Angelic Revelations—the Gospel of God’s Love
Chapter 18
The Bible Is Not The Word of God in Many Particulars
In addition to the messages received through James Padgett, Jesus has delivered a wealth of information through a second mortal instrument, Dr. Daniel G. Samuels. During the years 1954-1966, invaluable information was given by Jesus concerning the prophecies of the Old Testament which pointed to his coming, as well as additional truths about his life and public ministry. These writings revealing further truths about his life and public ministry are available as "New Testament Revelations", and three of them, Nos. 4, 5 and 20, dealing with Jesus' Messiahship and the false doctrine of reincarnation, have been incorporated into this volume.
Messages included in this chapter:
The True Relationship of Man to the Creation of the World, and the Origin of Life (Jesus)
The Master Continues the Previous Message
The Bible Is Not the Word of God in Many Particulars
The True Relationship of Man to the Creation of the World, and the Origin of life
I am here, Jesus
I come tonight to tell you that you are in a very much better condition than you have been for some time. Your rapport with us is so very much greater that I feel that I should write you a message upon an important subject which is vital to the salvation of man from the sins and errors of his life on earth, and I will write a portion of what I desire to write.
Well, I will first say that there are so many men and women on the earth who believe, or who assert that they believe, that through their own efforts they can develop those soul qualities which are necessary to bring them in accord with the Soul of the Father, that I find the task of convincing these persons of the errors of their beliefs, or assumption of beliefs, will be a very great one. And this task will not be confined to those who have given real and deep study to the mysteries of life, both on earth and thereafter, but also to a much greater number who have a kind of smattering of this supposed knowledge, which the wiser or more learned publish to the world as a result of their investigations.
It is more difficult to convince the ignorant, who think that they know the Laws of Being and the plan of the workings of God's Universe, than to convince those who have given sincere, thoughtful study to the same; because the latter, generally, as they progress in their investigations, become convinced that the more they should know as a result of their investigations the less they really know.
I do not know just what is the most important subject for comment tonight relating to these matters, for there are so many, all of which I must at some time instruct you about. But I will write tonight about: "The True Relationship of Man to the Creation of the World, and the Origin of Life."
Your Bible says that, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, etc., out of a void, and continued that creation until there was a perfect heaven, with all its glories, and a perfect earth with inhabitants of every kind - all perfect and made just as an All-Wise and All-Powerful God would create. And, as a climax to all, man was created so perfect that he was made in the image of his Creator.
Well, this story is just as good and satisfactory as any that has been conceived and written by man, and is just as worthy of belief; but as a fact, it is not true. For there never was a time or period when there was a void in the universe or when there was chaos.
God never created anything out of nothing. But His Creations, such as are perceived by and known to men, were merely the change in form or composition of what had already existed (and always will exist) as elements - though there will undoubtedly be changes in form and appearance, and in constituent elements in their relation to one another.
God was always existent - a being without beginning - which idea the finite mind, I know, cannot grasp; but it is true. And so, everything which is in the universe today also has existed, though not in form and composition as they now are. And they will not continue to be as they are, for Change Eternal is the law of God's universe - I mean as to all things which may be spoken of as having a substance, whether they be material or ethereal.
Of course, His Truths never change, and neither do the laws by which the harmony of the universe is preserved and continued perfect.
Now, the earth on which you live did not always have an existence as an earth, and neither did the firmament and the great galaxy of planets and stars. But they were not created out of nothing, and neither was there chaos; for in God's economy of being there is never any chaos. If there were, this would mean the absence of the workings of His laws and harmony.
But the earth and the firmament were created. At one time they had no existence as such, and at a coming time they may cease to have such existence. And this creation was in an orderly way, according to design, with no element of chance entering into it. And such creation was not through what your wise men may call accretion or evolution - that is, self evolution - for every new or additional exponent of growth or manifestation of increase was the result of God's Laws, which He operated in the creation of the creature. There is no such thing as self-evolution, or that development which arises from the unassisted growth of the thing developed. And this applies to all of nature as well as to man.
