It has stood the test of time, God's book, 00:00:12.11\00:00:18.01 the Bible. Still relevant in today's 00:00:18.01\00:00:23.39 complex world. It Is Written...sharing hope 00:00:23.39\00:00:30.93 around the g I'm John Bradshaw and this is 00:00:30.93\00:00:44.24 It Is Written. Thanks for joining me today. 00:00:44.24\00:00:46.57 I'm here behind the GAR Hall, the oldest church building in 00:00:46.57\00:00:52.01 the City of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. 00:00:52.01\00:00:54.95 It was built in 1822 by Methodists. 00:00:54.95\00:00:57.92 It was the first church in this area to allow Blacks and 00:00:57.92\00:01:00.66 Whites to worship together. The church is still in use 00:01:00.66\00:01:03.69 today. In 1863, during and after the 00:01:03.69\00:01:07.13 Battle of Gettysburg, most public buildings and most 00:01:07.13\00:01:09.90 church buildings were pressed into emergency service. 00:01:09.90\00:01:13.27 Many college buildings, seminary buildings, even 00:01:13.27\00:01:16.20 private homes were converted into hospitals to take care 00:01:16.20\00:01:20.01 of the many wounded and dying. 00:01:20.01\00:01:22.74 Behind the GAR Hall here you find this little cemetery. 00:01:22.74\00:01:26.82 There is no shortage of cemeteries here in Gettysburg 00:01:26.82\00:01:30.02 and that is because so many people died in battle. 00:01:30.02\00:01:33.22 During the course of the American Civil War, more than 00:01:33.22\00:01:35.82 700,000 soldiers died, almost 8,000 alone during this one 00:01:35.82\00:01:42.23 battle here and more following the battle 00:01:42.23\00:01:45.47 If you plan to make a trip to come and visit Gettysburg and 00:01:46.87\00:01:49.77 you do a little bit of research you are probably 00:01:49.77\00:01:53.17 going to discover this interesting fact. 00:01:53.17\00:01:56.01 The number one money making tourism enterprise in 00:01:56.01\00:01:59.38 Gettysburg is ghost tours. In fact, one company that 00:01:59.38\00:02:05.85 operates ghost tours here in Gettysburg has this to say on 00:02:05.85\00:02:08.69 its website: Of all the forlorn countless souls awash 00:02:08.69\00:02:13.76 in time, none reach out to us more than those of the dead 00:02:13.76\00:02:17.87 at Gettysburg. They were young men, mostly, 00:02:17.87\00:02:20.77 with hopes for a bright future and moved by sincere, 00:02:20.77\00:02:24.57 patriotic dreams, caught up and cruelly thrown down again 00:02:24.57\00:02:29.11 in that great hot world of mortal combat. 00:02:29.11\00:02:32.31 Their presence on earth was silenced forever by death, or 00:02:32.31\00:02:38.59 maybe not. What's really going on here? 00:02:38.59\00:02:44.33 Are the ghosts of dead soldiers really wandering 00:02:44.33\00:02:47.00 around Gettysburg? Lost in some sort of 00:02:47.00\00:02:50.17 purgatory? And if they really are, what 00:02:50.17\00:02:52.83 stranded them here? Was it the tragedy of war? 00:02:52.83\00:02:55.97 Or was it as the website says, their intense desire 00:02:55.97\00:02:59.74 for a bright future? Did nobody tell them that the 00:02:59.74\00:03:02.74 battle of Gettysburg ended a century and a half ago? 00:03:02.74\00:03:06.58 When it comes to the subject of what happens to the dead, 00:03:06.58\00:03:09.05 the only place you can go to for reliable answers is the 00:03:09.05\00:03:13.76 Word of God. It is the only thing we can 00:03:13.76\00:03:16.32 really trust. The Ghosts of Gettysburg. 00:03:16.32\00:03:20.30 I'll have more in just a mome 00:03:20.30\00:03:23.16 In Matthew 4:4, the Word of God says, " It is written, 00:03:24.73\00:03:28.44 man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that 00:03:28.44\00:03:32.31 proceeds from the mouth of God. 00:03:32.31\00:03:34.44 Every Word is a one-minute Bible-based daily devotional 00:03:34.44\00:03:37.55 presented by Pastor John Bradshaw and designed 00:03:37.55\00:03:40.45 especially for busy people like you. 00:03:40.45\00:03:42.95 Look for Every Word on selected networks or watch it 00:03:42.95\00:03:46.25 on-line everyday on our website, itiswritten.com. 00:03:46.25\00:03:50.49 Receive a daily spiritual boost. 