Monday, September 30, 2013

Elias Writes About a Sermon on Spiritualism

October 22, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Elias.

I come tonight to say a few words on the sermon of the preacher and also because I was an early spiritualist and all down the ages have had knowledge of the communications between spirits and mortals.

Tonight at the church there were many spirits present and as the preacher said "every particle of space in the building was occupied by spirits" - some of the higher order and others of the lower planes where conditions are dark, but there were many there and interested; for nearly every person in the audience had some spirit friend or Guardian Angel with him, and as the various members of the congregation differed in their condition of soul development or spiritual enlightenment, so they attracted considerable spirits.

But in addition to these who were attracted by their respective mortal friends or relatives, there were a number of spirits from the higher spheres who were interested in the occasion. For it is not often that an orthodox congregation has the opportunity or takes the opportunity to listen to a sermon upon the theme that the preacher dealt with tonight, and if you could have seen the difference in the workings of the minds and understandings and the effect upon the preconceived beliefs of the several members of the congregation, you would have been surprised and realized more fully the powers that belief has upon the consciousness of mortals.

I do not intend to analyze the sermon, but must say that the same was a surprise to many of the orthodox as well as to some who are spiritualists. The preacher declared many truths that were repugnant to a number of his congregation because in their blind belief in their creeds and dogmas, they had not the right that any real orthodox minister could have believed and proclaimed such doctrines as the preacher declared. He is a true spiritualist so far as the propositions of continuous life and inter-communication are concerned, but he hardly dares announce his beliefs in the language of spiritualism and he may have been wise in not doing so as the effect would not be very desirable upon many of his hearers.

He is not very well versed in the truths of spiritualism, in matters which deal with its philosophy or religion and, consequently, he does not understand the great importance of searching for and finding the truths which these means afford of learning these truths. But the seeds of truth are in his mind and conviction and he is in that condition which renders him susceptible to receiving the truths should they be presented to him in such a manner as to appeal to his beliefs and to his reason. And as he has a great deal of the soul development by reason of his possession of the Divine Love, the higher truths which have been revealed to you will appeal to him, more especially to his soul sense than to the sense of his mind conditions.

I know it would at first be a shock to him to learn that his intellectual belief in the doctrines of the trinity and the vicarious atonement and kindred portions of the creed of his church are all untrue and short of any basis in fact but nevertheless should he learn of the great truths of the plan of God for man's salvation, he would not hesitate to embrace these truths and even dare to proclaim them.

In a way he will prove to be a kind of pioneer in the work of spreading the true religion that must ultimately become known to and received by mankind and tonight's sermon may cause many of his hearers to regard spiritualism in a little different light, not as the creature of devils and evil spirits, but on the manifestation of the natural as I may say the reasonable workings of the laws of God upon the actual and normal relationship of spirits and mortals.

The preacher's sermon will do the cause of truth much good, because it will tend to open up the minds of many to gain a respectful hearing to any attempts that may be made to enlighten them as to the reality of the truths of spiritualism. One thing he said and that is that very few mediums can be depended upon in conjunction with the prejudice that exists in the minds of the orthodox against everything that has the flavor of spiritualism may tend to prevent the conversion of these people to its truths or even to attempt even if mere curiosity may be the moving cause.

We are pleased that the preacher took the position that he did in declaring his belief that spiritual communion is a fact and in giving the illustration of its several phases although he left the results or causes of such manifestation in a rather uncertain meaning. His hearers may infer that he meant that God, as contradistinguished from spirits was the voices or the cause of the visions or manifestations that he referred to in some mysterious or super-natural way in the exercise of His omniscience.

I merely wanted to write these few things to give you an idea of how important the teachings of the preacher may be proved to be in opening up the minds of many of his hearers. And as I close, let me say that all down the ages spiritualism has existed and been demonstrated and prophets and apostles and mediums and men have heard the voices of spirits and seen the materialized spirits and received the inspirations of spirits of good and evil.

I will not write more tonight and I hope you are not disappointed that I wrote instead of John, for we intended that you should be surprised somewhat in the writer, that is, the personality of the writer for we saw that you rather expected that John might write.

Many of your spirit friends have been with you tonight and they accompanied you to the rooms where you and your friend sat and discussed the sermon and the preacher and things connected with us and our messages. I will not write more tonight. With our love and blessings, I will say that we are

Your brother in Christ.
Elias

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Judas Writes About "the Greatest Sin"

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

I am here, Judas.

I come tonight to write a short message for I have been interested in what you and your friends have said regarding "the greatest sin."

Now, to me, for a long time, the greatest sin in all the universe of God was my sin in betraying Jesus to the Jews, and it was a real, living, blasting sin, and so enormous that I could not endure my life and face the recollection of that awful tragedy; but since I have been forgiven of that sin and become a redeemed child of the Father and an inhabitant of the Celestial Heavens and a possessor of immortality, I realize and know that my sin was not the greatest, even though I suffered for long years after I became a spirit.

As sin may be committed by neglect as well as by affirmative action, and my betraying the beloved Master was a heinous one, but yet, even in my case and as applicable to me, my greater sin was not seeking for the Divine Love of the Father. We were not ignorant of this, for the Master had taught us that this Love was open to and waiting for us to seek and obtain, and I had not sought for it in the right way and, of course, had not obtained it; and in such neglect, I was not the only one of the disciples that was guilty of that sin.

No, even we who had been with the Master for so long a time did not fully understand the importance of obtaining this Great Love, as we were more interested in his establishing his kingdom on earth and, as we thought, a material kingdom to be controlled by spiritual powers manifested in him and in us as his disciples. And the material, in our minds, was of more importance than the spiritual and our expectations were that this great power would come and that the Master would become our king.

As I say, he had taught us that this Divine Love was open to us, and that by prayer and earnest seeking we could receive it, but to us there were so many important things to be done, connected, as I say, more immediately with our earth lives, that we neglected the Great Gift that was ours for its seeking and, as a consequence, in my case, I had to suffer for a long time before I awakened to the fact that it was not too late, even for me, to receive it. My sin of betrayal had been forgiven me in that I realized that the recollections of it were leaving me and that I was progressing in the way of purifying my soul in its natural love and that as the spirit of the onetime murderer, I was coming into happiness and light.

And then I had memories of what the Master had said to me about this Great Love, and after awhile I had sufficient awakening to cause me to make the effort to obtain this Love, and as that awakening came to me, my old-time associates, who had progressed to the higher spheres came to me, and in their great beauty and transcendent love, helped me to progress and to pray until at last this Love came to me, and I realized that not only had my sin of murder been wholly forgiven, but that the greater sin of rejecting and neglecting to seek for the Divine Love had also been forgiven me.

The sin of the murderer or of any violator of God's laws, other than that of rejecting the inflowing of this Love, may and will be forgiven a man and he will become pure and happy in his natural love, but such forgiveness will not make him an inhabitant of the Divine Heavens or an inheritor of immortality, while the forgiveness of the sin of rejecting the Holy Spirit will not only take away from him the recollections and taints of all other sins, but will open up to him the very portals of the Celestial Heavens and give him a home in the Father's Kingdom.

And, thus, you see every sin except that of sinning against the Holy Spirit, may be forgiven a man, with the result that he will become the perfect man, but the forgiveness of all these sins many times over, if it could so happen, would not make him the Divine Angel.

And I need not explain to you, for you can readily see from what I have written, that the greatest sin in all the world is the sin against the Holy Spirit; the sin of neglecting or refusing to let the Holy Spirit bring in and to the soul of man the Great Divine Love of the Father. And not only is this sin the greatest because of the results that flow from it, but because it will continue to be the unpardonable sin so long as man refuses to permit its forgiveness.

When the sin of murder and such kindred sins are committed, the sin then ends and only its consequences must be suffered and the penalty paid; but the sin against the Holy Spirit is a continuing sin, committed every day and hour and minute and never having an end until the mortal seeks and receives the inflowing of this Divine Love. As has been written you many times, yes, the large majority of men and spirits will continue forever and ever to commit this sin, and in the effects to follow, to them, it will become and is the unpardonable sin.

As we are much interested in you, and have determined that you shall not go astray to these Divine truths, my brother spirits of the Celestial Spheres thought it fitting as the world considers that I committed the greatest sin in all the history of the world, that I should write you on this subject and explain that the greatest sin in all the world is the sin against the Holy Ghost. We all know this, and while I write, you must believe, for it is true, that all of us and the Master, too, declare that the sin I name is the greatest sin.

