The Father of Lies
Among other things, Jesus Christ came to expose Satan’s methods. Chief among these is the Devil’s consistent contradiction of God’s Word.John 8:44 (KJV)In John 10:10a (KJV), Jesus clearly revealed Satan’s intentions: “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill and to destroy….” Satan’s ultimate goal is to promote death and destruction, as the Bible makes clear.
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.
Hebrews 2:14The Devil holds the power of death, and one of his most effective aids in exercising this power is the lie that death is in reality the gateway to everlasting life and ultimate wisdom. He first told this lie early in Genesis.
Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil.
Perhaps you recall that Satan’s first recorded utterance in Scripture was a challenge to the veracity of God’s Word. Satan said, “…Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” (Gen. 3:1 – NIV). This deceptive misquote of God’s revealed Word led to his second utterance, “…Ye shall not surely die” (Gen. 3:4 – KJV), which was just the opposite of what God had said to Adam.
Genesis 2:16 and 17 (KJV)God said, “thou shalt surely die.” Satan said, “…Ye shall not surely die.” Scripture makes clear who was telling the truth.
(16) And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
(17) But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Romans 5:12 (KJV)Death, both spiritual and physical, was the result of man’s believing Satan’s lie. The idea that there is really no such thing as death is still being promoted today, even within the Christian Church. Satan’s purpose has remained the same: to promote the idea that humans do not actually die, but go on living after their death whether they believe God’s Word or not. In this way, he obscures the light of the good news of Christ and his resurrection, one’s only hope of deliverance from death unto everlasting life.
Wherefore, as by one man [Adam] sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
False Hope
The false doctrine that the dead are alive and already in heaven or hell is so well entrenched in the average Christian’s mind that he has probably never considered its harmful ramifications. Understanding that Satan is the “father” of this lie explains why the consequences of believing it are so serious. The first, and perhaps most serious, consequence of believing this doctrine is that it changes the Christian’s focus from the appearing of the Prince of Life, Jesus Christ, to the coming of one’s own death.How sad it is to teach God’s people that the hope of a Christian is his own death, and how opposed to God’s perspective that death is an “enemy,” as 1 Corinthians 15:26 (KJV) clearly states: “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” Biblically, death is a thief not a benefactor. Death takes away life; it does not give a greater life.
In attempting to preserve the traditions of historic, orthodox Christianity, such teaching that the “dead” are “alive” blatantly contradicts God’s Word and further entrenches the Christian Church in this error. Those who have mistakenly propounded this doctrine have apparently overlooked the many verses plainly stating that the focal point of a Christian’s hope is not his own death, but the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ from heaven. For example:
John 14:2 and 3 (KJV)
(2) In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
(3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
1 Thessalonians 2:19 (KJV)
For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?
1 Thessalonians 4:16 and 17 (KJV)
(16) For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
(17) Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Titus 2:13 (KJV)It is the occasion of Christ’s appearing from heaven that Christians should anticipate as the way of deliverance from the bondage and corruption of death. Jesus Christ is the only gateway to everlasting life and the only means by which believers will have access to God’s presence in Paradise. When Jesus Christ comes again, he will fashion new, glorious bodies for us (Phil. 3:21). Apart from having these new bodies, there is no hope of entrance into the presence of God. Near the end of his life, the Apostle Paul wrote the following about this occasion:
Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
2 Timothy 4:8 (KJV)Shifting the event that triggers our entrance into the presence of God from Christ’s appearing to our own death is nothing short of satanic subterfuge. In the minds of many, Satan has subtly changed the gateway to eternal life from Jesus Christ to death itself. Considering the past actions of God’s archenemy, this clever trick is totally consistent with his methods. The Christian’s hope is not death, but the appearing of Jesus Christ. When he appears, each Christian who is still alive will exchange his mortal body for a glorious immortal body, and each believer who has died will be raised to glorious and everlasting life.
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
Who Needs Resurrection?
