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I AM HERE. Jesus.
I come tonight and desire to finish my message and hope that you may
be able to receive it.
I have described the way to the Kingdom of God on earth and in the
spirit world,* and now I will describe: “The Only Way to the Kingdom
of God in the Celestial Heavens.”
As I have written before, when man was created, in addition to
having bestowed upon him those things that made him the perfect man,
and in harmony with the Laws and Will of the Father, God also
bestowed upon him the potentiality, or privilege, of receiving the
Divine Love, provided he should seek for It in the only Way that God
had planned for Its attainment. But instead of embracing this great
privilege, man became disobedient and sought to exercise his own
will, and did so in that manner that led not only to his fall from
the condition of the perfect manhood in which God had created him,
but also to the loss of the great privilege of receiving this Divine
Love, which privilege was never rebestowed upon him until my coming
and teaching that rebestowal and the true Way to obtain this Love.
NOW, IT HAD BETTER BE UNDERSTOOD HERE WHAT THIS DIVINE LOVE WAS AND
IS, FOR IT IS THE SAME TODAY THAT IT WAS WHEN MAN WAS CREATED IN THE
IMAGE OF GOD. THIS LOVE DIFFERS FROM THE NATURAL LOVE OF MAN WITH
WHICH HE WAS ENDOWED WHEN CREATED, WHICH BELONGS TO ALL MEN, AND
WHICH THEY ALL POSSESS IN A MORE OR LESS PERFECT CONDITION, IN THIS:
THAT THE DIVINE LOVE IS THAT LOVE WHICH BELONGS TO OR IS A PART OF
GOD, POSSESSING HIS NATURE AND COMPOSED OF HIS SUBSTANCE, AND WHICH,
WHEN POSSESSED BY MAN TO A SUFFICIENT DEGREE, MAKES HIM DIVINE AND
OF THE NATURE OF GOD. AND GOD INTENDED THAT THIS GREAT LOVE SHOULD
BE RECEIVED AND POSSESSED BY ALL MEN WHO SHOULD DESIRE TO RECEIVE
IT, AND WHO WOULD MAKE THE EFFORT TO OBTAIN IT.
It is the Love that contains, in Itself, the Divine, which the
natural love does not. Many, I know, write and believe that all men,
irrespective of the kind of love they have in their souls, possess
what they call “the divine spark," which needs only the proper
development to make all men divine. But this conception of the state
of man in his natural condition is all wrong, for man has not in him
any part of the Divine, and never can have, unless he receives and
has developed in him this Divine Love.
In all God's Universe and Creation of things material and spiritual,
the only one of His creatures who can possibly have within him
anything of a Divine Nature is he who possesses this Divine Love.
The bestowal of this Love was intended, in Its operation and effect,
to transform man from the merely perfect man into the divine angel,
and thus create a Kingdom of God in the Celestial Spheres where only
that which is divine can enter and find a habitation. And you must
understand that, as it depends very largely upon man himself to
establish the Kingdom of God on earth, or in the spiritual world, so
it also depends largely on man to establish the Kingdom in the
Celestial Heavens. God will not and does not establish this Divine
Kingdom by any power that He may have. And if man had never received
this Divine Love into his soul, there never would have been any such
Kingdom brought into existence.
There is now a Kingdom in the Celestial Spheres, but not a finished
one, for it is still open and in the process of formation. It is
open to the entry of all spirits, and men must seek for it in the
only Way that the Father has provided. No man or spirit will be
excluded from it who, with all the longings of his soul, will aspire
to enter that Kingdom.
I must also state that the time will come when this Celestial
Kingdom will be completed and, thereafter, neither spirit nor man
will be able to enter therein; for this Divine Love of the Father
will again be withdrawn from man, as it was from the first parents,
and the only Kingdom that will then be accessible to man will be the
Kingdom that will exist on earth, or that which now exists in the
spirit world.*
Then what is the Way that leads to this Celestial Kingdom? The only
Way? For there is but one!
