Small, Medium, At Large (I See Dead People)

            Myth: Some are “gifted” with the ability to talk to the dead

What child actor starred with Bruce Willis in the movie, “The Sixth Sense?”

Haley Joel Osment

What expression did he popularize?

“I see dead people”

What was the tag-line for this film?

Not every gift is a blessing

It’s a bright sunny morning and I’m on my work listening to the Michael Smerconish show on WPHT. A caller believes she’s made a connection with a long lost relative as a self proclaimed psychic relays life difficulties that only her relative would know. In truth, she’s a very clever phony.

Who here has ever visited a psychic or medium?

What was the experience like?

Do psychics or mediums actually possess certain talents?

No and er, quite possibly, YES.  These people are highly observant and know the right questions to ask. If they get a fact wrong, they recover quickly  Did you ever notice how they often have to ask for the name of the loved one or a client?

And yet, some of them do latch on to information they otherwise shouldn’t know. Either you’ve got some good guessers or Satan is whispering in their ear.

Christians use these services. Some psychics even claim to be Christians – claiming their abilities are gifts from God. Look it up in the Bible and let me know if you find this one.

Why do people consult mediums or psychics?

            Reality: This type of behavior is strictly prohibited

What does the Bible have to say about this?

Leviticus 19:31
" 'Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God.

Leviticus 20:6
" 'I will set my face against the person who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute himself by following them, and I will cut him off from his people.

Leviticus 20:27
" 'A man or woman who is a medium or spiritist among you must be put to death. You are to stone them; their blood will be on their own heads.' "

Isaiah 8:19 asks why anyone would want to seek advice from dead people.

19 When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?

It boggles my mind why people would ask dead people about stuff going on in this world.

Mediums will try to tell you that dead use a type of code – holding up a certain number of fingers symbolic of something they want to communicate. How do the dead learn this code?

If you believe your relative is in heaven what would they be busy doing?

Worshiping God, reuniting with other loved ones who passed on.

Do you take comfort in the idea that a loved one is watching over you from heaven?

If it were true that a loved one were watching over me, I’d find that disturbing. Can you guess why?

Do you really want a loved one to know EVERYTHING that’s going on in your life? I consider my sex life with my wife to be something incredibly private!

When Angels Dance

            Myth: When you die you become an angel

Well, it looks like this slide answers the age old question: How many angels can dance on the head of a pin. I count 6!

Have you seen examples in our media where the dead became angels?

Clarence – in It’s A Wonderful Life.

Family Circus – deceased grandfather shown with wings.

Annie Lennox – tribute to her mother

Miscarriage. It’s a tragedy that many endure but few talk about openly. Our society hasn’t agreed on how such a loss should be mourned. This is due in part to the fact that our society hasn’t come to an agreement on when life actually begins.

When do you feel life begins?

Some of your friends and neighbors may not agree with that definition. And many pro-lifers would find it odd to mark that death in the same way one would do so for the death of an older child.

Having endured a number of miscarriages, Susan turned to support groups on the internet where she read tributes to these lost children. The parents referred to them as their angels.

Some parents do the same for children they have lost.

Does the Bible confirm that people become angels?

The only scripture that comes close is: Matthew 22:30

30At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven

            Reality: Angels are created beings, not souls that have departed this earth

Let’s start with the Matthew 22:30 passage and put it into context. Jesus was addressing the question of marriage in heaven.

Matthew 22:30

30 At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.

Even if marriage was not being addressed, the passage doesn’t say we will become angels but we will become like angels.

Nehemiah 9:6

6 You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.

Psalm 148:2-5

2 Praise him, all his angels,
       praise him, all his heavenly hosts.

 3 Praise him, sun and moon,
       praise him, all you shining stars.

 4 Praise him, you highest heavens
       and you waters above the skies.

 5 Let them praise the name of the LORD,
       for he commanded and they were created.

Was Christ An Angel?

Well no and yes.

Check out John 1:1-2

1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning.

What or more to the point, who was the Word?

Christ

If Christ was with God at the beginning, He could not have been created.

A Jehovah’s Witness will tell you that Christ was/is an angel. Why?

In the Old Testament, Christ appeared in pre-incarnate form and was often referred to as, “the Angel of the Lord.”

1.   Genesis 16:7
The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur.

2.   Genesis 16:9
Then the angel of the LORD told her, "Go back to your mistress and submit to her."
 

3.   Genesis 16:11
The angel of the LORD also said to her: "You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your misery.

4.  
 Genesis 22:11
But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied.
Genesis 22:10-12 (in Context) Genesis 22 (Whole Chapter)

5.   Genesis 22:15
The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time
Genesis 22:14-16 (in Context) Genesis 22 (Whole Chapter)

6.   Exodus 3:2
There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.
Exodus 3:1-3 (in Context) Exodus 3 (Whole Chapter)

7.   Numbers 22:22
But God was very angry when he went, and the angel of the LORD stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him.
Numbers 22:21-23 (in Context) Numbers 22 (Whole Chapter)

There are many other references to this term and they do point to Christ as in some of these references

The angel of the Lord speaks as God, identifies Himself with God, and exercises the responsibilities of God

In several of these appearances, those who saw the angel of the Lord feared for their lives because they had "seen the Lord."

Also, appearances of the Angel of The Lord cease after Christ came to earth in bodily form.

Therefore these passages refers to a theophany.

What is a theophany?

A pre-incarnate appearance of Christ.

Where does the term, “angel”  come from?
 

The term, “angel” means “messenger”

We know that Christ was more than just an angel.

We worship Christ, right?

What does the Bible have to say about angel worship?

Colossians 2:18
Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions.

The Bible also says this about angels and Jesus:

Hebrews 1:6
And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, "Let all God's angels worship him."

So Christ indeed was a messenger but He was not an “angel” in the sense of being a created being.

Getting back to us, We couldn’t become angels. We will judge them!

1 Corinthians 6:3
Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!

So what happens to us when we go to heaven?

Exercise: In the following passages and compare our earthly bodies to our heavenly bodies

1 Corinthians 15: 35-49

 But someone may ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?" How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. All flesh is not the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.

 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.
      If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.

Matthew 22:30

At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.

1 Corinthians 6:3

Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!

Romans 8:18
[ Future Glory ] I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

Describe our body on Earth

Describe our body in Heaven