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God's Creation and It's Vicissitudes
" ... but Thou hast ordered all things in measure and number and weight.
For Thou canst show Thy great strength at all times when Thou wilt." Wisdom 11: 20. 21.
"GOD is a spirit, and everything created by Him is spirit. It was in His image that He called into existence spirit-beings in numbers so vast, that no figures devised by man can even begin to express them.
"In what manner the infinitely great and Almighty God created the spirit-world is something that you as a mortal could not understand were I to try to explain it. A knowledge of this is not necessary to man and is of no value to the good of his soul. It is sufficient for him to know how he stands with regard to God's Creation, in order that he may learn why he was placed on earth and what tasks he has to fulfill during his stay there. To teach you these things is the purpose of what I am about to tell you of the Creation.
"God did not create the world at one stroke. God is the great Architect who, with strict observance of laws conceived with infinite wisdom, builds up little things into large ones, simple things into complex, and, out of a single seed, produces the tree with its millions of seeds; who builds up the family, not by calling into existence parents and children simultaneously. but by first creating the parents and endowing them with the power of reproduction, so that in time the family may grow through the birth of the offspring, and that, out of this family new ones may arise without limit.
"In a similar manner God proceeded with the creation of the spirit-realm. Every law which you find on earth, exists in the spirit-world also. I have told you this repeatedly and insistently and shall emphasize it once more, because it is the basic truth underlying all knowledge of the Beyond, whether you believe it, or whether you reject it with a smile of incredulity.
"Thus you may shake your head in unbelief when I tell you that the law which prevails in Nature on earth, with all living things, namely, that of reproduction by the union of the male and the female, must and does apply to the same extent in spirit-creation. For matter is merely the incarnation of the ethereal, and hence merely another state of spirit, for which the spirit-laws are not abrogated, but applied in a way which is adapted to matter. Just as in material creation there are males and females in every species. so too there are male and female spirits in the spirit-creation. Among spirits there are as many males as there are females, a female spirit being allotted to each male, according to God's law. They are invariably perfectly mated, and find their greatest happiness in mutually supplying each other's limitations and in faithful collaboration in the task which God has assigned to them.
"Such spirit couples which were created for each other are known as 'duals,' a term intended to express 'two who belong to each other.' These are the matches that were made in Heaven. None but God, not even the 'Son of God' known to you as 'Christ,' is exempt from the union of the male with the female. To all created spirits the words of the Bible apply: 'Male and female created He them,' and 'Be fruitful and multiply.'
"Christ is the highest Spirit which the omnipotent God could create. He is in every way God's most perfect image, so far as any created spirit can possess the Creator's perfection. Hence Saint Paul rightly calls Him 'the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation.' {Colossians 1 : 15.) Christ is therefore not God, as is so generally taught today. but the first created 'son of God', and. as such, His highest and most perfect Creature.
"Following Christ, six further spirits, also called 'Sons of God' came into being. but these owe the existence of their spiritual bodies to the first-created Son and are His inferiors in power, greatness and glory.
"The second 'son of God' was he whom you call 'Lucifer' - the 'Light-Bearer' - next to Christ the greatest of created spirits and subsequently a rebel against God. Still another of God's seven sons is met with in the story of Tobias in which the great celestial spirit which had accompanied the young Tobias in human form made itself known to the youth's family with the words: 'I am Raphael. one of God's seven sons.' (Tobias/2: 15.)
