To begin I'm going to once again ask you to pray for the Holy Spirit to be with you so you can receive "the word with all readiness of mind" (Acts 17:11).
If you haven't already done so please read the other parts of this study first. You can access Part 1 by clicking here , Part 2 here and Part 3 here.
I said I would address three issues in the conclusion of this study:
Point 1) Paul said we will be raised with spiritual bodies:
When one reads 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verses 42-54 in particular, it talks about "a natural body" as opposed to "a spiritual body" (1 Corinthians 15:44) and says "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Corinthians 15:50).
1 Corinthians 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1 Corinthians 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
Can flesh and blood, a physical body, also be a spiritual body? Symbolically being "in the flesh" or "of the flesh" means to have a sinful nature, but to live in the spirit is to conquer sin as illustrated here:
Romans 8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Romans 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Romans 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Right now, in my flesh and blood body, I can be spiritual if "I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection" (1 Corinthians 9:27). When our bodies are transformed as spiritual bodies at Christ's return it means our sinful nature will be completely removed thus the "fleshly lusts, which war against the soul" (1 Peter 2:11) will no longer have dominion over us. We will have physical bodies in heaven; it will be the sinful natures we currently possess that won't "inherit the kingdom of God."
In 1 Corinthians 6:13 Paul says God will destroy our bellies. Some people believe this means we won't have physical bodies anymore, so there will be no more need to eat. But that is not what Paul meant. Scripture tells us we will eat in the heavenly kingdom. Jesus promises to dine with us in Revelation 3:20 and Isaiah 65:25 says the animals in heaven will eat as well. Please remember the bible tells us some of Paul's writings can be hard to understand so we need to be careful that we don't misunderstand him. Do you want to know what Paul meant when he said God would destroy the belly? Look at how he used the word belly in his epistle to the Romans:
Romans 16:18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.
The belly represents ones appetite to serve his own self-interest. Paul was saying our selfish, sinful desires will be destroyed in 1 Corinthians 6:13. Even though he knew the his selfish nature would not be fully removed until Jesus transforms him, it was still the standard he strove for as evidenced here:
Romans 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God...
Now onto the second issue I wanted to discuss.
Point 2) Didn't King Saul speak to the spirit of Samuel after Samuel had died?
As you recall, King Saul was the first King of Israel. You may also recall he started out as an honorable king but went on to habitually disobey the Lord. For his rebellion, God eventually withdrew His protection and Saul was killed by the Philistines. In 1 Samuel chapter 28 Saul committed perhaps his most blatant sin against God, seeking a witch to conjure up the alleged spirit of the prophet Samuel. God specifically commanded His people to never do such a thing:
Deuteronomy 18:10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch.
Deuteronomy 18:11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
In the following verses we find that Saul was fully aware he was forbidden by God to do such things, yet he turned is back on the Lord and did it anyway.
1 Samuel 28:3 Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land.
Then just four verses later...
1 Samuel 28:7 Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and enquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor.
Why is it so dangerous to speak to familiar spirits? First and foremost because God commands us to not do it. No other reason needed. But why does He tell us not to? Because they are demons! Think about it. The bible tells us multiple times the dead have no conscious thoughts. The bible also tells us to not believe fables (1 Timothy 1:4; 2 Timothy 4:4, Titus 1:14) and to not fall for seducing spirits or doctrines of devils (1 Timothy 4:1). Truth is NOT a democracy. Every Christian on the face of the earth can vote to believe people can manifest as ghosts but it isn't true. Claims of ghosts can only be explained three ways; hoaxes, imagination getting the better of you, or demons. Please understand, if you or a loved one is convinced you have seen ghosts in the past I am not calling anybody a liar or trying to insult people. I'm trying to enlighten them and warn them that they have been deceived. Please pray about it.
