Caller: Hello! How are you doing tonight sir?

Pastor Doug: Pretty good. How are you doing?

Caller: I'm doing quite well. I was just calling - I was listening first time here in Tennessee. I'm actually in Georgia but I hear you on WFLI.

Pastor Doug: Oh okay.

Caller: I just scanned across and heard your program and I heard you say that you can't call people back from the dead, that it would just be demons. Is that correct - is that what you said?

Pastor Doug: Yes. That's right. That's what I said.

Caller: I was just wondering if you could explain over in um 1st Samuel, I believe it's chapter 28, where Saul calls back Samuel.

Pastor Doug: King Saul - yeah he goes to a witch.

Caller: Well is that a demon there or is that actually Samuel?

Pastor Doug: It's a demon. I'll tell you why I believe that. For one thing, God said never go to a witch secondarily, they were supposed to be executed thirdly, this spirit that came up that claimed to be Samuel says that the witch had power to raise him. Well the Bible tells us that only God has that power. Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life. The devil can't give life to people.

Caller: Right.

Pastor Doug: The devil cannot call saved people like Samuel at his beck and will. The message that Samuel or this spirit that claimed to be Samuel gave was an utterly hopeless, discouraging message not even a shred of hope. And when Jesus gave messages, He always mingled it with hope. If you read the seven messages to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3, He rebuked them, but He always said, '...to him that overcomes.' He mingled it with hope and mercy. The message that this demon gave said, 'you're going to be with me and your sons are going to be with me....'

And, wait a second - Saul died lost - he committed suicide. Samuel died saved - a holy man, spirit-filled Prophet, High Priest. How are they going to be together? It made it sound like they're sharing the same rewards. So there are so many suspicious things that we have a lot of reason to believe that because Saul ventured on the enchanted ground of that witch, he was exposed to a demon that was impersonating Samuel. If you go to 2nd Corinthians 11:14 where it says Satan himself can be transformed into an angel of light. And so the devil has the power to create illusions and to seem to be transformed.

Caller: So you think that Saul was not saved?

Pastor Doug: No I do not think Saul was saved. The Bible tells us that he seems to have grieved away the Holy Spirit and an evil spirit took possession of him. He took his own life, and the closing chapters of his life were just uh - God would not speak to him - that's why he went to the witch. He had grieved away the Spirit of God.

Caller: Okay. Well I appreciate your time sir and good luck to you and God bless you.

Pastor Doug: God bless you. Thank you very much.