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15th May 1917.
Received by:James Padgett
Washington D.C.
I am here, Jesus.
I come tonight and desire to finish my
message and hope that you may be able to receive it. Well, to
continue. I have described the way to the Kingdom of God on earth
and in the spirit world, and now I will describe the only way to
the Kingdom of God in the Celestial Heavens.
As I have written before, when man was created, in addition to
having bestowed upon him those things that made him the perfect
man and in harmony with the laws and will of the Father, he also
bestowed upon him the potentiality or privilege of receiving the
Divine Love, provided he should seek for it in the only way that
God had planned for its attainment. But instead of embracing this
great privilege, man became disobedient and sought to exercise his
own will, and did so in that manner that lead not only to his fall
from the condition and the condition of the perfect manhood in which
God had created him, but also to the loss of the great privilege
of receiving this Divine Love, which privilege was never rebestowed
upon him until my coming and teaching that rebestowal and the true
way to obtain this Love.
Now, here it had better be understood what this Divine Love was
and is, for it is the same today that it was when man was created
in the image of God. This love differs from the natural love of
man, with which he was endowed when created and which belongs to
all men and which they all possess in a more or less perfect condition,
in this, that the Divine Love is that love which belongs to or is
a part of God, possessing His Nature and composed of His Substance,
and which when possessed by man to a sufficient degree, makes him
Divine and of the Nature of God. This Great Love God intended
should be received and possessed by all men who should desire to
receive it and who would make the effort to obtain it.
It is the Divine Love that contains in itself the divine, which
the natural love does not. Many, I know, write and believe that
all men, irrespective of the kind of love they have in their souls,
possess what they call "the divine spark," which needs only
the proper development to make all men divine. But this conception
of the state of man in his natural condition is all wrong, for man
has not in him any part of the divine, and never can have, unless
he receives and has developed in him, this Divine Love.
In all God's universe and creation of things material and spiritual
the only one of His creatures who can possibly have within him anything
of a divine nature is he who possesses this Divine Love.The bestowal
of this love was intended, in its operation and effect, to transform
man from the merely perfect man into the divine angel, and thus
create a Kingdom of God in the Celestial Spheres, where only that
which is divine can enter and find a habitation. And you must understand,
that as it depends very largely upon man, himself, to establish
the Kingdom of God on earth or in the spiritual world, so it also
depends largely on man to establish the Kingdom in the Celestial
Heavens. God will not and does not by any power that He may have
establish this Divine Kingdom, and if man had never received this
Divine Love into his soul, there never would have been any such
kingdom brought into existence.
There is now a Kingdom in the Celestial Sphere, but not a finished
one, for it is still open and in the process of formation, and is
open to the entry of all spirits, and men must seek for it in the
only way that the Father has provided, and no man or spirit will
be excluded from it, who, with all the longings of his soul, will
aspire to enter that kingdom.
I must also state that the time will come when this Celestial Kingdom
will be completed, and thereafter neither spirit nor man will be
able to enter therein; for this Divine Love of the Father will again
be withdrawn from man, as it was from the first parents, and the
only kingdom that will then be accessible to man will be the kingdom
that will exist on earth, or that which now exists in the spirit
world.
Then what is the way that leads to this Celestial Kingdom? The
only way? For there is but one!
The observance of the moral precepts and the cleansing of men's
souls from sin by following these precepts, will not lead to this
kingdom, for as it can be readily seen, the stream can rise no
higher than its source, and the source of the souls of men in
a merely purified state, is the condition of the perfect man - that
condition in which he was before his fall - and, hence the results
of the observance and living of the merely moral precepts and the
exercise of the natural love in its pure state, is, that man will
be restored to the condition of the perfect man - the created man
in whom there is nothing of the divine. But this restored condition
of man will be so perfect and so in harmony with God's will and
His laws governing the highest and most perfect of His creatures,
that man will be very happy. Yet, he will continue to be only the
created being, having nothing more than the image of his Maker.
So, I say, living in a harmony with the moral laws and the exercise
of this natural love in its highest and purest state towards God
and towards his fellow man, will not lead into the way to the Celestial
Kingdom, but the greatest height of his attainment will be the kingdom
on earth or that in the spirit heavens.
And the distinct and differing nature of these kingdoms from that
of the Celestial Heavens, will enable mankind to understand the
difference between the missions of the great teachers and reformers
who preceded me in their work among men, and the mission which I
was selected to perform on earth. The former could not possibly
have taught the way to the Celestial Kingdom, for until my coming,
this Divine Love of which I write was not possible for man to obtain.
The privilege was not, before that time, in existence after the
first parents lost it, and there was no Celestial Kingdom in which
men could find their eternal home.