To grow, to become nearer perfection, implies the decay and disappearance of some elements which have performed their missions and work in the growth of the thing created. And never do the same elements continue in the development of that which the laws, in their operations, bring to greater and greater perfection; but in all this work of creation, there are laws of disintegration and apparent retrogression operating as well as laws of positive construction and advancement. And again, these former laws do not operate by chance, but by design, just as do the latter class of laws.
For the purpose of bringing forth the perfect creature - be he man or animal or vegetable or mineral - the Creator of all knows when retrogression as well as the laws of advancement and increased effectiveness shall operate. He never makes a mistake in setting these laws into operation, and He never pronounces the result of His Work, "Not Good."
As has been said, a thousand years are as a day with God. And while it may appear to man for many long years that there are retrogressions and delays in bringing to perfection a creature of the Creator's Works, yet that apparent retrogression is not such a fact, but only a course or method adopted for bringing forth the higher, or greater, perfection. I know it is difficult to explain these workings of creation to the finite, earthly mind, but you may grasp some conception of what I desire to make known.
Man, in his creation, was not of slow growth, as were some of the other creations of God. Rather he was, from and at the beginning, made perfect, with the exception of the qualities of Divinity and Immortality. He did not grow from a lower creature by the slow process of evolution, as some of your scientists have proclaimed - and this a self-evolution, resulting from inherent qualities which were developed by experience - but he was created the perfect man instantly.*
I will stop for the present.
Your
brother and friend,
Jesus
* Note: Throughout this paragraph, by
"man," Jesus is not referring merely to the physical bodies of our
first parents that were perfected slowly over time, or to the spiritual bodies
contained within these physical bodies, but more precisely to the perfect souls
that were implanted instantaneously into these preexisting, perfected bodies. Hence,
whenever Jesus and the Celestials refer to "man" in their messages,
they intend it to be understood that what makes man a human being - unique, and
the highest of God's Creations - is the very special creation of the soul
itself. For in addition to the soul being found only in man, of man's three
composite parts (the physical body, the spiritual body and the soul), only the
soul was and is made in the very image of God's Own Soul. Therefore the
"perfect man" came into being only upon God's bestowal of the soul.
And it was this implantation of the soul that occurred instantly, not the
creation of the bodies of our first parents which were already physically
perfect as the evolutionary result of a long period of growth and development
of the species from which they evolved. An important writing on this subject
was given by Jesus through his second chosen mortal instrument, Dr. Daniel G.
Samuels. The writing is currently available as "New Testament Revelation
6," an excerpt of which is included herewith for corroborative purposes:
...Man, as he is considered ordinarily, is a creation which passed through what you would call a long period of development, as have all of God's creatures during that period of the earth's development which enabled living beings to come into existence and survive. Man's nature is therefore both animal, or material, in accordance with the conditions of his physical being, and spiritual, at the same time, in accordance with the soul qualities and attributes given to him at the time God bestowed a soul upon him. In short, man's nature is dual. And thus we have man with animal passions and feelings, and interrelated with these are those emotions and feelings which belong to his spiritual nature as a result of having received a soul. The Bible's reference to the creation of man refers to the creation of man in the image of God, or to the time when God, the Great Soul, conferred upon man a soul and made him the greatest of His Creations ....
The Master Continues the Previous Message
I am here, Jesus
I come tonight to resume my discourse of several nights ago. As I was saying, man is the creature of God, made in perfection and instantaneously, as it were, and not having a slow growth as other creations. And when he was created, he needed no evolution or additional attributes to make him the perfect man. His physical body was perfect, and also his spiritual body and his soul. In addition to these three constituents, he had a Gift which he forfeited by his disobedience, which was never restored to him until my coming, and which, when possessed by him, made him more than mere man.