"Save for the first created Son of God, the entire spirit-world was brought into existence not by direct Divine creation, as was God's first-born Son, but was called into being through that Son upon Whom God had conferred creative power. Hence Saint Paul writes in his epistle to the Colossians: 'for in him (Christ) were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and unto him; and he is before all things, and in him all things consist'. (Colossians 1 : 16, 17.) Just as the whole human race has the source of its corporeal existence in the first man. so the whole spirit-world owes its physical existence to Christ; and as men have inherited only their corporeal bodies from their first ancestor through many generations, while their spirit is united with their body in every instance without any collaboration on the part of their procreators, so the celestial beings owe their spiritual bodies to the Firstling of celestial creation, to the first-born Son of God, while their spirits, as coming from God, are always joined by Him to their spiritual bodies. After what I have already told you of the difference between 'celestial' and 'terrestrial' bodies, you will know how to distinguish between the two. In ultra-mundane beings the body exists in spiritual form, a subject to which Saint Paul alludes in his first epistle to the Corinthians:'There are also celestial bodies and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another ... If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body . ( I st Corinthians 15 : 40-44.) The spirit receives its shape in what is called the 'odic body', being itself a spark of the Divine fire which shines according to the lodging in which it is housed. I am now speaking metaphorically only, but there is no other way of presenting the facts relating to things spiritual to you mortals, than by employing incomplete metaphors.
"As in terrestrial creation you have the most widely divergent kinds and orders of living organisms, high and low, although each one is perfectly designed to fulfill its functions, so too there is a wonderful variety of kinds and orders among the spirits which God has shaped into individuals endowed with celestial bodies. In your Bible, you yourselves distinguish between cherubim, seaphim, archangels, dominions, powers and principalities.
"The spirit-world created through Christ and united with Him in a communion, formed a wonderful living organism in which all spirits were members of a spiritual community, although they differed in kind and perfection. Like the members of a terrestrial body, which, though having different shapes and functions, yet constitute an organic whole in which no member is superfluous while none is independent of the others, the spirit-creation formed a spiritual body of which Christ was the head, the members being composed of the other spirits. In a well-ordered kingdom on earth the king, as the head of the country. together with his ministers and his officials high and low, and the mass of his subjects, constitutes a single great family in which everyone works for the common good, upon which, in turn, depends the welfare of the individual. The same was true of the great family of the spirits. Every spirit had its allotted task, great or small, but together they all formed one great and glorious unit, in which no spirit was superfluous and in which no spirit worked for itself alone, but in which all collaborated with each other at the wondrous task to be fulfilled by God's Creation. It was intended that they should share in the labors of God, and, consequently, in the happiness and beauty of Him Who had called them into existence, in the glory of God and of Christ, their King whom God had anointed.
"Hence Saint Paul in his epistles constantly refers to the 'secret of the body of Christ'. 'For even as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and severally members one of another. And having gifts differing according to the grace that was given to us .. .' (Romans 12: 4-6.) 'We must be faithful to the true doctrine and in time through love make all creatures spiritual members of him who is our spiritual head - namely Christ. For through him the spiritual body is fitly put together and joined into one structure in which each member has its duty to perform according to the strength with which it is endowed as a part of the whole. Thus each member helps to build up the spiritual body until the spiritual edifice of Christ is completed, resting on a foundation of love'. (Ephesians 4: 15, 16.) 'Christ is the Head for which the whole spiritual body is knit and held together by its joints and sinews, and thus grows, as God ordained'. (Colossians 2: 19.)
"This great communion of spirits is also referred to by Saint Paul as the 'church'. (Colossians 1: 18.) 'He has put all things under his rule and has made him the supreme head of the church, the 'Church' being his spiritual body which he restores in its entirety by re-uniting with himself all parts of the universe'. ( Ephesians 1: 22-23.) "The 'church' is therefore the communion of spirits loyal to God under the rule of Christ. The word 'church' signifies the 'rule of the Lord'. Whoever pledges his allegiance to this rule and consequently, to God, belongs to the 'church'. The true meaning of the word 'church' has therefore nothing in common with your worldly churches and religious denominations, which are the work of man, conceived in human error, and. like all of man's handiwork, ephemeral.
"What Saint Paul describes as the spiritual body of Christ was a literal fact in the spirit-creation. All spirit-beings brought into existence were members of the great spiritual organization and were subject to Christ, its Head. They were, however, under no compulsion, enjoying perfect liberty and being free to follow their own will in all things. All of them were truly devoted to Christ, God's Regent and their King, and through Him, to God. This great spiritual family was closely united in the bonds of love. Christ's rule as God's regent was not that of a despot, but one of brotherly guidance; it was the protecting hand of the strong extended to shield the weak.
