Love - The Divine Love
And the New Birth of the Soul
Letters from Heaven
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C., 1914 - 1920
Luke ~ January 4, 1916
As has been told you, in the beginning God conferred upon our first parents not only the natural love but the potentiality of obtaining it, by the observance of certain laws and obedience, the Divine Love of the Father, which, when obtained, would make a man a part of divinity itself. And, while it would not make him a god, or the equal of the Father, yet it would give him a divinity that would cause him to receive the substance of God's Great Love, and not remain the mere image, and, as a consequence, man would become immortal.
God's own time and in accordance with His mercy and plan, He rebestowed upon man this great potentiality of which I speak, so that men should again have the privilege of becoming at-one with Him. And to declare the rebestowal of this Great Gift, Jesus was sent to earth in the form of man conceived and born as other men, but without sin. It was at the time of Jesus' coming the Great Gift was rebestowed upon both mortals and spirits of mortals then living in the spirit world, and they all, spirits and mortals, received the privilege of becoming at-one with the Father through the plan of salvation that He had revealed to Jesus, and which Jesus taught in his ministry during the short years of his earthly life, and which he is still teaching.
There is no other way in which man can become at-one with the Father – in which the image can be transformed into the Substance – than the Way that Jesus taught, but which seems not to have been understood by men after the church became a church of temporal power, and after the Bible or the writings of the apostles were emasculated and the thoughts and desires of men interpolated in the place of the gospel of peace and salvation. Yet there is in the gospel of John one declaration of the true plan of salvation, though it is little understood and almost ignored in practical teachings and observances of the churches and their members, and that is "except a man be born again he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God."
These words of the New Birth are the only words that declare the true doctrine of the atonement. No death of Jesus on the cross, no shedding of blood or washing away of sins by the blood, no paying of any debt and no believing in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, will bring men into at-one-ment with the Father and make them partakers of his Divine Nature or fit them to become inhabitants of His Kingdom. Only the New Birth is efficacious for this purpose, and no other plan did Jesus ever teach and is not now teaching.
Then what is meant by the New Birth?
The New Birth is simply the effect of the flowing into the soul of a man of this Divine Love of the Father, and the disappearing of everything that tends to sin and error. As the Divine Love takes possession of the soul, sin and error disappear. It—the soul—becomes of a quality like the Great Soul of the Father; and the Soul of the Father in its quality of Love being Divine and Immortal, so, when the soul of man becomes possessed of this quality of Love this soul becomes Divine also - and the soul is the man - and then the image becomes the substance, the mortal becomes the Immortal, and the soul of man, as to love and hope, becomes a part of the Father's Divinity.
Now to declare this plan of salvation and also the rebestowal of the Great Gift of the potentiality of the soul, Jesus came to earth. This was his mission, and none other.
Jesus not only taught the necessity for the New Birth, but he also taught the way in which it could be obtained, and that way is just as simple and easily understood as the New Birth itself. He taught, and is now teaching, that through earnest prayer to the Father, and faith, which makes all aspirations and soul longings things of real existence, and by the Holy Spirit which is the Father's messenger of Love to carry His Divine Love, this Love will flow into the souls of men in response to such prayers; and by such faith men will realize its presence, and in this way, and this way only, men will receive the New Birth.
This is wholly an individual matter, and without the personal, earnest prayer of the supplicant and faith that comes with the Love, a man cannot receive the New Birth. No ceremony of church, no laying on of hands or masses for the souls of the dead will be efficacious to make the man or spirit a new creature in God.
[Read the complete message HERE.]
Jesus ~ March 23, 1916
As I have heretofore written you, when God created man and made him in His own image as to the soul, he also gave to man the possibility of obtaining the substance of the Father – that is, of having that soul which was a mere image become that soul which is of the substance of the Creator. I have also explained to you how man, by his disobedience, lost that possibility, and for long centuries was deprived of this great privilege, and how it was again restored to him at the time of my coming to earth, so that he now and for nineteen centuries past has had the possession of this great gift or privilege of partaking of the substance of the Father.
