October 11th, 1916
Received by:James Padgett.
Washington D.C.
I am here, St. John.
I merely want to say that I have been listening to your reading of my message and heard your comments on the same, and you are correct in what you and your friend said.
There is scarcely a greater error in the beliefs of men that retard the development of their souls than the belief that at sometime Jesus will come in all his glory and power, and take men into his heaven, just as they are, in body, soul and spirit. This belief has for a long time prevented many men from seeking to develop their soul qualities, either as to the natural love or as to the Divine Love, for as a basis of their faith is that saying in the Bible that "whosoever believes in the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved;" and many thinking that they have this belief, are contented therein, and further believe that because of that belief, they will be carried into the heavens of Jesus, when he comes, even though in the meantime they may have given up the earth life.
It is deplorable that men should believe these things and live and die in this belief - which, of course, is wholly intellectual. But such is the fact, and we spirits who know the truth, have for all the long centuries been so anxious that men should know the truth, and have been working among men by means of spirit impression, and sometimes by revelation to help them learn not only the truth, but the errors of their beliefs. And as our efforts have not been very successful, we concluded to use the means that we are now using, and to reveal to mankind in our own words and thoughts the truths of God as regards man and all things connected with him.
And here I want to say with all the emphasis that I can, that you and your friends must believe that the communications that you receive as to these Truths are written by us and in our own words, and that your mind does not supply a thought or suggestion, and that you are used only, as a medium to convey our thoughts, and lend your physical organs to facilitate our expressing in our own language the Truths that we desire to convey.
So, no matter how improbable some things may seem to you, you must accept them as true, for nothing but the Truth will be written. And further we will not allow any spirit who is not in our band, or who has not this Divine Love, to write on any of the Truths that are necessary to be revealed to the world. I thought this the proper place to say this, as I desire to assure your friend of the reality of the messages and the source from which they come. I will not write more now, and will say good night.
With my love to you both, I am
Your brother in Christ,
John.