00:03:50.49\00:03:52.23 Watch Every Word. You'll be glad you did. 00:03:52.23\00:03:55.33 Here's a sampl Abraham Lincoln's son, 00:03:55.33\00:04:06.94 Robert, was on a railway platform in Jersey City, 00:04:06.94\00:04:09.51 New Jersey, when he slipped between the platform 00:04:09.51\00:04:11.91 and a moving train. But someone behind him 00:04:11.91\00:04:13.92 grabbed his coat collar and lifted him to safety on 00:04:13.92\00:04:16.22 the platform - saving him from serious injury and possibly 00:04:16.22\00:04:18.79 death. The man who saved young 00:04:18.79\00:04:21.82 Robert Lincoln\ was Edwin Booth, the brother 00:04:21.82\00:04:25.09 of John Wilkes Booth - who later murdered 00:04:25.09\00:04:26.29 President Lincoln. The brother of Lincoln's 00:04:26.29\00:04:28.96 assassin saved Lincoln's son. Coincidence? 00:04:28.96\00:04:32.57 You decide, but when God is at work in our lives, 00:04:32.57\00:04:37.51 THAT'S "providence". Ecclesiastes 11:5 says, 00:04:37.51\00:04:40.44 "As you do not know what is the way of the wind, or how 00:04:40.44\00:04:43.01 the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child, 00:04:43.01\00:04:46.31 so you do not know the works of God who makes everything." 00:04:46.31\00:04:49.52 Even when you don't discern it, God is at work. 00:04:49.52\00:04:51.89 When some see a coincidence, you can know that God 00:04:51.89\00:04:54.66 was there. Let's live today by every word 00:04:54.66\00:04:57.86 Today, we're talking about the ghosts of Gettysburg. 00:05:00.73\00:05:05.77 The idea of people dying and leaving spirits here on the 00:05:05.77\00:05:09.80 earth to wander to and fro is an old idea. 00:05:09.80\00:05:13.58 As a matter of fact, people have been believing in ghosts 00:05:13.58\00:05:17.18 since before human beings started leaving written 00:05:17.18\00:05:19.85 records. Today, most people fall into 00:05:19.85\00:05:23.08 one or the other of two main camps when it comes to this 00:05:23.08\00:05:25.89 question of what happens when you die. 00:05:25.89\00:05:28.39 Many people believe that when you die, you go straight to 00:05:28.39\00:05:30.46 heaven or straight to hell or perhaps purgatory. 00:05:30.46\00:05:33.53 In other words, you survive bodily death. 00:05:33.53\00:05:36.03 You go on living after you die and then there is a 00:05:36.03\00:05:38.77 school of thought that says that when you die your spirit 00:05:38.77\00:05:41.84 goes back to God like your hopes and dreams and thoughts 00:05:41.84\00:05:43.77 and desires and aspirations all cease to be. 00:05:43.77\00:05:48.58 As Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 9:5, the dead 00:05:48.58\00:05:52.61 know not anything. Well, whatever you believe 00:05:52.61\00:05:55.45 about that, there's one thing everybody ought to be able to 00:05:55.45\00:05:58.99 agree on and that's this. That when you die, you don't 00:05:58.99\00:06:03.56 leave a spirit behind that roams the earth. 00:06:03.56\00:06:06.06 The dead don't come back to visit their families or haunt 00:06:06.06\00:06:09.96 houses. In the Bible, the only spirit 00:06:09.96\00:06:13.70 beings that roam the earth, at least in the Old 00:06:13.70\00:06:16.00 Testament, were angels. Interestingly, even in the 00:06:16.00\00:06:20.81 Bible there were people who believed in ghosts. 00:06:20.81\00:06:25.15 Let's consider a New Testament Story. 00:06:25.15\00:06:27.78 We get it from Matthew, Chapter 14:25, 26. 00:06:27.78\00:06:33.52 Now in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went to them 00:06:33.52\00:06:36.06 walking on the sea, and when the disciples saw him walking 00:06:36.06\00:06:39.63 on the sea, they were troubled, saying 'It is a ghost', 00:06:39.63\00:06:43.03 and they cried out for fear." Did I read that right? 