Well, when man, by the way that has been pointed out to him, becomes possessed of the substance of the Father's divine nature, even in an initial degree, his soul commences to change and lose its character as a mere image, and to progress towards the attainment of that condition when this image disappears and the divine substance takes its place. And as the progress continues, he receives so much of the substance that his soul takes on the divine nature of the Father, and his at-onement with the Father becomes so perfect that he becomes an inhabitant of the Father's Kingdom. This occurs when he becomes fitted to enter the first Celestial sphere. And just here occurs another thing which may startle those who teach that the mind is the essence of God, and that is that the mind – which man, both as mortal and spirit, possesses up to that point in the progress of the soul where the transformation into the divine nature takes place – becomes a thing of naught (or rather becomes absorbed in the mind of the soul), which is the real mind of the Father. And then and ever after, only this mind of the soul is that which enables the real divine man to understand the things of God, to help him in his progress.
[Read the complete message HERE.]
Luke ~ April 27, 1916
If men would only think, and in thinking realize that they are dear children of the Father, and His highest creation, and that He prizes them above all His creatures, and wants them to know that they are beings of such wonderful qualities and possibilities, they would then have come to them an overpowering and convincing sense of what they really are, and of how necessary it is for them to assert their rights as such exalted creatures of the Father. And they would then realize that they are masters of sin and disease, for they are the creators of the same. When they shall assume such position, and become possessed of such knowledge, they will find that they have a wonderful power as creatures of the Father, and they will realize that they are masters of sin that must be gotten rid of.
[Read the complete message HERE.]
Jesus ~ May 8, 1916
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.
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 a condition of openness that will allow it to find lodgment and an abiding place harmonious with and satisfactory to the qualities of its own existence.
The only means by which this can be accomplished are prayer and faith. When a human 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.
In answer to prayer, there are 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 influencing the soul that turn the thoughts and aspirations to this Divine Love and its operations.
The Divine Love is a thing entirely apart from the nature of man, even in its purest state, and was never conferred on man at his creation, as was the natural love; and consequently, when man obtains this Divine Love, and it becomes a part of his soul qualities, his nature 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 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 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 human, 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.
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.
[Read the complete message HERE.]
Ann Rollins ~ June 1, 1916
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.
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.
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, 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.
[Read the complete message HERE.]
John ~ June 19, 1916
When the Divine Love enters into the soul, it becomes permeated with the divine essence, then taking on the divine nature of the Father; and, to the extent that it receives and possesses this love, the soul becomes at-one with God and ceases to be a mere image, and becomes transformed into the substance of divinity. The soul in this condition is altogether a different entity from the soul in the condition in which it was created, and no longer is subject to the dominion of either the mind or of the animal appetites and desires. And hence, the spirit possessing such a soul is, in essence, a part of the Father – or as Jesus said, “is in the Father and the Father in it.”
Now do not understand that such a soul is the soul that man originally possessed, only with increased development of purity and goodness or freedom from sin, because such is not the case. Such soul, by such transformation, becomes a new thing, and never again can it relapse into the soul of man's origin. Because of the qualities that it then possesses, it becomes Immortal, and such immortal nature can never be taken from it. It is now a thing of love and purity, and consciousness of its true condition is always with the spirit that has such soul.
This transformation is gradual, and men must not think that by the mere act of conversion from their state of “death” they at once become possessed of the nature of the divine, for such is not the fact. The transformation is gradual, coming according to the susceptibility of the soul to receive this love of which I speak.
But when once the inflowing of the Love commences, it continues eternally. Although there may be times of stagnation, and apparent loss of this divine essence, yet always is the transformation taking place. And at certain stages in its progress, the possession of this Divine Love will be so great that the original soul (or its original qualities) will entirely disappear, and leave only the new qualities which the Divine Love has implanted in it. The leaven when once deposited never ceases to work until the whole shall become leavened.
[Read the complete message HERE.]
Jesus ~ June 27, 1916
When man takes on the divine nature and becomes absorbed in the essence of the Father, he then becomes like the Father, and whatever his image to the Father may have been when he was mere man, now he becomes the real substance, and limitations of possibilities become removed, love sees no ending, and intellectual development no boundaries, happiness no limitations, and Immortality becomes a thing of knowledge, and the soul a new creature having the divine essence of the Father; and until this new creation has taken place, and the transformation becomes a thing of reality, and the soul be made at-one with the Father, man cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Then, no longer man but now an angel.
