Boy, I sure loved my Grandma and Grandpa on my Dad’s side of the family! Grandma knew how to cook like no other and every time she talked with me, it was with love and compassion for me. It was personal and a little on the intimate side, like with your mom because it was a relationship between me, and my Grandma. So it is with most, albeit with those know what love is, still we understand the relationship with them and relish the interaction with them.
My Dad was a military man for thirty years, retiring from the Air Force and my Mom was a true military wife and together we have been all around half of the earth. The same with my wife of thirty-eight years now, she had wonderful parents that knew what love is and has also been to the other half of this earth. Her Dad was a thirty-year man in the Army. Her mom was unique to say the least, loving even to others she never knew. What was so unique for me is that they accepted me as one of their own, like another son.
My wife and I spend a fair amount of our time together remembering them all and talking about them. We talk about where we as military brats lived and what things were like back then, enjoying and relishing the past and actually reliving those times with them in our hearts. Suffice it to say, we become somewhat melancholy, maybe a little sad that those we loved so very much are no longer with us. We are certain that one day the Lord will bring us all together again, to enjoy our lives in eternity with the Lord.
It says in Ecclesiastes 9.5, emphasis added:
“For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.”
It is obvious that this verse is for real to each one of us. We know that each of us one day─must die. What is so unusual to me is that we think somehow we can circumvent that particular event, especially when we are young.
It says in John 11.11-14:
“These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.”
You must remember that Lazarus was like a member of the family to Jesus Christ and therefore you would expect Jesus to sustain each of them continually, be it known, Lazarus did finally die as a human. There have been a few exceptions to that rule in history though, for example: Enoch and Elijah, they were taken to heaven. They never saw death as humans.
So then the question is: Why am I bringing this up…again? Death for a human is the final line each of us must cross and when that takes place, it is final for us. Several things take place aside from the usual funeral and burial. It is the end of the line for each and every person that has lived, to have made their decision concerning whether they wanted heaven or hell for eternity.
Once that last breathe is taken and exhaled, the decision is finalized, you are either headed for heaven, because you accepted the gift of Jesus Christ’s blood or you haven’t and now you are headed for hell. There are no other ways to go! It is a fact. Accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and “live for eternity” or refuse Jesus Christ and you “die in eternity.”
Hebrews 9.27:
“It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”
Do you see anywhere, some change, something different, for you because you are somehow special? When the Word of God uses “men” that is including everyone, regardless of gender, age, race, color or creed, HE means YOU! You will die one day.
Then what about those who believe in or who have seen ghosts or the spirits of the dead haunting houses or graveyards?
Ecclesiastes 9.5-6, emphasis added:
“The dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.”
Thus the dead have no memory of when they were alive. So they cannot remember anyone or anything that they loved or hated, cherished or envied during their life. Even if they could come back as a ghost or a spirit, they could not even remember who they were to haunt or help! Yet many people have actually seen ghosts or spirits and various apparitions. Others have heard unexplained noises and seen supernatural phenomena.
Since the Word of God teaches that ghosts cannot be the actual dead person’s spirit raised to life, then what are these apparitions? They are only the evil angels or spirits of devils whom were cast out of heaven. These evil beings are only pretending to be the dead come back to life.
Why do these evil angels impersonate the dead and sometimes even communicate information to those whom they contact? Their whole purpose for doing so is to deceive people and try to get them to believe that the information given them is really the truth. Satan is at the very heart of all of this.
It says in John 8:44, emphasis added:
“Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”
We are not to believe any of the information relayed by these apparitions or so-called spirits of the dead because it is nothing but lies! The biggest lie which Satan and his ilk have tried to pawn off to us as being true is the idea, that when we die our soul continues to live on. That falsehood is also known as the “immortality of the soul” and many have been duped into believing it is true.
It says in Genesis 3.19:
“In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”
So there is no question that each of us will die at some point in time. What we need to be doing is making sure all our information is of the Lord and no other, otherwise we will believe a lie! God’s Holy Word to us, has the last say as to what will happen and what won’t. It is up to us to read our Bibles and seek the Lord at every turn of our lives.
We must devote our lives to following Jesus Christ, according to HIS perfect will in our lives, but to know that perfect will of the Lord we must consult the Bible. It is with the Word of God, we must test everything and know what is real and what is not. Failure to do so will result in ideas like those of ghosts or apparitions being the spirits of the dead, which we now see is a lie.
Again, please read, Hebrews 9.27:
“It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”
Please also note here, this verse is a “statement” not a suggestion, therefore it is a truth of the Lord.
We go wrong when we fail to read the Word of God, when we fail to test everything against the Word of God. We must be diligent in every way, every day of our lives, especially in these days prior to the Rapture.
“For many will come in My name” (Jesus Christ) but they are actually wolves in sheep’s clothing. So again, where does this place those that are out searching for the ghosts of the dead? They are actually facing demons and Satan himself! That being the case, what will be the fate of those once the Rapture of the church of Jesus Christ takes place and the Holy Spirit is removed and the Tribulation begins?
I do not wish to contemplate that level of horror, do you? The answer has always been and will forever be, Jesus Christ!