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April 17, 19221
Received by:James Padgett.
Washington D.C.
Let me write as I desire to say a few words on the question of
immortality of which you have been thinking so much during the past
few days.
I was with you today as you listened to the discourses of the preacher
upon the subject of immortality, and saw that you realized he did
not have a true idea of what the term means, and thought how much
you would like to inform him of your knowledge of the subject. Well,
I understand just how you felt about the matter, and am in sympathy
with you in your desire and hope that sometime you may have the
opportunity to converse with him on this subject and give him your
conception of the truth.
It is the subject of so many sermons and theories preached by preachers
and others, and yet not one of them has the true understanding of
what immortality is. They understand it only in the sense of continuous
life, and in addition, try by argument and inferences to attach
to it the idea of never ending - that is of the continuous life
being so established that it can never be ended - and in this they
satisfy their longings and desires. But you see, this inference
is merely one that is drawn from the desires of the preachers -
that they have no true basis upon which to found their conclusions,
and as to the ordinary things of life they would not be willing
to risk the important things of life upon a basis no better established
from which they could draw conclusions that would cause them to
act.
No, mankind do not really know what immortality is, and all the
arguments that they can put forth to establish the true immortality,
are not sufficient to convince the clear, cool and unprejudiced
mind as to its being a fact.
As is said in the message that you have received from Jesus,2
immortality can be derived only from that which is immortal, and
all arguments that merely tend to show that a thing must be immortal
because of the desires or intentions of God, do not suffice.
All the facts that may be established as premises, are not sufficient
to logically prove the conclusion desired to be established and
men cannot depend upon such method of reasoning.
It is utterly impossible to derive immortality from anything less
than that which is immortal in itself, and to attempt to do so by
argument or inference is a mere waste of time by the exercise of
the reasoning faculties.
As has been said, only God is Immortal, and that means that the
very Qualities and Nature of Himself is Immortal; and if it were
possible for Him to have any qualities that are not of a nature
that partakes of the Immortal, then these qualities would not be
Immortal, but subject to change and dissolution. Among the Qualities
of His Being is the great and important one of Love and without
It God could not be. His existence would be less than that of a
God; and that being a fact this great Quality of Love must be Immortal,
and into whatever this Quality may enter and form a part, that thing
is necessarily Immortal, and in no other way could it become Immortal.Then
this Love of God brings Immortality in the true sense of the term
and when It enters into the soul of man and possesses it, that soul
becomes Immortal, and in no other way can Immortality be acquired.
Not all things of God's creation are immortal, for in a shorter
or longer time they perform the object of their creation, and their
existence is no longer required and they become dissolved into the
elements of which they were composed. Man's physical body for this
reason is not immortal, for after a short life on earth it dissolves
and is no more. His spirit body is primarily of this evanescent
character, and it may be that in the course of eternity it will
have performed its mission and cease to exist. We do not know this,
neither are we assured that it is not true, because it is dependent
upon the continuous existence of the soul for its continuous existence,
and not all souls will receive a part of the Father's Divine Love,
which is the only thing that has within itself this immortality;
and it may be that at sometime in the future, this soul without
the love may cease to exist and become no more a creature of the
Father.
But this we do know, that whatever partakes of the Divine Love
has in it that which is necessarily immortal, and can no more die
than can this love itself; and hence, must be immortal. So that
when men speak or teach that all men are immortal, they speak that
which they do not know - only God, Himself, knows that fact - and
from the mere exercise of the reason men are justified in saying,
that such men or souls that do not obtain the Divine Love are not
immortal.
Now while this question of man's immortality is in doubt, and has
never been demonstrated to be a fact, yet we do know that, that
portion of mankind whose souls have received this immortal, Divine
Love, are immortal and can never cease to exist; and the great comfort
and blessings to these souls that this possession brings, are that
they know that they are immortal because they possess that quality
or nature of God that is immortal, and as the latter can never have
an ending, neither can that into which this immortal Love has entered
and found a lodgment have an ending.
The preachers arguments were strong, and in the ordinary workings
of men's minds and reasoning powers, may convince men that immortality
is a proven fact for all mankind, but when properly analyzed and
the true rule of search for immortality is applied, it will appear
that the arguments are not conclusive - hope is stronger than fact,
and men have not the assurance that for them immortality holds out
its desired arms of certainty.
Well, I thought I would write you this short message upon the question
that you and the preacher have been meditating upon, in the hope
that he might not depend upon the strength of his argument for the
establishing of the fact of immortality, but would see and become
convinced that the only way to ascertain and acquire the true immortality
is by seeking for and obtaining the Divine Love, and thereby having
his soul transformed into the very Essence and nature of God in
Love.
I am glad that I can write to you again, and that your condition
is so much better than it has been, and permits the rapport to be
made. Pray more to the Father and believe, and you will get in a
condition that we so much desire. I will not write more. good night.
Your brother in Christ,
Luke
1 The date of this message is April 17, 1922, which
is only known by reference to the original handwritten document.
2 There are two messages from Jesus on Immortality.
The first is on May 28th,
1915 and the second on June 2nd, 1920.
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