Now, all this can be accomplished only by the operation of the new birth – that is, the inflowing into the soul of man of the Divine Love of the Father. This love contains the essence of God's divinity, and when man obtains it he is then of the same essence as the Father, and for the first time becomes a part of the divine, and fitted to inhabit the Celestial Heavens. In no other way can man partake of this nature; and it does not require much reasoning to show the logical truth of this statement, for man in his earthly affairs, and in his material experiments in producing compounds from elements, applies the same principle that I assert in my statement, “The dough cannot be leavened unless leaven is placed in the batch.”
So you see that without this Divine Love entering into the soul it will be impossible for the natural man to become the divine angel. Beliefs and creeds and doctrines and sacrifices cannot work this transformation, and even though the beliefs may be without doubt, and the creeds and doctrines satisfactory, and the sacrifices without end, yet they will all be futile to change the soul of the mere man into the soul of the divine angel. And all this, in part, is why man should seek to obtain the Divine Love and become an inhabitant of the Celestial spheres.
[Read the complete message HERE.]
John ~ August 5, 1916
Divine Love is the greatest thing in all the world, and the only thing that can make man at-one with the Father, and change the soul of man as it has existed since his creation into a divine substance filled with the essence of the Father.
There is nothing else in all the universe of God that can cause man to become a new creature, and an inhabitant of the Father's Kingdom; and when men possess this love, then they possess everything that will make them not only the perfect man, but the divine angel.
It is so abundant that it may be possessed by all men, by the mere seeking and the sincere longing for its inflowing. But man must understand that it is not his by matter of right, nor is it ever forced upon him, but comes only in response to the sincere earnest prayer of a soul that is filled with longings for its coming.
This love comes not with observation of mere moral rules, or with good deeds and the exercise of the natural love of a man towards his fellows, because no man can possibly merit it by any deeds or acts or kindness of heart that he may have. All these things are desirable, and they work out their own rewards, and bring the happiness and peace that result from good thoughts and kind deeds; but all these do not bring into the soul of man this great love. It is the Father alone who bestows this love, and only when the soul is opened up to its reception can it possibly find its home in that soul.
It is greater than faith or hope, because it is the real substance of the Father, while faith and hope are the qualities which a man may possess by his own efforts, and which are given him that he may realize the possibility of obtaining this love. They (faith and hope) are merely means; love is the end and fullness of their exercise.
But men must not believe that all love is the Divine Love, for it is very different in its substance and qualities from all other loves … All men have, as a part of their possessions, the natural love, and they need not pray for a bestowal of that; although since it has become defiled by sin, it needs to be purified and freed from this blight, and the Father is ever willing and ready to help men obtain this purification. But this Divine Love is not a part of man's nature, nor can he obtain or possess it except he seek for it. Divine Love comes from without and is not developed from within.
It is the result of individual acquirement, and not the object of universal possession. It may be possessed by all; it can be possessed by only a few; and each man must determine for himself whether it shall be his.
With God there is no respect of persons; neither is there any royal road to the obtaining of this love. All must pursue the same way, and that way is the one that Jesus taught – the opening up of the soul to this love finding a lodgment therein, which can be brought about only by sincere prayer and longing for its inflowing.
This love is the life of the Celestial Heavens, and the only key that will unlock the gates; and when the mortal enters therein, all other love is absorbed by it. It has no substitute, and is, of itself, a thing apart. It is of the essence of the divine, and the spirit which possesses it is divine itself. It may be yours; it may be all men's – and it may not. You must decide that question for yourself … Not even the Father can make the decision for you.
Divine Love is the greatest thing in all God's universe, and not only the greatest, but the sum of all things, for from it flows every other thing that brings peace and happiness.
Jesus ~ November 2, 1916
My work is to change men from the fallen man to the possessor of the Divine Love. Also, am I trying to teach men that originally they possessed a love that in its pure state would lead them from these things of hatred and war, and that their only salvation, outside of the possession of the Divine Love, is to again obtain this pure love – the purified natural love. But strange as it may seem to some, it is more difficult for a man to regain the state of the purification of his natural love, than to obtain that greater purification which comes with the possession of the Divine Love. I see that many centuries may pass before man will attain to this state of purification of his natural love that will enable him to say that because of his love, wars cannot come again and peace must reign. And hence, the great necessity for him to know that only with the coming of the Divine Love will come the impossibility of war and strife – individually and nationally.
My mission is to reach the souls of men, as individuals, and turn them to the love of the Father, and my weeping or sorrow is, when men will not listen to the voice that comes to them all, as it calls them to turn to the Father and live.