And now to be a little more personal for your gratification and comfort, I desire to tell you that you three will not be found guilty of having committed this great sin, for you have in your hearts and souls much of this Divine Love, and the Holy Spirit is with you quite often in answer to your prayers and in answer to ours, also, for we all pray for you, causing this Love of the Father to possess your souls, even as the leaven wrought in the batch of dough.

I have written longer than I expected and will now stop. But be assured that you have our love and the blessings of the Father.

Your brother in Christ,
Judas

**********

Helen Confirms Judas' Message

I am here, your own true and loving Helen.

Well, I am pleased that you received the message from Judas and it is a wonderful message filled with truths that you will perceive with more force and newness the more you read it. It was actually Judas writing, and as he said, he was chosen by the others to deliver the same for many of them were present while he was doing so. And I was here also and heard what was said and know that what I tell you is true.

How blessed you and Mr. (Eugene) Morgan and the Dr. (Leslie R. Stone) should feel to know that of all the wonderful spirits of the Celestial Spheres, the most wonderful and the highest come to you and communicate with you, and not only that, but they bring with them an atmosphere of love that has a most beneficial effect upon the conditions of your souls. I am so happy that I can tell you this and I know that you will believe me, for my love for you would not permit me to deceive you, no matter what the occasion might be.

Yes, my dear, these high spirits are your friends and brothers. What more can I say to cause you to realize the greatness of the experience that you are having? I do not know. Well, as you were much drawn on by the message of Judas, I do not think it best to write more tonight and I will stop.

Your own true and loving,
Helen

Saturday, September 28, 2013

John Writes about "What should a man do who is not satisfied with any of the churches?"

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

I am here, John.

I was with you tonight and heard the preacher answer the questions, and some of his answers were very satisfactory, but there was one that did not exactly satisfy the true longings of the man who is in search of truth - I mean the one that asks: "What should a man do who is not satisfied with any of the churches?"

Well, if he can find no church that provides truths that satisfy that man's inquiring soul, then that man can never feel that he should go to any church for information as to those things which he has no knowledge of or which he has grave doubts about.

The churches, of course, can give no information of truths that the churches themselves do not know, and if the truths that these churches teach fall short of what the man is seeking for, then these churches cannot possibly be satisfactory to him. While the churches differ in their creed and government and, perhaps, in some particular construction or interpretation of the Bible, yet, they - the orthodox churches - are all founded upon the teachings of the Bible, and they cannot teach greater or other truths than that Book contains and, hence, if a man is seeking for truths that are not in the Bible, his inquiries cannot be answered by those whose knowledge is confined to the Bible teachings.

And the non-orthodox churches cannot give forth the truths of the spiritual kingdom of God for they, to a large degree, reject the Bible and depend very largely upon ethical and moral doctrines, and the results of the works of mere conscience in determining the right and wrong of things. The spiritual things are not known or taught by these churches and, consequently, the inquiring mind cannot get from them the information or help that it is calling for.

I know that in such a condition and want of knowledge of truth on the part of the churches, such a man is without the privilege of having his cravings for the truth and his cravings for spiritual things satisfied. And, as a consequence, he must seek further to get the information which he may consider so necessary, and when he comes to so seek, he will find no place where such knowledge may be found.

The mere intellectual acquirements of students and philosophers will not supply what the man is seeking and he is without any possibility of obtaining what he seeks for. And so the preacher's suggestion, that he and two others form a church of their own, would have some force were it not for the fact that any church that might be so formed would have no greater possession of the truth than the churches that he has failed to find any satisfaction in.

There are many men on earth today in the condition of the man spoken of, and many who refuse to seek in the churches for the truth, are without any recourse to other means or places or teachers of whom they can learn the things that they are searching for.

The spirits have known of this condition of men for these many centuries and have been trying to supply a way or create a medium through which the great spiritual truths of God could be made known to men. And for that very purpose, we are now using you to receive our messages of truth and make them known to mankind and provide a church, may I say, where the seeking man may find answers to his inquiries.

We shall complete our delivery of these truths through you and then the man, who cannot find a church where his searchings can be satisfied, will find a reservoir of truth opened up to him that will not require any preacher or church to explain it. As you proceed in your experience with the churches and teachers of the old truths, as they call them, you will more fully realize the necessity for our work and your work.

I will not write more tonight, but will come soon and deliver a formal message. With my love and blessings, I will say good night.

John

Friday, September 27, 2013

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Your brother in Christ,
Luke

Thursday, September 26, 2013

John Writes that the Inexperience of a Preacher to Describe Spiritualism Was Due to Insufficient Knowledge of the Continuity of Life

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

I am here, John.

I come tonight to write a few lines in reference to the thoughts that have answers in your mind regarding the position that the preacher (Dr. Gordon) will take on the subject of his sermon on modern spiritualism.

As he said at the Thursday night meeting that he has investigated to some extent the subject of spiritualism, but his investigation has been so superficial that he knows scarcely anything about its truths and is not in condition of mind or knowledge to discuss the matter in an impartial or understanding manner. He has seen some phenomena and read some of the books that have been published regarding the truths of spiritualism but the phenomena and the books have not been such as to convince him that spiritualism is a fact and, in addition, he will assert that it conveys or teaches no truth or doctrine that benefits man or fits him for the future life; that not even admitting that it shows the continuity of life and the possibility of communicating between the departed and the mortal, yet it does not show any truth or principle that will benefit man in his life on earth or in his life after death.

He is so imbued with his belief in the Bible that his intellect is prevented from having the ability or condition to grasp any truths that may be apparent contradictions of what he considers the Bible teachings. Yet with all this should he be presented with facts that would be sufficient to convince him of the truths of spiritualism, he would not hesitate to accept those facts notwithstanding that they might conflict with the belief desired from the study of the Bible that he has had for so many years.

I think that when you hear his sermon you will see that I have written a correct description of his belief on the subject of spiritualism and of what in substance will be the effect of his sermon. You must hear it, for it may suggest something that will enable you to be good even towards the preacher himself.

I will not write more now, but next week I will deliver another message. So with all my love, I will say good night.

Your brother in Christ,
John

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Priscilla Stone Writes Again to Express Her Great Love for Her Son, Dr. Leslie R. Stone

October 13, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Mother (of Leslie).

I am here, the dear boy's mother, and I want so much to write him. When I heard of him speak of his boyhood days, my heart went out to him with such love and yearning, that I just had to make the effort to tell you that I wanted to write, and I am so happy that you heard me and gave me the opportunity.

I am so very happy and as I listen to him talk about the Love in his soul and tell of the experiences that he has when that Love is working in his soul, for I realize that as he receives this Love, he comes nearer to me and feels my love which is surrounding him and trying to steal into his heart, it is his mother's flavored with the Divine Love, which I have in my heart and soul, and as it goes out to him, I know that he must feel it and realize a happiness that was never his before.

I love my boy more than I can tell him. I loved him with a mother's love on earth but now I love him, not only with a mother's love, but with one that surpasses all Love which any mortal mother can have. I desire him to know that I am progressing and that I know that immortality is mine and that the Celestial Kingdom is mine, where only the great all-enveloping Love of the Father is.

I am so happy when I see that he realizes to an extent this Love, and that his faith is growing day by day, and also that the sins and errors which were once his are leaving him, and in their place is coming this great Love, that only those to whom God has called and bestowed His Love knows what it means.

I will not write of other things tonight for I am so filled with love, that I cannot think of things that are not connected with it, but I will say though, that his father is also progressing and in a short time, I hope will be with me. Tell him to remember that he has the love of many high spirits around him trying to influence him and turn his thoughts more and more to the Father and to His wonderful Love and goodness.

I will not forget to say that there is also with him the love of his soulmate and such a very beautiful and pure love it is, such as no mortal can understand but, yet as real as the Heavens and as deep as the sea. Yes, and as everlasting as eternity. I could not possibly have a more beautiful or desirable daughter than is his Mary, and he must believe that she is an actual existing spirit who is with him quite often knowing that he is hers forever and that some day, she will have him with her.

God bless my boy and keep him from all harm and unhappiness is the earnest prayer of his mother.

Mother

**********

Dr. Leslie R. Stone:

Mr. Padgett and I were conversing on things spiritual, and I referred to my boyhood days, and then Mr. Padgett heard the voice of my mother and told him she wanted to write me. Mr. Padgett then took up the pencil, and this is copy of letter.

**********

Mary Kennedy:

You heard me and I am thankful. I will only say that what his mother said about my deep love for him is true. I know that I have told him many times that I love him, but I wanted his mother to tell him also, for he knows and can realize that his mother was and is a real being, and there must not come to him any shadows or thought as to her being a real spirit, and I thought that if she would only tell him that I am real as she is, that he would conceive of me in his soul's eye of faith as being like his mother. This is what I wanted to say, and I am so happy that I can say it. Good night my dear friend,

Mary, Soulmate of the Doctor.