As to those things which were made constituent and absolute parts of him, they were perfect, and no evolution was necessary to give them any increased perfection. Man was a more perfect being then than he is now or ever has been since his fall from his condition of perfection.
After his disobedience and the consequent death of the potentiality of partaking of the Divine Nature of the Father, which is the Gift mentioned above, man was left in a state where he depended exclusively upon the qualities which he then possessed for his future happiness, and the freedom from those things which would cause him to lose the harmony that then existed between him and the laws governing his being.
The greatest of all the qualities bestowed upon him was that of the will power, which was wholly unrestricted in its operations, although, when exercised in a manner which brought this will in conflict with the laws controlling this harmony, man had to suffer and pay the penalties of such violations. But notwithstanding that these perversions of the exercise of the will brought the sins and errors which now exist on earth, God did not place any limitations on this exercise.
Man, in his creation, had bestowed upon him appetites and desires pertaining to his physical nature, as well as desires of his higher or spiritual nature; and they were all intended to work in harmony and not in antagonism. And in such workings, man was kept pure and free from sin - which is merely the violation of God's laws of harmony. But after the first disobedience (which is the greatest demonstration of the power of man to exercise that will, even when God had forbade him to do so), and after man lost this great Potentiality that I speak of, succeeding disobediences became easier. And as these disobediences occurred, man lost the desires for the spiritual things to a great extent, and the animal or physical part of his nature asserted itself.
Then, instead of exercising these appetites which belonged to the physical nature in such a wise way that no inharmony would ensue - and here let me say that, even after the fall, it was possible, and even expected, that man would exercise these appetites in the way mentioned - he indulged them beyond their proper functions. And he increased such indulgence until he commenced to find, as he thought, more pleasure in such indulgence than in the thoughts and exercise of his higher nature, and the aspirations which belonged to it.
This deterioration of man was not sudden, but gradual, until at one time he became in a state or condition of being bordering on that of the lower animals. And in fact, because of this indulgence of these appetites, he seemed to be transformed into the lower animal. Yet he remained man - a being created in the image of his Maker.
And from this position of low degradation of degeneracy, man slowly commenced to progress towards the attainment of his original condition before the fall. Never in all this time was his freedom of will taken from him, nor did God attempt to control such will. But always the Laws of Compensation worked, and man suffered as he continued to create sin and evil.
But as man on earth continued to degenerate and to permit what is sometimes called his animal nature to dominate his spiritual nature, many men died and continued to die, and their physical bodies went back to the dust of which they were created. And their spiritual selves became inhabitants of the spirit world where, in a longer or shorter time, they were freed from the desire to exercise these animal appetites. And the spiritual part of man again asserted itself until many of these spirits became free from sin and evil, and in harmony with the Laws of God controlling their natures and conditions as they existed before their degeneracy and before the disobedience commenced.
And these spirits, thus made free and in their spiritual dominance, commenced to try to assist man to direct his will in such ways as to rid himself of submission to these appetites while living on earth, and to become again a true man, as in his creation state (minus the potentiality that I have mentioned). But these efforts on the part of spirits have been slow in their effects. And while men have been almost regenerated in individual cases, yet as a whole the progress has not been as rapid as is desirable. Sin and evil still exist in the world, and men's perverted appetites and desires still control them to a large extent.
Of course, in some parts of the earth this progress from the bottom of degeneracy has taken place faster than in others. And hence you have your distinction between the "civilized" and the "uncivilized" races or nations. But this does not necessarily mean that the "civilized" people, as individuals, have made greater progress in the manner indicated than have the individuals of some of the so-called "uncivilized" nations. For it is a fact that among some men of the former nations there are perversions and manifestations of perversions of these appetites that do not exist in the latter nations.
Advancement in the intellectual qualities does not necessarily mean progress in the spiritual asserting itself over the perversions of these appetites. For will is not a thing entirely of the mind, and neither are these appetites and desires. In back of the mind are the affections, usually called the heart's desires, which is the seat of these appetites from which these desires arise. And as they arise, the will is influenced by them, and as the will is influenced, then come positive thoughts and deeds.
