Truths Concerning the New Testament

I am a spirit in love with the efforts that you and your band are making to help the unfortunates who come to you with such pitying tales of suffering and darkness and ask for help.

When on earth, I was once a man who suffered much because of my spiritual darkness, and not until late in life did I find the Way to my Father's Love through prayer and faith. And even then, I had many erroneous beliefs caused by the interpretations of the Bible then obtaining in the church of which I was a member. But since coming to the spirit land, I have learned the Truth, and have gotten rid of my old erroneous beliefs. And thank God, I am in the Way that leads to life everlasting.

When on earth, I was a teacher of what I thought were Bible truths, although they were mixed with errors. And I know that some good resulted from my teachings, but I have met many spirits of men who listened to my teachings and believed many things that I taught. So you see, even if the churches do teach many false doctrines in their creeds, yet mixed with these false doctrines are many truths. And these truths often find lodgment in the hearts of the hearers and result in their finding the Light and Love of the Father.

I am still teaching mortals whenever it is possible to do so. But I find that my task is a difficult one because there are so few mediums who are capable of receiving the truths of the higher things of life. And the impressions that I make on mortals, by the exercise of suggestions, are not very encouraging to them or to me. Sometimes the impressions are received and understood, but very often they have no effect.

If we could have more writing mediums who were interested in these higher truths, and would believe that we can communicate such truths to them, such as yourself, the salvation of mankind would become much more rapid. But as Jesus said, the harvest is ripe and the laborers are few.

You have a mission which is greatly to be envied. I mean this in the best sense, because by the exercise of your duties, you become the medium between the Master and man.

And I want to tell you that such a mission is a glorious one and will bring untold blessings to you, because you have now, and will have with increasing power, the influences of the higher world of spirits and angels.

The one great spirit - I mean the Master - is with you very often, and seems to love you so much; and his love and power are beyond comprehension. He is your friend and brother; and the association with such a one will give you much spiritual excellence and power, which men have not often possessed. I have written rather longer than I intended to when I commenced, and I will now stop.

(question)

I live in the Second Celestial Sphere where your grandmother and mother and wife live.

Well, I did not have the Love and faith that they had, and my progress was very slow; hence they have overtaken me in my spiritual progress. They are wonderful spirits and have so much of the Father's Love in their souls.

I was a preacher and lived the life of one after I separated from the church in which I had been taught the doctrines. My name was Martin Luther. Yes, Martin Luther, the monk.

I now see that my teaching of justification by faith is not, of itself, sufficient for man's salvation. The true doctrine is that of the New Birth. I mean that with faith must come the inflowing of the Divine Love of the Father into the souls of men. Merely having faith will not suffice. Without this Love, faith is futile, except as it may help to bring the Love.

So you see that while my teaching was an improvement on what I had been taught, yet I did not preach the great essential of the New Birth in the sense in which Jesus taught it, and which should be understood by mankind.

Faith without works is not sufficient. Works without faith will not bring about the great results desired. And both faith and works without the New Birth, or the acquiring of the Divine Love of the Father, are not sufficient to bring salvation to mankind.

Love is the fulfilling of the law, and Divine Love is the Essence of the Father, which, when possessed by men, makes them one with Him. Let all men know that, of all Divine things, Divine Love is the Divinest, and makes man part of Divinity Itself.

Well, I have regretted so very much that my followers, believing in my teachings, worship Jesus as God. Oh, the great error of this belief, and how much injury it has done, and is now doing, to men and spirits!

But, thank God, I see the truth breaking into the consciences and minds of many of my followers, and I hope the time is not far distant when this great heresy will be believed no longer.

And the other false doctrine which is common to all the orthodox churches and has caused much unhappiness and infidelity and disappointment, both in the mortal world and in the spirit world, is that Jesus' blood saves from sin, or that he made a vicarious sacrifice to appease the "wrath" of an "angry" God, and thereby removed the penalties and burdens of men's sins. This false doctrine has caused more men to lose their soul development, and to rest secure in a false belief that they were saved from sin and immune from punishment, than has any other dogma taught by the churches.

No blood, no death on the cross, and no vicarious atonement saves a man from his sins and the resultant expiations. But Love - the Divine Love of the Father - which Jesus brought to the world and declared the Way in which It might be obtained (and that It is free for all the Father's children) is what saves from sin, both on earth and in the spirit world.

I must stop now and will come to you again, if agreeable.

(question)

No, I am not. To me, all men are the children of God, and I have long since forgotten any distinction between the Germans and the other races of mankind.

But war is cruel and unholy, and without valid excuse, and should never arise.

With the love of a brother who wants all men to seek the light, I am the former monk and reformer,

Martin Luther

Martin Luther is Very Anxious That the Truths That He Now Knows Be Made Know to His Followers

I am here, Martin Luther, one-time monk and reformer

I desire to continue my message, if it is agreeable to you. Well, we will try.

When on earth, I firmly believed what was contained in our doctrines and teachings, and was sincere in trying to induce others to believe as I believed and taught. But after my long experience in the spirit world, and my communications with Jesus and his apostles and others to whom the Truths of the Father have come, I realize and know that many of my teachings were erroneous and should no longer be believed by those who worship in the churches that bear my name.

My doctrine of faith - that is, justification by faith - is all wrong when its foundation is considered. It is impossible to understand just what can be intended by faith from my teachings and the church's tenets.

Our faith was founded on the assumption that Jesus was a part of the "Godhead" and the only begotten son of the Father. Further, that God so loved sinful man that He caused His sinless and beloved son to die on the cross in order that Divine Justice might be "appeased," and the burden of men's sins might be lifted and placed on Jesus. Oh, the terrible error of it all! And how it has misled so many of the believers to a condition of darkness and deprivation of the Divine Love of the Father! No, such objects of faith have no foundation in fact, and such a faith does not justify sinful man or bring him in at-onement with the Father, so that he becomes a redeemed child of God.

Jesus was not a part of the "Godhead," and neither was he begotten in the way that I taught and my followers believe. He was the son of man, and only the son of God by reason of the fact that he had received the Divine Love of the Father in his soul, which made him like the Father in many of His Attributes of Divinity.

God did not send Jesus to earth for the purpose of dying on the cross, or for the purpose of paying any "debt," or for the purpose of appeasing the "wrath" of his "angry" and "jealous" Father, for these qualities are not attributes of the Father. His attributes pertaining to the salvation of men are only Love and Sympathy, and the desire that men turn from their sins and become reconciled to Him. No death of Jesus could make any man the less a sinner or draw him any nearer to the Father. And faith in this erroneous proposition is faith in an error, and man has never been justified by it.

