There are millions today who believe they can hear and harness voices from the dead. According to a 1994 Today-CNN-Gallup poll nearly seventy million Americans believe that it is possible to communicate with the dead. (People Weekly, October 25, 1999) The popularity of mediums continues to climb as thousands long to speak with their deceased. Television and the movies capitalize on the public’s fascination with the unseen. What are these voices from the dead? Is it possible to communicate with our departed loved ones? Does prophecy give us any guidance in these matters? Who are these spirits of spiritualism?

Revelation 16:13, 14  And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

Two thousand years ago, Bible prophecy predicted that just before the battle of Armageddon the forces of the supernormal would be at work. It pictures spirits of demons performing miracles and uniting the world to march headfirst into the final battle.

Good Spirits

Psalm 34:7  The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them.

Psalm 104:4  Who makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire.

Hebrews 1:14  Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?

The Lord has promised us that there are good spirits that are ministering for our salvation. These spirits are commonly referred to as angels. Angels from heaven are constantly working in ways that we do not know and do not see. Unceasingly they are ascending back and forth from this world where they are guiding and protecting us to the throne of God where they worship our Lord. These supernatural spirits are powerful and have come to the aid of God’s people again and again. They can see behind closed doors and hear secret conversations. They can appear as men or even animals to assist humanity. They have rescued the imprisoned, saved the stranded, defended the helpless and encouraged the desponding. The Lord has promised us protection and guidance through the ministration of His angelic messengers. Probably you have experienced some type of miraculous intervention by these angel spirits.

Evil Spirits

I Timothy 4:1  Now the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons,

Revelation 12:7-9  And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Not only are there good spirits, but there are evil spirits. These evil spirits were actually good spirits at one time, but a rebellion broke out in heaven. In this rebellion, one of the highest angels coveted the privileges given to God alone. When denied the usurped authority and devotion that he desired, he began to incite distrust and suspicion in the hearts of the other angels. Before long, outright war broke out. Lucifer and his followers were defeated and cast out of heaven. These once holy angels, through sin lost their exaltation and fell to the position of demons. Since these evil spirits were once good spirits, they have retained most of the power of the good spirits. They can appear as glorious beings of light and power. They can reveal the deepest secrets and masquerade as men or animals. They can work miracles and perform great signs, but these are false signs leading to destruction. The very existence of both good and evil spirits makes it tantamount that we do not believe every spiritualistic manifestation.

Test the Spirits

I John 4:1  Beloved do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world

Isaiah 8:19, 20  And when they say to you, “Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,” should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

The Word of God makes it extremely clear that we must test each and every supernatural manifestation. To do otherwise than this is opening the door for the archenemy to flood his deceptions upon us. The unerring test given in the Scriptures is to match each and every supernormal occurrence to the Law of God and to the testimony of the other Biblical writers. Everything must be in accordance with God’s Word and His Law or it is from the machinations of the prince of the evil spirits. The danger is that so many are willing to dabble in the supernatural but so few investigate the guidelines given in God’s Word. Some very important injunctions are given that many Christians and non-Christians alike are today disregarding.

The Impassable Gulf

Deuteronomy 18:10-12  There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you.

Job 7:9, 10  As the cloud disappears and vanishes away, so he who goes down to the grave does not come up. He shall never return to his house, nor shall his place know him anymore.

Job 14:10-12  But man dies and is laid away; indeed he breathes his last and where is he? As water disappears from the sea, and a river becomes parched and dries up, so man lies down and does not rise. Till the heavens are no more, they will not awake nor be roused from their sleep.

Although it has become common for individuals to seek to contact their dead loved ones, the Word of God strictly prohibits this. Stronger language could not be employed in condemnation of those who do such things. It is an abomination. The reason that it is such an abomination is because God has put an impassible gulf between the dead and the living. God’s Word emphatically states that once a person dies, he will not return to his place. When a person dies, he cannot communicate with the living. He will rise no more until the resurrection when the heavens pass away. If a spirit returns and claims to be someone deceased, this is undeniable proof that it is an imposter. When people today think that they are communicating with the dead, they are, in reality, holding converse with the evil spirits.

