September 28th, 1916.
Received by:James Padgett.
Washington D.C.
I am here, Jesus.
I come to-night to tell you that you are in a better condition to write than you have been for sometime and I think it best that I deliver to you a message. Well, I will write on the subject: Of the destiny of the man who has not the Divine Love in his soul, and dies with only the natural love and a belief in the creeds and dogmas of the churches.
I know that many men believe that the creeds of the churches is what is necessary for the salvation of mankind. I mean as to baptism and observance of the sacraments, and the belief that in my name men may be saved - are sufficient and all that are necessary to ensure them an entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven; and in such belief rest, with the feeling of assurance that nothing else is required or in any way to be sought for and acquired.
The large majority of professing Christians are in this state of belief, and hence the greater number of mankind will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven, or become in their natures Divine. I have already told you what is the future of those who possess this Divine Nature of the Father, and now I will confine my message to the future of this great majority.
As you may know, the river can never run higher than its source and neither can this majority attain to a perfection and happiness superior to that which was possessed by man before the time of the fall from the state of his perfect creation, and hence, no matter how great his progress may be in his natural love or in his moral or mental qualities, he can never excel (exceed) the first created man as he was before the fall. And the only possible future for this vast majority is the condition and development that existed in the perfect man of God's first creation.
I know it is said that man has in him that which is a part of the Divinity of God, and that by his own efforts he may develop that Divine Substance until he becomes Divine himself, and of the nature of the Father. But this is not true, and it is not possible to develop the Divine Love or any Essence of the Divine out of that which has not (that) in itself, (and) there is nothing of the Nature of the Divine (in man). In the spirit world, and I mean the spiritual as well as Celestial, laws prevail, and are just as certain in their operations as are the laws of the material world and a fundamental law is, that only like produces like; although in the physical world it may appear that a derivative is not like that from which it is derived, but this is in appearance only, for in substance and essence the likeness exists and cannot be eradicated.
And so as to the real condition of the soul of man. If he has only the natural love - the created love - the development of that love will result in that which cannot possibly be greater or other than that which in its constituent parts is only the natural love, and no matter what the perfection may become, the Divine element is absent, and all the limitations that are inherent in the created being still continue to form a part of and control that being. There is a limit to the development of this natural love and to the state of happiness beyond which it is not possible for this being to go, and that limit is the qualities and excellence possessed by the first man before he became defiled and impregnated with sin. The mind of such being is also limited in the progress which it may make in obtaining knowledge, for that mind being a thing of creation is bound by the limitations that that creation imposed.
So I say, such a man can never progress higher than those attributes or qualities with which he was endowed when he was the perfect man, either spiritually or mentally, unless he seeks for and obtains the Divine Love. When spirits come and write that life in this spirit world is always progressive, these spirits who write, have never attained to this limit of which I speak and hence to them progression is endless; and this belief is very beneficial, because it inspires them to make an effort to progress.
There are many spirits in this perfect state in the highest sphere of natural love or mentality, but they are spirits who have been in the spirit world for a vast number of years, and are what you might call ancient spirits. These spirits have realized this limitation of which I write, and while they can change the objects of their seeking and the sources of their happiness, yet their progress has its ending, and often there comes to them dissatisfaction and a realization that over and beyond their sphere, there must be something that may be obtained, that surpasses their perfect state and development. And as a result of this dissatisfaction many of these spirits, in moments of their unrest, give heed to the suggestions of those spirits who have become possessed of the Divine Essence, and upon whom (there) is no limitation of progress; for these latter spirits are at all times in the highest sphere of these spirits of perfected natural love, trying to show them the way to the higher development and happiness of the Celestial Spheres.
It may seem surprising to you, but it is a fact, that these spirits of the natural love, during their periods of progression and especially as they make nearer approach to their perfection, in the satisfaction and happiness that they experience in that progression, will not listen to the spirits of the Divine Spheres, or believe that there can be any other methods of progress more desirable or excellent than the ones that they are pursuing, and only when they come to realize the dissatisfaction that I speak of, will awaken to the fact, or consent to be awakened to the fact, that there may be a way that leads to things beyond their limits of progress and the perfection that they may have acquired. So, as I say, the higher the progress of these spirits and the farther away they advance from the earth plane, the greater the difficulty in persuading them that there is a state of perfection and happiness surpassing that which they are seeking for, and a way, different from the way they are pursuing.
As these spirits progress in their natural love and in the development of their created minds, much happiness and satisfaction come to them, and in each stage of progress, so much greater do these experiences become, that they readily conceive that there can be no way superior to the one that they are travelling, and, hence, having such belief, the difficulty of convincing them to the contrary, becomes almost insurmountable. As a consequence the spirits of the Celestial Spheres and those of the spirit spheres, who are progressing in the Divine Love, give the greater part of their time and efforts to convincing spirits of these higher truths while they are in the earth planes, before the happiness that I mention is experienced.
The life on earth and that in the earth planes of the spirit world are the states in which the souls of mortals and of spirits have the best opportunities for learning and believing these truths that show them the way to the progression that is without limitation or ending, and hence, the importance of men knowing these truths, and of spirits also, before they experience the satisfaction and pride, I may say, that the advancement in the development of their natural love and mental and moral qualities gives them.
Until the time comes when the Father shall withdraw from man and spirit the privilege of obtaining this Divine Love and Essence, which time will bring the second death, these spirits and all spirits and mortals will have the opportunity of seeking for and finding the way to the Celestial Spheres and Immortality. But after that time this privilege will no longer exist, and then those spirits and mortals who have not found and followed the way of that privilege, will be and become only the perfect beings, as were their first parents. They will have no assurance of Immortality, or even continuous life, and that dissatisfaction and longing for something unknown, will be theirs.
They will remain only the created beings in spirit body, soul and mind, and as the first parents had all the qualities that these restored men will have, and fell, and why may it not be that they will fall (or) that there may come some change in the individualized spirit that will destroy that individuality and dissolve it into its elements of pre-creation? No spirit knows that such a change will take place, that the perfect spirit will not always retain the same individuality, or that the happiness of such spirit will not always exist. And neither does any spirit know that these things will continue to be.
Then why should he not choose that course which leads to Divinity and certainty of Immortality and progress, rather than the one which leads to limitation of progress and happiness, and to uncertainty of Immortality?
I have written enough for to-night. I will come again soon. So remember that I love you and am with you trying to help you spiritually and that I pray to the Father to bless you.
Goodnight.
Your brother and friend,
Jesus.