It is not surprising that your scientists believe and preach the doctrine of the evolution of man from a lower species of animal or from an atom (or from something that they cannot just understand or give a name to) because, in their studies of the history of mankind and of the created world, they find that man has developed and progressed amazingly from what appeared to have been his condition in some ages past.
But history does not extend to the time when man was in this lowest condition of degeneracy. Hence all the conclusions that these scientists reach are based upon facts, sufficient unto themselves, which show the progress of man only after the turning point of his degeneracy. They have no facts (and of course, when the word "facts" is here used, it refers exclusively to the material things of nature) showing them the gradual decline of man from his state of being a perfect man to that when his retrogression or degeneracy ceased, and his progress of return to his former estate commenced.
So, if the scientists will believe and teach that man (instead of evolving from an atom or some other infinitesimal something or from a lower species of animal than man) evolved from his state or condition when he was at the bottom of his degeneracy, to which he had descended from the perfect man, then they will believe and teach the truth. And their theory of evolution will then have as its foundation or basis a fact, which now it has not - only a speculation.
This, in short, is the history and truth of the creation of the universe of man, of man's fall and degeneracy, and of his evolution and progress. And through all this creation and subsequent existence runs life, permeating it and always with it; and the origin of life is God.
I have finished and I hope that you find some instruction as well as entertainment in what I have written. I will come again soon and write you another truth.
The fact that you waited for sentences to be formulated to express my thoughts merely means that I was manipulating your brain so that the proper expression or idea could be conveyed to your hand as I wrote it.
You have my love and blessings, and I am more interested in you and your work as time passes. Keep up your courage, and your desires will be fulfilled.
Your
friend and brother,
Jesus
Why Spiritualism as Now Taught Does Not Satisfy the Soul in Its Longings for Happiness, Peace, and Contentment
I am here, Luke
I want to write a few lines on the subject that you and your friend, Dr. Stone, were discussing - that is, whether spiritualism, as now understood and taught, supplies that which satisfies the soul of men in their longings for happiness and peace and contentment.
In the course of my spirit life, I have heard a great many preachers and teachers of spiritualism, both in recent years and all along the ages, and from the time of my first entrance into spirit life. For you must know that spiritualism is not a new thing, having its origin or belief in the recent years that followed the manifestations in America. All along the ages, spirits have manifested to mankind in one phase or another, and men have believed in spiritualism and discussed it.
Of course, in former times, when the churches had the great power which enabled them to dictate the beliefs of men, spiritualism was not so openly taught or discussed as in these latter years. Nevertheless, during the time that I have named, it has always been known to mankind. However, its teachings have never gone beyond the mere phenomena which demonstrated the continuity of life and the communication of spirits to its believers. The higher things of the soul's development and the Kingdom of God, as you have been instructed, were never thought of, or at least, never taught or believed in. Only the two facts that I have spoken of were discussed and accepted. The scientific men who are investigating them, even today, deal only with the phenomena, and are satisfied with the proof that man never dies.
At no time has the existence of the Divine Love or the Kingdom of God been sought for or taught by the teachers of spiritualism. In fact, such things could not have been taught, because they have never been known. God has never been anything more to spiritualists than some indefinable "abstract force", whose existence is not of sufficient certainty to make Him anything more than a mere "principle" (as some call Him); and the laws governing all nature are the only things that such men believe must be looked to for their ideas of right and wrong, and the government of their conduct of life.
The spiritualists speak of the love of man for one another, the brotherhood of man, and the cultivation of the mind and the moral qualities; but they admit to no outside help. Or if they do, they only admit to the help of some departed friend who may not be at all competent to help. But even such help is only that which one can give to another. And when the help of what is called the higher spirits is spoken of, it involves no different quality of help to them.
