Ghosts and Demons>
(Message delivered by Dr Jeffrey Khoo at the True Life Church 10.30 am Service, June 4, 06)
Text: James 4:7
The realm of the unseen fascinates many. Books and movies on ghosts and demons often sell very well. My little daughter recently asked me, “What are ghosts?” “Do they exist?” “Are they able to harm us?” These are good questions, and I would like to answer these questions in the light of the Bible.
What is a ghost? According to the Reader’s Digest Universal Dictionary, a ghost is “The spirit of a dead person, supposed to haunt living persons or former habitats.” Based on this dictionary meaning, we need to raise a number of questions: “Is a ghost really the spirit of a dead person?” “Can the souls or spirits of the dead return to communicate with or haunt the living?” “Are there such things as haunted houses?”
“Ghosts” are Not Human Spirits Which Return to Haunt the Living
The word “ghost” occurs a total of 108 times in the Bible, and is used in two ways: It is used with reference to (1) the 3rd Person of the Holy Trinity— the Holy Ghost, (2) the soul or spirit of a human being who has just passed on, as in “he gave up the ghost, and died” (Gen 25:17, Job 3:11, Lam 1:19, Mark 15:37, 39, Acts 5:5, 12:23).
Insofar as “ghost sightings” are concerned, we have a couple of them in the Gospels. In Matthew 14:26, we read, “And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit (ie, a ghost); and they cried out for fear.” The Greek word here is not the usual psuche (soul) or pneuma (spirit) but phantasma (phantom, spectre, apparition). The miracle of Jesus walking on water led the disciples to think that they had seen a ghost. Jesus immediately identified Himself to His disciples and assured them that they had not seen a ghost (Matt 14:27).
The other occasion was Jesus’ post-resurrection appearance to His disciples in a locked room. In Luke 24:36-37, we read, “And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.” The word “spirit” here is the word pneuma which often refers to the soul or the immaterial part of man. By using the word pneuma (spirit) and not the word phantasm (ghost), Jesus meant to tell His disciples that He was not a disembodied spirit, but “flesh and bones.” In verse 39, He assured them, “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” Jesus was no ghost, but physical and tangible in His glorified or resurrected body.
Now the question we want to ask is: What happens to the soul or the spirit of a man when he dies? Ecclesiastes 12:7 tells us what happens to a man when he dies, “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” For believers, the spirit immediately goes to heaven. 2 Corinthians 5:8 says, “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” For unbelievers, the spirit immediately goes to hell. Jesus told the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16. Lazarus the beggar died and went straight to heaven, but the rich man, an unbeliever, went straight to hell. Luke 16:22-23 tells us, “the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments.” It is clear from these passages that the dead are not restless or hungry spirits, roaming the earth as ghosts, but are in heaven or in hell in their bodiless state.
The Bible teaches that the souls or spirits of the dead are in a bodiless state until the resurrection. Jesus taught this in John 5:28-29, “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” When Christ comes back to judge the world, the souls of the dead will be reunited with their resurrected bodies—the resurrected believers will inhabit the New Jerusalem and will be rewarded for their service at the Judgement Seat of Christ (2 Cor 5:8-10, Rev 20:6). The resurrected unbelievers, on the other hand, will stand before the Judgement of the Great White Throne to be judged for their sins and be cast into the Lake of Fire forever (Rev 20:11-14).
“Ghosts” are Demonic Spirits Which Seek to Deceive the Living
If ghosts are not the souls or the spirits of the departed dead returning to haunt the living, then how do we explain ghost sightings and haunted houses?
Now, it was a common misconception in ancient times as it is today that the spirits of the dead could appear or speak to the living. Can the spirits of those who have passed away return to haunt or speak to those who are still alive? The answer is No. When Jesus showed Himself to His disciples and spoke to them, He did so in His flesh. In the Old Testament, God clearly forbade His people to consult the spirits. Leviticus 20:6 warns, “And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.” Deuteronomy 18:10-11 also warns, “There shall not be found among you any one … that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer (ie, a medium who consults with the spirits of the dead to tell a person’s future or fortune).”
Stay away from necromancers and fortune tellers! Evil spirits are working in and through such people who delve into the occult and who practise witchcraft and sorcery. If we want to know the will of God for our lives, and to know what the future holds for us, we go to “a more sure word of prophecy” (2 Pet 1:19, “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts.”) which is none other than the 100% inspired and 100% preserved words of the Holy Scriptures (1 Pet 1:25, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”) which reveal the will of God for man and the future of the world.
If ghosts are not the returning or roaming spirits of people who have passed away, then what are they? They are the demons—evil spirits that are out to deceive people and destroy their lives. The Bible describes them as “unclean spirits” (Matt 10:1, Acts 5:16, Rev 16:13). They are “unclean” because they are evil and wicked, sinful and unholy. These unclean spirits can take possession of a place or a body (Matt 12:43, Mark 5:8-13). This explains haunted houses and demon-possessed people.
Can Christians be possessed by demons?
Absolutely not! This is because we are already possessed by the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity—the Holy Ghost. All who have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour, and are born again, have the Spirit of God dwelling within them. Romans 8:9 says, “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” And if we belong to Christ and are indwelt by the Spirit then the devil cannot own us and his demons cannot possess us. The Apostle John in 1 John 4:4 assures us, “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he (ie, Holy Spirit) that is in you, than he (ie, the devil) that is in the world.” So do not be afraid of the devil and his demons. They cannot touch us because we are God’s children. They will try to tempt us to do evil, but we can defeat them easily. How? James tells us how, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist (Gk ‘antistete,’ lit ‘stand against’) the devil and he will flee from you” (Jas 4:7).
To illustrate this point, let me tell you a Chinese ghost story taken from pastor’s Counselling Recipes, pages 95-6:
A Chinese Ghost Story
Friendly and jovial Mr Chen Zaiheng was a fellow clansman who was over sixty years old. One night, while walking along a road in the wilderness, he saw two people carrying a lantern walking in front of him. He walked up to them, hoping to light his pipe, but no matter how hard he tried, the pipe could not be lit.
One of them asked him: “Have you passed the first ‘seven days’?” Mr Chen felt the question very strange and casually replied: “No.” That person exclaimed: “That’s right! Your life spirit has not completely vanished and hence cannot light this ghost fire.”
Only then did Mr Chen realise the pair were ghosts and deliberately asked: “Everyone on earth said people are afraid of ghosts, is this true?” One of the ghosts replied: “It is not true. Ghosts are afraid of people.”
Mr Chen then asked: “What’s there to be afraid of?” “That they will spit on us,” came the reply. Mr Chen took a deep breath and spat at the ghosts, who retreated three steps, opened wide their eyes and said angrily: “Aren’t you a ghost too?”
Mr Chen laughed and said: “In fact, I’m a human being who is quite near to becoming a ghost!” He spat at the ghosts again, and the ghosts’ bodies were reduced by half. When he spat the third time, they vanished.
In the name of Jesus Christ, resist or stand against the devil (do not succumb to him, do not make a pact with him) and he will become smaller and smaller, weaker and weaker, and finally disappear.
How about haunted houses? I know of a church which bought a haunted house for a song. When the church moved in, the ghosts moved out, lari kuat-kuat, in double quick time. Darkness cannot fight against the Light. Once the light is turned on, the darkness disappears.
We have victory over our physical and spiritual enemies when we have Jesus Christ—the Light of the world—in our lives. Jesus says in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” Are you afraid of the dark? Are you afraid of death? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will not only have God’s Perfect and Powerful Light that dispels all darkness, you will also have abundant and eternal life that will never end. Amen.
