Jesus explains what the Holy Spirit is.

May 10th, 1920
Received by: James Padgett.
Washington. D.C.

Let me write for a short time upon a subject that will be of interest to you and to those who may read my messages.

What I desire to write upon tonight is the condition of those who think they have received the inflowing or baptism of the Holy Spirit, when the fact is that they have received only that advancement in the purification of their natural love and a harmony with the laws of their creation that causes them to believe that what they experience must be the result of a bestowal of the Love which the Holy Spirit brings to mortals.

In this mistake so many humans indulge; and in the satisfaction or rather happiness which their experience, growing out of such an increase in the harmony, brings to them, they fully believe that the Holy Spirit has taken possession of their souls and caused the happiness. But in thus concluding, they are deceiving themselves, and will realize their mistake when they come to an awakening in the spirit life.

The Holy Spirit is that part of God's Spirit that manifests His presence and care in conveying to men's souls His Divine Love.

This Love is the highest and greatest and most holy of His possessions, and can be conveyed to men only by the Holy Spirit; and this appellation is used in contradistinction to the mere spirit, which demonstrates to men the operation of God's Soul in other directions and for other purposes. 

His creative spirit, and His caring spirit and the spirit that makes effective His laws and designs in the governing of the universe, are not the Holy Spirit, though equally part of God's Soul, and equally necessary for the manifestations of His powers and the exercise of the energies of His Soul. These deal with the things of the universe that do not have interrelationship with the Soul of God and the souls of men, and whenever the Holy Spirit is spoken of it should mean only that part of God's Spirit which transforms the souls of men into the Substance of the Soul of God in its Quality of Love.

I heard the preacher discourse Sunday night on the work of the Holy Spirit as portrayed in the contents of the New Testament, and saw that his conclusions from these contents were wholly erroneous and apart from the truth. As he said, the effects of the workings of the Holy Spirit are shown in more ways than one, and not everyone upon whom it is bestowed is filled with the same powers of displaying its presence and possession. 

Now in all these evidences of its existence in the experiences given, it must be understood that it is limited in its operations to those conditions and manifestations that have their source in the Divine Love of the Father, that was bestowed upon mankind at my coming in the flesh, and that those evidences of the existence that have no relationship to this Love are not evidences of the presence of the Holy Spirit.

As mentioned in the New Testament, when it was bestowed upon my disciples at Pentecost, it came as with the sound of a mighty rushing wind, which has before been explained to you, that shook the room in which the disciples were assembled, and filled them with its powers, which means only that this Divine Love came into their souls in such abundance that they were shaken in their souls to such an extent that they thought the building in which they were assembled was disturbed. But in this they were mistaken, for the effect of the presence of the Holy Spirit is not to affect the things of inanimate nature, but is confined to the souls of men.

And the preacher must know, that because men are possessed with powers to accomplish the mental or material things of their living, they are not necessarily possessed with the Holy Spirit. Much of the physical healing of mortals is caused by powers that are bestowed upon men, or some men that are not connected with or proceed from the Holy Spirit. That there is evidence of this, men will recollect that the Old Testament is full of instances where men were healed of their diseases, and other wonderful things performed, at the time that the Holy Spirit was excluded from man's possession. Yet these marvels, as then considered, were performed by men claiming to be endowed with the Spirit of God, which is working for the good and happiness of mankind, and which will continue to work until men shall become in harmony with themselves as first created.

I understand the object of the preacher in attempting to show and convince his hearers, that because they have not those powers that the Bible describes as having been possessed by my disciples after the bestowal of the Holy Spirit, that therefore, they must not believe and conclude that they, his hearers, have not this blessing. His intentions and efforts were commendable, and arose from the desire that his hearers should not become disheartened and disappointed in their efforts to obtain the inflowing of the Love that the Holy Spirit brings to men; but on the other hand, his teachings were dangerous and misleading to these hearers, for the natural consequence of such teaching is to lead men into the belief or persuasion that they possess this power and Comforter, when they do not, and thus prevent them from seeking for an obtaining this Comforter in the only way in which it can be obtained.

The Holy Spirit primarily, has nothing to do with great mental or physical achievements, and to say that because a man is a great inventor or philosopher or surgeon who does things without knowing where the inspiration or suggestion to do the things comes from, therefore he is possessed of the Holy Spirit, is all wrong and misleading.

All things, mediately or immediately, have their existence and operation and growth in the Spirit of God, and only in that Spirit, and which Spirit is evidenced in many and varied ways in men's experience; and hence, men say that they live and move and have their being in God, meaning only that they live and move and have their being in God's Spirit. 

This Spirit is the source of life and light and health and numerous other blessings that men possess and enjoy - the sinner as well as the saint, the poor man as well as the rich, the ignorant as well as the enlightened and educated - and are each and all dependent on this Spirit for their being and comfort. 