I know that spirits do help mortals, and also harm them. But, according to the ideas of the spiritualists, all such help is based upon what they suppose these spirits possess in the way of superior intellectual acquirements or moral qualities.
The soul of man, which is that part of him that is made in the image of God, is longing (although it may be unconsciously) for that which will make such image become Substance, with its resultant happiness and joy. Yet you will not find that any spiritualist teaches or attempts to teach how or in what Way such Substance may be acquired, or even the fact that there is such a Substance. They do not know that the Divine Love, coming through the working of the Holy Spirit, is the only thing that can enable the image to be transformed into the Substance; hence they cannot teach the Truths. And as a consequence the longings of a man's soul are never satisfied by the teachings of spiritualism.
Do you suppose that if the great truth of spiritualism had embraced the greater Truth of the soul development, spiritualism would now be the weak, unattractive thing that it is, and that men would not have sought for and embraced it in vast numbers? Spiritualism, with all the truths that belong to it, is the true religion of the universe, and one which would prove more effective in bringing men into a state of reconciliation with the Father than all the other religions combined. But it is powerless and without drawing power as a religion because it does not have the teachings which show men the Way to God's Love, and to the satisfying of the soul's longings.
But someday, and in the near future, this defect will be remedied. And then you will see men and women flock to its bosom, so that they can enjoy not only the happiness which communication with their departed friends gives them, but also the happiness which the development of the soul by the Divine Love gives them.
I do not know why the Great Revelation of this Truth to spiritualists has been delayed for so long. It may be that mankind was not ready to receive it before. But the time has now come when the false beliefs of the orthodox churches and the want of belief of the spiritualists will both disappear. Men will be made free, and the possessors of the combined truths of spiritualism and the existence of the Divine Love - which will bring to them not only happiness and peace but also Immortality.
I must not write more tonight, as you are tired. So I will say good night,
Your
brother in Christ,
Luke
What Is the Reason That Mortals Will Not Seek the Love of the Father, but Rather Endeavor to Believe in the Creeds and Sacraments of the Church to Which They Belong or Are Affiliated With?
I am here, John
I desire to say that you are much more in that condition of soul development that enables us to make a rapport with you than you have been, and we are pleased that this is so. For the greater the development you have, the easier it is for us to express our ideas of the higher Truths that we so much desire to disclose through you.
Well, the subject about which I wish to write is: "What is the reason that mortals will not seek the Love of the Father, but rather endeavor to believe in the creeds and sacraments of the church to which they belong or are affiliated with?"
Now, it may appear to you that mortals themselves could better tell the reason for this preference, and better describe their actions in carrying out their preferences. But this supposition would not be true, because they do not really know. The knowledge of the Truth which they might obtain, and the supposed knowledge of truth which so many of them content themselves with believing that they possess, are two and very different things.
First, they believe that the creeds of their churches contain and disclose the truths as to God, and as to mortals' relationship to Him; further, that if they follow these creeds, they will do that which is pleasing to God and in accordance with His Will. And hence, they rest satisfied to abide in such knowledge, and they seek no further to learn the truths of their being and of their salvation.
In most particulars, the creeds do not contain the truths of these spiritual matters, because they are based upon error. Consequently they can have no truth as a superstructure, and from them, mortals cannot learn the true knowledge of spiritual things. These creeds are man-made, and are not based upon the real verities that can never be changed by creeds, nor by any other thing that is the result of man's making.
But mortals do not know that these creeds do not disclose the truth to them. And this is one reason why they prefer to follow the teachings of the creeds and believe in them. They have nothing else to which they can resort, except the many statements of truth that the Bible contains. And even though they should resort to these statements, yet in their condition of mental and soul development, they would not be able to discover the truths as therein disclosed, or to realize any distinction between such truths, and what they believe are the truths of their creeds.