Jesus came to earth with a mission to save mankind from their sins. And that mission was to be performed in two ways only: the one, by declaring to man that the Father had rebestowed upon him the privilege of receiving the Divine Love; and the other, by showing man the Way in which the privilege might be exercised, so that this Divine Love would become his - thereby making him a part of the Father's Divinity and insuring him of Immortality.

In no other way could, or can, men be saved and made at-one with the Father. And faith in these Truths, which makes them things of possession and ownership by men, is the only faith which justifies.

I write this more particularly for the benefit of my followers, so that they may learn the vital Truths of their salvation, and change their faith in the death and blood sacrifice of Jesus to faith in the rebestowal of the Divine Love. I write this also to advance the further Truth that Jesus was sent to show the Way to that Love, and that he thereby became the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

I know that the acceptance of these Truths will take from them the very foundation of their beliefs, and many will refuse to accept my new declarations of truth. Nevertheless, they must accept, for truth is truth, and never changes. And those who refuse to accept it on earth will have to accept it when they come to the spirit world, or else exist in a condition where they will see and know that their old beliefs were false and rested on no solid foundation. The danger to many will be that, when they realize the utter falsity and non-existence of what they believed to be true, they will become either infidels or wanderers in spirit life, without the hope of salvation or of becoming redeemed children of God.

I fully realize the errors of my teachings on earth and the responsibility that rests upon me for these teachings which are still spreading; and I am almost helpless to remedy them. And so I write this message, hoping that it may be published in your book of Truths.

I, Luther, the one-time monk and reformer, declare these Truths with all the emphasis of my soul. They are based on knowledge, in which there is no shadow of error, and which I have acquired from experience that is not founded on the claimed revelations of God speaking to man. My knowledge is true, and nothing in opposition can be true. And the beliefs and faith of a man, or of all the inhabitants of earth, cannot change the truth in one iota.

The Roman Church taught the communion of saints; and I declare the communion of spirits and mortals, be they "saints" or sinners. That church taught the doctrine of purgatory and hell; and I declare that there is a hell and a purgatory, and that probation exists in both places. Further, that both places will be emptied of their inhabitants at some time in the long ages to come. And some will become redeemed children of God and dwellers in the Celestial Heavens, and others will become purified in their natural loves and inhabitants of the merely Spiritual Spheres.

I pray and desire that my followers may become inhabitants of the Celestial Heavens, and partake of the Divine Nature of the Father and Immortality. To them I say: Hearken to the Truths, as Jesus has and will reveal them to you in his messages. For in the Truths which he shall thus declare, they will find the Eternal Life and the at-onement with God which they have been seeking in darkness and disappointment for so many years.

I will not write more tonight, but will come again soon and reveal other vital Truths, if you will find the opportunity for me. So with my love and blessings, I am

Your brother in Christ,
Martin Luther

Jesus Will Never Come in All His Glory and Power to Take Men into His Heavens

I am here, John the Apostle

I merely want to say that I have been listening to your reading of my message and heard your comments on the same, and you are correct in what you and your friend said.

There is scarcely a greater error in the beliefs of men that retard the development of their souls than the belief that at some time, Jesus will come in all his glory and power, and take men into his heaven; and this just as they are - in body, soul and spirit. For a long time this belief has prevented many men from seeking to develop their soul qualities, either as to the natural love or as to the Divine Love. As a basis of their faith, such men refer to that saying in the Bible that whosoever "believes in the Lord Jesus Christ" shall be saved. And many, thinking that they have this belief, are contented therewith. They believe further that because of that belief, they will be carried into the heavens of Jesus when he comes, even though they may have given up the earth life in the meantime.

It is deplorable that men should believe these things, and live and die in this belief which, of course, is wholly intellectual. But such is the fact. And for all the long centuries, we spirits who know the truth have been so anxious that men should know the truth. We have been working among men by means of spirit impression, and sometimes by revelation, to help them learn, not only the truth, but also the errors of their beliefs. And as our efforts have not been successful, we decided to use the means that we are now using in order to reveal to mankind, in our own words and thoughts, the truths of God as regards man and all things connected with Him.

And here I want to say, with all the emphasis that I can, that you and your friends must believe that the communications that you receive as to these truths are written by us and in our own words; that your mind does not supply a thought or suggestion; and that you are used only as a medium to convey our thoughts, and to lend your physical organs to facilitate our expressing the truths that we desire to convey in our own language.

So no matter how improbable some things may seem to you, you must accept them as true; for nothing but the truth will be written. And further, we will not allow any spirit who is not in our band, or who has not this Divine Love, to write on any of the truths that must be revealed to the world.

I thought that this was the proper place to say this, as I desire to assure your friend of the reality of the messages, and the source from which they come.

I will not write more now, and will say good night. With my love to you both, I am

Your brother in Christ,
John

What Is the Most Important Thing in All the World for Men to Do to Bring About the Great Millennium That the Preachers Proclaim Will Come Before or After the Coming of Jesus?

I am here, Luke of the New Testament

Yes, I desire to write a few lines tonight upon a subject that has never yet been written on, and I know it will interest you. My subject is: "What is the most important thing in all the world for men to do in order to bring about the great millennium that the preachers proclaim will come before or after the coming of Jesus?"

Of course, in stating the question thus, I do not intend to be understood as consenting to the doctrine that Jesus will come to earth in physical form, or appear on the clouds with a great shout, etc., as many of the preachers teach. As we have written to you before, that event will never happen, because he has already come to men on earth in the spiritual way that we have explained. Neither do I intend to embrace in the phrase "the most important thing" the Divine Love; for that, of course, is the greatest thing in all the earth, and in the heavens as well. But by this declaration of "the most important thing that men can do," I mean that which is independent of the assistance of the Divine Love.

Well, as commonly understood, the "millennium" is a time or period of a thousand years when peace will reign on the earth, and the "devil," as is said, will be bound and not permitted to roam over the earth to cause sin, destruction of souls, sickness, and the other sins that so generally beset mortals now.

Of course, there is no personal devil, in the sense of a "satanic majesty", but there are spirits of evil which abound in the unseen world. These spirits are constantly with mortals, exercising their influence of evil upon them, and suggesting thoughts and desires to them that eventuate in sinful and wrong deeds. But these evil ones are merely the spirits of departed mortals, and are not beings of a superior kind, in their power or qualities.

Sin, as we have told you, was never created by God, nor is it the product or emanations of any of God's perfect Creations. Rather, sin is wholly the result of the wrongful exercise of man's appetites and will, that occurs when the desires of the flesh are permitted to overcome the desires of his spiritual nature.