This is the Spirit that all men possess to a great or less degree, and the brilliant preacher or teacher or orator, possessing this Spirit to a greater degree than his less favored brother, depends upon the same Spirit. It is universal in its existence and workings, is omnipresent, and may be acquired by all men in this sense to the degree that their mental receptivity permits. And this further demonstrates the fact that God, through and by this Spirit, is with men always, in the lowest hells as well as in the highest heavens of the perfect man. It is working continuously, ceaselessly and always at the call of men, be that call mental or spiritual. It is the thing that controls the universe of which man's earth is an infinitesimal part. This is the Spirit of God.

But the Holy Spirit while a part of the Spirit of God, yet is as distinctive as is the soul of man distinctive from all other creations of God; it is that part of God's Spirit that has to do with the relationship of God's Soul and man's soul, exclusively.

The subject of Its operation is the Divine Love of the Father's Soul and the object of Its workings is the soul of man, and the great goal to be reached by Its operations is the transforming of the soul of man into the Substance of the Father's Love, with Immortality as a necessary accompaniment. This is the great miracle of the universe; and so high and sacred and merciful is the transformation, that we call that part of God's Spirit that so works, the Holy Spirit.

So let not teachers or preachers teach, or their hearers believe that every part of God's Spirit that operates upon the heart's and thoughts and feelings of man is the Holy Spirit, for it is not true. Its mission is the salvation of men in the sense of bringing them into that harmony with God, that the very souls of men will become a part in substance and not in image merely of the Soul of God and without this working of the Holy Spirit men cannot become in such union.

I have written you before as to how this Holy Spirit works and the way in which it can bring men the Divine Love of the Father, and what is necessary for it's inflowing. The way described is the only way, and men must not believe and rest in the security of such belief, that every working of the Spirit of God, is the working of the Holy Spirit.

Except a man be born again he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God, and such attainment is possible only by the working of the Holy Spirit.

Oh, preacher, upon whom a great responsibility rests, learn the truth and then lead men into the way of salvation. I will not write more now, but will come again and deliver another message. Believe that I love you and am,

Your friend and brother,

Jesus 

Sins of the Parents are visited upon the children

I am here. Luke.

I desire tonight to write for a short time on the text:

"That the sins of the parents are visited upon the children unto the third and fourth generations."

I know that usually the explanation of the text has been that the material sins or rather the sins which result in material injury or affliction are visited upon the children and to a very great extent this is true. But that explanation is not what was intended by the declaration.

Man is not only a material or physical being, but is more largely a spiritual being, having a soul and spirit which never ceases to exist, and which are just as much a part of him while on earth, as when he becomes a spirit; that is after he has left the vestments of flesh and blood.

These real parts of man are of more importance to him and his real existence than is the physical part, and the sins which man commits are not the results of any primary physical action, but of the operations of the powers which form or have their real seat in the spiritual part of his being.

The physical part of man is not the originator of sin, but merely manifests its effects, and it (sin) almost always manifests itself on and in the physical body, and leaves its scars apparent to the consciousness of men upon such body; and hence, as man is able in his ordinary condition to perceive the effects more plainly on this body, he thinks that the meaning of the text must refer to the sins that affect and are shown upon his body, and at the same time ignores or is not sensible of the fact, that the great effect or injury of sin is upon and to the spiritual part of man. As the physical body is affected by the results of these sins being carried into operation, so much more so is the spiritual part of man affected by the fact that these sins had their creation in that spiritual part of man.

It may be asked, in what way can the effect of sin upon a man, that is upon his soul and spirit, have any injurious effect upon the spirit and soul of his child, so that the child may suffer from the sin of the parent.

Well, when a child is conceived and gestates and is born, he not only partakes of the physical nature of his parents, but also of the qualities and condition of the spirit and soul of the parents. This may seem improbable, but it is a fact that the spirit and soul that enters into the child when it is conceived comes from the great universe of soul and spirit, wholly independent of the parents and is not in its nature or qualities a part of the parents as is the flesh and blood which build up and produce the physical body of the child. But while this is true, it is also true that this spirit and soul of the child is susceptible to and in a way absorbs the influence of the spirit and soul of the parents, not only at the time of conception but also during the period of gestation, and even for years afterwards, and to such an extent that this influence continues beyond the mere earthly existence of the parents and into the life of the progeny to the third and fourth generation, as the text says.

The spirit part of the child is more susceptible to the influence and evil effects of these sins than is really its physical body, for as I have said, the spirit part is the originator and breeder of the sins, if I may so express it, while the body is merely the recipient of the exercise of the sins and the objects of their manifestation.