00:06:43.03\00:06:48.70 Did the disciples actually believe in ghosts? 00:06:48.70\00:06:52.34 The ones who spent many of their waking days, in fact, 00:06:52.34\00:06:55.44 every day for several years with Jesus, the divine Son 00:06:55.44\00:06:59.45 of God, did these guys believe in ghosts? 00:06:59.45\00:07:02.82 Evidently so. And it wasn't just the disciples 00:07:02.82\00:07:07.26 who believed this either. There is a very curious story 00:07:07.26\00:07:11.86 found in the Old Testament concerning a man named Saul, 00:07:11.86\00:07:14.83 that is, King Saul, the King of Israel. 00:07:14.83\00:07:18.43 King Saul believed that he had an encounter with a ghost 00:07:18.43\00:07:21.77 as well. You find the story in 00:07:21.77\00:07:24.17 1 Samuel 28 and the fact is, it's the only real ghost 00:07:24.17\00:07:28.81 story that you find in the Bible. 00:07:28.81\00:07:31.75 Understanding this story gives us some real insight 00:07:31.75\00:07:34.92 into the supernatural. Let's pick it up in 00:07:34.92\00:07:37.65 1 Samuel 28:8. So Saul disguised himself and 00:07:37.65\00:07:40.66 put on other clothes and he went and two men with him. 00:07:40.66\00:07:47.60 And they came to the woman by night and he said, "please 00:07:47.60\00:07:50.93 conduct a séance for me and bring up for me the one I 00:07:50.93\00:07:54.67 shall name for you. Then the woman said to him, 00:07:54.67\00:07:57.87 'look, you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the 00:07:57.87\00:08:01.14 mediums and the spiritists from the land. 00:08:01.14\00:08:03.81 Why then do you lay a snare for my life to cause me to 00:08:03.81\00:08:07.02 die? And Saul swore to her by the 00:08:07.02\00:08:09.82 Lord saying, as the Lord lives, no punishment shall 00:08:09.82\00:08:13.25 come upon you for this thing. Then, the woman said, whom 00:08:13.25\00:08:16.79 shall I bring up for you? And he said, bring up Samuel 00:08:16.79\00:08:20.63 for me. When the woman saw Samuel, 00:08:20.63\00:08:23.63 she cried out with a loud voice, and the woman spoke to 00:08:23.63\00:08:27.00 Saul, saying, 'why have you deceived me? 00:08:27.00\00:08:30.11 For you are Saul!' And the King said to her, 'do not be 00:08:30.11\00:08:34.24 afraid. What do you see?' And the 00:08:34.24\00:08:36.64 woman said to Saul, 'I saw a spirit ascending out of the 00:08:36.64\00:08:40.48 earth.' So he said to her, 'what is his form?' and she 00:08:40.48\00:08:44.22 said 'an old man is coming up and he is covered with a 00:08:44.22\00:08:47.49 mantle,' and Saul perceived that it was Samuel and he 00:08:47.49\00:08:51.56 stooped with his face to the ground and bowed down. 00:08:51.56\00:08:55.20 Now, Samuel said to Saul, "Why have you disturbed me by 00:08:55.20\00:08:58.87 bringing me up?" Interesting, isn't it? 00:08:58.87\00:09:03.54 Now, the question we want to ask ourselves is this. 00:09:03.54\00:09:06.24 Was that actually the ghost of Samuel? 00:09:06.24\00:09:11.31 Evidently looked like Samuel, apparently talked like 00:09:11.31\00:09:14.45 Samuel. This Samuel figure evidently 00:09:14.45\00:09:17.32 recognized Saul and Samuel wasn't too happy about having 00:09:17.32\00:09:22.06 been brought back from the dead. 00:09:22.06\00:09:23.99 So how do we understand this? First thing you want to do is 00:09:23.99\00:09:26.93 consider the context in which this took place. 00:09:26.93\00:09:29.46 King Saul was talking to a medium and this was something 00:09:29.46\00:09:33.40 that God had expressly forbidden his people from 00:09:33.40\00:09:35.70 doing. Leviticus 19:31, "Give no 00:09:35.70\00:09:39.27 regard to mediums and familiar spirits. 00:09:39.27\00:09:42.14 Do not seek after them to be defiled by them. 00:09:42.14\00:09:45.25 I am the Lord your God." Then we read this in Deuteronomy 00:09:45.25\00:09:48.85 18:9-13, "when you come into the land which the Lord your 00:09:48.85\00:09:52.75 God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the 00:09:52.75\00:09:57.53 abominations of those nations. 