So, I repeat, all the moral teachings of the world's history could
not show the way to the Celestial Kingdom of God, and cannot now,
for morality, as understood and taught by mankind and by the spirits
and angels, cannot give to man that which is absolutely necessary
in order to transform his soul into that state or condition that
fits him for an entrance into this truly Divine Kingdom of the Father.
But the way thereto is simple and single (singular) and men were
taught that way by me when I was on earth; and could have been taught
that way during all the centuries since I left the human life; and
I must say that some have been so taught and have found that way,
but comparatively few, for the mortals whose ostensible and claimed
mission and privilege were to teach that way - I mean the priests
and preachers and churches - have neglected to teach the same, but
rather, though in earnestness and realizing their allegiance to
God and their obligations to mankind, have taught merely the way
which the observance of the moral precepts would lead men into.
And all this, notwithstanding, that in the Bible, which most of
those professing to be Christians believe contains my sayings and
teachings, is set forth this way to the Celestial Kingdom. The words
are few and the way is plain, and no mystery prevents men from comprehending
the meaning thereof. When I said, "Except
a man be born again, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God,"
I disclosed the only and true way to this kingdom. During my time
on earth there were some who understood this great truth, and since
that time, there have been some who not only understood this truth,
but found the way and followed it until they reached the goal and
are now inhabitants of this kingdom; but the vast majority of men
- priests, teachers and people - have never understood, and have
never sought to find the way. This great truth to their spiritual
senses has been, as it were, a hidden thing; and as they read or
even recite the same to their hearers it has no special significance,
but is merely as one of the moral precepts, such as "Love your neighbor
as yourself", and with not as much importance attached to it as
to some of these moral instructions.
And so, all down the ages since the great kingdom has been waiting
for men, they, though in all sincerity and in love towards God,
have sought for and to a greater or lesser extent, found only the
kingdom of the perfect man, and have neglected to seek for and missed
the kingdom of the divine angel.
Then, as I have said, this Divine Love of the Father, when possessed
by the soul of man, makes him in his substance and essence Divine
like unto the Divinity of the Father, and only such souls constitute
and inhabit the Celestial or Divine Kingdom of God; and this being
so, it must be readily seen that the only way to the Celestial Kingdom
is that which leads to the obtaining of this Divine Love, which
means the New Birth; and which New Birth is brought about by
the flowing into the souls of men this Divine Love, whereby the
very Nature and Substance of the Father, and wherefrom men cease
to be the merely created beings, but become the souls of men born
into the Divine reality of God.
Then the only way to the Celestial Kingdom being by the New Birth,
and that birth being brought to men only by the inflowing and working
of this Divine Love, and whether or not a man shall experience this
birth depending in its initiative on the man himself, the question
arises how or in what way can a man obtain this Divine Love and
this New Birth and the Celestial Kingdom. And because the way is
so easy and simple, it may be that men will doubt the truth of my
explanation, and continue to believe and place all their hopes upon
the orthodox doctrines of the vicarious atonement - the washing
of the blood, my sufferings on the cross and bearing all the sins
of the world, and my resurrection from the dead - doctrines as harmful
to the salvation of mankind as they are without truth or foundation
in fact or effect.
The only way then is simply this: "That men shall believe
with all the sincerity of their minds and souls that this Great
Love of the Father is waiting to be bestowed upon each and all of
them, and that when they come to the Father in faith and earnest
aspirations, this love will not be withholden from them, and in
addition to this belief, pray with all the earnestness and longings
of their souls that he open up their souls to the inflowing of this
Love, and that then may come to them the Holy Spirit to bring this
Love into their souls in such abundance that their souls may be
transformed into the very Essence of the Father's Love." 1
The man who will thus believe and pray will never be disappointed,
and the way to the kingdom will be his as certainly as that the
sun shines day by day upon the just and the unjust alike. No mediator
is needed, nor are the prayers or ceremonies of priests or preachers,
for God comes to man himself, and hears his prayers and responds
thereto by sending the Comforter, which is the Father's messenger
for conveying into the souls of men this great Divine Love. I have
thus explained the only way to the Celestial Kingdom of God and
to the divine nature in love; and there is no other way whereby
it is possible to reach this kingdom and the certain knowledge of
immortality.
So, I implore men to meditate on these great truths, and in meditating
believe, and when believing, pray to the Father for the inflowing
into their souls of this Divine Love, and in doing so they will
experience belief, faith and possession and ownership of that which
can never be taken from them - no, not in all eternity. And so it
is with man to choose and fix his destiny. Will that destiny be
the perfect man or the Divine Angel?
I have finished and feel that you have received my message as I
intended, and am pleased. I will not write more now, and with my
love and blessings, will say good night.
Your brother and friend,
Jesus
1 These are the words contained in the Prayer.
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