The observance of the moral precepts, and the cleansing of men's
souls from sin by following these precepts, will not lead to this
Kingdom; for, as it can be readily seen, the stream can rise no
higher than its source, and the source of the souls of men in a
merely purified state is the condition of the perfect man—that
condition in which he was before his fall. Hence, the result of the
observance and living of the merely moral precepts, and the exercise
of the natural love in its pure state, is that man will be restored
to the condition of the perfect man—the created man in whom there is
nothing of the Divine. But this restored condition of man will be so
perfect, and so in harmony with God's Will and His Laws governing
the highest and most perfect of His creatures, that man will be very
happy. Yet, he will continue to be only the created being, having
nothing more than the image of his Maker.
So, I say, living in harmony with the moral laws, and the exercise
of this natural love in its highest and purest state towards God and
towards his fellowman, will not lead man into the Way to the
Celestial Kingdom. The greatest height of his attainment will be
only the Kingdom on earth or that in the spirit heavens.
AND THE DISTINCT AND DIFFERING NATURE OF THESE KINGDOMS FROM THAT OF
THE CELESTIAL HEAVENS WILL ENABLE MANKIND TO UNDERSTAND THE
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE MISSIONS OF THE GREAT TEACHERS AND REFORMERS
WHO PRECEDED ME IN THEIR WORK AMONG MEN AND THE MISSION WHICH I WAS
SELECTED TO PERFORM ON EARTH. THE FORMER COULD NOT POSSIBLY HAVE
TAUGHT THE WAY TO THE CELESTIAL KINGDOM, FOR, UNTIL MY COMING, THIS
DIVINE LOVE OF WHICH I WRITE WAS NOT POSSIBLE FOR MAN TO OBTAIN.
BEFORE THAT TIME, AND AFTER THE FIRST PARENTS LOST IT, THE PRIVILEGE
WAS NOT IN EXISTENCE, AND THERE WAS NO CELESTIAL KINGDOM IN WHICH
MEN COULD FIND THEIR ETERNAL HOME.
So, I repeat, all the moral teachings of the world's history could
not show the Way to the Celestial Kingdom of God, and cannot now;
for morality, as understood and taught by mankind and by the spirits
and angels, cannot give to man that which is absolutely necessary in
order to transform his soul into that state or condition that fits
him for an entrance into this truly Divine Kingdom of the Father.
But the Way thereto is simple and single. Men were taught that Way
by me when I was on earth, and could have been taught that Way
during all the centuries since I left the human life. And I must say
that some have been so taught and have found that Way, but
comparatively few. The mortals whose ostensible and claimed mission
and privilege was to teach that Way did not do so. I mean that the
priests and preachers and churches neglected to teach the same.
Although in earnestness, and realizing their allegiance to God and
their obligations to mankind, these taught merely the way by which
the observance of the moral precepts would lead men into the lower
Kingdoms.
But neglect or incompleteness notwithstanding, the Bible, which most
of those professing to be Christians believe contains my sayings,
does set forth this Way to the Celestial Kingdom! The words are few
and the Way is plain, and no mystery prevents men from comprehending
the meaning thereof. When I said, “Except a man be born again, he
cannot enter into the Kingdom of God,” I disclosed the only and true
Way to this Kingdom. During my time on earth, there were some who
understood this great Truth; since that time, there have been some
who not only understood this Truth but also found the Way, and
followed it until they reached the goal, and are now inhabitants of
this Kingdom. But the vast majority of men—priests, teachers, and
people—have never understood and have never sought to find the Way.
To their spiritual senses, this great Truth has been, as it were, a
hidden thing. And as they read or even recite the same to their
hearers, it has no special significance. It is merely considered one
of the moral precepts, such as “Love your neighbor as yourself,” and
with not as much importance to it as to some of these others.
And, so, all down the ages since the great Kingdom has been waiting
for men, they, though in all sincerity and in love towards God, have
sought for and found only the Kingdom of the Perfect Man to a
greater or lesser extent, and have neglected to seek for, and have
missed, the Kingdom of the Divine Angel.