00:09:57.53\00:10:00.00 There shall not be found among you anyone who makes 00:10:00.00\00:10:02.33 his son or his daughter pass through the fire or one who 00:10:02.33\00:10:05.30 practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who 00:10:05.30\00:10:08.40 interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures 00:10:08.40\00:10:11.14 spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls 00:10:11.14\00:10:15.14 up the dead, for all who do these things are an 00:10:15.14\00:10:20.25 abomination to the Lord and because of these 00:10:20.25\00:10:23.18 abominations, the Lord your God drives them out from 00:10:23.18\00:10:25.69 before you. You shall be blameless before 00:10:25.69\00:10:29.12 the Lord your God. And then Leviticus 20:6, 00:10:29.12\00:10:34.13 "And the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits 00:10:34.13\00:10:36.53 to prostitute himself with them, I will set my face against 00:10:36.53\00:10:39.97 that person and cut him off from his people." 00:10:39.97\00:10:43.57 Spiritualism is one of Satan's most overwhelming 00:10:43.57\00:10:47.71 and most effective deceptions and it was cooked up in the 00:10:47.71\00:10:51.18 theological seminaries of hell itself. 00:10:51.18\00:10:53.38 There is no question something was going on and 00:10:53.38\00:10:57.39 what was going on was this: Saul the King was speaking to 00:10:57.39\00:11:01.82 the medium and the medium was communicating with the devil. 00:11:01.82\00:11:05.99 It's important that we know this, especially in this 00:11:05.99\00:11:09.96 world where psychics are big business and mediums have 00:11:09.96\00:11:14.37 their own television programs. 00:11:14.37\00:11:16.34 It wasn't that long ago that a cable TV channel came here 00:11:16.34\00:11:19.04 to Gettysburg and they filmed the show on paranormal 00:11:19.04\00:11:22.74 activity in Gettysburg. They brought high tech 00:11:22.74\00:11:26.48 electronic equipment that they hoped was going to help 00:11:26.48\00:11:29.32 him capture communication with spirits from the other 00:11:29.32\00:11:32.89 side. How successful were they in 00:11:32.89\00:11:35.36 doing so? Well you and I both know. 00:11:35.36\00:11:38.73 People say Gettysburg is haunted. 00:11:38.73\00:11:40.96 People refer to hearing strange things and seeing odd 00:11:40.96\00:11:43.73 things from time to time. Activity they can't really 00:11:43.73\00:11:47.14 adequately explain. But you know, that's true for 00:11:47.14\00:11:49.80 just about anywhere in the United States. 00:11:49.80\00:11:52.71 You hear something, you see something, if you hadn't been 00:11:52.71\00:11:56.24 told that there are spirits roaming around, you'd never 00:11:56.24\00:11:59.18 have even thought it was a spirit. 00:11:59.18\00:12:01.98 You would have thought that noise in your attic was a 00:12:01.98\00:12:04.82 racoon, you would not have been worried about some 00:12:04.82\00:12:06.86 departed Gettysburg soldier. It is said that Gettysburg is 00:12:06.86\00:12:10.99 the most haunted place in the United States. 00:12:10.99\00:12:14.00 True or False? Well, it's true that it's 00:12:14.00\00:12:16.20 said that, but I think we both know why it is said. 00:12:16.20\00:12:20.30 You know why? Because it's good for 00:12:20.30\00:12:24.04 business, that's why. Now, God does have a means of 00:12:24.04\00:12:30.48 assisting those of us living on the earth, even sometimes 00:12:30.48\00:12:34.35 communicating with us here on earth. 00:12:34.35\00:12:37.39 How does God doe that, supernaturally? 