Getting back to King Saul and the witch here is where the alleged spirit of Samuel is manifested:
1 Samuel 28:13 And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth.
1 Samuel 28:14 And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself.
Did you notice she blasphemously refers to the so-called spirits of the dead as "gods" coming out of the earth? Also keep in mind Samuel was a beloved prophet of the Lord and it stands to reason he will go to heaven yet his ghost ascends out of the ground. If you still believe people have spirits which go to heaven at the time they die, wouldn't he have descended from heaven. Personally I think the way this is written it is obviously a demon, not the ghost of Samuel. Also notice it doesn't say it was Samuel but that Saul "perceived" it was Samuel. In other words he gave heed to a seducing spirit, which we are warned against.
If you read 1 Samuel 28:15-19 you'll see that alleged ghost of Samuel foretells that the Philistines will defeat Israel in battle. He also says that Saul along with his sons will die the next day; the familiar spirit tells him "tomorrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me" (verse 19). I've had people in the past tell me this proves it was really Samuel and he must have been sent by God. Why? Because only God can foresee the future, and since it comes true God must have told him what would happen, they said. But keep this in mind; when it comes to Satan or his demon's and their dealings with us, they are still subject to God rules.
Read Job 1:6-12. Satan alleges to God that the only reason Job is faithful to Him is because God blesses Job so greatly. In response God gives Satan control over all that Job has, with the exception that God forbids any physical harm to Job; "And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand" (Job 1:12). Later in Job 2:6 God gives the devil permission to torment Job with physical ailments so long as he doesn't kill him. The point I'm making is that Satan and his demons cannot do more to us than the Lord allows. Now I know this can be a bitter pill to swallow because we've all suffered horrible tragedies and pain in our lives, so it's hard to understand why God would allow these things. But nonetheless demons are still subject to God's authority when it comes to their dealings with us. So if God let a demon in on the fact that Saul and his sons would die the next day, and told the demon to say so, that's His prerogative. Just because that spirit knew the future doesn't mean it was really Samuel.
Another biblical example of demons being under the authority of God is the account of Legion from Mark 5:1-20. In that story, plus every other tale of demons possessing people, the demons are under the authority of God, again at least to the extent they are allowed to torment us. For "God is faithful, who will not suffer [tolerate] you to be tempted above that ye are able" (1 Corinthians 10:13).
You might still be struggling with the idea that God would have allowed Saul to believe it was Samuel's spirit because you might think it would be deceptive of God to do such a thing. But here is a question for you; was it a deception or a test? Read the following passage from Deuteronomy and you'll see that God tells us He can and will use miracles through false prophets to test us.
Deuteronomy 13:1 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,
Deuteronomy 13:2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;
Deuteronomy 13:3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Let me paraphrase that for you in more modern terms.
If you come across a prophet or someone claiming to receive visions from God, and he or she promises you a miracle,
If that miracle comes to pass, just as he or she said it would... but the "god" this person claims to represent doesn't match the true God of the bible as described in scripture...
You will reject the false teachings of the prophet or visionary. This includes Christians who preach a version of Jesus which doesn't match the bible. You will reject him or her because the Lord your God is testing you, to see if you love and believe Me or if you will let a miracle convince you to believe lies. If you truly love Me with all your heart and soul then you will believe My word over and above your emotions.
It's telling you a miracle might happen but then so what? Will you view treat the miracle as proof that someone is a true prophet of God? The miracle itself proves nothing! For all you know it was a false miracle from Satan. But here's the thing you must consider as well... for all you know God Himself performed the miracle. Now if God performs a miracle but allows it to be done through a false prophet does that make Him a deceiver? Of course not! He's testing you and since His word warns you to always test the spirits, to prove all things, then it's on you if you don't do what He told you to do.
Now since God can work miracles through false prophets to test us and since demons must obey His authority in their dealings with people, there is no reason to reject the notion that God didn't reveal the future to the demon spirit who was pretending to be Samuel. You might still believe it was the real Samuel (though I can't imagine why) but don't reject the idea that God would never work in such a manner. I'm fully convinced millions of Christians have been and will continue to be led astray by false prophets because they let miracles be their proof that someone is a servant of God. I've personally eye-witnessed this very thing. And sadly, I've been scorned by Christians for trying to warn them what was happening.