A second consequence of believing the doctrine that the dead are alive is one that has drastic implications for biblical integrity and harmony. Believing that all the dead are conscious in heaven or hell reduces the great truth of resurrection to virtual insignificance. Death must be true death if resurrection is to be meaningful. If death involves only the body, with the soul and / or consciousness living on, then resurrection has lost at least half its significance.
If all believers have gone into the presence of God at their deaths, the monumental importance of Jesus Christ’s resurrection is negated. If Abraham, David, Job, and others were already in heaven as disembodied souls or spirits, enjoying the presence of God in “eternity,” then our enemy, death, had already been vanquished before Christ’s resurrection and eternal life was available without Christ. In fact, if it were true, as many teach, that Enoch, Elijah, and Moses went to heaven bodily, then Jesus is not even the only human in heaven with a body. Such teaching contradicts the Word of God, confuses sincere Christians, and dilutes their joy of hope.
If a body is not required for life in the “hereafter,” then God is going to a lot of trouble for no apparent reason by “reuniting” everyone with his body. And the physical death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, serving only to allow the disembodied soul or spirit to be united with a body that it obviously can do without, seems to be of little significance.
The teaching that the soul lives on after death destroys the uniqueness of Christian doctrine, that is, that Jesus Christ’s bodily resurrection is prerequisite to anyone being given everlasting life. With so much biblical emphasis on the resurrection of Jesus Christ, any doctrine undermining it is highly suspect.
That Sounds “Familiar”
A third consequence of believing the doctrine that souls live on after the body dies is that it plays into the hands of those who promote the practice of communicating with the dead. Today, many people, both Christian and non-Christian, attempt to communicate with the spirits of the dead, often in séances or via “channeling.” Such practices are similar to ancestor worship, historically a practice of most non-Christian religions. Pagans believe that the spirits of departed ancestors intervene in their lives, both for good and evil. Thus, as godlike beings, they must be worshiped and entreated. Superstition and fear of the unknown are always hallmarks of such false doctrine.
If there really are “departed souls” or “spirits” that are conscious and have knowledge of eternity or other matters of interest to those of us still earthbound, why not communicate with them? Because they are not there to answer. What will answer are evil spirits (fallen angels currently under Satan’s dominion) impersonating the dead. In the Old Testament, however, God expressly forbade communication with such “familiar spirits.” For example:
Leviticus 19:31 (KJV)
Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.
Leviticus 20:6 (KJV)
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 and 11 (KJV)
(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.
(11) Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
2 Kings 23:24 (KJV)They are called “familiar spirits” because these evil spirits are familiar with people who have died and can even reproduce their likenesses and personalities as if they were still alive in the realm of the “hereafter.” The judgment of God against Saul, Israel’s first king, which led to his death, was in part caused by his attempt to divine the LORD’s will through a familiar spirit impersonating Samuel (1 Sam. 28:7–9; 1 Chron. 10:13 and 14). It is appalling that the orthodox Christian position cites this record as evidence that the dead can appear and communicate to the living.
Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord.
Sometimes a familiar spirit will appear to a person who is not actively seeking to contact the dead. Although such experiences are very convincing to those who see what appears to be a dead friend or relative, God’s Word exposes this counterfeit as another satanic attempt to convince people that the dead are actually still alive.
Scripture makes it plain that contacting the dead is a sin forbidden by God. Surely those supposedly living in heaven with God would not sin by initiating or participating in contact with the living.
There is nothing in the New Testament that changes God’s Old Testament prohibition against attempting to communicate with the dead. The reason for this is simple: The dead are unconscious in “gravedom” and cannot communicate with the living. If anything is communicated, it will be from evil spirits attempting to deceive people into accepting that the dead have not “surely died.”
Psalm 116 contains a verse that is
often recited at funerals to teach that God is overjoyed because he has
killed someone and now has another dead person in heaven with him.
Psalm 116:15
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
If God killed people and it was God's will for people to die, then why
did Jesus Christ not go around killing people? Jesus Christ always did
God's will, right? So if it was God's will for people to be sick and
die, wouldn't Jesus Christ have carried out that will and gone around
making people sick so they would die? If God
wanted
sick people and God
wanted
dead people, then who did Jesus Christ think he was going around healing
them? Jesus Christ
always
did his Father's will, so healing people
must
be God's will. The teaching that God kills people and makes them sick is
so unscriptural it is astounding that people can be so blind as to
believe it. If God kills people and makes them sick, then why bring the
devil into it? What is he doing if God does all the nasty things in
life? Quite the contrary, it is the devil who kills people and makes
them sick.