"In view of their freedom of action, which was the highest gift conferred upon the spirits by the Creator, it was possible for them to refuse obedience to the laws of the King whom God had set over them. for the words of the Bible: 'Even on his heavenly servants he cannot rely; his very angels he convicts of error', (Job 4: 18) and 'Even on his angels God cannot rely. the very heavens are stained to Him' (Job 15: 15) are true of every created spirit. save only of the first Son of God. And yet. the spirits are holy so long as they recognize the authority over them of God and of Christ, and do not by apostasy. secede from God's kingdom.
"Unhappily the defection of a large part of the spirit-world from God came about through rebellion against Christ. It was not, as you teach, a direct rebellion against God Himself. but against the Regent appointed by Him.
"This was the first revolt, which took a course more human than you could imagine. It was an exact counterpart of the revolutions you have on earth. In your own uprisings. it is not the physical bodies of the revolutionists which lay the plans and attempt to carry them out, but their minds. And if you follow the origin and history of human revolutions in all their details, you will get a very faithful picture of what happened during the first revolt in God's spirit-world.
"All revolutions are planned well in advance. They do not come suddenly. They usually originate with some ringleader who wins as many adherents as possible to his cause. unfolds his plans to them and promises them high offices and places of influence in the event of success. Those so initiated next go to work, carefully at first but gradually more openly, on the great mass of the people. without whose help no revolution is possible. This mass of so-called partisans. who do most of the vociferating and shouting in human revolutions generally know nothing of what it is all about. They join the movement because others do. and shout because others shout. They arc, therefore, less guilty than the ringleaders who considered their plans with all of the consequences thereof beforehand. and carefully prepared for all eventualities. These know exactly what they are doing and hence, even when judged by human laws. are subject to the greater penalties. whereas the mass of their followers are judged and dealt with much more leniently.
"The ringleader in the revolt in God's spirit-kingdom was Lucifer. the 'Light-bearer', the second son of God. and after Christ, the highest and fairest spirit in Creation. What was his aim? He was ambitious: he wanted to be the supreme ruler, being unwilling to occupy a second place, subordinate to a superior. He wanted to step into Christ's place and to reign in His stead. He wanted to usurp his Brother.
"This plan did not cor :: to him suddenly; it matured gradually within him, until his determination became fixed and found consummation in the sin which eventually besmirched this high spirit.
"God did not interfere to stifle the revolt in its birth and to prevent it by force as He could have done. He leaves His creatures free to act as they choose. just as among men He does not intervene when they begin to plan a crime and prepare for its execution. So He allowed Lucifer and his fellow ringleaders to proceed and did nothing to hinder them from trying to corrupt the higher and more influential spirits and to mislead the masses of the partisans with promises. It was the supreme test to which God desired to put the whole created spirit-world, leaving it free to decide whether it would remain true to Christ as its lawful King. or whether it would desert to Lucifer.
"One of the partisans, of whom there were many in all ranks of the spirits. was a prince known in your Bible as Adam. The name he bore as a human being. Of these princes there were many in God's spirit-kingdom. each of them, like Adam, the ruler of numerous subjects. Not a few of the princes became ringleaders to help Lucifer in his preparations for the revolt. Others, of whom Adam was one, merely supported the movement, seconded by the greater or smaller contingents of their adherents.
"The moment arrived when Lucifer and his party considered themselves strong enough to usurp the control of the spirit-kingdom, the more so as a large part of Michael's forces was ready to throw in its lot with them. As is also true of your revolutions on earth, great efforts had been made to win over the army to the side of the rebels. In this, Lucifer had succeeded to a great extent. God had maintained these forces, which were, in a sense, a standing army provided against any possible future need, as you also keep standing armies as a safeguard against sudden emergencies.