With sin comes all the evils and discords and inharmonies that constitute man's manner of living his earth life. And until these things (which are not actually a part of his original nature, but rather, the creation of the inversion of that nature) are eliminated from his thoughts and desires and appetites, the millennium will never be established on earth, and neither will "Satan" be bound in chains and prevented from doing his work of soul destruction.

Now, the converse of this proposition is true. And the possibility of its occurring is also true. The question that arises then, is how can this be brought about - for to bring this about is "the most important thing for men to do."

When the cause of the present condition of mankind in sin and sorrow and unhappiness is definitely determined, then what is necessary to remedy the condition and remove the cause will readily appear. And when the remedy is applied and the removal is made, the millennium will surely come. For this glorious time of man's desired and looked-for happiness is merely one in which peace rules and discord does not exist, with every man being his own brother's keeper in love.

Then what are the causes of the present condition of existence on earth, marred and tainted and controlled by sin and error and disease?

The causes are twofold: One arises from man's fall from his created perfection of body, mind, and soul. This permits and encourages the animal nature to subordinate the spiritual, and by the overindulgence of the former, causes the carnal appetites to grow and transform the man into a lover of sin and evil things. The other cause arises from the influences of the spirits of evil, who are always endeavoring to make close rapport with men in order to exercise their evil influence over them.

While the personal "Satan" does not exist, yet the idea conveyed of the necessity of binding evil in order to bring about this millennium is a true one. This applies to the actual relationship of men to these evil spirits as well. However, in the case of these spirits, it is not necessary, or even possible to bind them. Men actually need to loosen them - that is, to loosen their rapport with, or influence over men. For when that is done, men become, as it were, free; and these evil spirits become as if they were nonexistent.

So you see, as a preliminary to the ushering in of this greatly desired time of peace and purity, men must cease to believe that it will come with the coming of Jesus in a manifested physical way, as a mortal conqueror might come with legions of followers and noises of drums, and by force of arms or greatness of power subdue his enemies. vThis will never be, for no man is an enemy of Jesus. All are his brothers, and he is not making, and never will make war on any human being. He only contends against the sin and defilement that is within man's soul. And this war can never be waged by power or force of legions of angels. For so great is the power of man's will, and so respected is its freedom of action by the Father, that there is no power in heaven or on earth that can or will change a sinful soul into a pure one by force and threats and conquering legions of angels. This could not be accomplished even if the angels were led by Jesus, which of course will not happen.

No, the soul is the man; and that soul can be made pure and sinless only when it consents to, and desires that such a condition may become its own. So it should not be difficult for men to understand that this erroneous belief (that Jesus will come in this semblance of a human conqueror and establish this great time of peace) is doing them much harm, and is delaying the actual time of the coming of this reformation. The effect of this erroneous belief upon the soul is that everything is to be accomplished by the work of Jesus, and nothing by the individual soul, except to believe in his coming and wait - and to be ready to be "snatched up in the clouds", and then to help the heavenly host destroy all of their fellow mortals who had not believed with them; and after all this, to put on the "robes of ascension," as they literally or figuratively designate such robes.

They thus believe, and in their minds they may be honest; yet their souls may be disfigured and tainted with sin, and life's accumulation of sin, so that they could not possibly be in condition to enjoy a place of purity and freedom from sin.

And some of them expect and claim that they will be the judges of their fellow mortals because of their deeds done in the body. And yet, in how many cases would it prove to be the blind and sinful judging the blind and sinful! But they claim further that Jesus, by his great power, and the fact that they believed he would come again to earth to establish his kingdom, will make them, in the twinkling of an eye, fit subjects for his kingdom, to judge the unrighteous and help cast them out of his kingdom.

No, this can never be the way in which the millennium will be established. And the sooner men discard this belief, and seek the truth and the true way to purity and perfection, the sooner the hope and expectation of mankind will be realized.

Your brother in Christ,
Luke

Countless Changes Have Been Made in the Copying and Recopying of the Original Manuscripts Left by the Disciples and Apostles of Jesus

I am here, Luke

I was with you at the lecture of the preacher on the subject (the authenticity of the Bible -ed.), and was surprised that he could announce with such apparent confidence that the Bible is the authentic Word of God, actually written by the men whose names appear therein as the writers of the same. The fact that he traced back the existence of certain manuscripts and versions to a hundred and fifty years subsequent to the time of the teachings of Jesus did not establish the truth of his declaration that, by such fact, the authenticity of the Bible, or the genuineness of the manuscripts as they now exist, was proved.

Neither is it true that John's life was prolonged to the end of the first century in order that he might write the true declarations of the eternal Truths, as declared by Jesus. For John did not live until that time, and his writings were not preserved as he had formulated them. Nor were the results of his declarations transmitted truthfully, as claimed by those who teach the inviolability of the Scriptures.

I was a writer upon these sacred subjects, and as I have told you before, I wrote a document which was called "Acts of the Apostles"; and I left a number of copies of my writings when I died. But such compilation was merely a history of what I had heard from those who had lived with and heard the teachings of Jesus, and who had described their efforts to circulate and teach his doctrines after his death. I also had the benefit of some writings of the disciples about Jesus, but such writings were very few. These disciples and followers of Jesus did not commence to place his teachings in the form of manuscript, or relate the experience of his life, until a long time after he had left the earth. They expected his speedy return, when he would become their king and legislator, and hence they saw no occasion or necessity for preserving the truths in which he had instructed them, in the form of writings.

I know that the writings that I had left were not preserved intact after my own death, and that many things that I had incorporated therein were, in the numerous copyings and recopyings of my manuscripts, left out and ignored. Many things that I did not write, and that were not in accord with the truth, were inserted by these various successive copyists in their work of reproduction. And many of these omitted things and additions were of vital importance to the truth of spiritual things, as they had been declared by the disciples as containing the truths that Jesus had taught.

During the period - and the short period, as the lecturer denominated it - between the earliest writings of the fathers of the church and the times of the actual occurrences of the things to which these writings are supposed to relate and correctly describe, there were many changes made in the writings that I had left, as well as in those left by the other original writers.

Even in the epistles of Paul, which these theologians and Bible students claim have more authenticity and greater certainty than the Gospels or other epistles of the Bible, many changes were made between the times of their writings and the times of the completion of the manuscripts or of the sermons of the fathers of the early church.

Within that one hundred and fifty years, the truths of the spiritual teachings of the Master had become, to a more or less extent, lost to the consciousness and knowledge of those who attempted to reproduce the original writings, because these men had become less spiritual. Their thoughts and efforts had become more centered on building up the church, as a church, than in attempting to develop and teach and preserve the great spiritual Truths.

