This past Sunday we finished up our series on the Supernatural. Perhaps one last question to address would be the existence or non-existence of ghosts. When people say they have had a ghostly encounter, what is it that they actually experienced?
Many people are fascinated by tales of the supernatural and the idea of ghosts. What is a ghost? It is generally agreed that a ghost is the spirit of a dead person that lingers behind on the earth.
Sometimes you can see them and sometimes they are invisible.
There have been many TV programs and movies that deal with the existence of ghosts as if they were real. Do they exist? Are they real? Even the disciples mistook Jesus for a ghost when he came walking across the water (Mark 6:49).
The one true source concerning the reality of ghosts is God’s Word, the Bible. After all, God is Lord over both the natural and the supernatural world. The Bible never indicates that a person’s spirit lingers on the earth after they have passed away. In 2 Corinthians 5:8, Paul talks about preferring to be “absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.” We have another picture of this in Luke 16:22-23, where a poor man dies and is carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom and a rich man dies and finds himself in hades. The implication being that both men, once they died, found themselves either with God or in hell.
The Bible does, however, affirm the existence of supernatural beings. In Mark 5:2-15 Jesus encounters a man inhabited by a multitude of unclean spirits. There are a number of other times in the Bible where people are oppressed or inhabited by demonic spirits. Demons are supernatural, but they are not God. They are opposed to God and His purposes and will do anything to deceive people.
In light of this I believe that ghost sitings are either something people have imagined, or else they are demons. Paul the Apostle gives us this warning in 1 Timothy 4:1, “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons.”
One last verse to consider, Hebrews 1:27, “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes the judgment.” Do you believe in ghosts? It is important that we have an accurate understanding of these matters and the Bible is our only real source for those answers.
(adapted from an article, “Do You Believe in Ghosts,” by Rick Barry, Answers Magazine, July-Sept 2010)
ghosts are demons. I had experiences with demons in my home before I got saved. 4 days before I got saved I believed this demon was trying to kill me.
ReplyDeleteI will have to give my testimony sometime.
Eternally grateful I am saved.
Fran Smith
Demons are nothing to play around with. People need to be careful playing around with supernational. They have no clue.
PS My experience with angels far better than my experience with demons.
God bless your day,
Fran
What about angels. I mean I would imagine that most ghosts are demons, but it would seem that some of the things that ghosts have been given credit for could be angels sometimes.
ReplyDeleteDebra brings up an interesting question. In 2 Corinthians 11:14 it says that "even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light." As I mentioned in my blog, demons are deceiving spirits and will do everything they can to draw a believer away from the purposes of God. I believe that angels will always give glory to God whereas demons will not. Perhaps this is one way to distinquish between the two. A couple of verses from 1 John also come to mind:
ReplyDelete1Jn 4:2-3
By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God;
3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. NASU
I believe any encounter with an angel is going to bring glory to God in some way.