The influence of spirit upon spirit is more extensive and certain than mortals can possibly conceive of, and the results of that influence are not so apparent or known to the consciousness of the succeeding children, or to the respective parents, as men suppose, and as a fact they do not understand or become conscious of the fact that such influence is operating upon the spiritual parts of their children. They see and realize that the effects of such sins become manifested in the physical body, and as their ordinary natural senses cannot perceive the condition of the spirit, they conclude that the text can only mean, that these sins are visited upon the material bodies of their children.

But I must tell them that, while great and deplorable injury is inflicted on these material bodies, yet greater and more lasting and more grievous - in the way of manifestations - injury is inflicted upon the spiritual nature of the children; not only because this nature continues to live, but because men, not realizing that this nature has been injured, make no attempt to find and apply a remedy as they so often do in the case where these sins manifest themselves in the physical body.

And besides, there are many sins that do not affect the mere material body, but which do great injury to the spiritual nature, and which to the senses of men are never perceptible.

A man is not only the parent of a child's material body but in a secondary way is also the parent of its spiritual nature, and the condition of the parent's spiritual nature influences and determines to a large extent the qualities and tendencies of the child's nature for good or evil, not only while it is a mortal but frequently after it has ceased to inhabit the veil of flesh. So let parents know that they do not live to themselves alone as mortals but that their evil thoughts and deeds have a greater or lesser influence upon the spiritual natures of their children, especially at the time of conception and during gestation. Then how important that every parent during these times particularly, and at all times, should have their spiritual natures in that condition of purity and freedom from sin, that their children may be conceived and born in a condition of soul purity, which will not reflect any evil that they can charge their parents with being the creators of.

If men would only realize these facts and live their lives in accordance with the truths which I here declare, how much sooner would the human race be brought into harmony with God's laws and the souls of men be freed from sin and evil.

I know it is often said that it is unjust and not in accordance with the justice of an impartial God that the sins and penalties arising from the disobedience of our first parents, should be visited upon mankind who were and are their progeny, as such mankind had no part in that disobedience. But when it is remembered, and it is a fact, that God did not create sin or evil or impose such upon the first parents for their disobedience, but that they themselves created evil and sin, and men have been creating these in-harmonies ever since, it will be seen that an impartial God, who is our only God, is not responsible for either sin or evil and the consequent penalties which they impose. And, as has been written you before, the abolishing of sin and evil and their penalties is in the power of man and his will.

As these first parents created these evils, as I have explained, and in the manner that I have pointed out to you, their sins, by the influence which they have upon the spiritual nature at the time of conception and birth become, as it were, a visitation and that is the spiritual desires and tendencies and inclinations toward that which is evil (sic), and this influence continues with the child for years after its birth, according as the child and parents are closely associated together in their earth lives. And as each succeeding generation caused the visitation of its sinful influence and tendencies upon the succeeding generation, you can readily see how men, all men, became subject to the sins and evils and penalties which were brought into the world by the first parents.

Instead of God being the creator of these things or visiting them upon the children of man, He declares that their existence is contrary to the harmony of His creation and must be eradicated before man can come into that harmony and an at-onement with Him. And as He gave to man the great power of free will, without any restriction upon its exercise, except as a man's understanding of the harmony of the operations of God's laws might influence him to exercise this great power; and as man in the wrong exercise of that power brought into existence these things of evil and sin, so man, as he perceives this plan of God's harmony, must exercise that will in such a way as to free himself from these things which are not part of God's creation, and are out of harmony with His plans for the creation and preservation of a perfect universe, of which man is its highest creation.

God never changes. His laws never change. Only man has changed from the perfection of His creation; and man must change again before that perfection will again be his.

Now from all this it must not be inferred that man is left to his own efforts to bring about this great restoration, for that is not true, because Gods instrumentalities are continuously at work influencing man to turn again to his first estate, and become the perfect man, as he ultimately will become. (I am not here referring to the workings of the great Divine Love which, when a man possesses in a sufficient degree, makes him more than the perfect man.)

So, "the sins of the parents are visited upon the children to the third and fourth generation", means, the tendencies and inclinations toward that which is evil (are created) not by God, but by man himself, solely and exclusively.

And oh man, could you see the results of these sins upon the spiritual natures of your children, as you often see them upon their material bodies, you would hesitate in your sinning and think, and thinking would see the way by which the great blot upon the happiness and salvation of humanity could be removed and its progress to the "perfect man" be hastened and assured.

Well, I have written enough for tonight, and hope that what I have said may be understood and meditated upon by all who may read it. I will not detain you longer, and with my love and the blessings of one who is now not only the perfect man, but a possessor of the Divine Nature of the Father and an inheritor of immortality, say good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Luke