The moral precepts became the dominating objects of their writings and teachings. These were more easily comprehended by them than were precepts that taught the Way to the development of their souls, the Way to a knowledge of the Will of the Father, and the mission of Jesus to mankind as a Way-shower and savior of soul, rather than as a Messiah to establish his kingdom on earth.

No, I declare with authority that the authenticity of the Bible cannot be established as the Word of God. For in very many particulars it is not His Word, but on the contrary contains many assertions of truth that are not truths, and that are diametrically opposed to His truths and to Jesus' teachings of the truth.

This Bible has changed and perverted the whole Plan of God for the salvation of man, and it has substituted a plan that arose from the limited wisdom of those who attempted to convince mankind that they had a knowledge of God, and of His Designs as to the creation and destiny of man. They were influenced very largely in this particular by their knowledge of, and belief in, the teachings of the Jewish faith, the history of the Jewish race in its dealings with God (as they supposed), and in the teachings of the scribes and Pharisees. This fact was conspicuously shown by these writers attempting to substitute Jesus in their "plan of salvation" in the place of the animals of sacrifice in the Jewish plan of salvation. As the God of the Jews demanded "blood and more blood" in order to be "appeased" and satisfactorily worshiped, so the God that Jesus declared was the God of all the peoples of the earth "demanded blood" in order to be appeased and satisfactorily worshiped - and that, the blood of His dearly beloved son.

Among these writings of the Bible, there are many things declared to be truths, embodied as the actual words of God, that are contradictory and unexplainable, and which, if they were the words of God or even the teachings of Jesus, would contain no contradiction or admit of any constructions that were not consistent one with the other.

As the additions and emasculations and interpretations were made in the original writings of those who declared the Truths as they had heard them from the Master, their decreasing comprehension of spiritual things and the growing "wisdom" of their own finite intellects caused them to conceive a "plan" on the part of God for man's salvation. As the recopying continued, the thoughts of those who copied, or who dictated the same, became more centered on this "plan." And so these copies were gathered together and considered, and efforts were made to have some agreement in the declaration of this "plan." As the new copies were made, they were constructed with the view of showing forth this agreement.

It must not be supposed that the copies from which the manuscripts were made (which are the basis of the Bible) were executed and preserved in a manner that caused them to be isolated one from the other, or that they were not all known to the persons who copied, or caused the copying of, the writings from which the manuscripts were made, for that would not be true. These, what may be called the basic copies, were in circulation at the time the Christian fathers wrote, and copyists had access to them, and quoted from them, and helped to give them the interpretations that now prevail in the churches, along with the additional interpretations made since those days.

Men know now that among these Christian fathers were bitter disputes as to what was a part of the "Word," and as to what should be accepted and what rejected among these writings antedating the manuscripts that form the basis of the Bible; and that many manuscripts, purporting to be the Word of God, were rejected as such, for the reason that they could not have been the records of God's Word because they did not agree with what the bishops of the church, in their human knowledge and reason, accepted that God's Word should be. Even these bishops disagreed and differed, just as the human minds and reason disagree with one another.

Then I say, the lecturer did not prove the authenticity of the Bible as being the Word of God. He did not go down the "stream of time," as he called it, far enough to discover the existence of any authenticity. And this being so, his argument of proof is just as weak as if he had started from the time of the printed Bibles, where their contents are substantially the same - but with these Bibles not being the originals, the present similarity proves nothing.

What I have said with reference to my own writings applies to the writings of all the others. The Bible does not contain their writings as they wrote and left them to humanity.

The Bible contains many Truths, and enough to enable man to reach the Kingdom of Heaven, provided they are correctly understood and applied. But there are so many things taught therein as "truths," which are just the opposite of truth, that they make it difficult for men to discern and apply the truth - to comprehend the Will of God with respect to men, and to recognize the destinies that must be theirs according as they follow and obey that Will or do not do so.

John has already written you on this subject with reference to his writings, and so has Paul as to his, so that there is no necessity for me to deal with the errors and interpretations contained in their writings.

I will soon come and write a message on another subject that I have been desiring to write for some time. With my love and blessings, I am

Your brother in Christ,
Luke

Luke of the Bible Never Said That Jesus Came to Earth as the Only Begotten of the Father, Which Is Not True

I am here, Luke

I came tonight to tell you of some things which are in the Bible and which are not true, as they were never written by me or by anyone at my dictation.

I never said that Jesus came to earth as the only begotten of the Father in the sense that he was born differently from other mortals, for he was not. I mean that his father and mother were Joseph and Mary, and he was their natural son, and that they never supposed that he was begotten in any different way from how the other children were begotten.

Of course, he became more truly the son of God than did any other mortal who was ever born. But that was because he became filled with the Divine Love of the Father to a greater extent than any other human being. He became so close to the Father that, in his soul development, he was able to commune with the Father in such a way as to realize exactly what the Father said to him. And his love made him one with the Father, as he said.

But he is now closer to the Father than he ever was on earth, and his love is very much greater than when on earth - greater than any other spirit. And as a result, he knows more about the Father's Attributes, and about His Will and Plans for men's redemption, than does any other spirit. And when he comes to you and tells you that you must receive his messages, to be transmitted to mankind, he imposes upon you a mission which is greater than he ever imposed on any other man, not even excepting the apostles.

He now knows more of the Truths of His Father than he did when on earth, and he realizes that the Truths which are so necessary to men's salvation and their future happiness have never been revealed to mortals to their fullest extent. When he was on earth, he declared many important Truths which have not been preserved, and hence he is anxious that these Truths and others shall be given to mankind.

Many things which men believe, who are professed Christians, are not truths, and stand in the way of their progress in spiritual things and in the soul's development. I would like to tell you of more of these things which men should not believe, but I have not the time tonight, as others want to write.

But this you must know and forever proclaim: that God is Love, and that they who want to get Immortality must believe in the New Birth and seek to obtain it. Without this, no spirit can enter the Celestial Spheres and partake of the Divine Nature of the Father. There are many other Truths that must be learned and believed in, but none are so important as those which I have just written.

I am writing this not as a matter of mere belief but as a matter of knowledge. There can be no doubt arising in my mind as to the reality of these things, and none must arise in yours.

With all my love, I am

Your brother in Christ,
Luke

Many Things in the Bible John States He Never Wrote; but He Was Mistaken About the Kind of Kingdom That Jesus Came to Establish

I am here, John

I will not write now except to say that your spiritual condition is much improved, and you are advancing in your soul perceptions of the Truth and of the reality of the Father and His Love.

(Mr. Padgett asked a question.)

