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I AM HERE. St. John. (Apostle of Jesus.)
I come tonight to write a short time about the truths of the Celestial Spheres in which I live and enjoy the happiness which my Father gives me.
As you may know these Celestial Spheres are above the spiritual spheres, and are inhabited only by spirits who have received the New Birth and who believe in the truths as taught by Jesus. No other spirits are permitted to enter these spheres, and no other spirits could possibly find any happiness in them, for in them Divine Love is so developed in the souls of the spirits who live there that any spirit not having that Love would find that he is in an atmosphere that is entirely foreign to his qualifications, and he would be most unhappy. But as I say, no spirit who has not that Divine Love, which we tell you about, can possibly enter into these spheres. The walls of demarcation are just as solid and forbidding as are walls of demarcation in your prisons on earth from the outside world.
I live in a city that is most wonderful in its beauty and magnificence, and is filled with structures that surpass anything that you possibly conceive of.
This city is inhabited by spirits who have a wonderful soul development, and are capable of understanding the deep truths of God, which are not given to mortals or spirits in the spiritual spheres.
This may seem a little strange to you, but it is true; for it would be utterly impossible for the spirits of these lower spheres, or for mortals, to understand these higher truths. They cannot be comprehended with what you call the intellectual faculties or the mind, but can be only understood by the soul's perceptions, developed to such a degree that nothing that partakes of the purely material can have an abiding place in that soul.
The mind must stop in its progress at the sixth sphere, and after that only the soul can progress. But this does not mean that the spirit who makes such progress in the Celestial Heavens does not increase in knowledge and understanding, for he does to a greater extent than it could be possible for the mere mind to progress; but this progress of a spirit in knowledge and understanding is a progress of the soul perceptions, of which I speak. The faculties of the soul are as far superior to and above the faculties of what you call the mind as are the heavens above the earth.
So you see the soul does not merely embrace the affections and love of a spirit, but also qualities which enables it to understand and develop the qualities of knowledge at a place where the progress of the mind ceases. It is hard to explain this to you or for you to comprehend its meaning, but this you will understand, that as the soul progresses in its development of its perceptions, knowledge and understanding of all things pertaining to the Celestial World increases.
When you properly consider this you will find that it is a wonderful provision of the Father' Love and Grace.
WHAT AN IMPORTANT THING TO BOTH MORTAL AND SPIRIT IS THE SOUL. IT CAN BE STARVED ON EARTH AND ALSO IN THE SPIRIT WORLD; AND ON THE OTHER HAND, IT CAN BE DEVELOPED ON EARTH AS WELL AS IN THE SPIRIT WORLD. IF MORTALS WOULD ONLY UNDERSTAND THAT AS REGARDS ETERNITY, THE SOUL IS THE GREAT THING WHICH THEY POSSESS, AND SHOULD BE GIVEN MORE CARE AND DEVELOPMENT THAN ANY AND ALL OTHER PARTS OF MAN'S BEING.
I may come again soon and go fuller into a statement concerning the soul and its functions and importance.
To night I will not write more.
With my love and blessings, I am
Your brother in Christ,
JOHN.Vol. I, p. 155