God has established this impassible barrier for our safety and protection. Evil spirits can impersonate the dead exactly. They know the exact tone of voice, the facial expressions, and the secrets that no one else knew. If the dead could communicate with us, there would be no way to tell the difference between an impersonating demon and our loved one. Thus God has set a gulf between the living and the dead that cannot be crossed. Any spirit that appears and claims to be a departed one is not from God. It is not the deceased who is speaking. It is an evil spirit seeking access to introduce his subtle deceptions.

The Weight of Evidence

Isaiah 28:9, 10  “Whom will he teach knowledge? And whom will he make to understand the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just drawn from the breasts? For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little.”

An important principle that must always be remembered when researching any subject is that one must look at the weight of evidence. We must compare Scripture with Scripture, verses with verses. The only way that we can correctly understand what the Lord is seeking to tell us is by looking at everything upon a given subject. There are always verses that can be construed to contradict the plain testimony of Scripture, but we must look at what the entire Bible says upon a topic. Then with an understanding of what the rest of the Bible says, the difficult to understand verses are made plain. There is no surer way of arriving at the wrong conclusion than by tenaciously holding to a preconceived idea substantiated by one or two verses while the majority of Scripture testifies against the theory. We must take into account the entire testimony of Scripture in order to understand God’s will.

What Happens at Death?

Ecclesiastes 12:7  Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.

Genesis 2:7  And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

Ecclesiastes 3:19-21  For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over beasts, for all is vanity. All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust. Who knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, which goes down to the earth?

The question of what happens to a person at death is one that has intrigued the greatest men for millennia. When Socrates was about to drink his cup of poison, he said, “Farewell, I go the way of all flesh, but whether to life or oblivion, I know not.” The Bible gives the solid facts for what happens at death, since its Divine Author died and broke the fetters of the tomb for us. God’s Word states that at death the body returns to dust and the spirit returns to God. In order to understand this, we must realize the composition of the human body at creation. It consisted of dust, which the Lord molded into the shape of man, and the breath or spirit of life that God breathed into man. The combination of the dust and the breath equaled a living soul. The soul did not exist until it had these two components. When these two components separate the soul once again does not exist. The spirit is simply the element or spark of life that God gives to every living thing. It is not a conscious spirit for God gives the same spirit to man and beast. The only difference is that God preserves the spirit of man until the resurrection. We can be certain that this spirit is unconscious and does not know what is occurring around it from the testimony of other Scriptures.

An Unconscious State

Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6, 10 For the living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished; nevermore will they have a share in anything done under the sun… Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.

Psalm 146:4, KJV His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

God’s Word tells us that when a person dies they know nothing. Their emotions and thoughts perish. When a person dies their conscious existence comes to an end (until God restores it at the resurrection).The dead know nothing.

Dead do not Praise the Lord

Psalm 6:5 For in death there is no remembrance of You; in the grave who will give You thanks?

Psalm 30:9 What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your truth?

Psalm 88:10-12 Will You work wonders for the dead? Shall the dead arise and praise You? Selah. Shall Your lovingkindness be declared in the grave? Or Your faithfulness in the place of destruction? Shall Your wonders be known in the dark? And Your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

Psalm 115:17 The dead do not praise the LORD, nor any who go down into silence.

Isaiah 38:18 For Sheol cannot thank You, Death cannot praise You; those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your truth.

God’s Word repeatedly states that once a person dies they cannot praise the Lord. The living can praise and thank the Lord, but the dead do not. The living know of the wonderful works of the Lord, but the dead do not know the Lord’s lovingkindness and faithfulness. Certainly, then, death is an unconscious state. All of heaven is praising the Lord. If the dead ascended directly to heaven, they would undoubtedly be praising the Lord, too, but they are not. The dead do not know what is taking place in heaven or on earth; they know nothing. At death the thoughts perish. Why this unknowing inactive state? What is death called in the Bible?

