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November 10th, 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 than
you were last night, and in fact, have been for some nights past.
I desire to write you a message on the question of "How the soul
of a mortal receives the Divine Love, and what its effect is, even
though subsequently his mind may indulge in those beliefs that may
tend to prevent the growth of the soul - what is a lost soul?"
As you know, the inflowing of this Love is caused by its bestowal
by the Holy Spirit in response to sincere prayer and longings. I
mean prayer and longings for the Love Itself, and not prayers in
general, for the material benefits that men more often and more
naturally, as they believe, ask for and desire. The prayers of mortals
for these things that may tend to make them successful and happy
in their natural love, are answered also, if it be best that they
should be, but these are not the prayers that bring the Divine Love
or cause the Holy Spirit to work with men.
As the prayers of the sincere, earnest soul ascend to the Father
that soul becomes opened up to the inflowing of this Love, and the
soul's perceptions enlarge and come more in rapport with the conditions
or influence that always accompanies the presence of this Love,
and, consequently, its entrance into the soul becomes easier and
its reception more perceptible to the soul sense. The more earnest
the prayer and sincere the longings, the sooner faith comes and
with this faith, the realization that the Divine Love is permeating
the soul.
When once the Divine Love finds a lodgment in the soul, it, to
the extent that it receives the Love, becomes as it were a changed
substance, partaking, of the Essence of the Love; and as water may
become colored by an ingredient foreign to itself, and which changes
not only its appearance but its qualities, so this Divine Love changes
the appearance and qualities of the soul, and this change of qualities
continues ever thereafter. The natural qualities of the soul and
the Essence of the Love become one and united and the soul is made
altogether different in its constituency from what it was before
the inflowing of the Love, but this only to the extent of the Love
received. As this Love increases in quantity, the change and transformation
becomes correspondingly greater, until at last the transformation
may and will become so great, that the whole soul becomes a thing
of this Divine Essence, and partakes of its very Nature and Substance,
a being of Divinity.
When once this Love enters and truly possesses the soul and works
the change mentioned, It, the Love, never leaves nor disassociates
Itself from the soul - its character of Divine Essence never changes
to that of the mere natural love, and so far as It is present, sin
and error have no existence, because it is just as impossible for
this Essence and sin and error to occupy the same parts of the soul
at the same time as it is for two material objects to occupy the
same space at the same time, as your philosophers say. Divinity
never gives place to that which is not of the Divine. Man is working
towards the attainment of the Divine, when he pursues the way provided
for obtaining the Divine Nature, and as he advances, and obtains
a portion of this Divine, no matter how small, he can never retrace
his steps to the extent of ridding himself of this transforming
Essence, and again become without its presence.
But this does not mean that a man may not lose the consciousness
of the existence of this Essence within his soul, for he frequently
does. The indulgence of his carnal appetites and evil desires will
place him in the condition that he may cease to have a consciousness
of the existence of the Divine Love in his soul, and to himself,
he will be as if he had never had any experience of the change that
I speak of.
And while this Love can never be eradicated by the evils that man
may indulge in or by the mental beliefs that he may acquire, yet
the progress of this Love in his soul may be checked and become
stagnant, as if the Love were not, and sin and error may appear
to be the only dominant elements of his life and being. But yet,
when once possessed, the Love cannot be crowded out of his soul
by sin and error, no matter, how deep and intense they may be. I
know that this may seem strange and impossible to man's intellectual
thinking, and that it is not in accordance with what has been attributed
to me as teaching that a soul may be lost, nevertheless, a soul
that has once received this Divine Essence cannot be lost, though
its want of realization of the presence of this Love and its awakening
from its dormant condition, caused by sin and error and its misdirected
beliefs, may delay its manifestation of life and existence, for
a long time, and much suffering and darkness may have to be endured
by the soul that is in such condition. And I must not be understood
by this, as meaning that a soul cannot be lost, for it can, and
many have been and will be, and many will realize the fact when
too late.
Now, what is a lost soul? Not one that a man may actually lose
in the sense of being deprived of it, - separated from it actually,
or even as regards his consciousness of not having a soul, for while,
at times, he may believe that he has lost his soul, in the sense
of not having any, yet he is mistaken, for the soul, which is the
man, can never be separated from himself, and as long as he lives
in the physical body or in the spiritual body his soul will be with
him. And yet he may have a soul, consciously or not, and at the
same time have lost it. This may seem a paradox to the mortal intellect
or to the intellect of spirit, but it is true.
Then what is a lost soul? When God gave to man a soul that soul
was made in the image but not in the Substance of its Maker, and
at the same time there was bestowed on him the privilege of having
that soul become of the Substance of the Father, and to an extent,
Divine, and entitled to and capable of living in the Celestial Kingdom
of the Father, where everything is of the Divine Essence and Nature.
When the first parents by their act of disobedience forfeited that
privilege their souls lost the possibility of becoming of the Divine
Nature and at one with the Father in His Kingdom, and they thereby
lost not the natural soul, which was a part of their creation, but
the soul having the possibility of obtaining the Essence of Divinity
and Immortality as the Father has Immortality.
As I have said, heretofore, with my coming this great privilege
was restored to mankind, and the lost soul became again the object
of man's recovery, and now he has that privilege as did the first
parents before the fall; but also men may lose it as did they. As
with them their souls were lost until they received into it the
Divine Essence of the Father, so with men now, their souls are lost
until and unless they receive this Divine Essence therein. As the
first parents by their disobedience and refusal, forfeited their
privilege of having their souls become a living, Divine Substance,
so now, men by their disobedience and refusal will forfeit their
privilege to save their souls from separation from the Divine Unity
with the Father. The lost soul is as real as the verities of the
Father's immutable laws, and only by the operation of the Divine
Love can the soul lost, become the soul found.
Men may believe and teach that within them is a part of the Divine
that will cause their souls to progress and develop until it reaches
the condition of Divinity that will make it a part of the Divinity
of the Father. But in this they are all wrong, for, while man was
the highest creation of God, and the most perfect, and made in his
image, yet in man is no part of the Divine, and having no part of
the Divine, it is wholly impossible for him to progress to the possession
of the Divine. He, of himself, no matter what his development may
be, can never become greater or more perfect or of a higher nature,
than he was at his creation.
The Divine comes from above and when once planted in a man's soul,
there can be no limit to its expansion and development, even in
the Celestial Heavens. Let all men seek this Love and there will
be no lost souls; but, alas, many will not do so, and the spiritual
heavens will be filled with lost souls*, not having the Divine Essence
of the Father.
I have written enough for tonight, and I am pleased at the way
in which you received my message. Continue to pray to the Father
for more and more of His Divine Love, and your prayers will be answered,
and you will realize with the certainty of conscious possession
of the Divine Essence, that your soul is not lost and never will
be. So with my love and blessings, I will say good night and God
bless you.
Your brother and friend,
Jesus
* This is the Spiritual Heavens of the perfect
man who has only the natural love in a pure state, but does not
possess the Divine Love which is necessary to enter the Celestial
Heavens.
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