"When the war broke out and the spirits had made their choice whether to fight for or against Christ, God intervened. The hour of trial was over; covert and open treason had become a fact, and the punishment was at hand. Prince Michael received orders to overthrow the rebels with the legions which had remained loyal. and, armed with the might of God, he obeyed. Fearful was the fate which overtook the one-time Light-bearer and his chief henchmen. They were driven into the deepest spheres of Creation, into darkness and horror of which you can form no conception, not even were I to attempt to describe them. The darkness which you know on earth may give you a faint idea, for. as you know, darkness comes on with the waning of light and becomes ever denser as the light continues to fail. Darkness therefore owes its being to the withdrawal of light, but of what it consists is beyond your comprehension. You do know, however, that a mixture of all colors produces white and that all colors are contained in the light ray; you know moreover that black is merely the absence of all colors. Translate these human observations of yours into the exile of the fallen spirits from all contact with light and consequently with all color, and you may form an idea of the impenetrability of the gloom to which they were consigned, even if you cannot conceive of its full measure.
"The Scriptures contain frequent references to this war of the spirits and to the overthrow of the evil ones. Christ Himself says: 'I beheld Satan fallen as lightning from heaven'. (Luke 10: 18.)
The Apostle John had a vision of the battle of Michael and his legions with Lucifer: 'War broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels assailing the dragon and the dragon and his angels offering resistance. But they could not prevail nor could they maintain any place in heaven'. ( Revelation 12 : 7, 8.) Saint Peter writes: 'Even the fallen angels were not spared by God, but were driven down to hell. into the caverns of darkness, there to remain until they have repented of their ways. . . . (2nd Peter 2: 4.)
"The account of the spirit creation and of the secession of part of the spirit world as contained in the original Bible was very similar to the description I have given you. Subsequently however it was deleted.
"In considering the defection of a great part of the spirit world, men may well ask: How was it at all possible for spirits, high in rank and enjoying perfect happiness, to fall? The reason in the case of these spirits was the same as that which so often leads your own souls astray: the craving for more. He who has much. always wants more. and he whose power is great, desires to see it augmented. even at the risk of losing everything at one stroke. Do you not see the same thing exemplified in the great events in the history of mankind, and in a small way in everyday life?
"Ezekiel,in his lament voiced at God's behest, over the king of Tyre. pictures in stirring words the reason for the king's apostasy from God at the time of the great revolt of the spirits under Lucifer, in which he had taken a subordinate part and had been overthrown in consequence: 'Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou wast in Eden, the Garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius. the topaz. and the diamond, the beryl. the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was in thee; in the day that thou wast created they were prepared. Thou wast an anointed cherub that covereth: and I set thee, so that thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till unrighteousness was found in thee. By the abundance of thy traffic ( with Lucifer) they filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I have destroyed thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of stones of fire. Thy heart was lifted up because of thy beauty: thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I have cast thee to the ground; I have laid thee before kings. that they may behold thee. By the multitude of thine iniquities, in the unrighteousness of thy traffic. thou hast profaned thy sanctuaries; therefore I have brought forth a fire from the midst of thee; it hath devoured thee, and I have turned thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee ... thy fate is awful. . . (Ezekiel 28: 11-19.)
" 'Thy heart was lifted up'. These words best express the reason for the defection of the spirit-world. 'I want to rule. not to serve'. brought about its downfall.
"What, however, was the fate of the great mass of the rank and file? They were far less guilty than were the ringleaders, and since God's punishments are always commensurate with the offense, He could not. in justice. commit them together with Lucifer to the pits of darkness.
