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 contra-distinguished 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 its 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 its 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.