00:12:37.39\00:12:39.45 1) Through the Holy Spirit; 2) Through the Word of God; 00:12:39.45\00:12:43.39 and 3) Through angels. One thing that is consistent 00:12:43.39\00:12:51.60 in the Bible about angels is that when angels interact 00:12:51.60\00:12:55.94 with human beings, they have this tremendous capacity to 00:12:55.94\00:12:58.47 be able to fill human beings with awe. 00:12:58.47\00:13:01.08 They are awe-inspiring. I will share with you a 00:13:01.08\00:13:03.81 couple of verses from the Bible that make that point 00:13:03.81\00:13:06.85 very, very clear. Matthew 28:5, the angel 00:13:06.85\00:13:12.09 answered and said unto the women, "fear not for I know 00:13:12.09\00:13:15.72 that you seek Jesus, which was crucified." These are the 00:13:15.72\00:13:21.20 women who came down to Jesus' tomb. 00:13:21.20\00:13:23.47 The angel appeared and they were awestruck. 00:13:23.47\00:13:26.37 Now, the word used is "fear" and I've got to be honest 00:13:26.37\00:13:29.30 with you and tell you that I'm not sure how much terror 00:13:29.30\00:13:31.77 filled these people as much as wonder and awe ... a 00:13:31.77\00:13:35.58 heavenly being. We are in the presence of 00:13:35.58\00:13:37.81 somebody who has come from God. 00:13:37.81\00:13:40.02 They didn't have to be terrified of God, but I tell 00:13:40.02\00:13:42.25 you, the word is not inappropriate any how, they 00:13:42.25\00:13:45.82 were afraid, they were awestruck. 00:13:45.82\00:13:48.12 I'll give you another verse that makes the same point and 00:13:48.12\00:13:50.13 we'll discuss a couple of others again. 00:13:50.13\00:13:52.49 Luke 1:12, when Zacharias, that's the father of John the 00:13:52.49\00:13:58.17 Baptist, saw him, the Angel, he was troubled and fear fell 00:13:58.17\00:14:05.34 upon him. So the angels of heaven have 00:14:05.34\00:14:08.41 this ability to instill fear or inspire awe in those 00:14:08.41\00:14:13.25 people who encounter the angels of heaven. 00:14:13.25\00:14:15.42 You read in Daniel 8, Daniel said "when the angel appeared 00:14:15.42\00:14:19.19 to him, he was afraid and he fell on his face." So point 00:14:19.19\00:14:24.66 #1, angels inspire, let's say fear or awe. 00:14:24.66\00:14:28.23 You choose which word works best for you. 00:14:28.23\00:14:32.50 Point #2 angels are powerful. I want to share a little 00:14:32.50\00:14:36.27 story with you from Isaiah 37, how powerful are the 00:14:36.27\00:14:40.51 angels? Well, let's look at this. 00:14:40.51\00:14:44.35 At Gettysburg in 1863, the Battle at Gettysburg ended 00:14:44.35\00:14:48.15 with 8000 or thereabouts deaths. 00:14:48.15\00:14:51.65 Many more casualties when you take into account the wounded 00:14:51.65\00:14:54.46 and the missing and so on, and then about another 8000 00:14:54.46\00:14:57.13 people died shortly after the battle of Gettysburg and it 00:14:57.13\00:14:59.83 is interesting to just say that as though it is of no 00:14:59.83\00:15:02.76 consequence but it was of colossal consequence. 00:15:02.76\00:15:05.40 Then you had the battle of Antedum, the bloodiest single 00:15:05.40\00:15:07.90 day in the history of the American civil war. 00:15:07.90\00:15:11.04 But look at this. How powerful is an angel of 00:15:11.04\00:15:14.44 heaven? I'll read in Isaiah 37 00:15:14.44\00:15:16.81 starting in verse 33. Listen to this. 00:15:16.81\00:15:19.81 God says, therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the 00:15:19.81\00:15:22.38 King of Assyria. He shall not come into this 00:15:22.38\00:15:24.95 city nor shoot an arrow there nor come before it with 00:15:24.95\00:15:28.06 shields nor cast a bank against it. 00:15:28.06\00:15:30.39 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return and 00:15:30.39\00:15:33.46 shall not come into this city, saith the Lord. 00:15:33.46\00:15:35.66 For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, 00:15:35.66\00:15:39.23 and for my servant David's sake. 00:15:39.23\00:15:42.24 And then what did God do? God commissioned an angel who 00:15:42.24\00:15:47.21 went forth and ... well, let's read. 00:15:47.21\00:15:51.48 Let's read and see what happens in verse 36: Then the 00:15:51.48\00:15:54.75 angel of the Lord went forth and smoke the camp of the 00:15:54.75\00:15:57.89 Assyrians 185,000 and when they arose early in the 00:15:57.89\00:16:06.43 morning, behold they were all dead corpses. 