Death is a Sleep

Psalm 13:3 Consider and hear me, O LORD my God; enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;

Daniel 12:2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt.

John 11:11-14 These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.” Then His disciples said, “Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.” However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead.”

Acts 13:36 “For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption;”

II Peter 3:4 And saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.’

Sixty times in the Bible death is referred to as a sleep. Over and over again Bible writers have revealed the concept that death is an unconscious sleep. If we are going to believe the Bible, we must believe that death is a sleep. This is emphatically stated over and over again and there is no way around it. It may be different from what we have always thought or heard, but we must trust that God’s way is best.

It is beginning to be clear why there is an impassible gulf between the dead and the living. While the spirit does return to God, it is the unconscious breath of life. Merely the life force that God is preserving until He restores it at the resurrection. When a person dies, he is actually sleeping in the grave until the Lord calls Him forth at the resurrection. Just as in a physical sleep, a person does not know what is transpiring while he is asleep. He might have won some grand prize or World War III might have broken out, but the sleeper would be completely oblivious to everything transpiring. He would know nothing of what had taken place until he awoke. He might have slept for ten minutes or for eight hours, but it would have been instantaneous to him. He would know nothing until he awoke and the lapse of time would seem to have been merely a second. So is the sleep of death. When a person passes away their thoughts and emotions cease and he is oblivious to anything that might occur. The next thing that he knows is the Lord calling him forth from the grave. God’s solution to the mystery of death is indeed the best.

Righteous are Not in Heaven

Acts 2:29, 34 “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day… “For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: ‘The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand,”’”

God has given us unmistakable proof that the righteous are not right now in heaven. David was a highly favored prophet and king. He sinned, but his sincere repentance made him even more a man after God’s own heart. This highly favored righteous man has not ascended into heaven. He is still in his grave awaiting the Lord to call him forth. If David, a man after God’s own heart, did not ascend into heaven when he died, who would? The answer is plain, no one.

Resurrection Our Hope

John 5:25, 28, 29 Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live… Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.

I Thessalonians 4:16-18 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

If the righteous ascended directly to heaven at death, the resurrection would be a farce. There would be no need for a resurrection if the righteous had already been rejoicing in the Lord for thousands of years. If when a person dies they go directly to Paradise, then Jesus would not have said three days after His death that He had not yet ascended to Paradise. (John 20:17) If a person ascended directly to heaven at death, then death would be the believer’s hope for death would set him free from the bondage this world holds us in, but death is not the believer’s hope. The resurrection is what we are told is to be our hope. The resurrection is how we are to comfort believers when they are laid in the grave. It is at the resurrection that the righteous ascend to Paradise together—both the righteous dead and the righteous living. Imagine a child passing away. If the child ascended straight to heaven, he would be in a strange place with strange people separated from His parents. This would cause terror to any child, but this will not be. There are no orphanages in the kingdom of heaven. When a baby is separated from its parents by death, it sleeps in the grave until the resurrection and then on resurrection morning, the child will be placed in its parent’s arms. From the moment of death, the next thing that the baby will know is being placed in the loving arms of its mother, if she is faithful. God’s way truly is best!

Both the righteous and the wicked sleep in the graves until the resurrection. Those who have been disobedient to our Lord do not descend to the recesses of hell, but await their resurrection and punishment, as well. Jesus said that there are two resurrections—one of life and one of death. At the end of the one thousand years (a topic for another session), the wicked are resurrected and receive their final reward. It could not be otherwise for how could they be punished without the judgment. In their day all of the Bible writers put the judgment still in the future (Matthew 11:21-24; Acts 17:31). It would be the grossest injustice to punish someone for thousands of years before they had even been judged. All of God’s dealings are fair. There is a time for the judgment, the resurrection and the punishment.