This is one more major issue I want to address to conclude this study:
Point 3) What about people who claim to have near death experiences with their spirit's leaving their bodies?
Let me address this issue by first stating that I am not, I say again, I am not calling these people liars. Not all of them at least. Let's face it there are always people who just want attention that will make things up. But enough about the attention-seekers. Let me address the people who sincerely believe they had an out-of-body experience. Some say the saw a bright light, other's say they saw God, some say they went to heaven, some say they went to hell. And many other claims have been made; they floated above the grounds and saw their own body, they were greeted by long dead relatives, they went to other planets, even heard a guy claim he was able to time travel back to the days when the Roman Empire was at its zenith. Who am I to say these things didn't happen? I'm a man who believes God reveals the truth in scripture, that's who, and His truth says otherwise. However, I do believe that they believe their near death experiences are true. Again I'm not calling them liars.
I've seen video testimonies of near death experiences and read them too. I've heard about people who were allegedly dead for hours and even for three days. Were they really dead? I don't know. What doctor's call being clinically dead might not be the same as being really dead. As for the people who were dead for hours or days, I don't know. There are only two possibilities. They were either not actually dead, or they were dead but for whatever reason God chose to see fit, He gave them life again. If God chooses to do that, so be it. Even if you still believe people have spirits which go to heaven or hell at death, if you are a Christian you've got to at least question the claims of time travel, going to other planets, etc.
But I've even heard non-Christians claim they were going to heaven in their near death experiences. That's a major red flag folks. You don't go to heaven if you reject Jesus so something is seriously wrong with this picture. How many people claim to see a beautiful light? I've heard stories of people shouting and crying in sadness after being revived from a near death experience because they felt so much peace, they didn't want to come back. Remember that 2 Corinthians 11:14 says "Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light." Demons have supernatural abilities and can perform miracles to deceive the masses. In the end times the antichrist will demonstrate "all power and signs and lying wonders" (2 Thessalonians 2:9). Revelation 19:20 speaks of "the false prophet that wrought miracles." Mark 5:15 says the man which had the legion of demons in him was now "in his right mind" after Jesus cast them out. Obviously this means the demons were affecting his mind beforehand, making him think whatever manner of things he otherwise wouldn't have believed. I attribute these near death experiences to demons working miracles. Demons got in their heads putting thoughts and visions there which really didn't happen.
There are a handful of stories in the bible of the dead being brought back to life, and NOT ONE SINGLE TIME is there an example of any of them saying they went to heaven or hell or another planet or through time or saw a bright light. So those who the bible says were actually dead made none of those claims. Makes me think the near dead were in a vulnerable state of consciousness and demons took advantage of the situation.
Time to wrap this up, I'll answer one last question you might be asking. That question is does it really matter?
When asked by His disciples what would be the signs of His coming and the end of the world the first thing Jesus said was "Take heed that no man deceive you" (Matthew 24:4). I cannot make you believe the way I do, but I can say for myself a seducing spirit will not be able to impersonate a deceased loved one of mine telling me to believe this or that because I know the dead are not alive as spirits. If a false prophet or even Satan himself comes along preaching unbiblical things about spirits or the afterlife, I'll know not to believe them. And frankly it matters because God commands us to study to show ourselves "approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15). Want to know how important it is to do just that? The apostle Paul says that at the time when Jesus returns to gather His people together, those who perish do so "because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved" (2 Thessalonians 2:10). Studying to show yourself approved is vitally important!
I'm certainly not saying if you don't believe me then you won't be saved. That would be ridiculous. The Lord knows your heart, I don't. But He also knows if you are truly striving for the truth, and if you aren't striving, you might be found wanting. So if nothing else I hope this study instills a desire to continue studying this and other topics from the bible with a fervent desire to gain as much insight into the truth as you possibly can.
Amen.
If you haven't already done so please read the other parts of this study first. You can access Part 1 by clicking here , Part 2 here and Part 3 here.
