclosures contained in the Bible, both as to God and Jesus, and the final destiny of man, and their revelations should be accepted in place of the teachings of the Bible. They were not only acquainted with the laws of God as dealing with man in his relation to good and evil, but also with the laws as to man's release from the consequences of his acts and deeds of earth, and as to his release from the consequences of his evil acts.

I would like to write now, but the rapport is broken.

Good night,
Job

Robert Dale Owen Writes about His Book on the Phenomena of Spiritualism and Says He Never Heard of Divine Love

February 11, 1919
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Robert Dale Owen.

Let me say just a word, for I am interested in your work and in the phenomena of spiritualism. I have been with you as you read the book, which attempts to show the truth of spiritual manifestations, and the instances mentioned of spirits showing themselves in the garb of humans are true. I was then an investigator of the question and had only the knowledge, which I received from my own observation and, hence, was an outsider, as it were, of these spiritual phenomena. I mean that I was not one of the gifted ones of earth, who can have the power of receiving or communicating with spirits by reason of the fact that they possess the power of seeing or feeling or hearing the presence of spirits. I was not so gifted.

I am now an investigator of things spiritual, but not of the possibility of communicating with the spirit world, for this I know to be a fact, and beyond all question, and men who doubt the fact are in the condition of those who will not learn, because they do not believe in the first principles of the phenomena and are willing to let their prejudices or their indifference lead them away from the truth.

The phenomena, which I have portrayed in my book, are very simple and of the lower order of spiritual phenomena, and yet men will not believe because they fail to approach the subject with open minds and desire to learn the truth even though the search for the same leads them along lines of investigation that are so foreign to the course of study that they are pursuing in their various vocations. Of all the bigoted and hardheaded investigators of truth, the preachers are the most difficult to teach the truth of spiritualism, and their periscope is one that enables them to see only in a straight line that has been laid down to them for ages and holds them in its iron grasp.

I would like to come to you sometime and write you a long description of the spirit world and its phenomena, although it may not surprise you very much, considering what you have had revealed to you.

Well, you have asked me some questions, which I cannot answer in one breath. But I am in the Third Sphere, where many spirits are pursuing their studies of things which pertain to the laws of the spirit world, as well as to the laws of the earth.

I have not heard of the Divine Love, except as we call all love divine, and it must be so, for it leads us to the spheres where those who are sinless and in harmony with the Father reside. I am a true believer in the things of God and in the redemption of all mankind, sooner or later. My intellect is only part of my existence in the spirit world, and above and greater than that is the love that causes me to become in harmony with the laws of God, and at-one with him. These are the answers to your questions, and I should like to write you at length upon the truths of what I have so briefly stated. I know that you are very busy in receiving communications from the spirit world and have little time for communications from strangers, yet I should like to write at least one letter in reference to my condition and knowledge of things as I have found them.

I say what is true, for I have never heard of the Divine Love in the sense that you have spoken of. I have never talked with spirits who claim to have this Love, and to be better than are the spirits who are progressing in the love which they have, and as to immortality, I only know that death merely sets the soul of the mortal free and enables it to enter onto its progress towards the higher spheres, where truth and goodness are.

Let me wait a moment in my astonishment, for I see more spirits who seem to be of a different order of spirit from me, and are brighter and more beautiful, and are willing to tell me of the Divine Love, for they all claim to know it. But I do not understand and I am sure that if they are possessed of this Love, it is only another form of belief. I am all confused and cannot think for the moment. I will come again. I must go. Good night,

Robert Dale Owen

St. Stephen Writes on the Meaning of the Divine Nature

November 13, 1918
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, St. Stephen.

Let me write a few words tonight as I am one of the spirits whom your wife wrote of last night would come tonight with the desire to write.

My subject is: "What is the meaning of the Divine Nature which the soul of man partakes of, upon the transformation of that soul by the inflowing and possession of the Divine Love?"

This, as you may perceive, will be somewhat difficult to explain and, principally, because men have no very definite conception of what is comprehended by the term "Divine." They, of course, associate this word with God, and to them God is a being whose nature and qualities are above their finite conceptions and, as a result of their thoughts, is that which is over and above everything that is called or supposed to be understood as natural. To some, God is a being of personality, and to others, a kind of nebulous existence included in and composing all the various manifestations which are transcendently above what they conceive to be the merely natural or human.

