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SAMUEL, the Prophet of God of the Old Testament.
I am the same Samuel whom the woman of Endor called from the spirit world to show Saul his doom; and as I come to you tonight, I came to her at that time, only my purpose is not the same, and I am not the same spirit in my qualifications.
I am now a Christian and know what the Divine Love of the Father means, while then, I did not, and was a spirit living in comparative happiness and existing in the consciousness that I had done my work on earth, and was then enjoying the repose of the righteous; for as we understood that word then in both the mortal and spirit worlds, I was a righteous man.
I come to you to-night, because I see that you have been chosen to do the great work of the Master in His efforts to redeem mankind from their lives of sin and error, and to show them the way by which they may partake of the Divine nature of the Father and obtain immortality.
HOW MUCH MORE MANKIND, AND SPIRITS TOO, ARE BLESSED NOW THAN THEY WERE WHEN I WAS A MORTAL, AND FOR A LONG TIME AFTER I BECAME A SPIRIT. MY GOD THEN AND YOUR GOD NOW, ARE THE SAME, BUT HIS GREAT GIFT OF DIVINE LOVE WAS NOT IN EXISTENCE THEN AS IT IS NOW. AND SO YOU AND ALL OTHER MORTALS SHOULD REALIZE THE GREAT PRIVILEGE YOU HAVE BECAUSE OF THIS GIFT AND THE GIFT OF JESUS TO EXPLAIN, AND SHOW THE WAY BY WHICH THAT LOVE MAY BE OBTAINED, AND THAT FREELY WITHOUT MENTAL EXERCISE OF A HIGH ORDER, BUT MERELY BY THE LONGINGS AND ASPIRATIONS OF THE SOUL IN ITS DESIRES TO BECOME A PART OF THE FATHER'S DIVINITY.
I TELL YOU THAT THE WAYS OF GOD ARE WONDERFUL AND MYSTERIOUS, AND HIS PLANS, WHILE TO US MAY SEEM TO BE WORKING SLOWLY, YET THEY ARE WORKING SURELY, AND WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED IN HIS OWN FULLNESS OF TIME.
I never knew when on earth, that God was such a God of Love and Mercy. He was our Jehovah and ruler. He was a God of anger and wrath and a jealous God, as l thought, ever ready to punish those whom He thought to be His enemies with massacre and death. I obeyed Him and performed His work as I understood I should, more through fear than love. In fact love was never with me a weapon or instrument to be used in bringing the disobedient Jew to a compliance with what we thought was the will of God.
In such a method of procuring obedience the soul was never developed, and love was a minor factor in making the Jews obedient to the Father's requirements.
Our principal desires were for the success of our earthly undertakings, and when these were accomplished, we had no further use for our God, except to keep Him in reserve for occasions that might arise when, as we thought, we might need His assistance.
I know that Moses commanded the Jews to love God with all their souls and mind and strength, and many of them thought that they were doing so, but in reality their love was limited by the extent of their desires for worldly gain. And this I know, for when they had succeeded in obtaining what they wanted, they forgot to love God; and, hence we prophets were so often required to instruct them, and so frequently did call them to a recollection of God, and the danger they ran in forgetting Him and His laws. But we seldom attempted to have them call back in their recollections of Him through love, but nearly always through threatenings and the portrayal of dire punishments that would be inflicted upon them should they continue to forget Him.
And thus it was that Saul sought my help and advice. He thought that not only had God forsaken him, but that he had forsaken God, and he expected the punishment that he thought, would result from such neglect to serve and obey God. And he thought, that as I was in the spirit world and probably very close to God, I would exercise some influence and have the great threatened calamity arrested. Be he did not seek me through love of God, but through fear of his enemies and dread that God would direct His wrath upon him.
So you see, fear was the ruling sentiment that actuated the Jews in my time in their dealings with God, and when that fear was allayed or forgotten God was forgotten, and only again remembered when danger appeared. Of course, there were many exceptions to this class of Jews, for there were some who really loved God, and that in a way that no fear of wrath or anger on His part formed a part of their love.
So, you will see that the laws of Moses were not so much intended to regulate the spiritual or soul part of the Jews, but to control them in their dealings with one another in the practical affairs of life and in their dealings with the heathens and strangers.
The moral laws thus taught were taught for the purpose of making them righteous as between themselves, and then, as a consequence, so they thought, they would be righteous towards God. But the great essential to make them one with God by obtaining the Divine Love was missing, and never sought for, and could not then be found, for it did not then exist for mankind. I AM NOW A CHRISTIAN AND KNOW THAT THE DIVINE LOVE IS A REALITY AND THAT ALL MEN MAY HAVE IT IF THEY WILL WILL ONLY SEEK FOR IT.
Well, the woman of Endor was not a witch and did not practice the black art. She was a good woman possessed of powers to call up the dead, as they were called. She did not engage in practices of doing harm to mortals, such as putting spells upon them or using charms, but she was a true medium and, while not possessed of much spirituality, yet she was a woman of good morals, and had around her many spirits of the higher order whose only desires were to do good to mortals. She was the one who was careful to have no evil spirits come and communicate, and her powers with the higher ones were very great. Had she been of what you call the lower class of mediums, I would never have responded to her call; she was in rapport with men and other spirits whose thoughts were turned to the higher things of the spirit world, and, hence, she had no difficulty in having us appear when she desired it for the consolation of help to mortals.
Saul, I had instructed and advised when alive, and naturally after I became a spirit and he needed help, he would seek my advice.
In those days mediums were more numerous than most people suppose, and because of their being so common and of such different kinds, and the most of them engaged in necromancy and evil arts, there were passed strict laws against them pursuing their calling or engaging in the practice of consulting spirits.
But not all were bad, and many of them did good in the world, and among these was the woman of Endor, notwithstanding that she has been so villified and abused by the churches and preachers. You may be surprised when I tell you that she is now living high up in the Celestial Heavens and a redeemed spirit enjoying the Divine Love of God.
Well, I must stop, but I will come again sometime and tell you of the things that I know in reference to these higher spheres.
I will say good-night.
Your friend and brother,
SAMUEL.Vol. II, p. 266