I said I would address three issues in the conclusion of this study:
- Paul said we will be raised with spiritual bodies because flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. How can that be if we have physical bodies?
- What about the ghost or spirit of Samuel who spoke to King Saul after Samuel's death?
- What about people who claim to have near death experiences and say their "spirit" left their body and briefly went to heaven?
Point 1) Paul said we will be raised with spiritual bodies:
When one reads 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verses 42-54 in particular, it talks about "a natural body" as opposed to "a spiritual body" (1 Corinthians 15:44) and says "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Corinthians 15:50).
1 Corinthians 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1 Corinthians 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
Can flesh and blood, a physical body, also be a spiritual body? Symbolically being "in the flesh" or "of the flesh" means to have a sinful nature, but to live in the spirit is to conquer sin as illustrated here:
Romans 8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Romans 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Romans 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Right now, in my flesh and blood body, I can be spiritual if "I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection" (1 Corinthians 9:27). When our bodies are transformed as spiritual bodies at Christ's return it means our sinful nature will be completely removed thus the "fleshly lusts, which war against the soul" (1 Peter 2:11) will no longer have dominion over us. We will have physical bodies in heaven; it will be the sinful natures we currently possess that won't "inherit the kingdom of God."
In 1 Corinthians 6:13 Paul says God will destroy our bellies. Some people believe this means we won't have physical bodies anymore, so there will be no more need to eat. But that is not what Paul meant. Scripture tells us we will eat in the heavenly kingdom. Jesus promises to dine with us in Revelation 3:20 and Isaiah 65:25 says the animals in heaven will eat as well. Please remember the bible tells us some of Paul's writings can be hard to understand so we need to be careful that we don't misunderstand him. Do you want to know what Paul meant when he said God would destroy the belly? Look at how he used the word belly in his epistle to the Romans:
Romans 16:18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.
The belly represents ones appetite to serve his own self-interest. Paul was saying our selfish, sinful desires will be destroyed in 1 Corinthians 6:13. Even though he knew the his selfish nature would not be fully removed until Jesus transforms him, it was still the standard he strove for as evidenced here:
Romans 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God...
Now onto the second issue I wanted to discuss.
Point 2) Didn't King Saul speak to the spirit of Samuel after Samuel had died?
As you recall, King Saul was the first King of Israel. You may also recall he started out as an honorable king but went on to habitually disobey the Lord. For his rebellion, God eventually withdrew His protection and Saul was killed by the Philistines. In 1 Samuel chapter 28 Saul committed perhaps his most blatant sin against God, seeking a witch to conjure up the alleged spirit of the prophet Samuel. God specifically commanded His people to never do such a thing:
Deuteronomy 18:10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch.
Deuteronomy 18:11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
In the following verses we find that Saul was fully aware he was forbidden by God to do such things, yet he turned is back on the Lord and did it anyway.
1 Samuel 28:3 Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land.
Then just four verses later...
1 Samuel 28:7 Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and enquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor.
Why is it so dangerous to speak to familiar spirits? First and foremost because God commands us to not do it. No other reason needed. But why does He tell us not to? Because they are demons! Think about it. The bible tells us multiple times the dead have no conscious thoughts. The bible also tells us to not believe fables (1 Timothy 1:4; 2 Timothy 4:4, Titus 1:14) and to not fall for seducing spirits or doctrines of devils (1 Timothy 4:1). Truth is NOT a democracy. Every Christian on the face of the earth can vote to believe people can manifest as ghosts but it isn't true. Claims of ghosts can only be explained three ways; hoaxes, imagination getting the better of you, or demons. Please understand, if you or a loved one is convinced you have seen ghosts in the past I am not calling anybody a liar or trying to insult people. I'm trying to enlighten them and warn them that they have been deceived. Please pray about it.