I will not attempt to discuss who or what God is, except as to one of His qualities or attributes, and that the greatest - for you must know that all the qualities of God are not of equal greatness or degree of importance in the workings of His essence of substance. All, of course, partake of His Divine Being, but, as you might say, there is a difference in the workings and scope of their operations.

You have been told that the Divine is that which has in it, to a sufficient degree, the very Substance and Essence of God, Himself; and this is true, for Divinity belongs to God alone and can be possessed by others, spirits or mortals, only when He has transfused into or bestowed upon the souls of men a portion of this Divinity, and to the extent thereof made them a part of Himself.

There is nothing in all His universe that is Divine or partakes of the Divine except that which is of the soul, for all else is of the material, and this even when it has the form or appearance of the spiritual. And even the soul, as created, is not Divine and cannot become such, until it is transformed into the Divine by the transfusion into it of that which, in its very substance, is Divine.

Many souls in the spirit world, although pure and in exact harmony with their created condition, are not Divine and never will become such, and this only because these souls will not desire and seek to become Divine in the only way provided by the Father.

It is a mistake for men to believe that because God has created this or that object or thing, it is necessarily Divine, for His creations are no more a part of Himself than are the creations of men a part of themselves; and thus you will see that in all God's creation, there is nothing Divine except what has been privileged by His grace to partake of His Divinity. And, hence, the stars and worlds and trees and animals and rocks and man himself, as created, are not Divine.

Men have claimed that in man there is a spark of the Divine - a part as they say of the "Oversoul," and that it needs only the proper development to make the soul of man wholly Divine. And this theory is based upon the idea that this development can be accomplished by the exercise of the mind or the moral qualities guided by the conscience, which they assert is of itself Divine; especially when dominated by reason, which has been so often worshiped by philosophers and others (to whom the mind is supreme) as Divine. And they have attempted to differentiate man and the lower animals and attributed to the former the qualities of Divinity, because he is endowed with reason and the lower animals are not and have substituted degrees in the order and objects of creation in the place of differentiation between the Divine and non-Divine.

God is wholly Divine and every part and attribute of Him is Divine, and while they are parts of the whole, yet they may be separated in their workings and bestowals; and the man or soul that is the recipient of the bestowal of one of these qualities or attributes is not necessarily the recipient of the others.

Omnipotence and omniscience are those attributes of God's Divinity which He never bestows upon the souls of men or spirits, and as to them He is the exclusive possessor, although in all His attributes there are powers and knowledge, and they accompany the bestowal of all attributes of which they are parts; and one of these Divine attributes may be bestowed upon man, and yet man not become Deity. There is and can be only one God, although He may give of His Essence and very Substance, so that a man can become as He is in that Essence and Substance, to the extent that it is bestowed.

As regards man and his salvation and happiness, the greatest of God's qualities or attributes is His Divine Love, which is the only one that can bring the souls of men into a oneness and nature with the Father, and which has in it the quality of immortality. This Love has a transforming power and can make that which is of a quality foreign to and different from itself of the same essence as itself; and, more than this, can eliminate from that thing those constituents which naturally and necessarily are its components, without injuring or destroying the thing itself.

Well we must stop here. I will finish later.

I am St. Stephen

**********

Helen confirms that St. Stephen wrote on the meaning of the Divine Nature.

I am here, your own true and loving Helen.

Well dear, you have had a very interesting letter tonight upon a very vital and important subject, and I am sorry that the writer could not finish his message, but the rapport became very weak and he was compelled to stop. He will come again soon and finish as he is very anxious to do so. It was Stephen who wrote and he is a most beautiful spirit possessing this Love to a degree that I cannot conceive of, and a most glorious spirit in his appearance.

I am glad that you were in such good condition and I hope that you will continue to improve so that more of the messages may be delivered to you every other night. There are so many messages to be written.

Your own true and loving,
Helen

Jesus Writes the Reasons Why He Selected James E. Padgett to do the Work of Receiving the Messages

October 25, 1918
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

Well, my dear brother, time is passing and the necessity for the revealing is very apparent, as men are longing and waiting for that which will satisfy the natural cravings of their souls, and which the present religion called Christianity has not in it the qualities to satisfy.

I am pleased that you are in so much better condition, and that your Love is again becoming active and awakened and operating upon the qualities of your brain so that a rapport can be made, as recently explained to you by John in his message. And here I desire to impress upon you the necessity and desirability of your understanding thoroughly the truths set forth in that message, and of meditating upon the same and making a personal application of what is therein written.

