The Truth About Ghosts & Spirits

What do you believe about ghosts and spirits? More importantly, what has shaped these beliefs—Hollywood, J-Horror, Hmong stories, or superstitions? It might surprise you what the Bible actually teaches about the creatures that haunt us.

Do you believe in ghosts? If so, you’re not alone. A recent survey found that 63% of Americans believe in some type of paranormal activity.

But there’s a more important question: What has shaped your beliefs about ghosts and spirits? [2]

• Hmong folklore

• Horror films

• Paranormal TV shows

• Grainy YouTube security footage

My bet is that one or more of these have shaped your beliefs about ghosts and spirits—far more than the Bible has and maybe even more than you realize.

When I started prepping for this sermon a couple of weeks ago, I thought I knew what the Bible said about ghosts. I had a nice, simple, clear message. But the more I dug in, the less clear it became. Then, everything crystalized, and it was completely different than what I expected.

So, today, I’m going to share I thought I knew, what I learned along the way, and the questions I still have. And don’t worry; it’ll be very PG since the kids are with us.

But first, let me define three terms:

1. Spirit – a generic term can mean either: the eternal soul of a person or a non-human spiritual being, such as an angel or demon.

2. Ghost – the disembodied spirit of a dead person who remains on earth.

3. Demon – an evil angel.

Now, this last one is important to understand. Angels and demons started out as the same “species.” They are both created beings, lower than God but a little higher than humans.

And then, sometime between Creation in Genesis 1 and the Fall in Genesis 3, a high-ranking angel and a bunch of other angels rebelled against God. They were expelled from heaven, and they have been against God and his followers ever since. We know them as Satan and his demons.

Spirit, ghost, demon. Got it?

If you had two weeks ago whether I believed in ghosts, I would have given you the conventional Christian answer—they don’t exist. Ghosts are just demons, evil spirits, making themselves look like dead people, evil dolls, or shadows in the night.

The Bible is clear that once a person dies, they cannot return from the dead.

• Hebrews 9:27 says, “Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.”

• Ecclesiastes 12:7 describes death like this, “the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.”

• Job 7:9-10 speaks of the dead, “As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so one who goes down to the grave does not return. He will never come to his house again; his place will know him no more.”

So, it seems like ghosts, as in the spirits of dead people on earth, are not biblical. But then I kept reading and came across this passage: “When the disciples saw Jesus walking on the lake, they were terrified. ‘It’s a ghost,’ they said, and cried out in fear.” (Matthew 14:26)

Ok, so maybe the disciples believed in ghosts. And they were just wrong. The disciples believed plenty of wrong things. That passage doesn’t actually say that ghosts are real.

And then I found this one: “When the resurrected Jesus appeared to the disciples, he said: ‘Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.’” (Luke 24:39)

Wait! Does this mean Jesus believed in ghosts? Or was he just speaking into a mythology that the disciples believed to help them understand his resurrected body?

So, I kept digging.

And I found three passages—one in the Old Testament and two in the New Testament—where a person who was dead appeared to people who were still alive. And that really sounds like a ghost.

First, there was the story of the Witch of Endor in 1 Samuel 28. Here, the spirit of the dead prophet Samuel comes up out of the earth and appears to King Saul through a medium. Then the spirit condemns Saul for his disobedience to God and prophesied his death the next day, which then happened.

Second, in the gospels, there’s an event called the Transfiguration in Matthew 17. That’s where Jesus took Peter, James, and John to a mountaintop and revealed himself in his full glory. But also, Moses and Elijah appeared, both of whom has been dead for a really long time.

Lastly, there’s a little known moment at Christ’s crucifixion recorded in Matthew 27:51-53.

“51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. [okay, we like that] The earth shook, the rocks split [earthquake, got it] 52 and the tombs broke open. [huh?] The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. [whoa!] 53 They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people. [whaaaa!] That’s beginning to sound like the ending of every Ghostbusters movie.” (Matthew 27:51-53)

Ok, what am I supposed to do with these biblical texts? I wrestled with this for days. I kept reading and reading. And then, the Holy Spirit opened my eyes, and I finally understood it. The secret lies in the [19] Witch of Endor passage.

The common interpretation of the story is that the apparition that appears is actually a demon impersonating the prophet Samuel.

But the problem with this explanation is that there’s nothing in the text that indicates it was demonic. In fact, there are two parts of the story that point to a different explanation:

1. Even the medium herself was shocked that the spirit appeared.

2. More importantly, the spirit didn’t behave like a demon. He behaved exactly like the prophet Samuel—he called out Saul’s sin and correctly foretold the future.

So, from all this, I concluded that it was not a demon impersonating Samuel, but it was God temporarily bringing Samuel up from the dead to speak truth to a disobedient king.

And then I realized what all three of these stories had in common—they were all acts of God.

• God brought up the spirit of Samuel to appear to Saul. The medium didn’t have anything to do with it.

• God brought up Moses and Elijah to appear with Jesus and confirm that he is greater than the Law (represented by Moses) and the prophets (represented by Elijah).

• God brought up the spirits of holy people at Jesus’ death to fulfill prophecies that said Messiah would free people from their graves, thus affirming Jesus as that promised Savior. (Ezekiel 37:12-13, Hosea 13:14)

So, do ghosts exist? Maybe, but probably not in the way we think. But, these three passages seem to point to some common threads. So, I think here are three things we can conclude from the biblical texts.

1. Ghosts are very, very rare. We have three instances in four to five thousand years of recorded biblical history. Don’t think for a second that spirit-ghost appearances are even remotely common.

2. Ghosts are under God’s direction and control. They have nothing to do with being murdered in a house, having unfinished business on earth, or enacting an ancient curse.

3. God used ghosts to point people to Jesus and himself. They don’t terrorize new homeowners, kill little kids, or destroy property.

But… there are other spiritual beings that terrorize, kill, and destroy—Satan and his demons. That’s why I believe most, if not all, of the “ghost” experiences you or others experience are actually demonic.

So, that shadow you saw in the hall, that noise you heard in the house when nobody’s home… It is far more likely those are evil angels, demons, looking to:

• Paralyze you with fear,

• Condemn you for your sins,

• Attack your identity in Christ, and

• Destroy the work of God in you

But, if you believe in God and you believe in Christ, there’s nothing that can harm you in terms of a demonic spirit because you already have the greater spirit, the Holy Spirit. You have the most powerful spirit out there.

John 4:4 says “But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.”

And if you don’t belong to God, this is his invitation to come under his protection, his power, and his family.

CLOSING

There’s a reason so many horror movies use Christian theology. Because there is nothing this world offers that can defeat evil spirits. Even non-Christian filmmakers know this.

All Western rationalism has to offer is that evil spirits don’t exist.
All Hmong Shamanism has to offer is how to appease evil spirits.
All pop culture has to offer is to be entertained by evil spirits.
But only Jesus Christ offers a way to defeat evil spirits.

In fact, only Jesus Christ, through his death and resurrection, has already defeated Satan and the evil spirits. We just need to live under the power of his name and his resurrection. And that’s God’s invitation for you today.

James 4:7-8
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.