**********

From Mary Kennedy, written immediately after my dear mother, who also spoke to Mr. Padgett that she wanted to write and was heard and received clairaudiently by Mr. Padgett the request that she wanted to write. Message was written automatically as usual. And Mr. Padgett and I felt a wonderful love present.

Leslie R. Stone

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Helen Writes About Edwin Forrest and Her Increased Soulmate Love for James E. Padgett

October 12, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, your own true and loving Helen.

Well sweetheart, at last I have the opportunity to write my letter, and I am so glad that I can.

I thought it best to let Forrest write you as he was so anxious and seems to realize so much pleasure in doing so. He is progressing some and commences to see that there is some virtue in prayer, for he prays very earnestly and very often. We are helping him as much as possible and he seems to have great faith in me and in your grandmother, who appears to him to be something more than the spirit of a mortal. He seems to be awed by her presence when she first came to him, but she talks to him with such love and sympathy in her voice and has so much of the Father's Love beaming from her eyes that he soon forgets her grandeur, as we call it, and listens to her with all his soul and seems to drink in her words of comfort and love. She has a wonderful influence over him and is helping him very much. Well, I must not write more on these matters or I will not have time to tell you what I so much wish to say.

Since I last wrote you of my progress, I have gotten into higher planes of the Celestial Spheres and am correspondingly happier and surrounded by more beautiful scenes and brighter and lovelier spirits. My home is also more beautiful and is filled with a greater atmosphere of love and happiness. And I further find that with all this progress and increased happiness, my soulmate love for you increases and a more wonderful vista of what our happiness will be when you come over and progress to my home and become my soulmate in actual living together unfolds itself.

I am so often with you, that if you knew how often, you might think that my home is not so attractive to me as it should be from my reference to its beauty; but you would be mistaken, for it is more attractive and has more happiness for me than any home I have yet had in the spirit life, and when I am in it, no mortal can conceive of my joy and bliss. But yet, I love you so much that I cannot stay away from you for any great length of time, and some of my spirit friends wonder at it. But it is not to be wondered at so much when it is known and it is a fact that my actually being in my home is not necessary to my great happiness, for when I come to you, my soul, which is really I, comes too, and in it is the great Love of the Father and from that Love proceeds my great happiness.

So you see how the Father blesses me and all others who have His Love. Because we have our love for the mortal and leave our mansions of joy and light and go to the earth plane of darkness - where sin and error are - our great soul's love and happiness are not left behind. And why should it be? The homes which we have do not make the soul's happiness, but the soul's possession of love makes the homes. And this Love is ours for all eternity and cannot be taken from us. It can grow greater but never less. This is a law or the result of a law in the Celestial Heavens. And what a wonderful law it is!

I come to you bringing all the love that I have in my Celestial home and throw around you its influence and essence, and just to the extent that your soul is receptive do you absorb it and feel its presence. So in a faint way you can realize the great fortune of those mortals who have come to them spirits of the Celestial Spheres.

Have you ever considered what it means to you and your friends to have surrounding you the love and presence of the Master and of the other high spirits who are so often with you? Very few mortals have such love breathing upon them so often. If you will think of this, you will realize how favored you are and what your possibilities may be. But when I come to you, I bring not only the Divine Love which possesses my soul, but the lesser, though very intense love of the soulmate, a love which had its beginning before we were mortals and which will never have its ending in all eternity.

When I think of the goodness of the Father in all these things to make His mortals and spirits happy, I can only wonder at His Love and wisdom and never cease to thank Him! But astonishing also, man can have these blessings as he wills or not to make them his own. In this way, he determines his own happiness or misery, when God wishes him to be only happy.

Well, sweetheart, I will not write more tonight as you have written enough. But this I wish to tell you, that I love you with a love that is only yours and always increasing with no possibility of dying. And as the years of your pilgrimage on earth go by, this love will be with you and around you in greater abundance, and you will realize it more and more; and your heart will grow younger and younger until the earth life will become something more than the shadow of what awaits you when you come to me.

I will say good night. Give me my kiss and know that I am

Your own true and loving,
Helen

Monday, September 23, 2013

Edwin Forrest Writes that He is Commencing to Realize that There Must be a God of Mercy and Love

October 12, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Edwin Forrest.

Well, Ned, I want to write you a few lines, and as your wife is here and says that I may write, I will do so.

I am glad to say that I am in a much better condition than when I last wrote you, thanks to the help that I have received from her and your grandmother, who came to me a short time ago with such wonderful love and such convincing words of cheer and hope. She is the most wonderful spirit that I have seen, and when she speaks to me it is with such authority and convincing power that I just have to believe and follow her advice or try to do so.

She prays with me at times and as she prays there comes into my soul such wonderful and strange sensations, that I know that something is coming to me that I am not acquainted with, and I feel so much better and everything gets lighter. The darkness seems to leave me and I feel like a new man; and I pray, too, though I scarcely know what it means. But this I know, that a change has come over me and hope comes to me, and with it comes belief that I will get out of my darkness and suffering.

I commence to realize that there must be a God of Mercy and Love, and that He is not inflicting upon me the sufferings that I have endured; and that maybe He will answer my prayers for help and relief from my darkness. Your wife tells me He will and that if I will have faith and pray with all my heart and soul sometime I may become beautiful and happy as she is. It is hard to believe this, but even if I can never become as she is, yet I sometimes think that I may become more beautiful and happier than I am, and I am making the effort.

You pray for me, too. I come to you at times when the other dark spirits come, and I see the effect of your help. I don't understand it, yet I see that these spirits are made better, and I must believe that there is something in what the bright spirits to whom these dark ones go tell them. I am so glad that I can write to you.

No, I have not seen Mr. Miller and don't know where he is. I will act on your advice and try to find him and do as you say, for even though I am not a bright spirit, yet if I can help him I will gladly do so. I will seek him and the next time I write will let you know just what his condition is. So thanking you, I will say good night.

Your old partner friend,
Edwin Forrest

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Luke Writes About a Preacher Who Has Considerable Divine Love But Doesn't Yet Know of the Truths

October 12, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Luke.

I will say only a few words tonight. I have heard the preacher's (Rev. J. S. Gordon) remarks and your conversation regarding the same. Well, the preacher, as you say, is broader-minded than most orthodox preachers and has some knowledge of spiritualism, yet intellectually he believes in the trinity and vicarious atonement and some other of the fundamental doctrines of the church. He has in his soul considerable Divine Love without knowing just what this Love means, except that from its possession he experiences a wonderful happiness and a consciousness that God is close to him in His Love. He has not formulated these feelings of his soul into mental beliefs, but his realization of the presence of the Love comes to him notwithstanding the intellectual drawbacks which, in a degree, retard the growth of his soul. But, as he says, he rests more upon the unconscious knowledge, if I may call it such, of his possession, and the actual living, working presence of this Love, than upon the beliefs in these dogmas of the church.

He has a comparatively open mind, but as he believes so implicitly in the Bible, he has not yet found any evidence in other writings or books or teachings sufficiently strong to cause him to renounce his beliefs in the Bible teachings. But should he find such evidence he would not hesitate to change his beliefs in these things for what might appear to him to be the truth. He is not one of the iron-bound believers in the church dogmas or ecclesiastical interpretations and constructions of the declarations of the Bible, so that under all circumstances, and in spite of truths that might otherwise come to him, he would say a thing is true just because it is in the Bible. He will grow in freedom and knowledge, and it may be well for you to get acquainted with him and gradually declare to him the truths as we have explained them to you.

It is not necessary for me to comment on a particular thing that he preached, for some things that he said are true and some things are not.

I am glad that you three (Dr. Leslie R. Stone, Eugene Morgan and James E. Padgett) are so interested in these matters as to cause you to listen to the thoughts that the preacher expresses and to comment upon and analyze them. It will do you good and develop in you a large understanding of what we have been writing you. The argument of contrast is sometimes a very powerful and discriminating one, and I would advise you to attend his discourses, whenever you feel that he intends to preach upon a subject that may affect or in any way relate to the truths in which you are interested.

Give my love to your friends and tell them to believe and pray and especially pray, for thereby will light and knowledge and faith come to them. I will say good night and leave you my blessing.

Your brother in Christ,
Luke

Saturday, September 21, 2013

John Writes that Jesus Will Never Come in all His Glory and Power and Take Men into His Heaven

October 11, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, St. John.

I merely want to say that I have been listening to your reading of my message and heard your comments on the same, and you are correct in what you and your friend said.