I would like very much to deliver a message dealing with spiritual truth tonight, but do not think that your condition is such as will enable me to take possession of your brain and control the same that the qualities and truths of my message demands, and so I will not attempt to write the message, but, instead, will advise you somewhat upon the way in which you must think and act in order to perfect the condition which you must possess that the rapport may be made.

John has told you to pray often to the Father so that the Love may become more abundant and your soul become permeated with it, and to think thoughts of spiritual things, until by such thinking your brain may become, as it were, infused with these thoughts and thereby receive those qualities that will make its conditions similar to the conditions of the minds of the spirits who may wish to form a union with your brain and convey through it the truths that are waiting to be delivered.

And I confirm what John has written and, in addition, say that your praying must be more frequent so that the soul may be freed from the condition that the existence in it, of thoughts not spiritual, be established. You need not wait for occasions or opportunities to formally pray but all during the day and evening let your longings for the Love ascend to the Father. A long prayer, or even one formulated into words, is not necessary, as in order to have the longing it is not necessary that words should be used to give it form. The longing may be rapid as unformed thought, and as effective for the Father to catch, as I may say, the longing is quicker than the thought, and the answer to the same will come with as much certainty and Love as if you were to put the longing into the most exact form.

Prayers of this kind ascend to the Father and are heard and answered and, by a law of your relationship to the Father, affect the qualities of the brain in the way of preparing it for the union with the spiritual thoughts of the spirits who desire to write, as I have stated. Your thoughts of spiritual things or of the truths of the spirit world, as they have already been revealed to you, and especially those which pertain to the love and mercy of the Father, and to His will, in their passing and operating, also affect the qualities of the brain so as to produce the condition which is so necessary for our rapport.

It may be surprising to you that this condition is required in the brain of a human and also the development of the soul, which really produces the condition, in order that a rapport may be made so that the spiritual truths may be delivered; and, also, surprising that you have been selected from all the men on earth in whom this condition and development shall be made. And it may be more surprising to know that it is true.

There are certain qualities in your constitution, both spiritual and material, that render you susceptible to the influence of our powers and to the use by us for the purpose of our design and work, which determines one to choose you for the work in the way in which I and the other high spirits have heretofore used you, and it may seem strange to you that in all the long ages preceding, I have not found one human with the qualification to fit him for the work.

I have used others before, but they have failed to submit their minds and souls and beliefs and forethoughts to our influence and directions as you have so far done. Many humans have the qualified conditions of spiritual and material make up to perform our wishes and work, but as they all have free wills, which we cannot compel, and as circumstances and environments and education and beliefs are elements which affect and determine the possibility of our finding an instrument suitable for our purposes, we have not been able to find a medium who was qualified to be used for our work.

You, of course, understand that you were not selected because of any special goodness or freedom from sin, or because you were more beloved by the Father, or naturally, and I mean according to your course of living, by reason of any spiritual condition that you were in, for there were many superior to you in goodness and more in at-onement with the will of the Father, and whose love and the results therefrom, were more perfect than yours. So you will realize that you were not selected because of any special spiritual merits possessed by you.

As you have been told, all things in the spirit world, as well as on earth, are controlled by immutable laws, and all spirits as well as mortals are subject to those laws. The Law of Rapport and Communication must be complied with spirits, no matter how much elevated, and also by humans, and no spirit, by reason of the possession of any supposed power can set aside this law. But while spirits have not this power, yet they may have such knowledge of conditions that they can discern what qualities in the condition of a human are susceptible to the influence, and molding by the spirits, so that as a result thereof, the law may be brought into operation.

And this briefly will explain to you why I selected you as my medium and mouthpiece. For know this, that for a long time I have been endeavoring to influence and mold your mind and beliefs, so that your soul might become developed in such a way that conditions might be formed that would enable us to make a rapport that would permit of our controlling your brain to convey these messages of truth. You were naturally a medium and, for ordinary purposes, it was not difficult for the spirits to control and communicate through you the truths of the spirit world, which are not of a nature such as I and others have communicated in reference to the soul spheres and the relationship of God to man in the higher spiritual sense. As you read John's message you will the better understand what I intend to explain at this point.

There is another phase to all this, more personal to you, and this is that while we have been developing you for the purpose of doing our work and helping make effective our mission, your soul, as you, has been developed in its spiritual nature and you have become in closer union with the Father and have partaken to a large extent of His Love and, to a degree, been transformed into his essence, so that you have become a very different entity from what you were when your development for our purpose commenced; and, as a consequence, you will derive all the benefits that flow from an experience such as you have had.