Yes, I know, but you must remember two things with reference to the writings in the Bible ascribed to me, namely: first, that I did not write, or authorize to be written many of the sayings contained therein; and secondly, that at the time I lived on earth and wrote, my knowledge of the Truth and of God was not so great or so correct as it is now. I realize that some things I then believed and taught were not in accord with the Truth as I now know it to be. Even my conception of Jesus and his mission on earth, and his return to earth, was not true. Then, although I was a close companion of the Master and had many lessons of instructions from him, I was quite an ignorant man and did not grasp the spiritual meanings of his teachings. And up to the time of my decease, my beliefs were more colored by things of the material than by those of the spiritual.

For instance, I supposed, as did the other disciples, that he was coming to earth again in a short time - at any unexpected time - and set up his kingdom on earth. Yes, this is a fact, notwithstanding that he had said that his kingdom would be a spiritual kingdom, though existing on earth. From my conception of the establishment and existence of this kingdom, I could not dissociate the idea that, in some way, it would be an actual, visible kingdom, in which the Master would be the king, and rule as other kings ruled, except it would be a rule of righteousness.

All this may seem a little strange to you; but if you will consider for a moment that my teachings as a Jew were to the effect that, when the Messiah came, he would actually rule on earth as a king, you will understand how difficult it was for me to get the idea or make the distinction between that kind of kingdom and one which would be purely spiritual.

At some time, I will write you more fully on this matter, for I realize its importance. And many - yes, a majority - of the professed Christians now believe that at some time Jesus will come to earth and establish a material kingdom and rule all the nations of the earth. And some of these enthusiastic Christians believe that they will be of the "elect", and as material men called by the resurrection to become mortals again (although "glorified," as some of them express their faith), that they will become princes and sub-rulers in that kingdom.

Well, they will be disappointed; for when they shall have passed from the mortal to the spirit, they will forever remain spirits. The only kingdom that they will live in thereafter will be a spirit kingdom, and whether it be the Kingdom of the Restored Man or of the Divine Angel, they will not be on the earth.

So, pray to the Father, and strive for a deeper and more abiding faith, and you will realize the truth and this experience.

Good night,

Your brother in Christ,
John

John Gives Reasons Why Corrections Have to Be Made in the New Testament, and Declares That James is the Real Brother of Jesus

I am here, John

I merely want to say that you will soon be well, and in condition to receive some of our messages which we are anxiously waiting to impart.

The time is approaching when the book will have to be published, and it is very necessary that you get these messages in full, so that you can complete the book. Of course, we want to incorporate any truth that is necessary to communicate to mankind, and we will do so if you will only work faster.

(Mr. Padgett asked a question)

Yes, I know him well, as he was the brother of Jesus - the real brother, having the same father and mother that Jesus had. And all speculations as to his having parents who were other than the parents of Jesus are erroneous.

James was not an apostle of Jesus, but came to believe in him later in his career. And when at last he became convinced that Jesus was the true Messenger, he became a very earnest and hardworking follower of Jesus, and also the first Christian bishop of Jerusalem.

I have no personal knowledge as to whether or not he wrote the epistles ascribed to him. But he has said that he wrote some parts of the first epistle and a portion of the second, but that he did not write the third. He has also said that in each of these epistles there are many assertions of "truth" which are wrong and which he did not teach. All the writings of the New Testament, as they now exist, contain so many things which the original writers did not write, and which they did not teach or believe in, that it is with difficulty that the mortal, even though a great student, can separate the true from the false. And that is one reason that enters into our purpose for writing a New Revelation of the Truth.

These truths will be made plain, and you must not let the writings of the Bible influence you in your receiving a correct conception of these truths.

I will not write more now. So with my love, I will say good night.

John

Constantine States That He Never Accepted Christianity When on Earth, but That He Is Now a Celestial Spirit

I am here, Constantine

I was the Roman emperor, and died as the head of the Christian church. I wasn't really a Christian, and did not understand the true principles of the Christian teachings, but I adopted Christianity as a state religion because of political purposes, added to my desire to destroy the powers of my antagonists, who were believers in, and worshipers of, the gods of paganism.

I was a man who cared not in the slightest whether the cross or the symbol of the oracles was the "true sign" of religion, or whether the followers of religious beliefs belonged to the Christian church, or were those who worshiped the gods which our country had for so many years adopted and followed.

When I made Christianity the state religion, my great desire was to obtain power and the allegiance of the majority of the people of the empire. The Christians were very numerous, and were persons of such intense convictions - so intense that not even death could remove or change these convictions - that I knew that, when they once gave me their allegiance, I should have a following that could not be overthrown by those who were worshipers of the old gods.

The latter people, individually, were not so interested in their religious beliefs as to cause them to have such convictions as would interfere with any religion that I might establish. Also, they realized that their material interests would be advanced by at least formally recognizing that religion as a state establishment. Their beliefs were not the results of conviction, but merely those of what had been accepted by their ancestors and transmitted to them as a kind of inheritance. As a matter of course, they believed in the gods and the oracles, without ever having made the objects of their beliefs matters of investigation, in order to learn if those beliefs were true or not. Truth was not sought for, and hence conviction was a mere shallow acquiescence.

During all the time of my office as emperor, I never changed my beliefs, and never accepted the teachings of the Christians as the revelation of Truth. And in fact, I never considered such a matter as religion worthy of my serious consideration.

Many doctrines were proposed and discussed by the ecclesiastical teachers and leaders of this religion, and those doctrines were approved by me which were adopted by a majority of these leaders as the true and correct declarations of what the Scriptures of the Christians contained. I let these leaders fight their own battles as to doctrines and truths, and when they decided what should be accepted and declared by the church to be true doctrines, I approved the same and promulgated them as binding upon all the followers of the Christian faith.

So, though it has been frequently said, I did not establish the canonicity of the Bible, or determine and legalize the doctrines which were declared and made binding by the conventions of the leaders of the church. Of course, I gave them my sanction and official approval, but they were not mine and should not be said to have been established by me. For if the doctrines of the Arians had been accepted and declared by a majority of these ecclesiastics as being the true teachings of the Christian Scriptures, I would have sanctioned and given them the state's authority as well.

As I said, I was not a Christian when I lived, and did not die a Christian, notwithstanding all the fantastical and miraculous things which have been written about me and my conversion to Christianity.

When I came into the spirit world, I found myself in great darkness and suffering, realizing that I had to pay the penalties for the sins thought and committed by me on earth. And all the masses which were said for the benefit of my soul never helped me one particle to get out of my unhappy condition.

