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General messages about the Bible Jesus speaks of his true mission on earth and how much of the Bible has been interpreted incorrectly. These messages are difficult for many to read. We urge you to take a moment and center yourself in God's Love and ask God to know the truth before continuing. |
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The Bible is not the Word of God in many particulars. | ||
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." 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. JESUS. |
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Angelic
Revelations of Divine Truth, Vol. I, Page 325 True Gospel Revealed Anew By Jesus, Vol. I, Page 253 |
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Jesus continues his 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. 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. 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. |
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True Gospel Revealed Anew By Jesus, Vol. I, Page 327 | ||
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"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 at-onement 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. |
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True Gospel Revealed Anew By Jesus, Vol. I, Page 330 | ||
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