Spiritualism Exposed - 240210

SPEAKER A Hello, I'm Rosemary Malkiewycz. Welcome to let God speak. Today, the world is awash with the entertainment industry, churning out programmes involving angels, magic and the living dead. Many christian denominations teach the soul goes to heaven or hell at death. Other religions teach that the dead go to a spirit world where they die or are reincarnated to a different life form. What really happens to us when we die? Join us as we explore what the Bible has to say on this important topic. On our panel today we have Kylie Fisher and Lena Yoon. Welcome, ladies. It's all ladies today and it's really good. Let's pray before we begin. Father in heaven, we pray that as we speak on this important topic today, the Holy Spirit will lead us in our discussion and will also lead the people who are watching to understand what you really have to say about this very important subject. Lord, it can mean the life and death of people. And I pray for your help in this discussion. In Jesus name, amen. There are many theories out there about what happens when we die. There are reports of near death experiences of people who had died then were revived. And these are seen by many as evidence that the dead are not really dead. We need to know where to find the truth on this subject. What happens when we die is one of my favourite Bible topics. I still remember the first day I was shown what the Bible really says about death. It was life changing for me. And if you are still unsure about what happens when you die, I hope it will be life changing for you too. So follow our discussion and take notes for further study. Now when we look at this subject, John 1717 says, sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. That's God's holy word, the Bible. So Kylie, can we be certain that the Bible from Genesis to revelation is the foundation of truth? SPEAKER B Yeah. So let's let God speak to us from his word. And so the verse that I'd like to start out by reading to answer this question is two Timothy, chapter three and verse 16. And that says all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. So there it says that all scripture is given by inspiration of God. And so the Bible is God's thoughts expressed in human words. And I like that. Yeah. And in Titus one, two, it says that God cannot lie. And so I think psalm 119 160 really sums it up well when it says thy word is true from the beginning. So all the way from Genesis right through to revelation, the Bible is true. And that's so important because today many people question whether all of the Bible is true and they question whether some of the historical books are actually history. And particularly Genesis, chapter one, verse through two, chapter eleven. It's, you know, a lot of people have questions about whether that's actually historical narrative and that's got the fall in it. And there we see the roots of this deceptive teaching. SPEAKER A So Satan would like to confuse people on that because it actually uncovers what he's doing. SPEAKER B Yeah, that's right. Yeah. SPEAKER A Well, if the Bible is the source of all truth for man's salvation, it would sort of make sense that Satan would try to corrupt it. And as you've mentioned there, Kylie, tell people. But it doesn't. It's not the truth and you can't trust it. So how has Satan tried to corrupt it, Lena, and especially the truth about what happens when we die? SPEAKER C Sure. So first let's go to the Genesis chapter three, verses three and four. Here it says, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst. Oh, sorry. I'm going to read from the verse three. But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, you shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die. Then the serpent said to the woman, you will not surely die. So actually goes back to the very beginning of the creation. So that was Satan's very first attempt to contradict God's command that was given to Adam and Eve. And also we can say that it was the very first sermon that was preached on to Adam and Eve by Satan on the subject of immortality, of soul. So it is the foundation of immortality because Satan said, you shall not die, which is not true and not biblical at all. But unfortunately, Adam and Eve believed Satan and that's how actually the mankind fell into sin. SPEAKER A That's right. Very good explanation there. Satan's lie that the human soul is immortal is at the heart of the different theories that man has on what happens when you die. So what does the Bible say about immortality, Kylie? SPEAKER B Yes. So I'd like to look at a couple of verses actually in first Timothy. So I was reading before from two Timothy, first of all, first Timothy one. And verse 17, one Timothy 117, which says now to the king, eternal, immortal, invisible to God, who alone is wise, be honour and glory forever and ever. Amen. So that says that God there has immortality. But if we turn to the end of that same letter to Timothy one, Timothy 616, speaking about God because it's saying, who is the blessed and only potentate, the king of kings and lord of lords. And it's talking about Jesus. And verse 16 there says, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honour and everlasting power. Amen. So this verse is very clearly, God is the only one that has immortality. And so he is in fact the creator of everything else. And I mean, this is part of Satan's lies. You know, that Lucifer actually is a created being. It tells us