"No man can come to the Father's Love,
except he be born again. This is the great and fundamental
Truth which men must learn and believe, for without this New
Birth men cannot partake of the Divine Essence of God's Love,
which, when possessed by a man, makes him at one with the
Father. This Love comes to man by the workings of the Holy
Ghost, causing this love to flow into the heart and soul,
and filling it, so that all sin and error must be eradicated.
I am not going to tell to-night just how
this working of the spirit operates, but, I say, if a man
will pray to the Father and believe, and earnestly ask that
this Love be given him, he will receive it; and when it comes
into his soul he will realize it.
Let not men think that by any effort of
their own they can come into this union with the father, because
they cannot. No river can rise higher than its source; and
no man who has only the natural love and filled with error
can of his own powers cause that natural love to partake of
the Divine, or his nature to be relieved of such sin and error.
"
In these messages we are told that Divine Love is
the very essence of the Creator. It is not like the emotional love
- the natural love - that we mortals are familiar with. It is a
real essence, something tangible like electricity, magnetism or
gravity. This can flow from the Creator into our souls, and being
a real essence, it has the power to transform that soul. We simply
need to ask for this Divine Love, and to ask often. It is not a
one time Gift - it is more like a sustenance, but one whose effects
are cumulative.
"The New Birth is the flowing of the
Spirit of God into your soul and the disappearing of all that
tends to turn your heart from the truth and Love of God. It
comes by the workings of the Holy Spirit that conveys the
Grace of God. It is not a working of your own will or power
- it is the Love of God that causes the change. You cannot
of yourself change the evil workings of your heart but you
can pray and the Holy Spirit will come into your soul and
then you will realize the change. "
While concepts of Divine Love can be found elsewhere,
to our knowledge no medium before James Padgett has consistently
expounded this theme. This theme was continued with Dr Samuels,
and continues to this day with contemporary messages. In message
after message, the theme continues, without Divine Love we are not
able to enter the heaven that Jesus promised. See the messages
on heaven for a description of and the difference between the spirit
heavens, which have always existed, and the Celestial Heavens which
Jesus opened for us.
"So I listened to her, and tried to
believe that what she told me must be true, and that she was
interested in me and desired only my happiness. I continued
to pray, as I said, and one day after I had received some
considerable faith, I met Jesus, and he told me of the wonderful
things that his Father had prepared for me, if I would only
believe and ask Him to give them to me. Jesus was so very
beautiful and loving that I could not resist the influence
which came over me; and then my faith increased, and I prayed
with all my heart and soul.
At last, light came to me, and with it,
such an inflowing of Love as I never dreamed could exist,
either in the earth or in the spirit world. But it came to
me and I felt as if I were a new spirit, and such happiness
came as I never experienced before. And then that dear mother
of yours came and rejoiced with me, and also your beautiful
wife who had tried so hard to induce me to seek for this Love."
"And I further informed them, that,
if they wished to assert the truth of my words, they should
try and test my teachings that the Father's Love was now available,
and pray for it to the Father in earnest prayer, and see whether,
if this was done in sincerity, the Father's Love, conveyed
through the Holy Spirit, would burn and glow in the soul,
by which sign they would realize His Love was present therein."
And that is how to experience "the peace that passeth all
understanding." Even the Bible relates the physical feeling
of this love: They asked each other, "Were not our hearts
burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened
the Scriptures to us?" Luke 24:32
"The Love of God cannot be defined,
for it passes all understanding, but the result of that Love,
when in the souls of men, can be seen and felt, in the exceeding
beauty in the countenances of men, and in their wonderful
happiness. No fear of death or anything that maketh afraid
can possibly exist where this Love is. It is not the Love
that permits any feelings of jealousy or envy to have an entrance,
but is so perfect and all soul filling that there cannot possibly
be any room for anything but its own great self. I know that
the Love of God is the only thing that can make man supremely
happy while on earth, and after he becomes a spirit. "