For long years - generation after generation - these creeds have been accepted and believed in, and proclaimed to be the truths of the respective churches to which mortals may have belonged. And such mortals have seen their parents and grandparents believing and resting in the assurance that the creeds contained the truth. They have seen these relatives live and die apparently happy in their beliefs; and hence they have become satisfied to do that which those before them did: not question or search for the truth elsewhere, or even think that it can be found elsewhere.
As man is constituted, it may be said that such a position and condition is natural. And we, or you, who know the truth, and also that the creeds do not contain the truth, should not be surprised.
Again, mortals prefer their creeds because, in the majority of the instances when a church or denomination has existed for a long time, those who have, as I may say, inherited these beliefs in the creeds never consider for a moment that they should do anything else than give an unquestioning belief to the teachings of their creeds, with the assurance that, in such belief, they are in the truth, and are not called upon to doubt or question.
And this growing up in this belief, as many do, becomes to them, in many cases, a thing of mere form, having no vitality, and creating in those who possess it no special concern as to whether their belief is well-founded or not. This belief saves them the trouble of exercising their minds to any comprehensive degree. They say: "I am content with the creed of my church, and do not desire to be troubled by questioning the same." And hence you will see it is not difficult for them to make the preference; for in fact, there is no preference - only a condition of mind existing that has in it no room for the exercise of any preference.
And then again, this preference exists because of the social life of the people who believe in the creeds of the churches. For if they do not so believe, it is not permissible for them to become members of the churches. The creed must be subscribed to, no matter what else may be vital or required to be believed in, or declared by the mortal to be believed who desires affiliation.
The church is the greatest of social centers in the lives of men, and its influence and power are very great, and reaches further into the economy of social life than unthinking people may realize. So when the applicant subscribes to the creed and becomes a member of the church, he usually becomes satisfied with his social position, and his thoughts of spiritual truths are no longer plastic but fixed. And as time goes by, he pays less attention to what the creeds may require of him, but in a kind of automatic manner, acts upon them and rests satisfied. His position then becomes very comfortable and his mind becomes free from effort by his undoubting acceptance of the doctrines of his church creeds.
Of course, there are many exceptions to this condition existing among members of the churches. For while they subscribe to the creeds, yet their souls are not satisfied, and they go out in longings to the Father for His Love. And many possess this Love, though intellectually they do not know what It means.
But with the majority, the preference is made because of the reasons that I have stated; and the difficulty will be great to cause an awakening from this satisfaction and feeling that in their beliefs lie the certainty of doing the Father's Will, and of their own salvation.
Now, while all this is true, yet these mortals do not realize that it is true just in the sense that I have described it. And the great work that lies before you and us is to cause the truths which you are receiving to be presented to these people in such a way that they will not be satisfied to rest in the security of their old beliefs, but will be persuaded to seek for the truth outside of the teachings of their creeds. And this I can say: that if these people will have such an awakening, and seriously and honestly seek for the truth, they will not hesitate to believe that they have been mistaken in their beliefs, and they will not be satisfied until they learn the truth.
I merely thought I would write this because, while it is more of a subject pertaining to the merely living of men on earth (in its hoped for results and consequences) if men's living is changed, the spiritual things will become the things of absorbing interest.
...I will not write more tonight. So with my love, I will say good night.
Your
brother in Christ,
John
The Importance of Knowing the Way to the Celestial Kingdom. Many Statements in the Bible Are Untrue
I am here, Jesus
Let me write a few lines, for I must tell you of an important Truth that is necessary for men to know to gain a knowledge of the Plan of salvation in order to reach the Celestial Kingdom.
I know that the Bible contains many sayings attributed to me in reference to this Plan, and many of my alleged sayings are believed in, by those who claim to be Christians, which are not true. I never said them, and they are contrary to what I received from the Father as to the true Plan of men's redemption from sin, and as to the only Way by which they can obtain true atonement with the Father and a knowledge of their own Immortality.