[Read the complete message HERE.]
As has been told you, in the beginning God conferred upon our first parents not only the natural love but the potentiality of obtaining it, by the observance of certain laws and obedience, the Divine Love of the Father, which, when obtained, would make a man a part of divinity itself. And, while it would not make him a god, or the equal of the Father, yet it would give him a divinity that would cause him to receive the substance of God's Great Love, and not remain the mere image, and, as a consequence, man would become immortal.
God's own time and in accordance with His mercy and plan, He rebestowed upon man this great potentiality of which I speak, so that men should again have the privilege of becoming at-one with Him. And to declare the rebestowal of this Great Gift, Jesus was sent to earth in the form of man conceived and born as other men, but without sin. It was at the time of Jesus' coming the Great Gift was rebestowed upon both mortals and spirits of mortals then living in the spirit world, and they all, spirits and mortals, received the privilege of becoming at-one with the Father through the plan of salvation that He had revealed to Jesus, and which Jesus taught in his ministry during the short years of his earthly life, and which he is still teaching.
There is no other way in which man can become at-one with the Father – in which the image can be transformed into the Substance – than the Way that Jesus taught, but which seems not to have been understood by men after the church became a church of temporal power, and after the Bible or the writings of the apostles were emasculated and the thoughts and desires of men interpolated in the place of the gospel of peace and salvation. Yet there is in the gospel of John one declaration of the true plan of salvation, though it is little understood and almost ignored in practical teachings and observances of the churches and their members, and that is "except a man be born again he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God."
These words of the New Birth are the only words that declare the true doctrine of the atonement. No death of Jesus on the cross, no shedding of blood or washing away of sins by the blood, no paying of any debt and no believing in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, will bring men into at-one-ment with the Father and make them partakers of his Divine Nature or fit them to become inhabitants of His Kingdom. Only the New Birth is efficacious for this purpose, and no other plan did Jesus ever teach and is not now teaching.
Then what is meant by the New Birth?
The New Birth is simply the effect of the flowing into the soul of a man of this Divine Love of the Father, and the disappearing of everything that tends to sin and error. As the Divine Love takes possession of the soul, sin and error disappear. It—the soul—becomes of a quality like the Great Soul of the Father; and the Soul of the Father in its quality of Love being Divine and Immortal, so, when the soul of man becomes possessed of this quality of Love this soul becomes Divine also - and the soul is the man - and then the image becomes the substance, the mortal becomes the Immortal, and the soul of man, as to love and hope, becomes a part of the Father's Divinity.
Now to declare this plan of salvation and also the rebestowal of the Great Gift of the potentiality of the soul, Jesus came to earth. This was his mission, and none other.
Jesus not only taught the necessity for the New Birth, but he also taught the way in which it could be obtained, and that way is just as simple and easily understood as the New Birth itself. He taught, and is now teaching, that through earnest prayer to the Father, and faith, which makes all aspirations and soul longings things of real existence, and by the Holy Spirit which is the Father's messenger of Love to carry His Divine Love, this Love will flow into the souls of men in response to such prayers; and by such faith men will realize its presence, and in this way, and this way only, men will receive the New Birth.
This is wholly an individual matter, and without the personal, earnest prayer of the supplicant and faith that comes with the Love, a man cannot receive the New Birth. No ceremony of church, no laying on of hands or masses for the souls of the dead will be efficacious to make the man or spirit a new creature in God.
[Read the complete message HERE.]
Jesus ~ March 23, 1916
As I have heretofore written you, when God created man and made him in His own image as to the soul, he also gave to man the possibility of obtaining the substance of the Father – that is, of having that soul which was a mere image become that soul which is of the substance of the Creator. I have also explained to you how man, by his disobedience, lost that possibility, and for long centuries was deprived of this great privilege, and how it was again restored to him at the time of my coming to earth, so that he now and for nineteen centuries past has had the possession of this great gift or privilege of partaking of the substance of the Father.