"God dealt very leniently with them. condemning them to a relatively light penalty. He did, indeed, cast them out from their former glory. but only to transfer them to a sphere which, if you could see it, you would regard as Heaven. It may not have been comparable to the splendor which they had enjoyed in God's kingdom, yet it answered your conception of Paradise, for the sphere to which the followers were transported was the Scriptural "Paradise" even though it was not situated on earth, as you incorrectly assume, for at that time, material creation had not yet come into existence. The Scriptural account of Paradise with its rivers, trees, flowers, and fruits, has led you to think of it as being on your planet, as you do not know that everything you have on earth in material form, is also to be found in spiritual form in the ultra-mundane spheres. There too are shapes, habitations, rivers, trees. bushes, flowers, fruit, food and drink, gold and jewels. mountains and valleys, music and song. fragrance, color and tone. You will find this statement of mine confirmed in many passages of the Scriptures, where there are descriptions of the City of God with its walls and towers, its running waters and its blooming flowers and every treasure that gladdens the heart. You look upon these things as imagery. They are no imagery, but facts. Did not Christ Himself say: 'In the house of my Father there are many dwellings. If there were not. I would have told you. And because I am going there now. I will have a place prepared for you, and when I am there and prepared a place for you I will come back and take you with me. that you also may be where I am'. (John 14: 2-4). And again: 'You have my solemn assurance, that I shall not off er again a drink of the fruit of the vine, until that day in which I drink it in God's spirit-world and indeed in a form as yet not known to you'. (Mark 14: 25.) And in the Old Testament did not the angel Raphael tell Tobias: 'I eat invisible food and drink something invisible to human eyes'. (Tobit 12: 19.) Finally, does not the description of the fallen cherub given by the Prophet Ezekiel, expressly mention the beautiful garments set with jewels and embroidered with gold, in which that spirit was clothed before its fall? Have I not told you, when speaking to you of od, that every spirit possesses an odic body for its spiritual body, and that your terrestrial bodies are merely the condensed odic ones? The most perfect state of od is therefore not one of condensation into matter, but ethereal. It is not the material. but the spiritual body that is the more beautiful; not material but spiritual gold that has the greater value, gold and jewels, in both material and spirit form being nothing more or less than marvelously prepared od, which in one case is present in its condensed, and in the other in its uncondensed state.
This may be hard for you to understand since you are accustomed to thinking in terms of the materialistic, having no true conception of an ethereal state about which you were taught nothing in your younger days. But clairvoyants, whose spiritual vision enables them to see the ethereal. can understand perfectly what I have told you. They can also comprehend the description of Paradise with its trees, herbs, fruits and rivers as applying to a spiritual sphere. In your own case, what you experience, sec, and hear in your dreams, is not perceived by you physically, but appears to you in spiritual form and shape.
"Such was the spiritual sphere of Paradise into which the rank and file of the rebels were sent, not altogether as a penalty, but to try them once more. It was an act of justice and kindness on the part of God to give these spirits one more opportunity to redeem the transgression of which they had been guilty through weakness. They were mere followers, who had sinned not out of malice, but because in a moment of weakness they had yielded to the tempter's blandishments. They had outwardly renounced their allegiance to Christ's authority, but at heart they were still divided between Christ and Lucifer, as is the case even today with so many people. In a way. they were carrying water on both shoulders, but God, with justice, demanded that they choose one way or another, even with regard to their inner sentiments. By transferring them into the Paradisaic sphere He therefore put them into a 'neutral zone' where they could make up their minds at their leisure. To make their choice would have been easy enough, had they still retained their mental faculties to the extent to which they possessed them while dwelling in God's kingdom. This, however, was not the case, for as I told you when speaking to you of od, every act of insubordination to God on the part of a spirit is attended by a change in its odic body which becomes clouded, losing its purely ethereal nature and undergoing a certain condensation. This not only impairs the intellect. but deprives the spirit of all recollection of its previous existence. Consequently. the spirits in the Paradisaic sphere were unable to recall the splendor in which they had lived in God's kingdom before their fall. Could they have done so, the test to which they were submitted in Paradise would have been impossible, for had they possessed any consciousness of their past happiness, and compared it with their actual lot, their choice would have been made without a moment's hesitation. But they remembered nothing whatever of the splendors they had forfeited, nor of the spirit-war which had been fought, nor of their own treasonable attitude in that war. They were aware only of their existence at the moment, just as you mortals are aware only of the life you are actually living and have no recollection of any previous state of existence, most people believing that their present appearance on earth as human beings is also their first one. Of their erstwhile dwelling with God, of their banishment from God's kingdom in consequence of a revolt, and of the subsequent incarnations on earth of their spirit, they know nothing. Only a few have a dim consciousness of having lived before.