I knew nothing about the Divine Love, or the mission of Jesus in coming to earth, and I found that my sins had not been washed away, as the teachers had often told me on earth would be done for me.

I remained in this condition of darkness and unhappiness for many long years without finding any relief by reason of the mystical workings of Jesus' "atonement," of which the priests had told me, but which I did not believe; nor was I helped by the gods in whom I had been taught to believe by our philosophers and religious teachers. No, I found no relief, and my condition seemed to be fixed. And hope of the Christian heaven (that was never mine) and of the fields Elysian (that would be mine in a hazy way) did not cause me to feel that my sufferings would at some time come to an end, and that the glad face of happiness would appear.

But after a time, the light of Truth in which Jesus came to teach broke in on my understanding and soul, and the Divine Love of the Father commenced to flow into my soul; and continued until I became a possessor of It to that degree that I was carried to the Celestial Spheres, where I now am - a redeemed, pure and Immortal soul, having the Divine Essence of the Father, and the certainty of eternal life in the Celestial Kingdom.

I cannot write to you tonight of my experience in either the dark planes or in the successive progressive spheres, but sometime I will come and detail that experience.

But before ceasing my writing, I wish to say with all the force that I have, that only the Divine Love of the Father can save a soul from its sins, and make it at-one with the Father in His Divine Nature.

Let creeds and dogmas and man-made doctrines take care of themselves. Learn the truth, and in that truth abide. For truth is eternal and never changes; and no decrees of man, or dogmas of church tradition of the early fathers or writers, or creeds of ecclesiastical conventions, so solemnly adopted and declared, can make that a truth which is not a truth. Truth existed before all these things, and is not subject to them; nor by them can truth be added to or taken from.

I must not write more now. Thank you for having permitted me to write. So, with my love, I will say good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Constantine

Luke Affirms Constantine's Writing

I am here, Luke

I will not attempt to write at length tonight. I will only say that, as you may doubt the identity of the one who has just written you, I desire to confirm the fact that it was Constantine, the Roman emperor, who wrote you. He was very much pleased that he could write, and in a hurried way correct some of the historical errors that have existed concerning his true position as to Christianity.

He is now a very bright spirit and an inhabitant of the Celestial Spheres, and, of course, a possessor of the Divine Love. I desire to tell you though, that he was scourged by his conscience, as it were, before he got out of his condition of darkness and suffering, superinduced very largely by pride. In his own conceit, he was an emperor for a very long time after he entered the spirit world, and he retained all the pride of an emperor. But I will leave all this for him to write about, as he promised, and I will stop writing for the time.

(Mr Padgett made a comment)

Well, you must not become discouraged, because the Divine Love is a reality, and you have some of It and may have more. Only pray to the Father for His Help and Guidance.

We all love you and are trying to help you. Only believe!

Your brother in Christ,
Luke

The True Meaning of: "In the Beginning Was the Word, and the Word Was with God" etc.

I am here, John the Apostle

I want to say only a few words in reference to what the man said to you about the Gospel attributed to me.

His reference to the opening words of the Gospel - that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, etc. - is without any force to prove that Jesus is God or one of the "Godhead"; for it was never written by me or at my dictation, and it does not state a truth.

In the sense referred to in that Gospel, the "Word" can mean only God. For He, and He Alone was in the beginning and made everything that was made.

As we have often told you, Jesus was the son of a father and mother, the same as you are the son of your father and mother. And he was not begotten by the Holy Ghost in the sense ascribed to his birth in the account thereof.

He was born of the Holy Spirit as his soul opened up to the inflowing of the Divine Love; and he was the first of mankind to receive this Divine Love and the Father's Essence of Divinity. Hence he was the first fruit of the rebestowal of this Love, and as a result, was the first fitted to declare the Truths of the Father, and show the Way. As his soul became filled with this Love, and he grew in wisdom and knowledge of the Truths of the Father, it may be said that he was sent by the Father to declare the Truths and explain the Way to the Celestial Heavens, and how to achieve at-onement with the Father.

This Love commenced to flow into his soul soon after his birth, undoubtedly because he was selected to declare the Truths of the rebestowal of the Divine Love; and the knowledge of that mission came to him as he grew in Love and Wisdom. Hence he was without sin, although apparently as natural a boy as other boys in his human instincts and feelings. But he was the son of man - Joseph and Mary - and also a son of God, as all men are - with the addition that he was an heir to the Celestial Kingdom.

He was not God. And despite what the orthodox believe, he has never seen God, even up to this time; nor have Moses and some of the old Bible characters seen God. But Jesus has seen God with his soul perceptions, and so have many others of us who are inhabitants of the Celestial Heavens. And that sight is just as real to us as your sight is to you or to any of your fellow mortals. It is impossible to explain this to you so that you may fully comprehend my meaning; but this seeing God by our soul perceptions is a thing of reality, and one that results in increased happiness and a knowledge of Immortality.

Jesus is not God, but he is the most highly developed spirit in all the heavens, and is nearest to God in Love and knowledge of Truth.

So I say, the "Word" is God, and Jesus is His son. And you may become His son in the same sense - as an heir to the Divine Essence of the Father and an angel of His Kingdom. As Jesus has written you, all men are His sons, but with different inheritances; yet all inheritances are provided by the Father. Let not these doctrines of the teachers of what are called Bible "truths" trouble you. Listen and believe only what may be written to you by us.

I will not write more tonight, as it is late. In closing, I will say that you have our love and prayers. I am

Your brother in Christ,
John

John Writes on the True Meaning of "The End of the World"

I am here, John the Apostle

I come tonight to write a few truths upon the subject of the preacher's sermon, as I was present with you and heard his declarations as to "the end of the world."

I know that among men there are, and have been since the time of the Master, differences in opinion as to when this important event is to take place, and what the meaning of "the end of the world" is.

Well, men know just about as much now as to the time of this event as they have known all down the centuries, and understand the meaning of these prophecies as well as men did from my day down to the present.

In the first place, I will say that there will be no end of the world from any of the causes mentioned by the preacher; and in the next place, there will be no end of the world at all, as understood and declared by the orthodox preachers, and as is expected by most of the professing Christians.

The "world" (meaning the earth) will not have an "end" in the sense of annihilation. It will continue to revolve on its axis, have seed time and harvest, produce and reproduce those things that are necessary to sustain human life, have its appropriate seasons of heat and cold, and move along in its orbit, as it now does; until some change, we know not of now, may come and destroy it. But not any of the prophecies of the Bible (admitting that there are prophecies) can apply to the end of the world in the sense that the preacher understood and declared.

