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July 21st, 1915
Received by:James Padgett.
Washington D.C.
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 tonight, 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 I 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.
But 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 vilified 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
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