Many of these sayings were written by men who knew not the only Way to a oneness with the Father, and were the results of the teachings of the manuscripts that then existed. They were received by the Jews as the revelations of Moses and of many of the prophets who had no knowledge of the Divine Love or of Its rebestowal upon humanity. These men made me say those things that accorded with their ideas of what was necessary for salvation, or for the possibility of their becoming at-one with me and with the Father, and in writing their ideas, confused the Truth with what they supposed was the truth, as contained in the Old Testament. Much harm has been done by attributing many of these sayings to me, because of the supposed authority that was attached to them.
My disciples never taught and never understood that their salvation, or that of any man, depended upon faith in me as the son of God; or that I, the mere Jesus, had in me any virtue to forgive sin or to ensure an entrance into the true Kingdom of God; or that I, as the man Jesus, was a son of God in the sense that the Bible teaches. They knew that the Father had revealed to me the Truth, and that I had in me that Love which, to a large extent, made me like unto and at-one with the Father. They also knew that my teachings of the rebestowal of the Divine Love were true, and that when they or any man should possess this Love, to the extent of that possession, they would become at-one with the Father, and also with me, who possessed It to a greater degree than any man.
I say they knew this, and taught it to the people, as I had taught it to them. But when the compilers of the present New Testament came to declare my sayings and teachings, they knew not of this Love, and hence could not understand what many of my true expressions meant. They gave them an interpretation (so far as my real sayings are concerned) that would comply with their own knowledge.
No, I am not correctly quoted in many of these sayings, and I may say, in the large majority of them. For when they were written, as now contained in the New Testament, men had lost the knowledge of their true meaning, and out of their own minds recorded that which they thought was what I had really said.
I do not see how these false sayings can be corrected except to take each saying and show its falsity by its incompatibility with what I now say. This would take too much time and expend much energy that could be employed better in declaring what the Truth actually is. But this I will say: that whenever these sayings impart that I claim to be God, or that I could, or did forgive men of their sins, or that whatsoever should be asked of the Father in my name would be received, are all untrue and have greatly misled the true seeker of knowledge and Immortality.
My disciples were close to me and understood my sayings better than all others, yet they did not understand all the truth, and left the mortal life with many expectations that were not fulfilled, and in the very nature of the same, could not be fulfilled. In certain nonessentials, they were influenced in their beliefs and expectations by their training in the teachings of these Old Testament manuscripts, and were very largely Jews in their beliefs when they died. They understood the vital things that determined their relationship to God and to their existence in the future world, but as to many of the nonessentials, they retained the faith of their fathers and were not able to receive all the truth which I could have taught them.
I must not linger to correct these alleged sayings of mine, but must occupy my time and yours in declaring and revealing the Truth as it exists now, and existed then; that you and the world may know that wherever and whenever these Bible sayings of mine conflict with what I have written and shall write you, they are untrue and were never said by me. Thus in this general way I will make plain to men that the Bible must not be relied on or believed in, in all particulars, as containing the truth or my declarations of the truth.
I was saying that the Jews and the teachers of the church that became established (or rather, controlled) after the death of my followers and those who understood the true teachings of my disciples taught the conduct of men towards their fellowmen. However, the observance of certain ceremonies and feasts was regarded as the important thing for men to learn and practice in order to gain salvation, rather than the Truths which made man a child of the Father and at-one with Him through the operation of the New Birth.
Of course, before my coming, the Jews could not have taught the truth of the New Birth because the Great Gift of the rebestowal of the Divine Love had not been made. And it was not possible for that Great Truth, which was necessary for Immortality and the possibility of man's partaking of God's Divine Love, to be known to the Jews; hence they could not teach it. Their teachings were limited and confined to the things which would make them purer in their natural love, and in the relation of that love to the Father.
God, at that time, while He never gave them the privilege of becoming at-one with Him in the Divine Love, or even of becoming such beings in their character and spiritual qualities as were Adam and Eve (commonly supposed to be our first parents), yet He did require of them obedience to His Laws, which would develop in them their natural love to such a degree as would cause it to become in harmony with His Laws that controlled and governed their natural love.