"The test provided for the spirits in Paradise consisted in a prohibition laid upon them by God. the purpose of which they could not understand, and which the Bible pictures as a certain fruit, to eat which they were forbidden. This prohibition extended to all who, like Adam. had followed in the wake of the revolution, who dwelt in the same sphere with him and who were clothed in a similar odic body.
They were aware only of their existence at the moment, just as you mortals are aware only of the life you are actually living and have no recollection of any previous state of existence, most people believing that their present appearance on earth as human beings is also their first one. Of their erstwhile dwelling with God, of their banishment from God's kingdom in consequence of a revolt, and of the subsequent incarnations on earth of their spirit, they know nothing. Only a few have a dim consciousness of having lived before.
"The test provided for the spirits in Paradise consisted in a prohibition laid upon them by God. the purpose of which they could not understand, and which the Bible pictures as a certain fruit, to eat which they were forbidden. This prohibition extended to all who, like Adam. had followed in the wake of the revolution, who dwelt in the same sphere with him and who were clothed in a similar odic body.
"These spirits were the object of particular concern to the loyal hosts of Heaven as well as to the sinister Powers of the Abyss, th e former seeking to persuade them to remain steadfast and to observe God's command, the latter sparing no pains to convince the spirits that it would be to their advantage to ignore the same, by dangling alluring prospects before them. It was the same
.battle that rages today about every man. On the one hand he hears the insinuations of Evil. counseling the violation of the Divine laws and picturing sin in an advantageous light, and on the other, the inner voice of conscience. warning and admonishing him not to yield to temptation. It is for him to decide, which of the two he will follow.
"Men, whenever they wish to attract the great mass of the people to their cause, seek first of all to win over persons of standing in the community, and such, whose judgment and course of action are likely to be the deciding factor with the masses at large.
"Such also was the case with the hosts that dwelt in Paradise, among whom Adam, once a high prince in Heaven, stood out prominently by virtue of his great intellectual qualifications. It was therefore natural that his attitude toward God's prohibition would decide the course to be taken by the other spirits in Paradise. For this reason, Evil was primarily concerned in bringing about his downfall, making use, for the purpose, of a female spirit, the same one which had been allotted to Adam as his dual. and which is known in your Bible as 'Eve'. Eve fell a victim to the temptations of Evil, and in her downfall, caused Adam's as well. Their example was followed by all the spirits dwelling in the sphere of Paradise.
"By this second fall, Adam and the other followers of the revolt became the prey of Evil. and fell almost to the level of Lucifer himself. Driven from the sphere of Paradise, they were hurled into the darkest depths and thenceforth Lucifer was lord over them. In his own realm he was an autonomous ruler. It is true that he was still subject to the might of God, and hence not entirely free to do as he chose, but God did not restrict his authority over those who had voluntarily become his subjects. It was the terrible consequence of the justice meted out by God that Lucifer was allowed to call his own all those who had seceded to him. For such, there was now no escape. Even if they repented of their desertion to the standard of Evil. their retreat was cut off. They had indentured themselves to the Ruler of Hell for all time. That is the acknowledgment of indebtedness to which Saint Paul refers in his epistles as an 'insuperable obstacle' to the salvation of the fallen.
"Thing:; are no different in your temporal States. Whoever becomes the subject of a country must yield obedience to its authorities. Without their permission he may not leave its boundaries, and if the country in question goes to war with another, he is never allowed to join the enemy. The same thing is true of Lucifer's realm: it is in a constant state of war with the kingdom of God, and hence it was out of the question that Lucifer would allow a vassal of his to return to that kingdom.
"Let me cite another example: whoever volunteers for service in the Foreign Legion is held to the terms of his enlistment. He may regret his step a thousandfold; he may weep over and lament the hardships he has to endure, but it will avail him nothing. He is under a harsh discipline that knows no mercy. He must stay. for if he tries to desert he will be overtaken and recaptured by the legionaires, after which his lot will be harder than ever. There is no bridge to carry him back to that home and country which he left of his own accord.