You are now one of us in the progress towards the fountainhead of the Father's Love and have taken on a part of his immortality, and it depends only upon yourself how rapid your progress shall be towards a complete transformation such as spirits who are inhabitants of the Celestial Spheres possess. You need not wait until you come to the spirit world in order to make a rapid progression, although it will be more difficult for you to progress while in the flesh, as you understand, but wonderful progress may be made while in the flesh, and you have been told the secret of this progress.

And I will further say that you have a closer association with spirits that are nearer the Father and more possessed of His Essence and substance than have any humans of earth at this time. To you this may seem extravagant and improbable, but I declare to you that it is as true that I and many spirits who come to you and write are in the Celestial Spheres of God's immortality.

Well, I have written a long time and you are somewhat tired. Remember my advice and pray often and earnestly, if but for a moment, and the condition will be yours and we will come and continue our revealments.

With my love and blessing, I am, your brother and friend,
Jesus

Mary Baker Eddy Writes that there are Misleading Errors in Some of Her Teachings

June 13, 1918
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

Let me write a line, for I have been interested in the conversation of the Doctor (Leslie R. Stone) and want to express to him my thanks for his efforts to enlighten one of my followers as to the truth; and my obligation is based on the fact that I recognize the misleading errors of some of my teachings, and that I am responsible for the beliefs of many mortals that are not true and have the effect of keeping them from the truth; and further, that whenever any of those who have embraced the beliefs that I taught are shown the light and directed to the errors of my teachings, I am to that extent happier and relieved from the burdens which I carry with me - that my teachings are keeping so many from the truth. In all this I refer to the great question of the Divine Love and the way in which mortals may obtain the same and become in harmony with the Father, and partake of His Divine Nature and immortality.

I have examined these truths since I came to the spirit world and realize with a great conviction, that the reflection of the Divine Love is not the possession of that mind which comes only with the possession of the Love of the Father.

I wish that I had time tonight to write you a longer letter on this subject, but your guide says that you are not in condition to receive a lengthy letter and I must stop.

Let me express the hope that you and your friend, whenever the opportunity occurs, will attempt to enlighten my followers as to the truths which you know and as to errors and the want of the true explanation of a salvation, which my books do not contain.

With my love I will say good night.

Mrs. Eddy

**********

Helen affirms Mrs. Eddy's message.

I am here, your own true and loving Helen.

Well dear, I have been with you all evening and enjoyed your conversation. You may believe that the last communication was from Mrs. Eddy, for she actually wrote and was glad that she could do so, and because she carries the burden of which she wrote, we permitted her to write.

She realizes that, although she has a great amount of the Divine Love, yet the knowledge that she believed and taught others to believe the errors of her writings causes her much unhappiness in the way of possessing a great desire to undo or neutralize the effect of what she taught.

Love me and pray to the Father. Good night.

Your own true and loving,
Helen

Helen Writes that a Large Majority of Men Will Exist in Eternity as Perfect Men and Enjoy the Happiness Which it Brings

May 21, 1918
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Helen.

Well dear, I see that you have been much benefitted by the reading of the messages tonight, and I am so glad that you read them in the manner that you did. The truths, which you read in reference to the spirit world in the book of Dr. Peebles, are very beautiful and also edifying and helpful to the extent that they affect the conditions of the souls of men but, as you know, they do not reach the vital point or tell of the great truth, which is necessary for men to know in order to obtain the condition of the Divine Angel and a home in the Celestial Heavens.

Of course, the writer, or any of those whom he quotes, could not speak of this higher truth, for they did not understand the same and they could comprehend only the great moral teachings of Jesus. But these teachings are also of great importance to mankind, for the understanding and observance of them in thought and deed will certainly lead man to a purification of his soul, and to a coming in at-onement with the Father, in accordance with the perfectness of man in his creation. As we have written you, the large majority of men will exist in the great eternity only as perfect men, enjoying the happiness which that condition brings to them, and, hence it is of great importance that men should be taught these mortal truths.

But of greater importance is the knowledge of the truth which will show men the way to become Divine Angels and at-one with God in His very Substance and Essence of Love. This was the great mission of the Master on earth, but men failed to understand and realize that fact and, instead, were possessed only of the knowledge of the moral truths and a belief that such truths, or rather the results of the practicing and living the same, would lead them to immortality and perfect happiness.