00:16:06.43\00:16:11.53 One angel, so powerful, that 185,000 soldiers were killed 00:16:11.53\00:16:20.44 in one fell swoop. How powerful are the angels 00:16:20.44\00:16:25.25 of God? They are tremendously 00:16:25.25\00:16:28.08 powerful. Now there is another point I 00:16:28.08\00:16:30.75 want you to look at concerning the angels of 00:16:30.75\00:16:33.49 heaven. God's messengers sent to this 00:16:33.49\00:16:35.96 earth, and that's this. 2 Kings 6:13, He, the king, 00:16:35.96\00:16:40.96 said, go and spy where he is that I may send and fetch 00:16:40.96\00:16:45.17 him. And it was told him saying 00:16:45.17\00:16:46.30 behold he is in Dothan, therefore he sent there 00:16:46.30\00:16:48.74 horses and chariots and a great host and they came by 00:16:48.74\00:16:52.01 night and encompassed the city about and when the 00:16:52.01\00:16:55.38 servant of the man of God was risen early and gone forth 00:16:55.38\00:16:58.08 behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and 00:16:58.08\00:17:02.42 chariots. And his servants said unto 00:17:02.42\00:17:04.99 him, Alas my master, how shall we do? 00:17:04.99\00:17:07.99 And he answered Fear not for they that be with us are more 00:17:07.99\00:17:11.99 than they that be with them and Elisha prayed and said 00:17:11.99\00:17:16.43 Lord, I pray thee open his eyes that he may see and the 00:17:16.43\00:17:22.24 Lord opened the eyes of the young man and he saw and 00:17:22.24\00:17:27.28 behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of 00:17:27.28\00:17:32.31 fire round about Elisha. In 2 Kings 6 the angels 00:17:32.31\00:17:36.85 appeared as brilliant beings. What a display to see the 00:17:36.85\00:17:41.36 mountain full of horses and chariots of fire sent from 00:17:41.36\00:17:47.30 God and angels. The word of God said a great 00:17:47.30\00:17:50.57 host was there. How impressive that must have 00:17:50.57\00:17:54.10 been to the view of Elisha's servant, to walk out there 00:17:54.10\00:17:57.87 and look out and see what God had sent, all sent by God to 00:17:57.87\00:18:02.51 assist and aid and help God's people and bring 00:18:02.51\00:18:05.35 encouragement and assure God's people that he was with 00:18:05.35\00:18:08.65 him. God was there with his people 00:18:08.65\00:18:10.79 and the angels appeared as messengers of God to bring 00:18:10.79\00:18:14.19 strength and hope. Now, about the way angels 00:18:14.19\00:18:20.03 appear. The word of God makes clear 00:18:20.03\00:18:23.33 that angels are able to assume other forms. 00:18:23.33\00:18:27.77 Now, here is what I mean by that. 00:18:27.77\00:18:29.77 I will give you a couple of very Biblical examples. 00:18:29.77\00:18:31.84 In the NT, the Word of God says that Satan is able to 00:18:31.84\00:18:34.14 appear as an angel of light. Now, he is an angel of 00:18:34.14\00:18:37.41 darkness. He is the Devil. 00:18:37.41\00:18:39.68 Nevertheless, he can disguise himself in such a way as he 00:18:39.68\00:18:44.59 can appear to be an angel of goodness, an angel of light. 00:18:44.59\00:18:49.66 Let's get an even more graphic example than that. 00:18:49.66\00:18:51.73 We go back to Genesis. The creation story just after 00:18:51.73\00:18:55.00 the creation story in Genesis 3. In Genesis 3:1, the Bible 00:18:55.00\00:19:00.54 says "Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of 00:19:00.54\00:19:05.87 the field which the Lord God had made and he said unto the 00:19:05.87\00:19:09.21 woman, Yay, hath God said you shall not eat of every tree 00:19:09.21\00:19:13.18 of the garden? And the woman said unto the 00:19:13.18\00:19:15.95 serpent, "we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the 00:19:15.95\00:19:19.39 garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the 00:19:19.39\00:19:22.72 midst of the Garden, God has said ..." and so on. 00:19:22.72\00:19:25.86 The devil appeared as a snake. 