If you will study the Ten Commandments, you will see that these Commandments deal only with the natural love. Their observance would tend to make men better in that natural love, and better in their conduct with one another and in their relationship to God, so far as that love brought them in communion with Him. This natural love, as I have said, was possessed by men, just as the first parents possessed it, and was never taken from them; and in its purity, was in perfect harmony with God's Creation and the workings of His Universe. But notwithstanding these great qualities, men were mere men, and had in them no part of the Divinity of the Father.
And this being so, the Jews, while they were supposed to be more in contact with God through the prophets and seers than were any of the other races or sects of God's children, yet never looked for a Messiah who would come with any other or greater power than that which would enable them to become the great ruling nation of the earth, to whom all other peoples would be subordinated and subjected and powerless to ever again conquer or subject their nation to bondage.
In a way, this Messiah was to be a kind of supernatural being, having power which no other man ever had, and a kind of god to be worshiped and served during their earthly lives.
Many of the Jews (notwithstanding what may be said to the contrary in the teachings of the prophets) believed in other gods than the One which Moses declared, as is evidenced in their histories, both sacred and secular. For whenever their God - that is, the God of Moses - did not treat them just as they thought He should, they would create and worship other gods - even the golden calf.
So I say, they never expected a Messiah who would be other than a most powerful ruler on earth. Their ideas and beliefs of the life after death were very hazy. And even that part of them known as the Pharisees, who believed in a kind of resurrection, never conceived that, when they should drop the mortal life, they would be anything different in their qualities and characters from what they were as mortals (minus the physical bodies), or would experience anything more than the great increased happiness which would come to them as such spiritualized mortals.
This was the idea of the common people, and also of the priests and scribes. And notwithstanding the many beautiful and spiritual psalms ascribed to David, the happiness or glory that they might expect was only that which would come to them as spiritualized mortals having only the natural love.
So you see, the Great Gift of the Father - the rebestowal of the Divine Love - was not known or even dreamed of by the Jews; nor conceived of, nor taught, by their scribes; nor spoken of even by their great prophets or lawgivers such as Moses and Elias and others.
Their conception of God was that of an exalted, personal being, all powerful and all knowing, Whom they would be able to see face to face, as they might any king or ruler, when they should come into the heavens which He had prepared for them, and where He had His habitation.
As I was saying, the chief object of my mission on earth was to teach the rebestowal of the Divine Love upon man, and the Way to obtain It; and the secondary object was to teach men those moral truths which would tend to make them better in their conduct towards their fellowman and purer in their natural love.
And so it is that in my teachings of these moral truths, the effect of these teachings was to bring man more in harmony with the Laws of the Father which control the operations of the natural love. I never at any time intended that men should understand that these moral truths would bring about their union with the Father in the Divine sense, or that the possession of this natural love in its purest state would enable man to become a partaker of God's Divine Nature, or an inhabitant of His Kingdom.
But, as I have said, apparently the only object that these compilers and writers of the Bible had to accomplish was to persuade men that the observance of these moral teachings in their conduct was all that was necessary to enable them to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
I know it is said that love and almsgiving and kind deeds will work to a man's salvation and enable him to become at-one with the Father and to enjoy the Presence of God in the high heavens; but this is not true. The good deeds which a man performs in the way of helping his fellowman will live after him, and will undoubtedly work toward his becoming perfect in his natural love; but they will not bring that man into at-onement with the Father in the Higher Love which is so necessary for his full salvation.
While my messages to you will not take one jot or tittle from the moral teachings, yet they will show to man the necessity and Way to obtain a full reconciliation with the Father, and a home in the Celestial Spheres.
I will come to you again and write upon a subject which is important to you, and which men should understand. So, with all my love, I will say good night.
Your
brother and friend,
Jesus