Well, you understand all this, and I will not say more on the subject; but I wish to emphasize to you the importance of your fully realizing, deep down in your soul, that the truths of the Divine are not understood by men and, hence, cause you to appreciate more the great importance of the work which you are to perform. Oh, my dear, I hope that you will consider and meditate upon this and try your best to get in such condition that the rapport may be made and these truths delivered to you.

You know the way, the only way, and you must follow that way. Pray to the Father with all the longings of your soul, and meditate more on spiritual things, such as the truths which the Master and the others have revealed to you. I know that you are desirous of receiving the messages, but you are not willing, as it seems, to make the effort to get in the soul condition, which will not come from the existence of the mere desire to receive the messages.

Well, I did not write earlier in the evening for you were not just in condition, and I thought that if you did not hear from me, you might possibly read some of the messages and thus get in a better soul condition to receive my message, as you have done. It is too late to write more tonight, but I feel quite hopeful that I will be able to do so very soon. So sweetheart, pray to the Father and let your faith increase and think more of these truths and what they mean. I will not write more now, and will only further say, love me with all your heart and think more of me, and you will be much happier.

Good night, my dear husband.

Your own true and loving,
Helen

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

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

I am here, Helen.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Your own and true and loving,
Helen

Immanuel Kant Writes that He Wants to Learn About the Love that Will Make Men, or the Souls of Men, Divine

December 24, 1917
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Immanuel Kant.

I have listened to your conversation tonight and have been much interested, so much that I have wondered what the source of your apparent beliefs is, for I see that you are sincere in your declarations of what you declare the truths to be.

I have been in the spirit world for a great many years, and have not been idle as regards my investigation of the truth, and have given my very strenuous efforts to learn the truth of man's destiny and the ultimate end of his existence. I was a thinker when on earth, and had a considerable reputation as to being a deep thinker of things metaphysical and even today I have a large following among those mortals who give their time and attention to the investigation of the truths of the nature spoken of.

I have progressed very much, not only in the spheres in which I have lived, but also in the development of my intellect and in the development of my soul, for I enjoy a very considerable happiness, and have been able to apply the moral principles that should govern men in their relation to one another and to God, and have experienced the benefit of such application. I have many associates like myself in development of the dualities mentioned, and often do we assemble and discuss these important principles of man's relationship to God and to the development of man and the aim and ultimate destiny of his existence.

Truth is, we know, of itself alone and never changes, and when we believe and are convinced that we have found a truth, we accept it as a basis upon which to found our further efforts for investigation and the discovery of other truths and, as a consequence, we are not compelled to depend upon mere speculation as we were when on earth. We know that the spirit of man never ceases to live and, hence, immortality must be his certain portion in the great economy of God, and that as the law of being is progression, we must always be enabled to progress. And having that fact from which to start, we continue our investigations and studies in the certain belief that their results will be the discovery of the truths, and that we must ultimately find the reason for man's existence, and his final destiny.

But from what I have heard you and your friend say, there must be a branch of truth that I or my friends, have never heard of or attempted to investigate, and to me it sounds very attractive, and so much so, that I would like to have some enlightenment from which I may be able to postulate a premise upon which I may build a superstructure, if possible. I have, of course, heard a great deal of love and the purification of the soul, and the necessity for men and spirit striving to get rid of all those things that contaminate the soul and foster the continuation of the in-harmony that now exists and keeps man from becoming the perfect man and spirit, also.

I have heard that in the higher spiritual kingdom, there are spirits of men that have become perfect and existing in harmony with the laws of God, yet they do not claim to be more than men - perfect men. But you talk of a Love that will make men, or the souls of men, Divine in their constituency and, therefore, a part of that divinity which we ascribe only to the Infinite; and I must tell you that what you say has opened up to me a new vision of possibility of study that may lead to what we now have no conception of.

I am sincere in what I write, and if you can help me in entering on the study of the truths of which you speak, I will be very grateful and assure you that it will not be lost on an inattentive ear or a mind stunted by a belief that it already knows all that can be acquired, or the way to acquire all that may be learned. I was on earth a philosopher and known as:

Immanuel Kant

Swedenborg Writes that He Does Not Want James Padgett to be a Failure in His Work for the Kingdom as He Was

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

I am here, Swedenborg.