There is scarcely a greater error in the beliefs of men that retard the development of their souls than the belief that at sometime Jesus will come in all his glory and power and take men into his Heaven just as they are in body, soul and spirit. This belief has for a long time prevented many men from seeking to develop their soul qualities, either as to the natural love or as to the Divine Love, for as a basis of their faith is that saying in the Bible that, "Whosoever believes in the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved." And many thinking that they have this belief are contented therein and further believe that because of that belief, they will be carried into the Heavens of Jesus when he comes even though in the meantime, they may have given up the earth life.

It is deplorable that men should believe these things and live and die in this belief which, of course, is wholly intellectual. But such is the fact, and we spirits who know the truth have for all the long centuries been so anxious that men should know the Truth and have been working among men by means of spirit impression, and sometimes by revelation to help them learn not only the truth, but the errors of their beliefs.

And as our efforts have not been very successful, we concluded to use the means that we are now using and to reveal to mankind in our own words and thoughts the truths of God as regards man and all things connected with him.

And here I want to say with all the emphasis that I can, that you and your friends must believe that the communications that you receive as to these Truths are written by us and in our own words, and that your mind does not supply a thought or suggestion, and that you are used only as a medium to convey our thoughts and lend your physical organs to facilitate our expressing in our own language the Truths that we desire to convey.

So no matter how improbable some things may seem to you, you must accept them as true, for nothing but the Truth will be written. And further, we will not allow any spirit who is not in our band, or who has not this Divine Love, to write on any of the Truths that are necessary to be revealed to the world.

I thought this the proper place to say this, as I desire to assure your friend of the reality of the messages and the source from which they come. I will not write more now and will say good night. With my love to you both, I am

Your brother in Christ,
John

Friday, September 20, 2013

Elias Writes of His Experience as a Prophet on Earth and the Beliefs of the Hebrews at that Time

October 11, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Elias (Elijah, Prophet to the Hebrews).

I will write a short message tonight as I promised.

While on earth I was a prophet to the Hebrews and tried to warn them that God was not pleased with the manner in which they were living, especially in not obeying the commandments as to their worship and the individual lives they were leading. I was not a man who knew the attributes of God as I now know them, for then, to me, He was more a God of wrath and jealousy than of Love and Mercy, and the most of my teachings were to warn the Hebrews of the wrath that would certainly fall upon them unless they were more obedient and followed the laws of Moses.

I now know that the wrath of God is not a thing to be feared, and that His wrath is not a thing of reality. That when men disobey His laws and neglect to worship Him in truth and in spirit, His feeling towards them is one more of pity and sorrow than of wrath, and that instead of punishment, He extends to them His Mercy and Love.

In my time, the God of Love was not known to the people in any practical way, although He was written of as a God of Love, and the people were not looking so much for love as the fearing His wrath; and it was only by threatening them with His wrath could they be made to realize that they were disobedient and aliens from Him.

They had not that soul development that comes with love, and their aspirations were almost wholly for the possession of the things of life and for a happiness that such possession could give to them, as they thought. They expected a Kingdom of God on earth and such Kingdom was to be one that should rule and govern the earthly affairs of men. Of course, they believed that when such Kingdom should be established, sin and the troubles of life would be eradicated, and all the world would be subject to the dominion of such Kingdom.

Their hopes and aspirations were in the nature of national hopes and aspirations and not in those of the individual. The individual was swallowed up in the nation and happiness was to be a national one instead of an individual one, except so far as the national happiness might be reflected upon and partaken of by the individuals.

I, myself, knew nothing of the Divine Love and could not possibly have known, for then it was not open to man's seeking, as it had not been restored by the Father. But I knew of a higher development of the natural love than did most of the people and realized what increased happiness such development would give to the individual who might possess it. I also knew that prosperity and power of the nation, as such, would not bring the happiness of love, but only the pleasures and satisfaction which increased possessions would naturally create.

The Jews were a carnally-minded race and the development of the spiritual side of their natures was very slight. Their acquisitiveness was large both as individuals and as a nation, and when they were prosperous they lost their sense of dependence on God and resorted to those practices and that manner of living that would enable them, as they thought, to get the most enjoyment out of their possessions. The future, that is the future after death, did not enter very much into their consideration of existence, and they lived emphatically for the present. If you will read the Biblical history of those times, you will find that most of the warnings of the prophets came to them when they - as a nation - were most prosperous and, as they thought, independent of God, or at least, of not being compelled to call upon Him for help and succor.

What I have said showed the characteristics of the Jews, and they still have these characteristics although,  since the coming of Christ and the teachings of his doctrines that have become so widely known, the spirituality of the Jews have been increased and broadened. At times they would heed my warnings and at other times they would not. Sometimes they considered me as a friend, and sometimes as an enemy.

Well, I was psychic and frequently heard voices of instruction and admonition from the unseen world and, as was our knowledge in those days, supposed that such voices was the voice of God, and so proclaimed to the people. But now I know that such voices were those of spirits that were trying to help the people and bring them to a realization of the moral truths which Moses had taught.

When Jesus was born into the flesh, there came with him a rebestowal of the Divine Love, and through his teachings that fact became known to men. We, who were in the higher spirit spheres, also came to know of that gift, and while none of us received it to the degree that Jesus did, yet we received it and became pure and holy spirits, free from sin and error, and partakers of the Divine Essence of the Father and possessors of immortality.

And so, at the time of the transfiguration on the mount, some of us possessed that Love to such a degree that our appearances were shining and bright, as described in the Bible. But Jesus was brighter than Moses or myself, for he had more of this Divine Love in his soul and could manifest it to the wonderful degree that he did, notwithstanding his physical body.

Our appearance and his appearance on the mount were to show to the mortals and spirits that the Divine Love had been rebestowed and received by both mortals and spirits, and this was the cause of our meeting. And while accounts of that event have been disseminated in the mortal world ever since its occurrence, so also, had that fact became known in portions of the spirit world and many spirits, as well as mortals, have sought for and found that Love to their eternal happiness.

Its existence was a fact then and it is a fact now, and the Love is open to all mankind as well as spirits.The voice that the apostles heard proclaiming that Jesus was the well beloved son was not the voice of God, but that of one of the Divine spirits whose mission it was to make the proclamation. This incident was not a myth but an actual fact that formed a part of the Plan of the Father to assure man of his salvation.

I will not write more now, but will come later and write you further on this subject of the rebestowal of the Love and of my experience in receiving it. So with my love and blessings, I will say good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Elias

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Elias Writes that He is the Prophet of the Transfiguration

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

I am here, Elias.

I am the Prophet. I merely want to say that I desire to write you a message and will be pleased to do so as soon as it may be convenient. I have something to write which may be of interest to you as well as of importance to mankind.

Well, I will speak to her. Yes, I know her and she is a beautiful spirit having much of the Father's Love in her soul and is the real person who was on earth your wife, and now is your wife more than ever. You are blessed in having such a soulmate and she loves you with a wonderful love. So believe in her and love her and you will be a happy mortal as well as a happy spirit when you come over.

I am the Elias of the Transfiguration, which was a scene of actual occurrence, and which disseminated a great truth that humanity has never understood, but which you have had explained to you. But I will describe more in detail and explain more lucidly its signification.

I will come soon and with the assurance that I am interested in you and your work, I will say good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Elias.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Luke Writes About the Special Guardians for Eugene Morgan, Dr. Leslie R. Stone and James E. Padgett

October 5, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Luke.

I did not come to write a message tonight but merely to corroborate what Mr. (Eugene) Morgan told you I had spoken to him. It was I and he understood correctly what I said and what I said to him is the truth. I want him to believe for I have a spiritual interest in him and in his spiritual progression and am with him very often trying to help him.

As the preacher (Dr. Gordon) said tonight, back of each mortal who thinks thoughts and evil deeds, I mean of the kind that is important, is an unseen spirit using its influence to suggest truths and inspire soul. And while they are unseen, yet are they evil and more or less harmful?

If men could only know who these unseen helpers are, they would understand the power and wisdom that are back of him helping their thoughts and attempting to control their acts. Sometimes a mortal will have more than one of such helpers but as a general proposition, there exists some special helper who is with the mortal more constantly than the others and acquiring a rapport which the general helpers do not have.

I will tell you now who these spirit helpers and writers of you three men who have been selected for the great work are: Dr. (Leslie R.) Stone is James; Mr. Morgan's is myself; and yours is John; and over and above all - helping all three of you - is Jesus, the highest and most knowing of all. You must each and all believe this and not be astonished if to each of you comes his special guardian quite often.

