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February 28th, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington D.C.
I am here, Jesus.
I desire tonight to write you on the subject: "How a soul
must receive the Divine Love of the Father in order to become an
inhabitant of the Kingdom of God, and realize that immortality of
which I have written you."
In the first place, it must be understood that the Divine Love
of the Father is an entirely distinct kind of love from the love
which the Father bestowed upon man at the time of his creation,
and which man has possessed in a more or less condition of purity
ever since that time. This Divine Love was never conferred upon
man as a perfect and completed gift, either at the time of his creation,
or since my coming to earth, but as a gift which is waiting for
man's own efforts and aspirations to obtain, and without which it
can never become his, although it is always close to him, waiting
to answer his call.
Then in understanding what this Love is, and that man must seek
for it, and what its effect upon the soul of man is, it becomes
very important that man should make the obtaining of it the one
great object of his aspirations and desires. For when he possesses
it to a degree that makes him at one with the Father, he ceases
to be a mere man, and becomes of a nature of soul existence that
makes him Divine, with many qualities of the Father, the chief of
which is, of course, Love; and also causes him to absolutely realize
the fact of his immortality.
Mere moral goodness, or the possession of the natural love to its
fullest degree will not confer upon man this Divine Nature that
I have mentioned; nor will good acts, and charity and kindness,
of themselves lead men to the possession of this Love, but the possession
of this Love in truth and in fact, will lead to charity, and good
deeds, and kindness, always unselfish, and to a brotherhood of men
on earth that the mere natural love cannot possibly lead to or cause
to exist.
I know that men preach about the Fatherhood of God, and the brotherhood
of man, and urge men to attempt to cultivate the thoughts and deeds
of love and self-sacrifice and charity in a way to bring about the
greatly to be wished for unity of life and purpose on the part of
men; and by reason of this natural love can, themselves, do a great
work in bringing about this brotherhood. Yet the chain that binds
them together cannot possibly be any stronger than the natural love
which forges it; and when that becomes overshadowed by ambition
and material desires, the brotherhood will become greatly weakened,
or disappear entirely, and men will realize that its foundation
was not built upon a rock, but rather upon the infirm sand, which
could not sustain the superstructure, when the storms arising from
men's ambition and desires for power and greatness, and many other
material things, beat upon it. So I say, there is a great necessity
for something more than man's mere natural love to help him form
a brotherhood that will remain steadfast and firm under all conditions
and among all men.
So this natural love, under circumstances the most favorable to
preserve the constancy of man's happiness and freedom from sin and
error, proved itself to be not sufficient to maintain that condition,
then what may be expected of it when circumstances are such that
this love has degenerated from its pure state and has become defiled
by all these tendencies of men to do that which is in violation
not only of God's laws, but of everything that would otherwise help
men to realize a true brotherhood.
As I have heretofore said in my writings, there will come a time
when this natural love will be restored to its original state of
purity and freedom from sin, and when this brotherhood may exist
in a degree of perfection that will make all men happy. Yet that
time is far off and will not be realized on earth at all until the
New Birth and the New Heavens appear, and in the meantime men's
dreams of this great brotherhood will not be realized.
I know that men expect that sometime, in the far distant future,
by means of education and conventions and preachments of moral truth,
this dream of an ideal brotherhood will be established on earth,
and all the souls of hatred and war, and the oppression of the weak
by the strong will disappear. But I tell you that if men depend
upon this mere natural love and all the great feelings and impulses
that may arise from it, to bring about this condition so much desired,
they will find disappointments and lose faith in the goodness of
men, and at times a retrogression, not only in that love, but in
the conduct of men towards one another, and in the treatment of
nations by one another.
I have digressed somewhat from my subject, but I thought it best
to show to man that his dependence upon himself, which is his dependence
on this natural love, is not sufficient and adequate to bring him
into a condition of happiness even on earth, and therefore totally
inadequate to bring him into the Kingdom of Heaven.
The Divine Love that I speak of, is of itself not only able to
make a man an inhabitant of the Father's Kingdom, but is sufficient
to enable him to bring about and realize to the fullest of his dreams
that great brotherhood, even while on earth.
This Love of the Father's Own Self is of a never changing nature,
and in all places and under all conditions is working out the same
results and converting the souls of men on earth as well as of the
spirits in the spirit world, into not only the image but the substance
of the Divine Nature. It may be possessed in smaller or greater
degree, depending upon man himself; and this degree of possession
determines the condition of the soul, and its nearness to the Father's
Kingdom, whether the soul be in the flesh or in the spirit.