I have heard the messages that you have just received and I desire to impress upon you the necessity and importance of striving to follow the advice therein given, for if you fail now to do the work upon which you have entered, your regrets when you come to the spirit world will be so great that you will find it almost impossible to get rid of them even if you progress to the soul spheres where the Love is all so abundant.

I know what I write for that was my experience and it seemed to me that everywhere I turned as I sought to progress I saw before me the word "failure" and for many long years it was my ghost of a recollection. Failure as you may know is comparative, and men may fail in their ambitions and desires for fame and wealth and position, and yet when they come to the spirit world they realize that such failures mean comparatively little and in their progress in the truth, they soon forget their failures and cast them behind. But when a mortal has conferred upon him a work which does not have for its object the accumulation of wealth or the attaining of fame or position, but the great and vital end of showing men the way by which they can become reconciled to God and partake of His very Nature in Love and obtain immortality, and also has given to him the privilege of receiving the Great Truths of God in relation to the salvation of men, then I say that failure means a great catastrophe for him and a greater calamity for humanity, and that man is in a condition of mind and recollection beyond description.

Very few men have had conferred upon them this great privilege and power and responsibility, and I was one of them and was a failure not because I did not try to receive and deliver the truth, but because I prevented, by my preconceived ideas of what the truth should be, the real and pure truth from coming to me and thence to humanity. In a way I was unconscious of my failure or of the existence of conditions in me that caused the failure; yet when I came to the spirit world and realized the failure that I had made, then everything was a failure to my conscience.

In your case, you have no such preconceived ideas to hamper you or prevent you from receiving the truth, for you are used merely as instrument for these truths to transcribe and they are delivered in the very language of the writers, and your failure if such there shall be, will be entirely due to your indifference or want of effort to get in condition that will enable the messages to be written. You must see your responsibility and your duty, and I may say your love that should urge you to work and you must not become a failure.

I am your friend and brother and co-worker in making known these truths and only write because I as a failure can speak from experience. So my brother turn your thought more to this work, and if necessary sacrifice every worldly consideration to carry forward your work and make perfect your efforts to fulfill the great mission with which you have been blessed.

I will not write more now. May the Father bless you with His Love.

Your brother in Christ,
Swedenborg

**********

Helen says that Swedenborg wrote with authority.

I am here, your own true and loving Helen.

Well dear, you have received some important messages tonight and I hope that you will read and ponder them, for they are of great spiritual importance, not only to the work that you are doing but also to you personally. I shudder to think of what the consequences might be if you would make a failure of the great privilege that has been bestowed upon you, and you must think of what Swedenborg wrote, for he would write as one having had an experience with a knowledge that came from the experience.

But I know that you will not be a failure and that you will give your best endeavors to the accomplishing of the work. I wish to tell you also, that you should pray more for the Love and long for it with all the longing of your soul, and then as it flows into your soul, I know that your desire to accomplish this work will so increase that there will be no possibility of failure. So sweetheart, follow the advice given you and determine that the great work of the Master will not this time be a failure through you.

I was with you at church tonight and realized that you enjoyed the services very much and especially the music and your soul experience and considerable happiness from the Love that came to you. And there was much Love with and around you, for many of the spirits were present, but Jesus was not there. Again has Christmas come, and the people are now worshiping their Jesus as God, a worship which is very distasteful to him and one which he hopes by the truths of the messages that he is delivering to you will cease, when these messages shall become known to the people. He realizes how much harm such worship does and also realizes that he is a mere son of the Father as are many and all spirits who have received His Divine Love in their souls and become a part of His Divinity; and Jesus knowing that he is merely a child of the Father, dependent upon Him for His Love and Mercy, avoids all opportunity of hearing the praises and worship of those who substitute him in the place of the Father. So distasteful and blasphemous is this worship to him that he even gives up his work in the earth plane among spirits and men until the time of this universal worship of him shall pass by.

I am so glad that this great truth of the only one and true God, the only being to be worshiped, is being revealed to mankind. So you see how important that you do your work. Well, you have written a great deal tonight and are tired and I will not draw on you further. Love me and believe that I love you, and pray to the Father to give you His Love and strength to perform your mission. Good night my dear husband.