I thought it best to make it known to you these facts as from the knowledge three of you may realize that back of you are spirits who are powerful and filled with the Father's Love. Believe and pray and you will find that in each of you will develop a spiritual power that will cause you much happiness and the certainty of your relation with us.

I will come soon and write you a message. With all my love and blessing, I will say good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Luke

**********

Helen Confirms Luke's Message

I am here, your own true and loving Helen.

I see that you may have some doubts as to who the last writer was because of his announcement of such an important fact as the guardians who are with you there. It was Luke who wrote and what he wrote I know to be true. It is wonderful that these spirits should assume such a relationship with you and the wonder is that it is true.

So all of you believe and conduct your lives and thoughts in accordance with the assurance given you. I thought I would write my message tonight but it is too late. I was with you at church and in your walk afterwards and so was Mary and we enjoyed the conversation very much.

Yes, I wrote the message and wrote it with all my love and desire to help you. It was true and you will realize that I wrote you will come to pass. Keep up your courage and believe in us all for we are all trying to help and do and will. Well, I must stop now. So believe that I love you and am,

Your own true and loving,
Helen

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Paul Writes About "What is the real body that is resurrected at the time of the physical death?"

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

I am here, Paul.

Yes, I come tonight to write you upon a subject that may be of interest to you and important to all mankind. If you are in condition to receive my message I will write. Well, the subject is: "What is the real body that is resurrected at the time of the physical death?"

Of course, there will be but one resurrection and that takes place at the time the mortal becomes an inhabitant of the spirit world. There will never be what is called a general resurrection of the dead, for the mortal can die only once - I mean in a physical sense. In order to live in the spirit realms, it is necessary that he have a spirit body that preserves the identity of his individuality, and having this body (and never having been without it after the soul is incarnated in the earthly body) and not needing an additional body, there is no possibility of another resurrection, or of another body being added to the one that the soul already has.

The body that dies when the man ceases to be a mortal disintegrates into its elements, and never again do these elements form the same body that becomes decayed and, hence, it is impossible for that body to be resurrected. The only body that is ever resurrected is the body that encloses the soul of the mortal at the time he gives up the earth life.

I know that many believe that when the man dies, his conscious existence ceases, and he becomes, as it were, dead in body, soul and spirit; that although the physical body decays and returns to dust or ashes, yet the soul and spirit, in some mysterious and unexplainable manner, continues to exist as an unthinking sleeping entity not subject to sensation or activity, and so remains until the great day of judgment or of Christ's coming when, in response to the summons, it arouses itself, answers the summons, and again becomes clothed in the body which it possessed while in the human form. In their belief, it may not be the exact or identical body which once existed, but the new body will be one of flesh and blood and of such a nature as to be in substance the same body that was dead and buried and decayed.

But this is not true. For the very laws of nature, with which men are acquainted, prove the impossibility of such an occurrence. And many arguments have been formulated and declared to prove that such a resurrection cannot be - that it will be wholly impossible for the elements that constituted the old body to again assemble in the same form and give to the soul the body that it discarded when it experienced its freedom from the bonds of the flesh.

But the advocates of this untrue theory respond that God is all powerful and, in some way not understood by men, will resurrect this old body and clothe the soul therein so that the identity of the individual will appear. It must be remembered that God works and produces beings and entities in accordance with laws that he has established, and not by any special, sporadic act, irrespective of and, as said, in contravention of these laws.

Man understands, to some extent, the workings of these laws in what he calls nature, or the normal, and some spirits understand not only what man understands, but also the workings of these laws that may be called above nature or super-normal, and the laws work the same and without change or interference in the one case as in the other.

As it would be impossible to clothe a mortal having one body of flesh with another body of flesh, so in the spirit world it would be impossible to clothe the spirit who has a spirit body with any additional body, whether of flesh or other substance. This spirit body is a thing of real substance and not susceptible of being enveloped in any other body.

Well, I see that you are not in condition to write and I will postpone the remainder of the message until later. I have not written you for some time and am glad of the opportunity to again write. I understand what you mean and will act on your suggestion as I think it a very wise and desirable one. I will come more often and write. So with all my love I will say, good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Paul

**********

Paul Continues the Previous Message

October 5, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington D.C.

I am here, Paul.

I will finish my message tonight if you are so inclined. Well, we will try.

As I was saying, the body that is resurrected at death is not the physical body, but the spirit body; and never after the first resurrection is there another. I am now dealing with the resurrection other than that of the soul, or the resurrection from the death of which I have before written you.

The body that is once laid in the grave will never be resurrected and neither will any of its elements enter into any other body for the purpose of a resurrection. The body of flesh is created for one purpose only, and when that purpose has been accomplished, never will that body or any derivation from it be used for any other resurrection. This body of flesh is of matter, and like all matter, is used for the life on earth only, and cannot be used for any function or clothing any spirit in the spirit world, and neither can it be translated into the spirit realms. All material bodies must die and never will there come a time when men can leave the earth and enter the spirit life in these material bodies.

I know that it has been written that certain of the prophets of old were translated into the spirit Heavens clothed in their fleshly bodies, but this is not true, for it is impossible that such a thing could be, for the same laws apply to the physical body of the saint as to that of the sinner; both are of the earth - earthly - and must be left behind when the spirits of men enter the Heavens of spirits.

So that when men believe and preach the general resurrection of the material body, or the special resurrection of the same, they are in error and do not believe or preach the truth. Flesh and blood, or flesh without blood, cannot inherit the kingdom, and no belief or teachings can make that true which is untrue.

I do not desire to write more on this subject, because many men who are acquainted with the Laws of Nature, and many more, who will become acquainted with these laws, know and will know and understand the impossibility of the material entering the realm of the spiritual. So thanking you for your kindness, I will say good night.

Your brother in Christ,
St. Paul

Monday, September 16, 2013

John Writes on the True Meaning of the "End of the World"

October 1, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Saint John.

I come tonight to write a few truths upon the subject of the preacher's (Dr. Gordon's) sermon, as I was present with you and heard his declarations as to the end of the world. I know that among men there are, and have been since the time of the Master, differences in opinion as to when this important event is to take place, and as to the meaning of the "end of the world." Well, men know just about as much now as to the time of this event as they have known all down the centuries and understand the meaning of these prophecies as well as did men from my day down to the present.

In the first place, I will say, there will be no end of the world from any of the causes mentioned by the preacher; and in the next place, there will be no end of the world at all as understood and declared by the orthodox preachers and as is expected by most of the professing Christians.

The world, meaning the earth, will not have an end in the sense of annihilation, but it will continue to revolve on its axis, and to have seed time and harvest, and produce and reproduce those things that are necessary to sustain human life, and have its appropriate seasons of heat and cold, and move along in its orbit as it now does until some change, we know not of now, may come and destroy it; but such change, not any of the prophecies of the Bible, admitting that there are prophecies, can apply to the end of the world in the sense that the preacher understood and declared.

If humanity would only understand that the world that was lost by the disobedience of the first parents was the world of man's immortality and happiness and not the physical world, and that Jesus came to declare the restoration of that world upon condition, and the end of that restoration, then would they know that the material world is not involved in the plan of man's salvation, or in Jesus' mission, or in the declarations of Jesus as to the coming of the end.

Men will continue to be born, live a short time and die the physical death and, as to each individual man, the end of the material world comes when he dies, for thereafter his habitation will be in the spirit world and never more will he have life on earth. All men at some time will have to die the physical death. Then why should it be necessary to include in the plan of God for the salvation of men - the destruction of the material world? For planets and worlds and stars to crash together and destroy would mean that the orderly workings of God's laws must be interfered with in order that men might be destroyed or saved, according as they might be snatched up into the air, or left to their own weakness on earth.

Such interpretations of God's intentions or plans, or of Jesus coming again to earth is all wrong and absurd. Jesus will never come to establish his kingdom on earth and reign as Prince of Peace and Lord of Lords, for the Kingdom which he and all his followers, both on earth and in the spirit world, are seeking to establish is in the Celestial Heavens, and it is the Kingdom of God, not made with hands or by the mere fiat of any spirit no matter how high he may be, but made and populated by the souls of men who have experienced the New Birth and received the Divine Essence of the Father. Of this Kingdom Jesus is the Prince, but only because of his great and exceeding possession of the Divine Love of the Father and his more perfect at-onement.