that plainly in Ezekiel 20 815, he is a created being. But he wants us to think that we don't owe anything to God. But from this verse we see only God has immortality. He is our creator. We owe our all to him and we, he deserves our worship. SPEAKER A So obviously, if God is immortal and the only one, the Bible says who is immortal? That means that man is not immortal. So Lena, what then happens? SPEAKER C Okay, so we're going to go to ecclesiastes, chapter nine, verses five and six. Here it says, for the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing and they have no more reward. And the memory of them is forgotten. And their love, their hatred and their envy have now perished. Never more will they have a share in anything done under the sun. So basically it says, the dead know nothing. So clinically, when we see a deceased person, so the heart will start pumping and there won't be any breath going in and out of the lungs and the pupils will be dilated and fixed and all that. And so basically we completely stop functioning, all the systems or our organs will stop. So it actually reminds me of the creation when God formed Adam, just body itself. And he was not a living soul till actually God put his first initial breath into the nostrils of Adam. So basically when we die, in other words, we stop or we cease to exist because we go back to dust. SPEAKER A And we stop breathing and so then we die. It's as simple as that. Well, in the Old Testament we look at the book of job. Now he was being attacked by Satan in incredible ways and he was closed to death and he wished in fact that he would die. So what did he have to say about death? SPEAKER B Yeah. So let's have a look in job, chapter seven and verses nine and ten, job 7910, which says, 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. So yeah, a dead man does not return to his house. They don't come back you know, as spirits communicating with people. SPEAKER A That's very clear, isn't it? SPEAKER B Very clear. SPEAKER A With the Old Testament, the writers talk about sleep actually, as what death is. So let me read, first of all, psalm 13 three. The psalmist David wrote, consider and hear me, O Lord, my God, enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death. And in the books of the first and second kings in the Old Testament, 25 times the expression is used when a king dies, they rested or slept with their fathers. So what does the Bible say about King David? What happened to him when he died? Lina? SPEAKER C Okay, we're going to look at a couple of verses here. First, let's go to the first kings, chapter two, verse ten. Here it says, so David rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of David. Then we're going to go to acts 229. So here it says, men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of patriarch David that is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. And verse 34, for David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself. So here clearly, the verse 34 says, david did not ascend to heaven when he died. He was buried in the tomb of David, basically. So David. Well, even after Jesus had ascended into heaven, he was still not there. So in other words, he has been sleeping in the grave, been dead for a couple of thousand years, but he will be resurrected at the second coming. SPEAKER A Of Christ, King David. Yeah, it's interesting that they said that he was still in his grave after all that. So these are some examples from the Old Testament. But what about the New Testament? How did Jesus describe death? SPEAKER B Yeah, so again, Jesus describes death as asleep. And so we have Lazarus, of course, whom Jesus miraculously raised from the dead after he'd been den four days. But before jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, he said some interesting things about him. So John, chapter eleven and verses eleven to 14, I'll read this passage. And so Jesus, yes, so I'll read this, these things he said, which is Jesus, of course. 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. So, yeah, Jesus, basically for the righteous, you know, he equates sleep and death. SPEAKER A Yeah, that's amazing. It's so plain. The creator himself said that it's not just any human being, which is quite amazing. So if Jesus said that death is like a sleep. What about the apostles? What did Paul have to say? SPEAKER C Lena also, Paul talks about death as sleep. So we can see this in the Bible, the first Thessalonians, chapter four verses from 14 to 17. So herefore, if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even sorrow, God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel and with a trump trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. So those who have died in the faith of Christ will awake from their sleep, which is death at the second coming of Christ. Because here the verse 16 says Jesus, the Lord himself, will actually wake them up. So with a shout of his command and also the voices of the archangel and also with the trumpet, trumpet of. SPEAKER A God, it's going to be pretty loud, pretty noisy. So Paul writes there that sleep and death are the same thing. So if the doctrine of the immortality of the soul is not biblical, how come it's in the christian church? Kylie. SPEAKER B Yeah, so that's such a great question. And it really came into the church. Well, actually, God's people, even if you look back at the Israelites, they actually struggled with this. But it came into the christian