Your own true and loving,
Helen

Jesus Writes to James Padgett About the Importance of the Work: "While you are in the world, you must not be of the world"

September 17, 1917
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

I come as I promised and desire to write on a subject that requires that I should have absolute control of your brain and hand; and tonight I see that you are not just in the condition necessary. So I will not write on the subject, as I intended, but will postpone the same until later. But I will say a few words that may be of interest to you and your friend, whose conversation tonight I listened to and saw what was in both your minds and hearts.

I realize that you both appreciate the importance of the work that is set before you, and that you have arrived at that condition of faith which causes you to forego all interest in material things so far as they may benefit you personally; and it is well that you are in this state of feeling and appreciation of the work, for this work is of such an exclusive nature that in order to be performed in the way that we desire and which is necessary that the truths which you receive shall be given to the world, all thoughts of the things that ordinarily belong to the mere human being must be eliminated and turned aside.

These truths, while when understood and applied by the individual, will not render that individual less qualified to perform the duties of life, but on the contrary will increase these qualifications and must be so taught, yet in the case of you who are to make and teach these truths, your interest in the world must be forgotten or submerged in these higher interests. In other words, while you are in the world you must not be of the world, as I taught my disciples when on earth.

Of course, while you are mortals, you will have to have these things that are necessary to sustain life and health and comfort, and your work does not require that you shall make sacrifices of these things, but that you shall have the comforts that are necessary to your enjoying the merely physical life, and this you must understand.

As you have said, the work will be hard and the difficulties that you shall encounter will be great, but you will be able to do the work and overcome the difficulties; for I desire to tell you here that never in all the history of mankind has any work had behind it the power and influence of the high spirits of the spirit world as your work will have, and your faith must be such that no possibility of failure will be permitted to enter into your conception of success.

The world is now ready for those truths, for men's souls have been and will be more opened to the possibility and necessity of seeking for and obtaining things spiritual than ever before, and mankind will - and now does - realize that man himself, notwithstanding the teachings of some of the writers that man is of the divine and of himself capable of self-regeneration, is not able to become brothers in truth and reality, and that the brotherhood of man is a mere dream when based upon the power of man because of any qualities of goodness or of the divine that he may be supposed to possess.

Time is passing and the great conflict that has deluged the mortal world with bloodshed and hatred and vengeance will soon come to an end, and men will wander in confusion and seek that which may bring them into unison and brotherly kindness, and also into a greater knowledge of the world unknown to them - the hereafter. Faith will fail to satisfy and their souls will long for the spiritual food that will have in it the qualities of certainty and knowledge.

They will think in their hearts, and in many instances declare, that the Christian faith as has been taught them by the churches does not satisfy, and the creeds and dogmas of the churches have been failures, and will cry out for something that will fill their souls with spiritual food of truth and salvation. So we must work and be prepared to give to mankind the truth and this food - a knowledge of the only way to the Father's Love, and of what the possession of this Love in the souls of men will mean to them.

I feel that you are both in earnest in your desire to do the work and that all opportunities will be embraced, and that when you are free to give your whole time to the work, you will permit nothing to intervene. And this you will do for the good of humanity without thought of reward, and such should be your desires. But nevertheless, your reward will be great, not in the way of an independent payment, but as an acquisition necessarily growing out of the very nature of the work that you will do; for as you help others to learn the truth and gain the possession of this Great Love of the Father, your own souls will obtain more of the Love, and with that increased possession will come increased happiness and a closer at-onement with the Father; and this, of course, means rewards beyond all conception of mortals or spirits who have not arrived at the degree of possession of this Love that will be yours.

So, as I said in the beginning, first place yourselves in that condition which will enable you to free yourself from all worldly cares, and consecrate your body, mind and soul to this great work; and then what follows will be without interference of worldly things.

I am glad that I could write you in this way tonight, for I know it will assist you in pursuing the best way to accomplish the mission that has been given you and which at this time no other can take from you. You have been selected for the work and we feel that no mistake has been made. So, believe in us and pray to the Father with all the earnestness of your souls and you will find that which we have told you to be the greatest thing in all the universe: the Divine Love and nature and Immortality of the Father.

I will not write more tonight, and with my love and the blessings of the Father will say good night.

Your brother and friend,
Jesus

**********   

Helen Confirmation that Jesus Wrote

I am here, your own true and loving Helen.

Well, dear, the Master has written you an important message and I know it will help you in your conception of what and how you shall work. He was in great earnestness when he wrote, and we all felt that he was speaking with authority and knowledge that only he possesses. So keep in mind what he has said and try to follow his instructions. So, good night.

Your own true and loving
Helen