Getting back to King Saul and the witch here is where the alleged spirit of Samuel is manifested:
1 Samuel 28:13 And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth.
1 Samuel 28:14 And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself.
Did you notice she blasphemously refers to the so-called spirits of the dead as "gods" coming out of the earth? Also keep in mind Samuel was a beloved prophet of the Lord and it stands to reason he will go to heaven yet his ghost ascends out of the ground. If you still believe people have spirits which go to heaven at the time they die, wouldn't he have descended from heaven. Personally I think the way this is written it is obviously a demon, not the ghost of Samuel. Also notice it doesn't say it was Samuel but that Saul "perceived" it was Samuel. In other words he gave heed to a seducing spirit, which we are warned against.
If you read 1 Samuel 28:15-19 you'll see that alleged ghost of Samuel foretells that the Philistines will defeat Israel in battle. He also says that Saul along with his sons will die the next day; the familiar spirit tells him "tomorrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me" (verse 19). I've had people in the past tell me this proves it was really Samuel and he must have been sent by God. Why? Because only God can foresee the future, and since it comes true God must have told him what would happen, they said. But keep this in mind; when it comes to Satan or his demon's and their dealings with us, they are still subject to God rules.
Read Job 1:6-12. Satan alleges to God that the only reason Job is faithful to Him is because God blesses Job so greatly. In response God gives Satan control over all that Job has, with the exception that God forbids any physical harm to Job; "And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand" (Job 1:12). Later in Job 2:6 God gives the devil permission to torment Job with physical ailments so long as he doesn't kill him. The point I'm making is that Satan and his demons cannot do more to us than the Lord allows. Now I know this can be a bitter pill to swallow because we've all suffered horrible tragedies and pain in our lives, so it's hard to understand why God would allow these things. But nonetheless demons are still subject to God's authority when it comes to their dealings with us. So if God let a demon in on the fact that Saul and his sons would die the next day, and told the demon to say so, that's His prerogative. Just because that spirit knew the future doesn't mean it was really Samuel.
Another biblical example of demons being under the authority of God is the account of Legion from Mark 5:1-20. In that story, plus every other tale of demons possessing people, the demons are under the authority of God, again at least to the extent they are allowed to torment us. For "God is faithful, who will not suffer [tolerate] you to be tempted above that ye are able" (1 Corinthians 10:13).
You might still be struggling with the idea that God would have allowed Saul to believe it was Samuel's spirit because you might think it would be deceptive of God to do such a thing. But here is a question for you; was it a deception or a test? Read the following passage from Deuteronomy and you'll see that God tells us He can and will use miracles through false prophets to test us.
Deuteronomy 13:1 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,
Deuteronomy 13:2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;
Deuteronomy 13:3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Let me paraphrase that for you in more modern terms.
If you come across a prophet or someone claiming to receive visions from God, and he or she promises you a miracle,
If that miracle comes to pass, just as he or she said it would... but the "god" this person claims to represent doesn't match the true God of the bible as described in scripture...
You will reject the false teachings of the prophet or visionary. This includes Christians who preach a version of Jesus which doesn't match the bible. You will reject him or her because the Lord your God is testing you, to see if you love and believe Me or if you will let a miracle convince you to believe lies. If you truly love Me with all your heart and soul then you will believe My word over and above your emotions.
It's telling you a miracle might happen but then so what? Will you view treat the miracle as proof that someone is a true prophet of God? The miracle itself proves nothing! For all you know it was a false miracle from Satan. But here's the thing you must consider as well... for all you know God Himself performed the miracle. Now if God performs a miracle but allows it to be done through a false prophet does that make Him a deceiver? Of course not! He's testing you and since His word warns you to always test the spirits, to prove all things, then it's on you if you don't do what He told you to do.
Now since God can work miracles through false prophets to test us and since demons must obey His authority in their dealings with people, there is no reason to reject the notion that God didn't reveal the future to the demon spirit who was pretending to be Samuel. You might still believe it was the real Samuel (though I can't imagine why) but don't reject the idea that God would never work in such a manner. I'm fully convinced millions of Christians have been and will continue to be led astray by false prophets because they let miracles be their proof that someone is a servant of God. I've personally eye-witnessed this very thing. And sadly, I've been scorned by Christians for trying to warn them what was happening.