church when paganism corrupted the church. And so in revelation two and verse 14, it speaks particularly about that, these corruptions that were going to come into the church. And one of them was that people would eat things sacrificed to idols. So in other words, there would be idol worship in the church. And so, basically, to sort of sanitise this idol worship, they changed the names of, you know, greek gods to Peter, Paul, Mary and so forth. But the Christians actually were praying to these images, which, when you think about it, Mary, Peter, Paul, all of the apostles, they're actually dead. So if we're praying to those people, we're actually praying to the dead, and. SPEAKER A That'S spiritualism, and the dead can't help us. SPEAKER B Yeah. So it's a question, like, who, if we think we're praying to Mary, like, who are we actually praying to? SPEAKER A So any belief that believes in life after death is actually spiritualism, and it's not from the Bible. So what then does God say about involvement in spiritualism? SPEAKER C Okay, so we're going to look at Isaiah, chapter eight, verse 19 and 20 here. 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. So spiritualism is a false doctrine, which is a deception of Satan that we should actually stay away from. So here Isaiah directs man to the word of God as a standard of truth and also the guide to the living, the right living, I should say. So whatever people say that is not harmony with the word of God, then it is because there is no light in them. SPEAKER A That's right. That's right. And actually spiritualism becomes worshipping Satan through the idea that you're worshipping dead and he can make it seem like it's real. So what were the consequences in the Old Testament of spiritualism? SPEAKER B Yeah, so let's. SPEAKER A Those who followed it. SPEAKER B Yes. Yeah. So let's have a look at Leviticus, chapter 20 and verse 27. And this is speaking about, you know, the israelite theocracy during the time of the israelite theocracy. And that verse says, a man or a woman who is a medium or who has familiar spirits shall surely be put to death. They shall stone them with stones, their blood shall be upon them. So God clearly warned his people against spiritualism because, you know, it's so dangerous and, you know. Yeah. The Israelites did end up practising this and it led them astray so many times. SPEAKER A So, Lina, why was the punishment so tough? SPEAKER C Well, firstly, those who participate in spiritualism cut themselves off from God themselves. It was their choice. And spiritualism, witchcraft is a part of the spiritualism, which is satanic and demonic. But we know that from the Bible after we die, actually, our spirit is not separated from our body. Actually, we actually just stop to exist as we have looked at. So then who's behind the scene? Obviously, it must be Satan and his angels who personate our deceased loved ones. Right. And so that's where danger is. And also spiritualism, by denying Christ denies both father and the son. So which is the manifestation of Antichrist. So this actually had led ancient Israelite into idolatry, which is also demon worship. So this is really dangerous. That is why the punishment was quite harsh. SPEAKER A Well, if witchcraft is demonic, then what happens to someone's faith as a Christian if they get involved in it? SPEAKER B Yeah. So I think this is so dangerous because it can so much undermine the word of God, which is what happened, as Lena was saying, that's what Satan did in Eden. And so, you know, if we think about it logically, if we believe that the dead are living in heaven, then why shouldn't they come back to this earth and communicate with the living and with their friends and with their relatives? And, you know, if we believe that these are actually people that are living in heaven, then how can we, you know, disbelieve the things, the wonderful things that they tell us about, you know, the bliss that they're enjoying there and what we should do? And they warn us, you know, about things that might happen in our lives. And so basically, it becomes a channel that's regarded as sacred, through which Satan works for the accomplishment of his desires. And so, yeah, we've got no protection from his deceptions. And so, as Lena was reading earlier on, we have to trust in the word of God and take that as our guide and not believe in these spiritual manifestations or today, these spiritual teachings have been around for so long that have come from these sorts of things. We might not ourselves be actually communicating with the dead, but if we're accepting the ideas that have originally come from that source, you know, that contradict the Bible, that's even a more subtle and a greater danger can be, too. SPEAKER A So if the Bible says that there's dangers about spiritualism, what about in the last days? I mean, if we look at Matthew 24, Jesus gives us a few different verses there. Speaking on some of these matters, we'll look at verses 511 and 24 very quickly. Five says, for many will come in my name, saying that I am Christ and will deceive many. Verse eleven. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. Verse 24, the false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, the very elect. So what's this about deceiving the very elect if possible? SPEAKER C Well, all false christs or antichrists are controlled by Satan and his angels, in other words, demons. And so although their message or their teaching would contradict the teaching of the Bible, but it is not the message that would deceive people. It would be the signs and wonders that, or miracles that would perform, we're going to look at. But, you know, in revelation 13, we can see that even they will make the fire come down from the heavens. So all these signs and wonders, people will be amazed. And actually, it's incredibly powerful, so that even our senses may be telling us that, oh, these will be the real Messiah, but in actual fact, they are not. So we have to strictly hold onto God's principles and the teaching of the Bible. As we looked at Isaiah 8820. SPEAKER A That's right. That's right. Very much so. Unto what the Bible says. So John the revelator saw something similar. So tell us what that was, Kylie. SPEAKER B Yes, this is what Lena was saying. Revelation 13, 1314. This is speaking about a beast power. And it says there, you know, who is working at the command of Satan. It says he performs great signs so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men and deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. And so, yeah, as the cosmic conflict approaches its closure, these demonic powers will manifest physically in an unprecedented way. SPEAKER A Very, very true. So what are the characteristics of the last day christians? Kylie? SPEAKER B Yeah. So let's have a look, just back a few pages. Revelation twelve and verse 17. Revelation 1217. It says that the dragon was enraged with the woman. He went to make war with the rest of her offspring who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. And revelation 1412 says, here is the patience of the saints. Here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. So there's a strong emphasis there on keeping the commandments of God because these demonic powers will try to deceive us, particularly with regards to the day of worship. So we need to adhere to what the Bible says, not just not believe at all these lying spirits and not even go and watch them, those who. SPEAKER A Say they are dead but are still actually alive. SPEAKER B Yeah. SPEAKER A So the Bible teaches that the dead are sleeping, awaiting the voice of Jesus to resurrect them. They are not aware that they were once even alive. They know nothing. And so what is comforting about this particular doctrine, that the dead are asleep? SPEAKER C It's quite reassuring and comforting for us as the living to know that our deceased loved ones, once they have died in Christ and they are resting in peace in the grave. You know, it doesn't mean that they are still thinking or breathing or they are completely nonexistent and only at the resurrection of Jesus Christ, then they will be resurrected. So that's really good to know. And the other thing is also, it is very liberating for us to know that there are so many different types or forms of spiritualism, including modern spiritualism. So we can, you know, we won't be deceived by them. So that's also another good thing. The truth will set us free. SPEAKER A And so, Kylie, to wrap up our programme today, in scripture we have the wheat and the tares. We have the sheep and goats. God has a remnant. There are those who follow God. There are those who follow Satan, who listen to demons, who are involved in spiritualism. Just summarise some of the dangers of not understanding the state of the dead and spiritualism. SPEAKER B Yeah. So, to answer that, I'd like to read a quote from the great controversy because. Just puts it so well and so this is from the wonderful book the great Controversy, page 560. And it says there many will be confronted by the spirits of devils, personating beloved relatives or friends and declaring the most dangerous heresies. These visitants will appeal to our tenderest sympathies and will work miracles to sustain their pretensions. We must be prepared to withstand them with the bible truth that the dead know not anything and that they who thus appear are the spirits of devils. So, yeah, if we are not aware of the biblical teaching and the truth about what happens to the dead, we can so easily be deceived. SPEAKER A Oh, very, very true. You know, to promote spiritualism, the devil changed the biblical definition of death and the Bible teaching about the nature of humanity. These false doctrines lay the groundwork for the spiritualist teaching that we are eternal and indestructible and that we continue to exist even beyond death as a consequence. This deception opens the door to the dangerous belief that we are after we, that we continue to communicate with people after we die. And this is very, very wrong. According to biblical prophecy, spiritualism will be in full force in the end times. That is why God's people are called to proclaim to humanity the true nature and intentions of spiritualism and the biblical teachings on human nature, the nature of death. Most importantly, we proclaim the true hope of humanity, which is in the return of the saviour, Jesus Christ. We're glad you've joined us today on let God speak. Remember, all past programmes plus teachers notes are available on our website, 3abnaustralia.org.au. Email us on [email protected]. Join us again next time. We're looking forward to you being with us. May God bless you. SPEAKER B You have been listening to let God speak, a production of 3ABN Australia television. To catch up on past programmes, please visit 3abnaustralia.org.au. Call us in Australia on 02 4973 3456. Or email [email protected]. we'd love to hear from you.