Acts 10:38
How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
So how do we explain Psalm 116:15?
There is nothing to explain. If something is precious, it is valuable,
it is costly. A rare diamond is precious because it is extremely costly.
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints, means
costly in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. It costs God
when his people die. Our deaths cost him dearly.
There is no good side to the
god of this world. At one time Lucifer was full of beauty and wisdom,
and was perfect in all his ways, but that has all changed. He has no
mercy. He has no compassion. Deceiving folks into believing that God is
doing all the nasty things to them when it is the devil himself doing
them keeps him hidden and happy. One can readily see why God had the
book of Job written first so we would know it was the devil doing all
the nasty stuff in life. If we do not know this and believe God makes us
sick and kills us, our spiritual integrity is at great risk. The lie
that the dead are not dead is pivotal to the god of this world's
deceptions. Without this lie, his power to steal, kill, and destroy is
greatly diminished.
Another scripture misused in this
regards is the translation of Enoch.
Hebrews 11:5
By faith [believing] Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
Without getting
into a lengthy debate, very simply, this verse does not say Enoch did
not die, it says he never saw death. Had God meant Enoch did not die,
the verse would read:
By faith Enoch was
translated that he should not die.
The word
see
in the Greek, is
eidon,
which means to look at with actual
perception with one's eyes.
Enoch never saw death, he never saw anyone die. However, he himself
died. How do I know? The word says so a few verses later.
Hebrews 11:13 These all died in faith [including Enoch], not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
There are a few
other scriptures used to teach that the dead are alive and there is a
place called purgatory, such as the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.
A parable is a story, a fiction, a make believe fable to illustrate a
point, that's all. There never was any dead rich man in real life living
in some burning hell begging for some dude called Lazarus to come quench
his thirst. They were merely fictional characters in a parable, a story
Jesus Christ made up. Does that require any further explanation? Look,
just
because Captain Kirk visited some alien world and met Klingons does not
mean that Klingons exist.
They are make
believe, fictional characters that live in a make believe world.
Parables were merely stories Jesus Christ made up to illustrate a
specific truth. You cannot make a literal doctrine out of a fiction.
Well, the vatican does so it can defraud grieving families and take
their money.
Regarding spiritualism, if the
bible is right, and it is, then the dead people mediums and
spiritualists call up in their séances and meetings are not what
they purport to be. In real life, folks do actually hear voices of dead
people at these séances, and they recognise these voices, so
what's the answer?
Jane Fletcher has lost her husband
and she is grieving. She is missing him terribly. Someone tells her he's
really alive and she could talk to him at a spiritualist's meeting, at a
séance. Along she goes and she hears his voice and he tells her things,
little secret things it would be impossible for anyone else to know. She
rejoices because in her heart she knows her husband is alive and
enjoying the afterlife. It brings her comfort and hope for the future.
Or so the spiritualists would have us believe. If the dead are dead, who
or what was this woman talking to, and how did it know the little
intimate secrets she and her husband shared?
The discerning of spirits field is
without doubt the largest field of human understanding imaginable. The
devil spirit kingdom is breathtakingly immense and diverse, stunningly
powerful and unbelievably deceptive. To have any chance of understanding
the spiritual depth to life we must take the word of God as our standard
for truth and work everything else from that premise. The dead are dead,
it is that simple. Whoever or whatever it was that talked to Jane
Fletcher, it was not her husband. So what was it?
Devil spirits have jobs to do
and the bible teaches us much about it. Some devil spirits work well in
politics and power. Some are good at depressing and oppressing folks,
driving them to despair and suicide. Others are adept at working in
religious circles, deceiving those who seek to know the truth, deafening
their ears so they neglect the word, blinding them and leading them into
ditches.
