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May 8th, 1916.
Received by:James Padgett.
Washington D.C.
I am here, Jesus. I come tonight to finish my
message and will do so, if your condition
is such that you may receive it.
Well, as you may remember, my subject is: "How
the Divine Love enters into the soul of a human being." I have
already explained to you the difference between, and the respective
functions of the physical body, the spiritual body and the soul,
and how the real man is the soul, which may live forever. I have
also shown you how the physical and spiritual bodies change their
component parts, and as such bodies, disintegrated and disappear
in the form that they may have at any one time.
Well, the soul is the man and becomes the angel of God's kingdom.
The soul may also become the only everlasting part of man in the
spiritual kingdom as contradistinguished from the Celestial Heavens.
The only way in which the soul may become an inhabitant of the
Celestial Spheres, is by its obtaining of the Divine Love and thereby
become a partaker of the Divine nature of the Father; and this can
be accomplished only by the inflowing of the Divine Love, by means
of the operation of the Holy Spirit, which is the instrumentality
used by God to carry this Love to the souls of men.
As I have before said, this Love never forces itself into the souls
of men, and comes only when men seek for it in sincerity and with
effort. It is waiting for all men to receive it, but never comes
into the soul of its own initiative, and without invitation. So
the important question is, how does it come into the soul and what
must men do to induce it's inflowing?
There is only one way, and that is by the opening up of the soul
in such a manner that this Love, when it comes in response to sincere
seeking, may find an entrance and a condition of development that
will cause it to find lodgment and abiding place, harmonious and
satisfactory to the qualities of its own existence. Of course, man
cannot of himself open up his soul to this inflowing, for, while
he has great power, yet the will is not sufficient; nor has he any
other inherent qualities that will enable him to place his soul
in such condition as to make possible the work of the Holy Spirit
in causing the Love to flow into the soul.
The only means by which this can be accomplished are prayer and
faith. When a man in true earnestness and sincere aspirations, prays
to the Father for this Divine Love, such prayer not only brings
Love, but causes those portions of the soul which are capable of
receiving this Love to open up to its coming and to work in such
a way as to attract the Love. The Holy Spirit never performs this
work of preparing the soul for the reception of this Love, but merely
brings the Love and causes it's inflowing when the soul is in condition
to receive it. In answer to prayer, there are other instrumentalities
of the Father working to prepare the soul condition that is required,
and these instrumentalities are the bright spirits of the Celestial
Heavens, whose duties, among others, are to answer the prayers of
the penitent in the way of infilling the soul with influences that
turn the thoughts and aspirations to this Divine Love and its operations.
As I said when on earth, there is no other way to get into the
sheep fold but through the gateway provided, - he that attempts
to climb over the fence is a thief and a robber. But this should
be modified to fit the exact fact, for there is no possibility of
getting into this fold by climbing the fence. There is only one
way - that through the gate of prayer and sincere longing.
I know that many men believe that the performance of church duties,
and the observation of the requirements of the church as to baptism
and the sacraments, etc., will be sufficient to enable them to get
into the Kingdom; but I tell you that they are all wrong, and their
disappointment will be very great when they come into the spirit
world.
What are called moral deeds and good thoughts will not cause this
inflowing of the Divine Love because these things are necessary
steps towards the purification of the soul in its natural love;
and (yet) no matter how pure this love may become, yet it is not
the Divine Love or any portion of it.
Good thoughts and deeds, though, may help to turn the aspirations
of the soul to these higher conditions, and open up its perceptions
to a degree that may lead to prayer and faith, and, therefore, in
addition to their work of purifying, the natural love may prove
to be of great value in assisting men towards the development of
the soul so that the Divine Love may enter into it. But to depend
on good thoughts and moral deeds and a life pure from sin to give
man the right to an entrance into the Celestial Kingdom, is a great
mistake.
The Divine Love is a thing entirely apart from the nature of man,
even in its purest state, and was never conferred on man as was
the natural love, and, consequently, when man obtains this Divine
Love, and it becomes a part of his soul qualities, his nature, as
it were, changes, and he becomes a new creature. An additional something
has been conferred upon him and it becomes impossible for him to
remain the mere man that he was, and he always would, be, except
for this change in his nature.
I know that men do not understand the distinction between a man
with only the natural love and one with the Divine Love, but the
distinction is so great, that the one, when possessed to a sufficient
degree, makes the man a part of Divinity, while the other, no matter
how fully possessed and how pure it may become, makes man merely
man, though a perfect one.
Whosoever will pray in sincerity for the inflowing of this Divine
Love will receive it. It is not a respecter of persons, and the
sincere aspirations of the soul of any man, be he prince or peasant,
rich or poor, will invariably cause this Love to come into his soul
and change his nature, so that he will become a new creature, and
one not subject to death forever more.
The merely intellectual prayers are not efficacious, for it does
not have any effect in opening up the soul, and neither does much
of this praying do the work. One little moment of this true praying
will be more effective in causing this Divine Love to flow towards
the soul than a whole lifetime of idle repetition of prayers that
come from a source merely mental. And here let me say that the mind
is not the soul, and much less God.
Well, I think I have made plain how this Love flows into a man's
soul, and in addition what its effect is, when possessed by man.
There is nothing in all God's universe that can take its place for
the purpose of making a man at-one with the Father, and of causing
him to become Divine, in so far as he possesses this Love.
So I say to all men, pray and pray and never cease to pray for
the inflowing of this Love, for there is no limit to its abundance,
or the amount which man or spirit can obtain. Always in the Celestial
Heavens, we spirits continually pray for an increased bestowal,
and always our prayers are answered - but always there is more to
follow.
I must not write more tonight.
I am satisfied with the correctness of your receiving my message,
and will come again and write you another.
With all my love and blessings,
I am your brother and friend,
Jesus
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