that’s the work of the devil. the dead are dead until the return of Christ.
“that’s the work of the devil. the dead are dead until the return of Christ.”
No one is disputing that their dead. That doesn’t mean God is dead. God can use even the dead to accomplish His will if He so chooses.
Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus .... Demonic?
As a rule, that’s true. But in some cases there have been exceptions. For instance, if you read 1st Samuel 28 you’ll see that when Saul visited the witch of Endor, she actually did call up the spirit of the departed Samuel, and Samuel scolded her and Saul for disturbing him, and repeated to Saul what he’d told Saul before he passed away; that God had taken the kingdom away from Saul and given it to David.
Things changed when Christ died for our sins and arose again. In Matt. 27:51-53 it says that when Christ died on the cross the temple vail was split in two, and many tombs were opened and those who had died as believers came out of the tombs. Also in one of the epistles it says that when Christ arose victorious over death and hell he took the keys from satan, “led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men.”
Teachers I’ve heard, say that it means when Christ left the underworld on Easter Morning He cleaned out the “Abraham’s Bosom” side of the place and brought all the deceased believers with Him and took them with Him when He delivered His blood to The Father and sprinkled it on the heavenly Mercy Seat. Remember, when he first dncountered Mary Magdalene in the Garden upon arising from the tomb, he told Mary not to touch Him because “I have not yet ascended to My Father.”
(So the only souls left down there now, on the other side of “The Great Gulf,” the HOT side, are the doomed souls who refused God’s offer of Salvation while they were alive. There are only two possible places for us to go when we die; and we choose which one while we’re still alive. To go to Heaven requires a definite choice and a request for forgiveness in a prayer directly to God, in the Name of Jesus. To go to the other place, you needn’t do anything...and when you die you’ll go there by default.)
Several hours after telling Mary not to touch Him, he was back, and visited with Mr. & Mrs. Cleopas as they walked along the road to Emmaus, where they lived. And upon leaving THEM, He appeared to the 10 apostles in Jerusalem....Thomas being absent....and invited them to touch Him and see that He was real.
After saying all that, I must say that in this, the Church Age, these sorts of occurances are likely the work of “familiar spirits” impersonating the departed, having the power to take on any form they want....including someone’s blonde hair. Christ said that satan can change his appearance to make himself look and seem like an angel of light...as in promoting abortion and sodomy to the Religious Left, for instance.
So I agree with you. I also part company with Catholic doctrine that apparently claims a believer can lose their Salvation. A TRUE believer won’t. I won’t get into the well known money trail that results from Catholic mourners pouring money into the church coffers in an attempt to buy assurance of forgiveness for the dear departed. If the dear departed had given their heart and life to Christ, nothing could take that away, a la John 10:28-30. If they HADN’T embraced Christ, no amount of money can buy them Salvation. Only the Blood of Christ can do that....and it isn’t retroactive.
You’d better rethink that statement.
When Christ showed his divinity to Peter, James and John, on Mt. Tabor, he was seen to converse with Moses and Elijah (the Law and the Prophets).
Both had died centuries before.
And all this took place before His death and resurrection.
How did Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus, then?
Ed