Jesus is not seeking to establish a kingdom on earth, but is working for the purpose of leading men to the New Birth of the spirit, and of showing them the way to the Celestial Kingdom; and also is he working to help men by his love and suggestions, and so also the other good spirits to cast sin and error from their hearts and strive to regain the condition of perfect manhood in the perfection of their natural love; and also to help men to get in this condition of soul regeneration, or in that of the purification of their natural love while they yet live on earth, so that love to God in the divine sense, and love to God in the created sense and brotherly love will cover the whole earth, and men be at peace and happy while yet clothed in the flesh. Such a condition of mortal existence may be called the Kingdom of God on earth, but it will not be the kingdom which Jesus came to earth to establish - that is the Kingdom of Heaven. This Kingdom has its seat and abiding place in the Celestial Spheres whence it will never be removed.

So then, when the Bible teaches of the world coming to an end and passing away. it does not mean the material world, but the world of men's thoughts and deeds and sinful conditions that are not in harmony with God's laws or the laws of His creation. This is the world that shall be destroyed when righteousness shall cover the earth as the waters do the deep, and brotherly love reign among men.

Even today there are some men living on the earth who are so separated from the world, that as to them the world has no existence, not the material world, but the world of sin and unrighteousness, which is the only world to be destroyed. There shall be wars and rumors of wars and times of trouble, etc., such as never were, and then shall come the end. Not the wars of the cannons' roars or the bursting shells or the mutilated flesh, or the making of widows and orphans, or the ruthless changing of mortals into spirits, but the wars of the spirits of good and evil, of love and hate, of purity and sin, of joy and despair, and of knowledge of truth and belief in error - all to be fought in the souls of men with such intensity and earnestness creating such mind and spirit trouble as never has been,and causing rumors thereof to flood the earth and the habitations of men.

Then shall come the end of the world - the world of evil and sin and despair and hatred and belief in error. This world shall pass away and truth and love and peace and good will shall be established on the earth forever. The earth of this present day, then becoming to men so peaceful and filled with love and brotherly kindness, that to them it will seem as if the City of God had been let down from heaven on to earth.

Let mortals know that Jesus has already come to earth and is among men, and that since the time of his becoming the Prince of the Celestial Kingdom, he has been with men and spirits teaching them the way, the truth and the life. By the Holy Spirit have the truths of the Father spoken to men as a still small voice, and by the communions of souls has the Master led men to the love and mercy of the Father.

As in my time when he came to the Jews with his message of love and life eternal, they knew him not and rejected him, so now many men, and spirits, too, refuse to listen to him and learn the way through the straight gate to the Father's Love and Immortality.

Let men study the prophecies, and the times and the seasons, and calculate the time of the end, and predict the near approach of the Master's coming in the clouds, and prepare themselves to be snatched up in the air and become of the heavenly hosts, yet they will find that all these things are vanities of vanities, and only as each individual passes beyond the veil of flesh will he realize the end of his mortal world has come, and then will all his speculations as to himself become realities, and the certainty of the world's end become an established fact. But men will continue to live on earth and die, and in succession others be born to die, and so on until.... only God knows.

So I say to men, prepare not for the passing away of the Heavens and the earth, but for the passing of themselves from the earth to the great world of spirits; and remember, that as they sow, so shall they reap - a certainty that is never changed; a truth that no speculation can make untrue.

The end of man's world comes each day to some mortal, and that end may lead to a glorious immortality, or to a temporary or a long darkness and suffering. Thus, are the prophecies being fulfilled and the speculations of preachers and teachers and leaders of the unthinking are robbing men of the vital truth that the end of the world is coming each moment and day and year.

Oh, preacher and teacher and leader! Your responsibility is great and the accounting must be made. The reaping must follow the sowing as certainly as the day follows the night, and what will your harvest be? The end of the world for some mortal is the important now!

I have written enough for tonight as you are tired. So believe that I love you and am praying for the Father to bless you, and to so fill your soul with His Love that when the world comes to an end for you, you shall find the Kingdom of Heaven waiting to receive you. Good night.

Your brother in Christ,
John

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Elias (Elijah) Writes that He Never Knew of the Divine Love Until Jesus Came to Earth and Made Known its Rebestowal

October 1, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Elias.

I was the prophet of old and now I am an inhabitant of the Celestial Heaven and an immortal child of the Father. I have been present on several occasions when the high spirits were writing to you and have been much interested in the work, which they are doing and in the work which you are doing, for you are doing a wonderful work in helping the dark spirits of suffering and in bringing these spirits in close communion with the higher spirits who can show them the way to the Father's Love.

I would like to write you a long message tonight upon the history of the times in which I lived, and the knowledge that we, who were looked upon and written about as prophets, had as to the relationship between God and man; and what some of our experiences were with the spirits of the Heavens who came to us and communicated some of the truths of the Father.

And I will say in all our knowledge of truth, we never understood what the Divine Love of the Father was as distinguished from the love that He bestowed on all men irrespective of their seeking for His Love, and irrespective of the fact that they were sinful and disobedient to His commands. As I now know, we could not have understood what this Divine Love meant, or ever have possessed it, for in my time and until the coming of Jesus, the privilege of men receiving it did not exist. The Father had withdrawn this privilege from humanity.

But we did receive spiritual knowledge of those things that would make man better in his moral nature, and bring him closer to the Father in his natural love; and our efforts were directed towards making the people understand these things and the necessity of complying with the moral laws.

As I said, I should like to write you a long message, but there is another present who desires to write and I will stop. But I will come soon and deliver my message and, in the meantime, I will pray for you and try to help you in your soul development and in your work. With all my love and blessings I will say good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Elias

Saturday, September 14, 2013

John Writes Further on the Destiny of the Soul that Has Not Experienced the New Birth

September 30, 1916
Received by James Padgett 
Washington, D.C.

I am here, John.

I desire to finish my message and hope that you are in condition to receive it. Well, as I was writing about the future or destiny of the soul that has not experienced the New Birth, I will continue where I left off.

When the soul becomes wholly purified and restored to that condition of perfection that was possessed by the first parents before the fall, it continues to live a life of happiness and contentment, until it realizes that its possibility of further progress, either mentally, morally or spiritually, has come to an end; that it has reached its limit of advancement and that the happiness that it then enjoys is the full complement of what it may obtain or possess. This condition is one which satisfies the large majority of those who have reached the state of the fully restored man, and they are content to live the life of such perfection, and rest in the assurance that there is no greater happiness or more desirable condition existing in the universe of God.

But with some of these souls, this state does not bring or contain this complete satisfaction, and in them continues the desire for more and greater progress; but they realize that they have reached the limit of their progress, and that they must continue to live in that state which holds for them the happiness and delight of being perfect and at-one with the Father, as was intended by Him when man was created the perfect being. But notwithstanding this knowledge that as the soul develops in its natural love and in its moral and mental faculties to the finality of limitation, there can be nothing beyond; yet there comes to them a dissatisfaction and, as it were, a negative unhappiness that causes unrest, and a conscious desire for something, they know not what. It may be that the memory of something they heard in their progress through the spheres, or an imperfect suggestion of some unconscious, reproduced, dormant memory, inherited from their first parents, of the great gift of endless progress potentially bestowed upon God's first created beings, and forfeited, that causes the discontent and longings for something beyond the condition of their perfect state.

When this state of mind and soul comes to them, then they are susceptible to the teachings and help of those spirits who have in their souls the Divine Love, and knowledge that there is a way that leads to everlasting progress without limit or possibility of reaching the end. And many of these perfected souls in their natural love have followed the advice of these immortal spirit, and have left the high sphere of their perfection and entered the lower soul spheres of the spiritual heavens, and sought and found the New Birth of the soul, and progressed from sphere to sphere until they reached the Celestial Heavens, where they are still progressing and realizing a contentment never marred, but always accompanied with the knowledge that ever beyond are spheres of greater happiness of truth and knowledge. But, as I say, the larger, yes, much larger number of souls, that have been born unto men, will find and rest, in the future, in the state and happiness of the restored first parents.

It should not be necessary for me to attempt to make the application of the truths which I have written to the desires and wills of men, for the vital importance of making the choice between the future of the Divine Spirit, and that of the perfected man, is so apparent, that scarcely any mortal, who is not the man that says in his heart there is no God, needs another to apply for him the lesson taught. And I will say in closing that such lesson contains the truths that actual observation and knowledge have made certain. Speculation does not enter into it, and the possibility of error or mistakes is utterly eliminated.

I have written enough and will stop for tonight.You have received the message very satisfactorily and I am pleased. So with my love and blessings, I will say good night, and God bless you with His Love.

Your brother in Christ,
John

Friday, September 13, 2013

Jesus Writes About the Difference in Progression and Limitations of the Natural Love versus the Divine Love

September 28, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

I come tonight to tell you that you are in a better condition to write than you have been for sometime and I think it best that I deliver to you a message. Well, I will write on the subject of: "The destiny of the man who has not the Divine Love in his soul, and dies with only the natural love and a belief in the creeds and dogmas of the churches."

