THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SPIRITISM

Allan Kardec

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INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS

THE LAST SHALL BE THE FIRST


2. The worker of the last hour has a right to his wages; nevertheless, it is important that his lateness be not due to either laziness or reluctance, but to the fact that, although willing to work, he had been patiently waiting for someone to employ him. He has a right to his wages because, being hardworking, he has waited anxiously since dawn for someone who would finally offer work. It was only that he lacked opportunity.


However, if he had refused to work at any time during the day, or if he had said: "Wait a while, rest is very agreeable to me; when the last hour sounds then I will think about the day's wages; what necessity have I to be bothered by an employer I have no regard for and don't even know? The later the better!" Then this person, my friends, would not have received the wages of work but of laziness.

What would you say then of someone who, instead of remaining inactive, utilized those hours destined for the day's labour to practice culpable acts; who blasphemed against God, spilt the blood of his brothers, launched perturbation amongst families, ruined those who trusted in him by abusing their innocence; who, in short, satiated himself with all the ignominies of human nature? What would become of him? Is it enough for him to say at the last hour: "Master, I used my time badly. Take me on till the end of the day so l do some work, although it will be very little of what was my share, and give me the wages of a good worker"? No! No! The Lord will say to him: "I have no work for you at present. You squandered away your time; you forgot what you had learnt; you can no longer work in my vineyard. Consequently, you must recommence your learning, and when you are better disposed come again to me and I will throw open my vast fields to you, where you may work at any time."

Good Spiritists, my dearly beloved, you are all workers of the last hour. The one who says: “I began work at dawn and will only finish at nightfall," is very conceited. All of you came when you were called, some a little earlier, some a little later, to this incarnation whose shackles you now carry. For how many centuries has the Lord called you to His vineyard without you wishing to enter it? Here is the moment to pocket your wages, so put to good use the time that is left and never forget that your existence, however long it may appear to be, is nothing but a fleeting moment in the immensity of time which forms eternity. - CONSTANTINE, a Protecting Spirit (Bordeaux, 1863).

3. Jesus liked the simplicity of symbols and in His virile language the workers who arrived at the first hour were the prophets, Moses and all the initiates, who have marked the steps of progress which continued to be signposted throughout the ages by the apostles, the martyrs, the founders of the Church, the wise men, the philosophers and finally by the Spiritists. These, who are the last to come, were announced and prophesied from the dawn of the advent of the Messiah and they will receive the same recompense or, I should say, a larger recompense. Being the last to arrive, the Spiritists take advantage of all the intellectual labours of their predecessors, because Man must inherit from Man and because human work and the subsequent results are collective: God blesses solidarity. Moreover, many who relive today, or who will relive tomorrow, are terminating work begun previously. More than one patriarch, more than one prophet, more than one disciple of Christ is to be found amongst these; nevertheless, more enlightened, more advanced, working now not at the base but at the summit of the edifice. These then will receive wages according to the value of the undertaking.


The beautiful doctrine of reincarnation is perpetual and needs spiritual affiliation. A Spirit, when called upon to give an account of its earthly mandate, sees for itself the continuity of an interrupted task, which is always resumed. It sees, it feels, it intuitively grasps the thoughts of those who have preceded. It begins the lesson anew, matured by experience, to advance yet further. And all of them, the workers of the first and last hours, with their eyes fully open to the profound justice of God, murmur no more: they simply adore.

This is one of the true meanings of this parable which holds, as do all those utilized by Jesus when speaking to the people, the rudiments of the future and also, in all forms and from all aspects, the revelation of the magnificent unity which harmonizes all things in the Universe and the solidarity which joins all present beings to the past and to the future. HENRI HEINE (Paris, 1863).



THE MISSION OF THE SPIRITISTS



4. Do you not already hear the noise of the tempest which will sweep away the old world and destroy all the iniquities of this planet? Ah, praise the Lord, all those who have put their faith in His sovereign justice and who, as new apostles of the belief revealed by the superior prophetical voices, go forth to preach the new doctrine of reincarnation and the elevation of Spirits according to whether they have fulfilled their missions and supported their terrestrial trials well or badly.

Do not be afraid! The tongues of fire are above your heads. Oh, true adepts of Spiritism . . . you are God's chosen ones! Go forth and preach the Divine Word. The time has come when you should sacrifice your habits, your work, and your futile occupations to its dissemination. Go forth and preach! The elevated Spirits are with you. You will most certainly speak to those who do not wish to hear the Voice of God, because this Voice calls them unceasingly to abnegation. You will preach disinterestedness to those who are avaricious, abstinence to the dissolute, gentleness to domestic tyrants and despots! Lost words, I know, but it does not matter. It is necessary that you irrigate the land to be sown with the sweat of your labour, seeing that it will not come to fruit nor produce except under the repeated blows of the evangelical hoe and plough. Go forth and preach!

To all of you, men and women of good faith who are conscious of your inferiority before the many worlds scattered in infinite space! . . . Launch yourselves into the crusade against injustice and iniquity. Go forth and ostracize the worship of the golden calf, which spreads more and more each day. Go forth; God guides you! Simple and ignorant humanity, your tongues will be freed and you will speak as no orator speaks. Go forth then and preach, for those of the population who are heedful will happily take in your words of consolation, fraternity, hope and peace.

What matter the ambushes rigged against you along the pathway! Only wolves fall into wolf traps, since the Shepherd will know how to defend His sheep from the sacrificial butchers.

Go forth those who, great before God and more blessed than Saint Thomas, believe without demanding to see and accept the fact of mediumship even when they have not managed to obtain it for themselves. Go then, for the Spirit of God is guiding you.

March forward, magnificent phalanx of faith! Before you the great battalions of unbelievers will dissipate, as does the morning dew at the first rays of the sun.

Jesus said that faith is the virtue which moves mountains. However, heavier that the greatest mountain are the impurities and all the vices which are derived from them, which lie deposited in the hearts of men. So then, depart full of courage to remove this mountain of iniquities which future generations should only know as legend, in the same way that you know only very imperfectly of the times which preceded pagan civilization.

Moral and philosophical upheavals will be produced at all points of the globe; the hour approaches when the Divine Light will spread itself over both worlds.


THE WORKERS OF THE LORD


5. The time approaches when those things which have been announced for the transformation of humanity will be accomplished. All those who have worked in the field of the Lord with disinterestedness and no other motive than charity, will be blessed! Their working days will be paid a hundred times more than was expected. Blessed are those who have said to their fellow men: "Let us work together and unite our efforts so that when the Lord arrives He will find His work finished," seeing that the Lord will say to them: "Come unto me, you who have been good servants, you who knew how to silence your rivalries and discords so that no harm should come to the work!" But woe to those who as a result of their dissensions have held back the time of the harvest, because the tempest will come and they will be taken away in the turbulence! They will cry out: "Mercy! Mercy!" However, the Lord will say to them: "How can you implore mercy when you had none for your fellow men and refused to offer them a helping hand, trampling on the weak instead of upholding them? How can you beseech mercy when you sought your recompense in earthly pleasures and the satisfaction of your pride? You have already received your recompense, just as you wished. There is nothing more to ask for; the celestial rewards are for those who have not looked for earthly compensations."

At this very moment God is preparing a census of His faithful servants, and has already taken note of those whose devotion is only apparent, so that they may not usurp the wages of the courageous servants, because those who do not draw back from the task are the ones to whom He entrusted the most difficult positions in the great work of regeneration by means of Spiritism. These words will be fulfilled: "The first shall be the last and the last shall be the first in the Kingdom of Heaven." - THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH (Paris, 1862).

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