THEN, AS I HAVE SAID, THIS DIVINE LOVE OF THE FATHER, WHEN POSSESSED
BY THE SOUL OF MAN, MAKES HIM, IN HIS SUBSTANCE AND ESSENCE, DIVINE
LIKE UNTO THE DIVINITY OF THE FATHER; AND ONLY SUCH SOULS CONSTITUTE
AND INHABIT THE CELESTIAL OR DIVINE KINGDOM OF GOD. THIS BEING SO,
IT MUST BE READILY SEEN THAT THE ONLY WAY TO THE CELESTIAL KINGDOM
IS THAT WHICH LEADS TO THE OBTAINING OF THIS DIVINE LOVE, WHICH
MEANS THE NEW BIRTH. THIS NEW BIRTH IS BROUGHT ABOUT BY THE DIVINE
LOVE FLOWING INTO THE SOULS OF MEN, WHEREBY THEY RECEIVE THE VERY
NATURE AND SUBSTANCE OF THE FATHER, AND WHEREFROM MEN CEASE TO BE
THE MERELY CREATED BEINGS BUT BECOME THE SOULS OF MEN BORN INTO THE
DIVINE REALITY OF GOD.
Then, the only Way to the Celestial Kingdom being by the New Birth,
and that Birth being brought to men only by the inflowing and
working of this Divine Love (and whether or not a man shall
experience this Birth depending in its initiative on the man
himself), the question arises: “How, or in what Way, can a man
obtain this Divine Love and this New Birth and the Celestial
Kingdom?” And because the Way is so easy and simple, it may be that
men will doubt the truth of my explanation and will continue to
believe and place all their hopes upon the orthodox doctrines of the
vicarious atonement—the washing of the blood, my sufferings on the
cross and bearing all the sins of the world, and my resurrection
from the dead—doctrines as harmful to the salvation of mankind as
they are without truth or foundation in fact or effect.
THE ONLY WAY, THEN, IS SIMPLY THIS: THAT MEN SHALL BELIEVE WITH ALL
THE SINCERITY OF THEIR MINDS AND SOULS THAT THIS GREAT LOVE OF THE
FATHER IS WAITING TO BE BESTOWED UPON EACH AND ALL OF THEM; AND THAT
WHEN THEY COME TO THE FATHER IN FAITH AND EARNEST ASPIRATIONS, THIS
LOVE WILL NOT BE WITHHOLDEN FROM THEM. AND, IN ADDITION TO THIS
BELIEF, THAT THEY PRAY WITH ALL THE EARNESTNESS AND LONGINGS OF
THEIR SOULS THAT THE FATHER WILL OPEN UP THEIR SOULS TO THE
INFLOWING OF THIS LOVE, AND THAT THEN MAY COME THE HOLY SPIRIT TO
THEM TO BRING THIS LOVE INTO THEIR SOULS IN SUCH ABUNDANCE THAT
THEIR SOULS MAY BE TRANSFORMED INTO THE VERY ESSENCE OF THE FATHER'S
LOVE.
The man who will thus believe and pray will never be disappointed,
and the Way to the Kingdom will be his as certainly as that the sun
shines by day upon the just and the unjust alike.
No mediator is needed, nor are the prayers or ceremonies of priests
or preachers, for God comes to man, himself, and hears his prayers
and responds thereto by sending the Comforter, which is the Father's
Messenger for conveying this Great Divine Love into the souls of
men.
I have thus explained the only Way to the Celestial Kingdom of God
and to the Divine Nature in Love, and there is no other way whereby
it is possible to reach this Kingdom and the certain knowledge of
immortality.
So, I implore men to meditate upon these great Truths and, in
meditating, believe; and, when believing, pray to the Father for the
inflowing of this Divine Love into their souls. In doing so, they
will experience belief, faith, possession and ownership of that
which can never be taken from them—no, not in all eternity.
AND SO IT IS WITH MAN TO CHOOSE AND FIX HIS DESTINY. WILL THAT
DESTINY BE THE PERFECT MAN OR THE DIVINE ANGEL?
I will not write more now. With my love and blessings, I will say
good night.
Your brother and friend,
JESUS.
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About James E. Padgett
 Born August 25, 1852, Mr. James Edward Padgett
practiced law in Washington, D.C. Subsequent to his wife's, Helen,
passing in February, 1914, James learned from a psychic that he had
the gift of automatic writing. Based on the promptings of the
psychic and with a desire to reach his dearly departed Helen, he
commenced take messages from the spirits in the spirit world. At
first, James denounced the messages as merely coming from his mind,
driven by a strong desire to reach his departed wife. Eventually,
however, James could not deny the fact that information he was
receiving could not have possibly come from his own mind - for the
content of the messages surpassed his own education and knowledge.
Before his passing in March, 1923, James had accumulated hundreds of
messages from spirits and celestials in the spirit world.
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