I know that many men believe that the creeds of the churches is what is necessary for the salvation of mankind. I mean as to baptism and observance of the sacraments and the belief that in my name men may be saved are sufficient and all that are necessary to ensure them an entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven; and in such belief rest with the feeling of assurance that nothing else is required or in any way to be sought for and acquired.

The large majority of professing Christians are in this state of belief and, hence, the greater number of mankind will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven, or become in their natures Divine. I have already told you what is the future of those who possess this Divine Nature of the Father and now I will confine my message to the future of this great majority.

As you may know, "the river can never run higher than its source," and neither can this majority attain to a perfection and happiness superior to that which was possessed by man before the time of the fall from the state of his perfect creation and, hence, no matter how great his progress may be in his natural love or in his moral or mental qualities, he can never excel  the first created man as he was before the fall. And the only possible future for this vast majority is the condition and development that existed in the perfect man of God's first creation.

I know it is said that man has in him that which is a part of the Divinity of God, and that by his own efforts he may develop that Divine Substance until he becomes Divine himself and of the nature of the Father. But this is not true, and it is not possible to develop the Divine Love or any Essence of the Divine out of that which has not (that) in itself. There is nothing of the Nature of the Divine (in man).

In the spirit world, and I mean the spiritual as well as Celestial, laws prevail, and are just as certain in their operations as are the laws of the material world and a fundamental law is that only like produces like; although in the physical world it may appear that a derivative is not like that from which it is derived, but this is in appearance only, for in substance and essence the likeness exists and cannot be eradicated.

And so as to the real condition of the soul of man. If he has only the natural love - the created love - the development of that love will result in that which cannot possibly be greater or other than that which in its constituent parts is only the natural love, and no matter what the perfection may become, the Divine element is absent and all the limitations that are inherent in the created being still continue to form a part of and control that being. There is a limit to the development of this natural love and to the state of happiness beyond which it is not possible for this being to go, and that limit is the qualities and excellence possessed by the first man before he became defiled and impregnated with sin. The mind of such being is also limited in the progress which it may make in obtaining knowledge, for that mind being a thing of creation is bound by the limitations that that creation imposed.

So I say, such a man can never progress higher than those attributes or qualities with which he was endowed when he was the perfect man, either spiritually or mentally, unless he seeks for and obtains the Divine Love. When spirits come and write that life in this spirit world is always progressive, these spirits who write have never attained to this limit of which I speak and, hence, to them progression is endless and this belief is very beneficial, because it inspires them to make an effort to progress.

There are many spirits in this perfect state in the highest sphere of natural love or mentality, but they are spirits who have been in the spirit world for a vast number of years and are what you might call ancient spirits. These spirits have realized this limitation of which I write, and while they can change the objects of their seeking and the sources of their happiness, yet their progress has its ending, and often there comes to them dissatisfaction and a realization that over and beyond their sphere, there must be something that may be obtained that surpasses their perfect state and development. And as a result of this dissatisfaction many of these spirits, in moments of their unrest, give heed to the suggestions of those spirits who have become possessed of the Divine Essence, and upon whom is no limitation of progress; for these latter spirits are at all times in the highest sphere of these spirits of perfected natural love trying to show them the way to the higher development and happiness of the Celestial Spheres.

It may seem surprising to you, but it is a fact, that these spirits of the natural love, during their periods of progression and especially as they make nearer approach to their perfection in the satisfaction and happiness that they experience in that progression, will not listen to the spirits of the Divine Spheres, or believe that there can be any other methods of progress more desirable or excellent than the ones that they are pursuing, and only when they come to realize the dissatisfaction that I speak of, will awaken to the fact, or consent to be awakened to the fact, that there may be a way that leads to things beyond their limits of progress and the perfection that they may have acquired. So, as I say, the higher the progress of these spirits and the farther away they advance from the earth plane, the greater the difficulty in persuading them that there is a state of perfection and happiness surpassing that which they are seeking for, and a way, different from the way they are pursuing.

As these spirits progress in their natural love and in the development of their created minds, much happiness and satisfaction come to them, and in each stage of progress, so much greater do these experiences become, that they readily conceive that there can be no way superior to the one that they are travelling and, hence, having such belief, the difficulty of convincing them to the contrary becomes almost insurmountable. As a consequence, the spirits of the Celestial Spheres and those of the spirit spheres, who are progressing in the Divine Love, give the greater part of their time and efforts to convincing spirits of these higher truths while they are in the earth planes, before the happiness that I mention is experienced.

The life on earth and that in the earth planes of the spirit world are the states in which the souls of mortals and of spirits have the best opportunities for learning and believing these truths that show them the way to the progression that is without limitation or ending and hence, the importance of men knowing these truths, and of spirits also, before they experience the satisfaction and pride, I may say, that the advancement in the development of their natural love and mental and moral qualities gives them.

Until the time comes when the Father shall withdraw from man and spirit the privilege of obtaining this Divine Love and Essence, which time will bring the second death, these spirits and all spirits and mortals will have the opportunity of seeking for and finding the way to the Celestial Spheres and Immortality. But after that time, this privilege will no longer exist and then those spirits and mortals, who have not found and followed the way of that privilege, will be and become only the perfect beings, as were their first parents. They will have no assurance of Immortality, or even continuous life, and that dissatisfaction and longing for something unknown, will be theirs.

They will remain only the created beings in spirit body, soul and mind, and as the first parents had all the qualities that these restored men will have, and fell, and why may it not be that they will fall (or) that there may come some change in the individualized spirit that will destroy that individuality and dissolve it into its elements of pre-creation? No spirit knows that such a change will take place, that the perfect spirit will not always retain the same individuality, or that the happiness of such spirit will not always exist. And neither does any spirit know that these things will continue to be.

Then why should he not choose that course which leads to Divinity and certainty of Immortality and progress, rather than the one which leads to limitation of progress and happiness, and to uncertainty of Immortality?

I have written enough for tonight. I will come again soon. So remember that I love you and am with you trying to help you spiritually and that I pray to the Father to bless you. Good night.

Your brother and friend,
Jesus

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Jesus Writes About the Power Given by God to Perform Miracles and God's Plan of Salvation

September 24, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

I have been with you a great deal today, and know just what have been the workings of your mind, and tried to influence you as to some of your thoughts. I was with you at church in the morning and heard the minister's sermon and saw that he did not rightly comprehend the meaning of the words of the text. "Verily, verily, I say unto you. He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also: and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. If ye shall ask anything in my name I will do it."

His explanation of what was meant by "greater works than I do," was not in accord with what I meant, or with the meaning that I intended to convey; for when I referred to works I meant those works which the world considered as miracles. I intended to assure my disciples that they would have power to do similar works or perform similar miracles to a greater extent than I had performed them. "Greater" referred to quantity and not to quality.

But this power, or the successful exercise of it, was not dependent upon belief in my name, but upon their faith in the Power of the Father and in the fact that He would confer upon them that Power. There was no virtue in my name or in me, as the individual, Jesus, but all virtue rested in the faith that they might have in the Father. I never performed any of the so-called miracles of my own self, but they were all performed by the Father, working through me; and just as He worked through me He would work through my disciples who should acquire the necessary faith.

As I have told you before, all acts that are apparently miracles are controlled by law just as are those things, which you call the workings of nature controlled by law, and when sufficient faith is acquired there comes to its possessor a knowledge of these laws. It may not be, as you would say, a knowledge or consciousness that is perceptible to the ordinary senses of man, but perceptible to that inner sense, which is the one that enables men to comprehend the things of the spirit. And having this knowledge of the inner sense, men may so control these laws that they will work those effects which seem to be contrary to the accustomed workings of the Laws of Nature. Until my disciples had acquired this faith that brought to their inner sense this knowledge, they could perform no miracle and do no work of phenomenon that other men could not do.

The Bible expression that: "Belief in my name is sufficient to cause the workings of miracles," is all wrong, and I never said that such belief was what was required, neither did I say that: "Whatsoever should be asked of the Father in my name would be given to men."

I was not a part of the Godhead and I had not of myself any power, and neither did my name have any miraculous influence with the Father. I was a man as other men are men, only I had become filled with the Divine Love of the Father, which made me at-one with Him and, consequently, had that knowledge of His Love and laws that enabled me to bring into operation those laws that would cause the desired effects to appear as realities.

But belief in my name caused no working of these laws, or the response of the Father to any supplications. Prayer must be made to the Father in the name of Truth and to His Love and Mercy. Every individual is dear to Him, and He is ready to bestow this Love upon everyone who asks in faith and pure desire. And in response to the earnest prayer will come Love, and with it knowledge of things spiritual, and with this power that may be used for the good of mankind.