This is one more major issue I want to address to conclude this study:
Point 3) What about people who claim to have near death experiences with their spirit's leaving their bodies?
Let me address this issue by first stating that I am not, I say again, I am not calling these people liars. Not all of them at least. Let's face it there are always people who just want attention that will make things up. But enough about the attention-seekers. Let me address the people who sincerely believe they had an out-of-body experience. Some say the saw a bright light, other's say they saw God, some say they went to heaven, some say they went to hell. And many other claims have been made; they floated above the grounds and saw their own body, they were greeted by long dead relatives, they went to other planets, even heard a guy claim he was able to time travel back to the days when the Roman Empire was at its zenith. Who am I to say these things didn't happen? I'm a man who believes God reveals the truth in scripture, that's who, and His truth says otherwise. However, I do believe that they believe their near death experiences are true. Again I'm not calling them liars.
I've seen video testimonies of near death experiences and read them too. I've heard about people who were allegedly dead for hours and even for three days. Were they really dead? I don't know. What doctor's call being clinically dead might not be the same as being really dead. As for the people who were dead for hours or days, I don't know. There are only two possibilities. They were either not actually dead, or they were dead but for whatever reason God chose to see fit, He gave them life again. If God chooses to do that, so be it. Even if you still believe people have spirits which go to heaven or hell at death, if you are a Christian you've got to at least question the claims of time travel, going to other planets, etc.
But I've even heard non-Christians claim they were going to heaven in their near death experiences. That's a major red flag folks. You don't go to heaven if you reject Jesus so something is seriously wrong with this picture. How many people claim to see a beautiful light? I've heard stories of people shouting and crying in sadness after being revived from a near death experience because they felt so much peace, they didn't want to come back. Remember that 2 Corinthians 11:14 says "Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light." Demons have supernatural abilities and can perform miracles to deceive the masses. In the end times the antichrist will demonstrate "all power and signs and lying wonders" (2 Thessalonians 2:9). Revelation 19:20 speaks of "the false prophet that wrought miracles." Mark 5:15 says the man which had the legion of demons in him was now "in his right mind" after Jesus cast them out. Obviously this means the demons were affecting his mind beforehand, making him think whatever manner of things he otherwise wouldn't have believed. I attribute these near death experiences to demons working miracles. Demons got in their heads putting thoughts and visions there which really didn't happen.
There are a handful of stories in the bible of the dead being brought back to life, and NOT ONE SINGLE TIME is there an example of any of them saying they went to heaven or hell or another planet or through time or saw a bright light. So those who the bible says were actually dead made none of those claims. Makes me think the near dead were in a vulnerable state of consciousness and demons took advantage of the situation.
Time to wrap this up, I'll answer one last question you might be asking. That question is does it really matter?
When asked by His disciples what would be the signs of His coming and the end of the world the first thing Jesus said was "Take heed that no man deceive you" (Matthew 24:4). I cannot make you believe the way I do, but I can say for myself a seducing spirit will not be able to impersonate a deceased loved one of mine telling me to believe this or that because I know the dead are not alive as spirits. If a false prophet or even Satan himself comes along preaching unbiblical things about spirits or the afterlife, I'll know not to believe them. And frankly it matters because God commands us to study to show ourselves "approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15). Want to know how important it is to do just that? The apostle Paul says that at the time when Jesus returns to gather His people together, those who perish do so "because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved" (2 Thessalonians 2:10). Studying to show yourself approved is vitally important!
I'm certainly not saying if you don't believe me then you won't be saved. That would be ridiculous. The Lord knows your heart, I don't. But He also knows if you are truly striving for the truth, and if you aren't striving, you might be found wanting. So if nothing else I hope this study instills a desire to continue studying this and other topics from the bible with a fervent desire to gain as much insight into the truth as you possibly can.
Amen.
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