00:19:25.86\00:19:30.97 Must have been a very beautiful creature, because 00:19:30.97\00:19:33.94 Eve was enticed. She was beguiled. 00:19:33.94\00:19:36.10 She was drawn. She was attracted to what was 00:19:36.10\00:19:38.21 taking place. And maybe there is something 00:19:38.21\00:19:40.71 about a talking snake. A little hard for me to 00:19:40.71\00:19:44.11 relate to because I was raised in one of the very few 00:19:44.11\00:19:47.25 countries in the world where there are no snakes. 00:19:47.25\00:19:49.32 There are only three of them and I was raised in one of 00:19:49.32\00:19:51.79 those three countries ....no snakes at all. 00:19:51.79\00:19:54.72 I wasn't raised with any affinity for snakes in any 00:19:54.72\00:19:58.09 way, shape or form. Now I've developed a working 00:19:58.09\00:20:02.20 toleration with them. I can't imagine what I would 00:20:02.20\00:20:06.07 ever have done if I would have heard a talking snake. 00:20:06.07\00:20:08.30 I'd like to think that I would not have hung around. 00:20:08.30\00:20:12.17 Eve heard the voice, looked and saw the snake, the 00:20:12.17\00:20:16.78 serpent, it must have been a beautiful creature and she 00:20:16.78\00:20:21.65 entered into a discussion with it and where did that 00:20:21.65\00:20:24.39 discussion lead? It led to where we are today. 00:20:24.39\00:20:26.96 Plunged into misery and sin, and depths of despair as a 00:20:26.96\00:20:30.03 planet hoping for a better day and we know that better 00:20:30.03\00:20:33.13 day is the return of Jesus. Lucifer, now Satan, changed 00:20:33.13\00:20:39.43 his form and he did that to draw Eve and Adam and this 00:20:39.43\00:20:45.61 whole planet into the depths of the misery of sin. 00:20:45.61\00:20:50.51 Now, there is another point I want to make about angels, 00:20:50.51\00:20:54.12 and that's this. You know God created us in 00:20:54.12\00:20:57.19 such a way that we can be inhabited. 00:20:57.19\00:21:00.59 The Bible says that we are the temple of the Holy 00:21:00.59\00:21:02.72 Spirit. We were created to be filled 00:21:02.72\00:21:04.69 with the presence of God. In Revelation 3, Jesus says 00:21:04.69\00:21:09.30 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock. 00:21:09.30\00:21:12.63 If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come 00:21:12.63\00:21:15.80 into him and dine with him and that person will dine 00:21:15.80\00:21:18.41 with me. Jesus wants to come into us 00:21:18.41\00:21:21.44 and live his life in us. We read that again and again 00:21:21.44\00:21:25.35 and again in the word of God. We were made to be inhabited. 00:21:25.35\00:21:31.25 However, you have also read in the Word of God that there 00:21:31.25\00:21:34.62 are people who have been inhabited by the wrong spirit 00:21:34.62\00:21:39.03 and there are probably several places we could go in 00:21:39.03\00:21:41.23 the Bible to illustrate that, but I want to go to Luke 11 00:21:41.23\00:21:45.43 and there is an interesting passage in Luke 11 that 00:21:45.43\00:21:49.34 demonstrates this. Luke 11, I'm going to read in 00:21:49.34\00:21:54.78 verse 24 and on. When the unclean spirit is 00:21:54.78\00:22:00.22 gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places seeking 00:22:00.22\00:22:04.92 rest and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my 00:22:04.92\00:22:09.22 house whence I came out and when he cometh, he findeth it 00:22:09.22\00:22:12.49 swept and garnished. Then he goes and he takes to 00:22:12.49\00:22:16.16 him seven other spirits, more wicked than hiself and they 00:22:16.16\00:22:21.60 enter in and dwell there and the last state of that man is 00:22:21.60\00:22:26.91 worse than his first. Isn't that something? 