If humanity would only understand that the world that was lost by the disobedience of the first parents was the world of man's Immortality and happiness, and not the physical world, and that Jesus came to declare the restoration of that world upon man's condition, then they would know that the material world is not involved in the Plan of man's salvation, or in Jesus' mission, or in the declarations of Jesus as to the coming of the end.

Men will continue to be born, live a short time, and die the physical death. And as to each individual man, the end of the material world comes when he dies; for thereafter his habitation will be in the spirit world, and never more will he have life on earth.

All men will have to die the physical death at some time. Then, why should it be necessary to include the destruction of the material world in the Plan of God for the salvation of men? For planets and worlds and stars to crash together and be destroyed would require that the orderly workings of God's laws must be interfered with, in order that men might be destroyed or saved (either left to their own helplessness on earth or rescued by being "snatched up into the air").

Such interpretations of God's Intentions or Plans, or of Jesus coming again to earth, are all wrong and absurd. Jesus will never come to establish his kingdom on earth, and reign as Prince of Peace and "Lord of Lords"; for the Kingdom which he and all his true followers on earth and in the spirit world are seeking to establish is in the Celestial Heavens. This Kingdom of God is not made with hands, or by the mere fiat of any spirit, no matter how high he may be, but is made and populated by the souls of men who have experienced the New Birth and have received the Divine Essence of the Father. Of this Kingdom, Jesus is the Prince, but only because of his great and exceeding possession of the Divine Love of the Father, and his more perfect at-onement with Him.

Jesus is not seeking to establish a kingdom on earth, but is working for the purpose of leading men to the New Birth of the Spirit, and of showing them the Way to the Celestial Kingdom. He is working by way of his love and suggestions, along with other good spirits, to help men cast sin and error from their hearts, and to strive to regain the condition of perfect manhood in the perfection of their natural love. He is also helping men to get in this condition of soul regeneration, or in that of the purification of their natural love, while they still live on earth; so that love to God in the Divine sense, love to God in the created sense, and brotherly love will cover the whole earth, and men will be at peace and happy while yet clothed in the flesh.

Such a condition of mortal existence may be called the Kingdom of God on earth, but it will not be the Kingdom which Jesus came to earth to establish: the Kingdom of Heaven. This Kingdom has its seat and abiding place in the Celestial Spheres, where it will never be removed.

So then, when the Bible teaches of the world coming to an end and passing away, it does not mean the material world, but the world of men's thoughts and deeds and sinful conditions that are not in harmony with God's Laws, or the Laws of His Creation. This is the world that shall be destroyed when righteousness shall cover the earth as the waters do the deep, and brotherly love reigns among men. Even today, there are some men living on the earth who are so separated from the world that, as to them, the world has no existence - not the material world, but the world of sin and unrighteousness, which is the only world to be destroyed.

There shall be wars and rumors of wars, and times of trouble, etc., such as there never were, and then shall come the end. Not the wars of the cannon's roars, or the bursting shells or the mutilated flesh, or the making of widows and orphans, or the ruthless changing of mortals into spirits, but the wars of the spirits of good and evil, of love and hate, of purity and sin, of joy and despair, and of knowledge of truth and belief in error - all to be fought in the souls of men, with great intensity and earnestness, and creating such mind and spirit trouble as has never been, causing rumors thereof to flood the earth and the habitations of men.

Then shall come the end of the world - the world of evil and sin and despair and hatred and belief in error. This world shall pass away, and truth and love and peace and good will shall be established on the earth forever. The earth of this future day, then, will become so peaceful and filled with love and brotherly kindness that it will seem to men as if the "City of God" had been let down from heaven onto earth.

Let mortals know that Jesus has already come to earth and is among men, and that since the time of his becoming the Prince of the Celestial Kingdom, he has been with men and spirits, teaching them the Way, the Truth and the Life.

By the Holy Spirit have the Truths of the Father spoken to men as a "still small voice", and by the communions of souls has the Master led men to the Love and Mercy of the Father.

As in my time, when he came to the Jews with his message of Love and Life eternal, but they knew him not and rejected him, so now many men, and spirits too, refuse to listen to him and learn the Way through the straight gate to the Father's Love and Immortality.

Let men study the prophecies and the times and the seasons and calculate the time of the end, and predict the near approach of the Master's coming in the clouds, and prepare themselves to be "snatched up in the air" and become of the Heavenly Host; yet they will find that all these things are vanities of vanities. Only as each individual passes beyond the veil of flesh will he realize the end of his mortal world has come, and then all his speculations as to himself will become realities, and the certainty of the world's end will become an established fact. But men will continue to live on earth and die, and in succession others will be born to die, and so on until...only God knows.

So I say to men, prepare not for the passing away of the heavens and the earth, but for the passing of themselves from the earth to the great world of spirits. And remember: that as they sow, so shall they reap - a certainty that is never changed, a truth that no speculation can make untrue.

The end of man's world comes each day to some mortal, and that end may lead to a glorious Immortality, or to a temporary or a long darkness and suffering.

Thus are the prophecies being fulfilled. And the speculations of preachers and teachers and leaders of the unthinking are robbing men of the vital Truth that the "end of the world" is coming each moment and day and year.

Oh, preacher and teacher and leader, your responsibility is great, and the accounting must be made! The reaping must follow the sowing as certainly as the day follows the night. And what will your harvest be?

The end of the world for some mortal is the important now!

I have written enough for tonight, as you are tired. So believe that I love you, and am praying for the Father to bless you, and to so fill your soul with His Love, that when the world comes to an end for you, you shall find the Kingdom of Heaven waiting to receive you.

Good night,

Your brother in Christ,
John

Cornelius (the Centurion) Is Much Interested in the Work and the Importance of Mankind Knowing the Truth

I am here, Cornelius

I want to write merely a few lines tonight. I am so very much interested in you and your work that I feel I should give you some encouragement, in the way of letting you know that there are many spirits present here tonight who love you very much and desire that you should receive their messages of Love and Truth.

As I have told you, I am in the Celestial Spheres, and know what the Love of the Father is and what Immortality means; as I am the possessor of the Love, and the conscious owner of that Immortality.

The world is now so anxious to know the Truths that pertain to God, and to man's relationship to Him; and the messages that you are receiving will give to the world what it so much longs for.

I know that the Christian doctrines, as contained in the Bible and taught by many preachers and priests, are the only doctrines that the Christians have any knowledge of; consequently they are accepted by them as being the "inspired revelations" of God, and the truth of what He Is, and what man must do in order to obtain salvation. These people rest securely in these beliefs, and in the assurance that the Bible way is the only way to salvation. And resting in these beliefs, the world does not see the necessity for obtaining the only thing that will make them in at- onement with God, and inhabitants of His Heavens.