Man does not have to wait to become a spirit, in order to seek
for and obtain this Love, for the soul on earth is the same soul
as when in the spirit world, and its capacity for receiving this
Love is just as great in one place as in the other. Of course on
earth there are many circumstances and surroundings and limitations
on man that prevent the free workings of the soul in the way of
aspirations and faith that do not exist after man becomes an inhabitant
of the spirit world but, nevertheless, and notwithstanding all these
drawbacks and stumbling blocks of the earth life, the soul of man
may receive this Divine Love without limitations and to an abundance
that will make him a new creature as the scriptures say.
The possession of this Divine Love also means the absence of those
desires and longings of what is called the natural man, which produce
selfishness and unkindness and other qualities which create sin
and error, and prevent the existence of this true brotherhood which
men so earnestly desire as the forerunner of peace and good will,
and the more of this Divine Love that enters into the soul of man,
the less there is of evil tendencies and desires, and the more of
the Divine Nature and Qualities.
The Father is all Goodness and Love and Truth, and Forgiveness,
and Kindness, and these qualities the souls of men become possessed
of when they receive and possess the Divine Love. And when man is
sincere and faithful, and possesses these qualities, they never
leave him or change; and when this brotherhood shall be founded
on them, it will be built on a rock and will continue to live and
become purer and firmer in its binding effect, and in the great
results that will flow from it, for its foundation stone will be
the Divine Nature of the Father, which is without variableness or
change and never disappointing.
A brotherhood so created and joined together is, as I say, "the
only true brotherhood that will make for man a kind of heaven on
earth, and banish wars and hatred and strife and selfishness, and
the principal of mine and thine. The mine will be changed to ours,
and all mankind will be truly brothers, without reference to race
or sect or intellectual acquirements. All will be recognized as
the children of the one father."
Such will be the effect of the existence of this Love in men's
souls on earth, and when such souls leave their envelope of flesh,
they will find their homes in the Kingdom of God - parts of the
Divinity of the Father, and partakers of his Immortality.
But only this Divine Love will fit the souls of men for this Kingdom
because in this Kingdom all things partake of this Divine Nature
and nothing which has not that quality can possibly enter therein.
So men must understand that no mere belief or ceremony of church
or baptism, or any of these things are sufficient to enable a soul
to become an inhabitant of this Kingdom. Men may do and deceive
themselves in their beliefs that anything short of or other than
this Divine Love can ensure them an entrance into the Kingdom. Beliefs
may help men to seek and aspire to the possession of this Love,
and other ceremonies may also assist, but unless and until this
Divine Love is actually possessed by the souls of men, they cannot
become partakers of the divine nature and enjoy the happiness and
peace of the Father's Kingdom.
When the way to obtain this Love is so easy and the joy of its
possession is so great, it is surprising that men will be satisfied
with the husks of formalism and the satisfaction and delusion of
mere lip worship and intellectual beliefs. As I have said this Love
is waiting for every man to possess, who sincerely and with true
soul aspirations seek it. It is not a part of, but surrounding and
enveloping every man, but at the same time forming no part of him
unless his longings and prayers have opened up his soul, so that
it may flow in and infill him with its presence.
Man is never compelled to receive it, as he is never compelled
to do other things against his will, but as in the latter case,
when in the exercise of that same will, he refuses to let the Divine
Love flow into his soul, he must suffer the penalty, which is the
utter and absolute deprivation of any possibility to become an inhabitant
of the Kingdom of God, or Celestial Kingdom, and of any consciousness
of the fact of his immortality.
Let men turn their thoughts and aspirations to God, and in truth
and sincerely pray to the Father for an inflowing into their souls
of his Divine Love, and have faith, and they always find that the
Father will bestow his love upon them, in accordance with the extent
of their aspirations and longings, which are mediums of opening
up their souls to the workings of the Holy Spirit, which, as I have
before written, is the messenger of God, for the conveying of His
Divine Love from his Fountainhead of Love to the souls of the prayerful
and aspiring men.
In no other way can the Divine Love be possessed by man, and always
it is an individual matter between the particular man and the Father.
No other man or body of men or church or spirits or angels can do
the work of the individual. As to him, his soul is the only thing
involved, and only his aspirations, and his prayers, and his will
can open up his soul to the inflowing of this Love which makes him
a part of its own divinity.
Of course, the prayers and kind thoughts and loving influences
of good men and divine spirits and angels can and do help the souls
of men in turning to His Love and in progressing in its possession,
but as to the question, will a man become possessor or not of this
love, it depends upon the man.
Well I have written enough for tonight and must stop.
So my dear brother I will say with all my love
and blessings, good night.
Your brother and friend, Jesus
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