Well, when man, by the way that has been pointed out to him, becomes possessed of the substance of the Father's divine nature, even in an initial degree, his soul commences to change and lose its character as a mere image, and to progress towards the attainment of that condition when this image disappears and the divine substance takes its place. And as the progress continues, he receives so much of the substance that his soul takes on the divine nature of the Father, and his at-onement with the Father becomes so perfect that he becomes an inhabitant of the Father's Kingdom. This occurs when he becomes fitted to enter the first Celestial sphere. And just here occurs another thing which may startle those who teach that the mind is the essence of God, and that is that the mind – which man, both as mortal and spirit, possesses up to that point in the progress of the soul where the transformation into the divine nature takes place – becomes a thing of naught (or rather becomes absorbed in the mind of the soul), which is the real mind of the Father. And then and ever after, only this mind of the soul is that which enables the real divine man to understand the things of God, to help him in his progress.
[Read the complete message HERE.]
Luke ~ April 27, 1916
If men would only think, and in thinking realize that they are dear children of the Father, and His highest creation, and that He prizes them above all His creatures, and wants them to know that they are beings of such wonderful qualities and possibilities, they would then have come to them an overpowering and convincing sense of what they really are, and of how necessary it is for them to assert their rights as such exalted creatures of the Father. And they would then realize that they are masters of sin and disease, for they are the creators of the same. When they shall assume such position, and become possessed of such knowledge, they will find that they have a wonderful power as creatures of the Father, and they will realize that they are masters of sin that must be gotten rid of.
[Read the complete message HERE.]
Jesus ~ May 8, 1916
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.
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 a condition of openness that will allow it to find lodgment and an abiding place harmonious with and satisfactory to the qualities of its own existence.
The only means by which this can be accomplished are prayer and faith. When a human 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.
In answer to prayer, there are 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 influencing the soul that turn the thoughts and aspirations to this Divine Love and its operations.
The Divine Love is a thing entirely apart from the nature of man, even in its purest state, and was never conferred on man at his creation, as was the natural love; and consequently, when man obtains this Divine Love, and it becomes a part of his soul qualities, his nature 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 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 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 human, 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.
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.
[Read the complete message HERE.]
Ann Rollins ~ June 1, 1916
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.
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.
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, 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.
[Read the complete message HERE.]
John ~ June 19, 1916
When the Divine Love enters into the soul, it becomes permeated with the divine essence, then taking on the divine nature of the Father; and, to the extent that it receives and possesses this love, the soul becomes at-one with God and ceases to be a mere image, and becomes transformed into the substance of divinity. The soul in this condition is altogether a different entity from the soul in the condition in which it was created, and no longer is subject to the dominion of either the mind or of the animal appetites and desires. And hence, the spirit possessing such a soul is, in essence, a part of the Father – or as Jesus said, “is in the Father and the Father in it.”
Now do not understand that such a soul is the soul that man originally possessed, only with increased development of purity and goodness or freedom from sin, because such is not the case. Such soul, by such transformation, becomes a new thing, and never again can it relapse into the soul of man's origin. Because of the qualities that it then possesses, it becomes Immortal, and such immortal nature can never be taken from it. It is now a thing of love and purity, and consciousness of its true condition is always with the spirit that has such soul.
This transformation is gradual, and men must not think that by the mere act of conversion from their state of “death” they at once become possessed of the nature of the divine, for such is not the fact. The transformation is gradual, coming according to the susceptibility of the soul to receive this love of which I speak.
But when once the inflowing of the Love commences, it continues eternally. Although there may be times of stagnation, and apparent loss of this divine essence, yet always is the transformation taking place. And at certain stages in its progress, the possession of this Divine Love will be so great that the original soul (or its original qualities) will entirely disappear, and leave only the new qualities which the Divine Love has implanted in it. The leaven when once deposited never ceases to work until the whole shall become leavened.
[Read the complete message HERE.]
Jesus ~ June 27, 1916
When man takes on the divine nature and becomes absorbed in the essence of the Father, he then becomes like the Father, and whatever his image to the Father may have been when he was mere man, now he becomes the real substance, and limitations of possibilities become removed, love sees no ending, and intellectual development no boundaries, happiness no limitations, and Immortality becomes a thing of knowledge, and the soul a new creature having the divine essence of the Father; and until this new creation has taken place, and the transformation becomes a thing of reality, and the soul be made at-one with the Father, man cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Then, no longer man but now an angel.
