June, 1st, 1916.
Received by:James Padgett.
Washington D.C.
I am here, your grandmother.
I thought that I might write you a message tonight, if you feel like receiving it.
The only way in which the salvation that can be obtained by man and make him of a nature Divine is through the medium of the Holy Ghost, and the way pointed out by Jesus.
I will not here attempt to go into details as to the methods, for they have been fully explained to you, but I must say that no other methods can be pursued that will bring the soul of man in unison with God, and make him of a nature Divine.
No sacraments of baptism or mere ceremony of the church will enable a man to accomplish this end; and in fact, such things frequently retard the soul of man from becoming in the condition of development that places him in the position of a redeemed child of God.
I will not write much, in detail, as to what man himself should do in order to bring into operation the workings of the Holy Spirit, but merely say, that he must pray with the sincere longings of his soul for the inflowing of the Father's Love, and have faith that such Love is a real thing and that it comes to him in response to his prayers.
And now to continue as to the truth that this love is waiting for all mankind, no matter where the individuals of the race may be, and that they can receive this Love even though they have never heard of the plan of salvation as declared by Jesus.
God intended, when He rebestowed this Love, that every human being, as well as spirit, should have the opportunity to obtain it, and that the manner in which it might be obtained should be made known to all mankind, and in carrying out this intention he specially selected Jesus for this work, who, through his own teachings to mankind, should learn of it.
Of course, during the short ministry of Jesus on earth it was impossible that all men should learn of him through the teachings of himself or of his disciples, and hence, the spirits of the world of spirits were permitted to hear these teachings, and come into the knowledge, and then, when they should obtain this Love, to teach it to mortals and spirits, which they did, and have been doing ever since.
But while they have been working all these centuries to bring about this great consummation, yet they have not succeeded for the reason, that they could not force the truth of the plan of salvation upon either mortal or spirit, and consequently, man in the exercise of his free will, and spirits also, in the exercise of their will, unless they would open up their understandings of the soul qualities, supplemented by the exercise of their mental qualities, could not obtain this Divine Love. And just as on earth, (where) men have refused to listen to those in mortal life who have attempted to teach them of things religious, so in the spirit world many spirits have and are refusing to listen to the teachings of other spirits, who have the knowledge and possession of this Great Love. And mortals also have failed to respond to the impressions which spirits have been trying to make upon them as to this truth, and, as a consequence, were unable to open up their soul perceptions; and many mortals, as well as spirits, have never received the benefit of the Great Gift of rebestowal. And yet, as I have said, many have responded to these impressions, and even while on earth have had the inflowing of this Love to a more or less extent, although they may not have been conscious of the fact in such a definite manner as to know, that what they had received was a portion of the Divine Love. Among the great obstacles to men putting themselves in this condition of receptivity, are the creeds, and mental beliefs and ceremonies obtaining in many of the churches of Christendom, and in many of the faiths and teachings of the races which live outside of Christendom and which have never heard of this great plan of salvation.
In the spirit world, the followers of many of the faiths and creeds, distinct and different from one another, live together in communities as separate races, still believing in their various creeds and teachings of their leaders, and have never heard of this Divine Love or of the necessity of receiving it, but worship God according to their beliefs on earth, satisfied that the doctrines which they profess are the true and only ones, and absolutely refuse to listen to the spirits who often try to teach the truths as to eternal life in the Celestial Spheres.
Of course, these spirits have the right and the power to refuse to listen to these truths, and are never compelled to. And then again, some of them will listen, and decline to believe that there is any other truths than the ones that they have embraced.
And thus you see, that while this Great Gift, the Divine Love, and privilege of obtaining it was bestowed upon all men, and the Love is ever ready to enter into their souls, yet a very large majority of spirits and mortals will never receive it and become inhabitants of the many mansions. All men and spirits will have the opportunity before the great day of final separation, but many will not be willing to accept the Gift, and will be satisfied in the happiness of their natural love and contented to live in their merely spiritual homes.
And here, let me say, because of the fact of the great variety of beliefs and teachings on earth as to the meaning of the second death, many men and spirits will neglect to exercise their privilege of obtaining the Great Gift of the Divine Love and suffer the second death. The second death will take place when that great separation occurs, and the gift of this privilege of receiving the Divine Love of the Father will again be withdrawn from man and spirit. No other death is meant, for man and spirit will continue to live their mortal and spirit lives, without any other death than that which is now constantly taking place. There will be no death in the sense of condemning the spirit of man to eternal punishment, or the annihilation of any spirit, as is taught by some of your religious teachers. No, the only death will be the death that the first parents died at the time of their disobedience, which was the deprivation of the great privilege of receiving the Divine Love and thereby partaking of the Divine nature of the Father, and immortality.
Well my dear boy, I have written enough for tonight and will stop.
You have my love and my influence to help you in every way, and also my prayers to the Father for your spiritual development. So with my blessings, I will say good night.
Your loving Grandmother.