Another job spirits have is to watch people. The bible refers to these
particular devil spirits as familiar spirits. Their job is to watch
people, to become familiar with them. They watch people all their lives
from the moment they are born until the moment they die. Then they move
onto another person. They do this century after century, building vast
archives of knowledge about people. They become
familiar
with people, which is why they are called in the bible familiar spirits.
Incidentally, these are the same devil spirits behind the lie of
reincarnation.
Jane Fletcher goes to the spiritualist meeting. The medium asks a few
questions. The devil spirits possessing the medium get information. They
then find the spirit that is familiar with her dead husband and it is
summoned. Jane has a chat with this devil spirit, which is quite capable
of impersonating her dead husband's voice through the medium, and it
tells her all the little secrets they shared. These spirits can mimic
the actual voices of dead people while they speak out through the
mediums they possess. It is a puerile trick, but it is effective.
The record of
Saul and the witch of Endor is another scriptural record used to teach
that the dead are alive. However, the bible doesn't teach that the dead
are alive, it teaches that the dead are dead. So who was Saul talking to
at that séance with the witch of Endor? The bible doesn't say it was
Samuel, the bible says that Saul
perceived
it to be Samuel.
1 Samuel 28:7,12-14 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.And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul.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.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.
It wasn't Samuel because Samuel was
dead, it was a devil spirit impersonating him. Unlike David, Saul
obviously didn't get up early to study his bible every morning or he
would have known this. Consequently he had a head full of spiritualistic
horseshit which led to his death.
The whole realm of witchcraft and
spiritualism is built upon the lie that the dead are not dead, that they
are alive. But why? Why would devil spirits go to such lengths? Whatever
their motives are, it is to steal, to kill, and to destroy. Was this lie
effective against Eve? Oh yes, do not underestimate its power.
To further illustrate, two young
women once explained how they went to a spiritualist meeting in the
Philippines. Over 70 people attended this meeting. The medium's
particular emphasis that day was faith healing. Everyone was there to
get healing. However, the medium refused to minister to these two women.
Everyone else was ministered to and they were all healed. The two women
left, without being healed. Later, they learned about spiritualism from
the biblical perspective. Out of curiosity, they tracked down every
person who had been ministered to at that meeting in the Philippines and
were stunned to discover that every single one of them was dead, just
like Saul. This is a true story. Little children, keep yourselves from
idols, keep yourselves from tarot cards, fortune tellers, hypnosis,
magic, horoscopes, psychics, witches and all the rest of the devil's
horseshit for it will take your life.
Witchcraft is a spiritual trap, a
snare, a baited hook dangled to take your life. The bible has to be our
only standard for truth if we are to live powerful, abundant lives. Once
we are redeemed from the power of the god of this world, he no longer
has jurisdiction over us. We can learn to walk in power and deliver
people from his deceptions and cruelty.
1 John 4:4
Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
Just as with the trinity, the teaching that the dead are alive
entrenches vatican doctrine, as well as all other religions, clearly
within the realms of paganism and witchcraft. Their doctrine is
unscriptural, their beliefs pagan. The jesuits may cloak themselves in
religious robes and claim they know what is best for the world, but in
truth, they serve their god Lucifer. Rather than bringing us peace on
earth, they are destroying it on behalf of their god. The end justifies
the means only when it is the god of this world issuing the orders. So
the next time you hear the pope praying for world peace, smile
warmly as you realise that what he is really praying for is your
extermination.
If this all seems a little
overpowering, remember that light dispels darkness. Switch on a light
and there is no darkness. Darkness cannot exist in light. It is that
easy to dispel darkness. How you turn on spiritual light in your life
begins with opening your bible and reading. Or is television or
something else more important to you? Whether you live in darkness or
whether you live in light is a choice you make.
Death: Friend or Foe?
A fourth consequence of believing the doctrine of immediate entrance into heaven at death, and the corollary teaching that death is God’s will, is that it may subtly undermine a Christian’s will to live by causing him to accept death as a “friend.” But God’s Word is clear:1 Corinthians 15:26 (KJV)If a person is persuaded that death is a “friend” that will introduce him to the glories of eternity, he may adopt a cavalier attitude toward his own death. Satan can then wield the power of death more easily, manipulating the untimely death of his victims by fatal disease, murder, suicide, or accident.