Now, all this can be accomplished only by the operation of the new birth – that is, the inflowing into the soul of man of the Divine Love of the Father. This love contains the essence of God's divinity, and when man obtains it he is then of the same essence as the Father, and for the first time becomes a part of the divine, and fitted to inhabit the Celestial Heavens. In no other way can man partake of this nature; and it does not require much reasoning to show the logical truth of this statement, for man in his earthly affairs, and in his material experiments in producing compounds from elements, applies the same principle that I assert in my statement, “The dough cannot be leavened unless leaven is placed in the batch.”
So you see that without this Divine Love entering into the soul it will be impossible for the natural man to become the divine angel. Beliefs and creeds and doctrines and sacrifices cannot work this transformation, and even though the beliefs may be without doubt, and the creeds and doctrines satisfactory, and the sacrifices without end, yet they will all be futile to change the soul of the mere man into the soul of the divine angel. And all this, in part, is why man should seek to obtain the Divine Love and become an inhabitant of the Celestial spheres.
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John ~ August 5, 1916
Divine Love is the greatest thing in all the world, and the only thing that can make man at-one with the Father, and change the soul of man as it has existed since his creation into a divine substance filled with the essence of the Father.
There is nothing else in all the universe of God that can cause man to become a new creature, and an inhabitant of the Father's Kingdom; and when men possess this love, then they possess everything that will make them not only the perfect man, but the divine angel.
It is so abundant that it may be possessed by all men, by the mere seeking and the sincere longing for its inflowing. But man must understand that it is not his by matter of right, nor is it ever forced upon him, but comes only in response to the sincere earnest prayer of a soul that is filled with longings for its coming.
This love comes not with observation of mere moral rules, or with good deeds and the exercise of the natural love of a man towards his fellows, because no man can possibly merit it by any deeds or acts or kindness of heart that he may have. All these things are desirable, and they work out their own rewards, and bring the happiness and peace that result from good thoughts and kind deeds; but all these do not bring into the soul of man this great love. It is the Father alone who bestows this love, and only when the soul is opened up to its reception can it possibly find its home in that soul.
It is greater than faith or hope, because it is the real substance of the Father, while faith and hope are the qualities which a man may possess by his own efforts, and which are given him that he may realize the possibility of obtaining this love. They (faith and hope) are merely means; love is the end and fullness of their exercise.
But men must not believe that all love is the Divine Love, for it is very different in its substance and qualities from all other loves … All men have, as a part of their possessions, the natural love, and they need not pray for a bestowal of that; although since it has become defiled by sin, it needs to be purified and freed from this blight, and the Father is ever willing and ready to help men obtain this purification. But this Divine Love is not a part of man's nature, nor can he obtain or possess it except he seek for it. Divine Love comes from without and is not developed from within.
It is the result of individual acquirement, and not the object of universal possession. It may be possessed by all; it can be possessed by only a few; and each man must determine for himself whether it shall be his.
With God there is no respect of persons; neither is there any royal road to the obtaining of this love. All must pursue the same way, and that way is the one that Jesus taught – the opening up of the soul to this love finding a lodgment therein, which can be brought about only by sincere prayer and longing for its inflowing.
This love is the life of the Celestial Heavens, and the only key that will unlock the gates; and when the mortal enters therein, all other love is absorbed by it. It has no substitute, and is, of itself, a thing apart. It is of the essence of the divine, and the spirit which possesses it is divine itself. It may be yours; it may be all men's – and it may not. You must decide that question for yourself … Not even the Father can make the decision for you.
Divine Love is the greatest thing in all God's universe, and not only the greatest, but the sum of all things, for from it flows every other thing that brings peace and happiness.
Jesus ~ November 2, 1916
My work is to change men from the fallen man to the possessor of the Divine Love. Also, am I trying to teach men that originally they possessed a love that in its pure state would lead them from these things of hatred and war, and that their only salvation, outside of the possession of the Divine Love, is to again obtain this pure love – the purified natural love. But strange as it may seem to some, it is more difficult for a man to regain the state of the purification of his natural love, than to obtain that greater purification which comes with the possession of the Divine Love. I see that many centuries may pass before man will attain to this state of purification of his natural love that will enable him to say that because of his love, wars cannot come again and peace must reign. And hence, the great necessity for him to know that only with the coming of the Divine Love will come the impossibility of war and strife – individually and nationally.
My mission is to reach the souls of men, as individuals, and turn them to the love of the Father, and my weeping or sorrow is, when men will not listen to the voice that comes to them all, as it calls them to turn to the Father and live.
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