The Rich Man and Lazarus

Luke 16:19-31 “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’ Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’”

A parable that has been used to defend the groundless position that at death individuals go directly to heaven or to hell is the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. It is true that at first reading this parable appears to contradict the myriad of other clear statements of Scripture, but with a deeper investigation this parable becomes plain as well. The first thing to note is that this is a parable and to base a doctrine on a symbolic parable is shaky to say the least. It is included in an entire string of parables—the lost sheep, the lost coin, the prodigal son, and the dishonest servant. The details of this story are unquestionably figurative. Would all of the righteous be comfortable in Abraham’s bosom? Will there be communication between heaven and hell for the cycles of eternity? Would one drop of water really be helpful? When studying parables, one must look at the truth that is taught and not necessarily the avenue through which it is taught. The beautiful truths illustrated by this parable are as follows: 1) the rich are not favored above the poor, 2) there is no second probation, this life is our preparation ground, and 3) our faith must be built solidly on the Word of God. When we realize these important gems of truth our minds will not be perplexed with the details of this parable.

To take every detail of a parable literally does great injustice to the Word of God. If we took every detail literally in the parable of the wheat and the tares (Matthew 13:24-30), we would believe that it is wrong to weed your garden. By taking every detail of the parable of the unjust judge (Luke 18:1-8) literally, we would be teaching that God is an unjust king. By literalizing the parable of the unjust steward (Luke 16:1-9), we must take the inconsistent position that Jesus sanctions dishonesty. So it is plain that every detail of parables cannot be capitalized upon. The truth that it taught must stand out in its glorious luster not dimmed by the details used.

The Thief on the Cross

Luke 23:42, 43 Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

John 20:17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’”

Another text that has been twisted in an attempt to cling to the tradition that at death a person does not really die is the conversation between Jesus and the thief on the cross. The thief accepted Jesus’ atoning sacrifice by faith and pled to be remembered when Jesus entered His kingdom. Jesus assured Him that he would be in Paradise.

Several questions arise. First of all, Jesus did not go to Paradise that very day. It was not until sometime after the resurrection on Sunday that He ascended to His Father. How could Jesus have promised the thief to be in Paradise that day if not even Jesus was there? Secondly, Jesus has not even yet entered His kingdom. Right now He is sitting on His Father’s throne and will not sit on His own throne in His kingdom until after He has returned with His faithful people and His enemies are destroyed. (Revelation 3:21; Matthew 25:31; Mark 12:36; Acts 1:6, 7) Both of these points present a puzzle to the verse in question. When we understand that there was no punctuation in the original languages, but that the punctuation was added afterward by the translators, the puzzle is solved. The translators did a very good job supplying the chapter/verse division and punctuation, but occasionally they made a minor mistake. One of these is seen in Acts 19:12 (KJV). Luke 23:43 can be read two ways. It can be read as, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise,” or it can be read, “Assuredly, I say to you today, you will be with Me in Paradise.” When compared with the textual evidence the latter reading is in perfect accord with the rest of the Bible. Jesus was simply saying to the thief, “I am telling you today, you will be saved.” He was giving him the assurance even as they were both hanging on the cross that they would be together in the kingdom of God.

Once again the truth in these words is awesome. It is unfortunate that the words have been construed so, but it does not negate the beauty from the passage. Jesus hanging upon the cross, rejected by His nation, despised by the religious leaders, abandoned by His own disciples finds in this poor despised criminal a believer. Hanging upon the cross, the Savior is recognized for who He really is by the most unlikely of people. The thief had witnessed the events of the day. He saw that prophecy had been fulfilled and his faith grasped the dying Son of God. When the thief’s faith grasped the hand of the Savior, Jesus assured Him of salvation that very day. Have you grasped the hand of your Savior? Has your faith seen Him as your only hope? Like the thief, are you willing to bear any insult and reproach for His name? Do you see that only in Him can you have resurrection and life? Will you make the choice that the thief made so many years ago? If you do, the Lord will assure your salvation just as He did the thief. The key is that we must be willing to follow Him at every step, do whatever He asks us to do. Are you willing to follow Him up the bloodstained path to Calvary? Will you accept Him so that you may be a part of that glorious first resurrection?