I merely write this to show you that it is of the greatest importance that the Truths of the Way to salvation be revealed to all mankind.

I do not think that I have anything more to say tonight, and so will leave you. With all my love, I am

Your brother in Christ,
Cornelius

Not the Blood or Death of Jesus, but His Living and Teachings Are What Saves a Soul from Sin

I am here, John the Baptist

I desire to write to you tonight about a certain Truth which you must know in order to be able to teach others the importance of studying the Plan of God for the salvation of man. I mean that, in order for men to be saved from their sins, they must believe in the Way that the Master shall teach you in his messages. I do not intend to dwell at large upon the New Birth, for that has already been explained to you a number of times. But now, I want to deal with the Truth that this is the one thing that perfects mankind, and spirits as well, and enables them to obtain the soul qualities which are absolutely necessary before a man can become at-one with the Father.

The other things which the churches teach as necessary sacraments, such as baptism, the laying on of hands, and the "Lord's Supper," or communion, are things which are not necessary. They were never intended as being anything more than merely symbolical. And even as symbols, the last mentioned does no good, but rather, harm. For besides being used to remind the followers of Jesus of his communion with them before his sacrifice, they look upon it as something which saves a soul from sin, and fits it for heaven.

I want you to understand that all these things are not important to a soul's becoming at-one with God, and that mortals must learn the Truth of what I say.

Many preachers, as well as laymen, believe that only the blood of Jesus can save from sin, and that his death was necessary for man's salvation. But I want to tell you that if he had died a natural death, beloved by all who knew him, and honored by the whole Jewish nation, his blood would have been just as efficacious and his death just as important as they were because he was killed as a result of hatred and envy on the part of the Jewish authorities. In neither case would the blood or the death, insomuch as one particular, have anything to do with the salvation of men.

His living and teaching, and the making known to man the Great Gift of the Father, and the Way to find the Gift and possess It, were the things that brought salvation to man. Jesus lived and taught and loved us; he did not die and suffer and make an "atonement" for us.

The living Christ is of more importance to our happiness and salvation than the dead Jesus - and so Jesus himself teaches. And he is not pleased with those who teach the dying Jesus instead of the living Christ.

I, John, was not only a precursor of the Master but a follower also. And it was not his blood or death that saved me, but his living and teaching me the Way to obtain the Divine Love of the Father.

I am much interested in the salvation of all men, and want to do everything in my power to help men to learn the Way to Truth and Light and Love. I am trying to carry forward this work of showing men the Truths which will lead them to the Father's Love, as well as are many others of our band who are with you now.

I have only to say further that you must pray more to the Father, and keep up your courage and belief in the Master, and all these things will be properly worked out to a final and happy conclusion.

I will not write more tonight. So with my love and blessings, I will say good night.

Your brother in Christ,
John the Baptist

The Teachings of the Bible That Jesus' Blood Washes Away Sin, or That Jesus Died on the Cross for the Salvation of Men, are False

I am here, Jesus

I come to tell you of a truth which is important to all mankind, and which I desire that you receive just as I write it. So give your best care to receiving just what I shall attempt to write.

I have read with you tonight many sayings contained in the alleged epistles of Paul and Peter, and I realize that they do not seem to be consistent with the truth that has been declared to you by myself and by the apostles who have written to you. I now desire that you shall understand some of these inconsistencies, and that you will discard from your mind these sayings of the apostles wherever they do not agree with what we have written or what we shall write.

In the first place, the continual reference of these epistles to my being God is all wrong and must not be believed. Neither should the statements be believed that my blood washes away sin, or that I died on the cross for the salvation of men, or that I took upon myself the sins of mankind and thereby relieved them from the burden of their sins and the punishment which they would have suffered otherwise in expiation of their evil deeds and thoughts.

Again, when it said that from the beginning the Father had foreordained my death on the cross, that all men might be redeemed from the penalties of sin thereafter, this is all wrong, and has no foundation as fact in the Plan of God for the salvation of man, and the restoring of the harmony of His Universe, and the eradication of all sin and error from the world.

Neither Paul nor Peter wrote these things, and never did I teach them, for they are not in accord with the great Plan of Salvation. And the more that men believe these things, the further away will be their realization of the truth of the only Plan the Father has provided for their redemption, which I came to earth to declare and explain to my apostles first, and then to the whole world.

In these epistles, too much emphasis is given to the importance of faith and works - I mean faith in the mere beliefs which these epistles taught, followed by works - and not enough importance to the Foundation Truth of man's redemption from sin and his becoming reconciled to the Father. By this, of course, I mean the New Birth, accomplished by the inflowing of the Divine Love of the Father into their souls through the ministrations of the Holy Spirit.

Many of the teachings as to man's conduct towards man, and as to the lives that the recipients of these truths should lead to effect their own purification and to achieve a condition of righteousness, are true; and they are as applicable to the conduct and living of men today as they were in the days in which the apostles taught. But when the epistles teach or lead men to understand in any particular that these, what may be called merely moral principles will enable a man, by their observance, to enter into the Kingdom of God, or the Celestial Kingdom, they are false and misleading. And men, when they become spirits, will realize that, while leading the lives which these teachings call them to lead will make them very happy, and will allow them to occupy conditions and positions in the spirit world that will make their happiness far superior to that which they enjoy on earth, and even enable them to become occupants of higher spiritual spheres, yet they will never be permitted to enter the Kingdom of the Father, which can only be attained by the possession of Divine Love.

So I say, men must understand and realize the difference between the results to them from leading merely good and moral lives, which affect and develop the natural love, as distinguished from those results which ensue from the New Birth.

I have attempted to explain to you why the great and important Truth of my mission on earth, as I explained it to my apostles, and as was taught by them and written by them, was not preserved and contained in the Bible as now written and accepted by the church as canonical. The great desire in those days was to show and impress upon men those teachings which affected their conduct on earth, and to hold out to them the rewards that would follow such living, and also the rewards which would follow their lives in the spirit world which would become their homes after death. And as I have said, the leading of lives in accordance with these teachings would ensure men a great happiness in the spirit world, but not the happiness which my teachings, if observed, would lead to.

In the various copyings and compilations of the writings of the apostles, many changes from the originals were made. And those persons who performed this work, and I mean by this the dignitaries and rulers of the church, did not know the difference between those things which would bring about a purification of the natural love, and those things which were necessary to fit a soul for entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven and Immortality. And this ignorance has prevented many a man from gaining the right to the Kingdom of Heaven as they honestly and sincerely believed would be theirs when they came to pass into the spirit world.

Many of t