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
Why should a Christian aggressively cling to life on earth and endeavor to live it to the fullest when a much brighter and higher existence awaits him with God “on the other side”? Does this teaching motivate a Christian to behave in a manner that will cause him to prolong, preserve, and enjoy his earthly existence and service to God? To the contrary, one’s belief in an immediate afterlife might even cause him to hasten his own death. In fact, history contains a great many records of Christians who have committed suicide so that they could “be with Jesus.” Tragically, they have often taken others with them to the grave by murdering them first.
One effect of this false doctrine may possibly be seen in the context of a serious illness. It is generally understood that an individual with a strong will to live is more likely to survive a life-threatening illness. How ironic that Christian believers who have access to God’s miraculous, supernatural power for deliverance often negate it by a truncated will to live based on their misunderstanding of the true nature of death. Unbelievers who think that this life is all there is can too often muster more of the innate and God-given instinct for survival than does a child of God. Does it glorify God that His people should have less desire than unbelievers to live as long as they can on earth? Does this help win the lost and persuade them of the benefits of following the way of Jesus Christ?
In the same vein, many Christians are very fatalistic about the moment of their deaths. Perhaps to deal with the fear of death, they assume the Lord already has the day picked. When their “number is up,” they will die regardless of their behavior, thoughts, or even prayers. They think that God alone determines the day of their death when He is ready.
There is, however, no biblical justification for the idea that the day of one’s death is “set in stone.” Rather, the Bible is replete with examples of men and women shortening or prolonging their lives by the way they lived—for example, Saul (1 Chron. 10:13) and Hezekiah (2 Kings 20:1–6).
Although believing that God determines the day of one’s death may seem comforting to a misguided believer in, say, an airplane bouncing through turbulence, it actually may work against him. In a critical situation, intense prayer and supplication would be much more beneficial than passively waiting to see what God’s will is. It is obvious that our own choices go a long way toward determining what kind of life we live and for how long. Thinking fatalistically, one is probably less likely to do those things that make for a long and healthy life.
If it were true that it is God who determines one’s appointed time to die, then death would be a friend and God would be its cause. Neither is true. God’s will for man is a long, healthy, and prosperous life as a testimony to His love and goodness (Prov. 4:10, 9:11; Eph. 6:3). Jesus said that he always did the Father’s will (John 4:34, 5:30, 6:38, 17:4), and he healed all who came to him in faith (Matt. 4:23, 8:16, 9:35; Luke 9:11).
Of course, most Christians who teach that God kills His people seldom say it that way. They usually say, of a Christian who has died, that God “called him home.” What an incredible euphemism! Think about it. “Home.” What visions the word carries with it: a hot meal, a warm bed, a loving family. But what are people really saying about a saint who has died when they sweetly say that God “called him home”? They’re saying that God, Who is love, light, and goodness, ran him down with a bus, ate out his insides with cancer, or had him beaten to death in an alley. Repulsive? Yes, death is just that.
The Word of God clearly states that God is “good” (Mark 10:18) and that death is an “enemy” to His people (1 Cor. 15:26). God tells us also that it is the Devil who holds the power of death (Heb. 2:14) and that the Devil was a “murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44).
It should be noted here that although death is of the Devil, this does not mean that a Christian who dies is “bad” or “out of fellowship” or “possessed.” Because of the fall of Adam, physical death is the inevitable end of life for each person unless he is still alive when Christ again appears.
If the Church fails to change its wholly untenable biblical position that the “dead” are actually “alive,” it will unwittingly continue to play into the hands of spiritualists, adherents of Eastern mysticism, and the proponents of the rapidly growing New Age movement, who deny both the significance of Christ’s resurrection and the unique opportunity for everlasting life through faith in his name. It will also continue to offer people a weak and false hope based on paganism rather than the comforting and satisfying truth of God’s Word.
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