My name is not a mediator between God and man, and neither is belief in one, the Jesus, a means to reach the responsive soul of the Father. If men will understand my teachings of truth, and when they ask in my name mean that they ask in the name of these truths, then such askings will have its results - but so few men, when they pray to the Father in my name, have such intention or understanding.

Only a knowledge of the Truth of the Plan for men's salvation will enable them to seek in the right way to obtain the Gift of the Father - and when I say knowledge of the Truth of the Plan, I do not mean that men shall understand all the minutiae of this Plan, and how one element or part of it may operate upon another, and what results may flow therefrom. But that knowledge must be sufficient in the beginning which shows to man that the Father is a God of Love, and that this Love may be obtained by man through earnest prayer for Its bestowal. This is all that is necessary, for the response that will follow will cause the New Birth, which when experienced by a man will place him in that unison with the Father that will lead to a knowledge of the other Truths that form a part of the Plan of Salvation.

There is nothing else that will bring about this knowledge of that inner sense of which I write. A knowledge of the mind, except in conjunction with this inner knowledge, can never bring about this necessary at-onement with the Father. It often exists that a man will have this inner knowledge and at the same time have a knowledge of the mind which is wholly at variance with the truths of the plan for his salvation. And the mind of man, being a thing of wonderful power, can for a time retard the growth of the knowledge of the inner sense or, as I will say, the soul sense. But only for a time, for at some time the soul sense will progress to that knowledge of the truth, so that the erroneous mind knowledge will entirely disappear, and man will possess only the truth.

Of this erroneous mind knowledge or, perhaps, rather conviction is the belief that in my name, that is supplications made in my name, will bring about the realization of the desires of the supplicant. Also, that in my blood, or in the power of the cross, or in my alleged vicarious atonement, the salvation of men can be obtained. If any name must be used in man's supplication then use only the name of the Father, for His is a name high over all, and the only name in Heaven or earth that can bring to man salvation and at-onement with His being.

And what I have said applies to many other declarations contained in the Bible, such as: "He that believeth on the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved. There is no other name under Heaven whereby men can be saved," etc. This is the enunciation of a false doctrine and misleading to the great majority of mankind for they accept the declarations as literally true. Of course, if it be interpreted as meaning that he that believeth on the truths that I teach, then the objection is not so great, but even then the declarations do not go far enough, for men may believe in these truths, and that belief may be a mere mental one, acquiesced in merely by the mind's faculties without any exercise at all of the soul sense. If to all these declarations shall be added the vital Truth that: "Except a man be born again, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven," and to this mental belief be added the soul's faith, then the doctrines will be truly stated and men will understand what is necessary to salvation.

Belief and faith are not the same; one is of the mind, the other of the soul; one can and does change as phenomena and apparent facts change, the other when truly possessed, never changes, for faith possessed by a soul causes all the longings and aspirations of that soul to become things of real existence, which like the house that is built upon the solid rock can never be shaken or destroyed.

I write, thus, tonight to show that the preacher in his sermon did not explain the true meaning of the text, and did not comprehend the truths that were intended to be conveyed of which the text was susceptible, though it did not set forth my expressions or in its literal interpretation declare the truth.

I will not write more now except to say that I love you with a great love and pray to the Father to bless you. Believe in the Father and trust me for you will not be disappointed and pray that this Divine Love of the Father shall come into your soul so that you shall know that you are an accepted son of the Father. Keep up your courage and have faith that whatsoever things you shall ask the Father in the name of His Love and Truth shall be given to you. I am with you in all my love and care and you will not be forsaken. So my dear brother, rest assured that I am

Your brother and friend,
Jesus

**********

Helen Confirms that Jesus Wrote

I am here, your own true and loving Helen.

Well, my dear, you have had a wonderful message from the Master tonight, and you may study and understand it thoroughly, for it contains in it more truth than you may see on a cursory reading. It is so contradictory to the beliefs of Christians and, therefore, so important that a knowledge of its meaning to the fullest is desirable. So good night.

Your own true and loving
Helen

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

John Writes About the Purification of the Natural Love

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

I am here, St. John.

I want to write tonight on a subject that is important, and I hope that you will he able to receive my message, for I have been waiting for some time to deliver it. Well, I desire to discourse on the subject of: "What is the destiny of the mortal who has not experienced the New Birth, but who will progress to that condition which may be called the perfect man?"

As you know, there is a future for the mortal who receives the New Birth and a different one for him who has only the complete and pure development of his natural love. This latter condition does not depend upon the mortal having in his soul the Divine Love or the Essence of the Father, but merely upon the purification of the natural love so that all sin and error and inharmony form no part of his state of soul or mental existence. This condition is not the result of a New Birth, or of a change in the constituent elements of his soul, but merely the elimination of those things therefrom, which were the results and the necessary sequences of the defilement that followed the fall.

Now as man lost by this fall the qualities which made him the perfect creature of his Maker, it is only necessary for him to regain what he lost by that fall in order to become the perfect man once more; and in recovering this state of perfection, it is not required that he should seek - or actually add to the qualities which he at first possessed - any new or additional qualities or attributes, but only that he regain what he had been deprived of by his disobedience; and when that is accomplished, he will come again in harmony with the laws of his creation and have all the potentialities and excellence that he originally possessed.

And now, what will that future be? And in order to determine this question it is only necessary to understand what his inherent condition or qualities were when he was the perfect man of his Father's creation.

At that time he was possessed of those things of which he is now the possessor, except that then they were all so accurately adjusted that every sense and function of his body, as well as every faculty of his soul and mind, were so in harmony with the laws of his creation, that he was capable of doing the will of the Father, and obeying every requirement that was imposed upon him. He was then, not only a perfect being as regarding his physical formation, but also as regarding his mental and moral qualities which, of course, included all the emotions and appetites and spiritual aspirations. But, as we have written you before, all these faculties were subject to his will and, in a certain sense, his will was controlled by the exercise of these faculties.

His body was in the beginning made of matter, changeable as it now is, but of a more ethereal kind, and not subject to decay and disintegration in such a short time, as it now is, but yet, subject to this decay; and man, as regards his physical being, necessarily was compelled to die, and to have released his spirit body and his soul from this physical vesture, and thereafter exist as pure spirit. This was not the death that he died as a consequence of his disobedience, but the death natural to him, by reason of the very nature of his creation. His soul and spirit body were not subject to death in the sense of annihilation, but were given the qualities of continual existence in a pure and perfect state, and the only difference that the fall made as to these parts of his being, is that the purity and harmony that were men's are now no longer parts of his soul and spirit. Whether immortality was a quality of that existence, we spirits do not know, and therefore cannot assert, but as his created soul and spirit body had a beginning - mere creatures of the Father - it may be that they were intended to have an ending, as individualized soul and spirit.

Of course, they were created from something, and not from nothing, as some of your theologians say, and it is possible, in the order of change, which seems to be the law in the spirit world as well as in the mortal world, that this soul and spirit may be resolved again into that something. But as to this finality we do not have any knowledge because, so far as the observation of spirits in this world go, no soul or spirit body - and I mean the body as a composite whole and not as to its constituent elements - has ever been resolved into that something, or been deprived of its individualized existence. Therefore, I cannot say that when man was created, it was intended that, as man, he should not be immortal, or that he should be so.

But you will readily see, that after man shall have accomplished the purification of his soul and become in mind and spirit body, as it was intended he should be at the time of his creation, he will be nothing more nor less than he was at that time and have no other or greater qualities or freedom from limitations and changes than he had before his fall. Of course, he will have no physical body, and here let me say that there is no fact or experience known to the spirit world that justifies the assertion that man on earth will ever be immune to physical death. I know that some say, that in the far future men may make such progress in the development of their natural love that their condition of inner purity will be so great as to cause the physical bodies to become so etherialized as to render them free from physical death. But that I cannot conceive will ever happen, for men were made to become inhabitants of the spiritual realms and the short time they were decreed to live the earth life was for the purpose only of giving the soul an individualized existence.

Never was it intended that the physical form should have an eternity of existence, no matter how pure, or, as they say, etherealized it may become, for it was made of matter, of the earth, earthy, while the soul was made of that which had its origin in the spirit realm and composed of spirit substance, so that it cannot be conceived that in the beginning man was created for an immortal earth existence.

I see that you are tired, and I will finish later. I am glad that I could write tonight and also that you are in such good condition to receive my message. So with my love and blessings and assurances that you have every reason to keep up your courage and hope, I am

Your brother in Christ,
John