"Satan's dominions are a Foreign Legion of this sort. For those who had entered it, there was no retreat, no bridge spanning the gulf that lay between the Foreign Legion of Darkness and God's kingdom. Not until later was this bridge built in the Redemption through Christ, Who, in the parable of the rich man and the beggar Lazarus, causes the same truth to be uttered through the words of Abraham: 'And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, and they that would pass from hence to you may not be able, and that none may cross over from thence to us.' (Luke 16: 26.)
"By way of a third illustration, consider the fate of a soldier who deserts his own side in wartime and goes over to the enemy. However bitterly he may repent of his desertion subsequently, and much as he may long to be back in his native country, he will not be released.
"I have now taken you to that point in my teachings at which you are shown two antagonistic realms, separated from each other by an unbridged gulf: the realm of those who had departed from God, or the 'Kingdom of the Dead', and the Kingdom of God; the realm of Darkness. opposed to the Realm of Light; Lucifer's kingdom against that of Christ; on one side Lucifer, on the other, Christ.
"Nevertheless, God loves all His children, even those who were driven from their Father's home because of their own transgressions. Since He had created them through His Son, and had incorporated them as spiritual members with the spiritual body of Christ, He was desirous that the!,e severed limbs be reunited to His Son's spiritual frame.'And they also, if they continue not in their unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again'. ( Romans 11 : 23.)
"However, this regrafting of the limbs broken from the tree of life, this re-incorporation of the severed members with the life-giving organism of Christ's body, was possible only if freely desired by the apostate spirits. It was of their own free will that they had joined the rebels, some as ringleaders, others as partisans in the revolt. If the partisans, when again subjected to trial in the sphere of Paradise, had fallen a second time, it had been by their own free choice, and by their own free choice must they raise themselves anew and return to the house of the Father.
"This did not seem possible. Out of hand, the return of Lucifer and his chief henchmen was considered out of the question, for arrogance that has been humbled turns into sullen spite, which had rather remain unhappy than to confess itself beaten.
"The rank and file, those spirits which had been deluded into joining the revolt, were still animated by sentiments very different from those entertained by their leaders, yet even they saw no hope of being saved from the Pit. Where no hope of salvation exists, the will to achieve it is absent, and where the will is lacking, no effort is made to prepare the way to salvation.
"Even if these spirits had possessed the will to escape, they would have faced an impassable obstacle in the shape of Lucifer's control over them, which even God, after He had granted it, could not curtail.
"But God's ways are wonderful. and His wisdom finds means to achieve every end. 'But thou sparest all: for they are thine, 0 Lord, thou lover of souls'. (Wisdom 11: 26.)
"Therefore, after the defection of the spirits, He determined upon a plan by which He would recover those who had forsaken Him.
"God's plan of salvation is the great secret imparted to Saint Paul and to the other Apostles by spirits which Christ had sent them, but even the apostles did not dare to reveal this plan in its entirety to the early Christian communities, to which indeed the greater part of the plan would have been incomprehensible. In their case it had to be left to the spirits of God, speaking through mediums, to instruct these communities little by little in the whole truth, much as I am instructing you at this moment.
"You too will find it difficult to grasp the full truth of God's plan of salvation. .Mortals cannot, as Saint Paul told the early Christians in his epistles, digest solid food, but must at first be fed with milk, as infants are fed. The truth in its full grandeur and in its entirety is an intellectual food, fit only for those whose minds have acquired their full strength. A selection of truths which are easily understood is the 'milk' which is given to those who are undeveloped in the faith and its truths.
"What I shall give you hereafter will not be milk. but meat, as indeed there was much meat in what I have already related to you. I shall not content myself with merely apprising you of the truth concerning the great questions of the Beyond. I want, rather, that you should gather a thorough knowledge of the fundamental correlation of the individual facts from my teachings. for the inquiring mind is satisfied only by an understanding of the underlying causes of events.