00:22:26.91\00:22:31.25 You wee, we were made to be inhabitated, inhabited by a 00:22:31.25\00:22:34.58 spirit. God is a spirit and that is 00:22:34.58\00:22:36.58 who we want to fill us up. Jesus wants to live his life 00:22:36.58\00:22:39.55 in us and he would do that today through the Holy 00:22:39.55\00:22:42.19 Spirit. But if we are not filled with 00:22:42.19\00:22:45.46 the Holy Spirit, we are going to be filled with something. 00:22:45.46\00:22:49.23 Notice, the demon was cast out or went out of a man, he 00:22:49.23\00:22:53.37 came back to that person and found the man empty ... empty 00:22:53.37\00:22:58.34 and because he was empty, there was room inside that 00:22:58.34\00:23:02.01 person's mind or heart or life for that demon and many 00:23:02.01\00:23:05.98 of his associates. We were made to be filled up. 00:23:05.98\00:23:09.65 We were made to be filled with the Spirit of God. 00:23:09.65\00:23:12.99 However, if we are not, we can be filled with the Spirit 00:23:12.99\00:23:17.09 of Satan. We can be filled with demons. 00:23:17.09\00:23:19.63 People can be possessed. You know, that's one of the 00:23:19.63\00:23:22.83 reasons why it's so very, very important not to go to 00:23:22.83\00:23:26.40 mediums, not to consult mediums, not to consult with 00:23:26.40\00:23:28.97 psychics, to stay away from psychic phenomena, to stay 00:23:28.97\00:23:32.17 away from that dangerous, unbiblical paranormal 00:23:32.17\00:23:35.61 activity. Why? 00:23:35.61\00:23:37.68 Because it is not of God. And if you will give the 00:23:37.68\00:23:39.68 enemy of Saul a toehold, he will take it. 00:23:39.68\00:23:42.28 If you give him an inch, he will take a mile. 00:23:42.28\00:23:44.25 If you give him access to your life at all, before you 00:23:44.25\00:23:46.99 know it, he has taken over our life completely. 00:23:46.99\00:23:50.79 The only safe thing to do is to stay away from that dark 00:23:50.79\00:23:53.76 side, to stay away from the mediums and the psychics, to 00:23:53.76\00:23:57.80 stay away from the ghosts and the ghost stories and run to 00:23:57.80\00:24:01.57 Jesus and hang on to Jesus and just don't let g 00:24:01.57\00:24:05.54 You can't always explain things that go bump in the 00:24:08.91\00:24:11.25 night, except you can know this. 00:24:11.25\00:24:13.85 The Devil is a liar. Jesus called him the father 00:24:13.85\00:24:16.75 of lies and to get a world full of people to believe 00:24:16.75\00:24:20.02 that the spirits of the dead come back to the earth and 00:24:20.02\00:24:22.82 roam the streets and haunt houses, really ... that's quite 00:24:22.82\00:24:26.29 an achievement, especially when the Bible says plainly 00:24:26.29\00:24:28.90 and simply in the Book of Job 7 that the dead return no 00:24:28.90\00:24:33.60 more to their house. So, are there demons roaming 00:24:33.60\00:24:38.54 the streets of Gettysburg? I wouldn't doubt it for a 00:24:38.54\00:24:41.64 moment, not for a moment. But are they the spirits of 00:24:41.64\00:24:46.11 dead soldiers wandering around, troubling people and 00:24:46.11\00:24:48.78 bothering lives? It absolutely cannot be that 00:24:48.78\00:24:52.39 way, at least, not if you want to believe the Bible. 00:24:52.39\00:24:56.86 I will never forget the experience I had visiting a 00:24:56.86\00:24:58.99 lady in her home a number of years ago and she told me 00:24:58.99\00:25:01.46 this story: She said that her uncle lived with her family 00:25:01.46\00:25:06.10 in the last years of his life and that he died right there 00:25:06.10\00:25:09.27 in her home. It was not but a couple of 00:25:09.27\00:25:11.94 days after the funeral and she went back into uncle 00:25:11.94\00:25:14.78 Larry's bedroom to straighten something up or return 00:25:14.78\00:25:17.65 something or retrieve something and as she stepped 00:25:17.65\00:25:20.72 into that room, music started playing. 00:25:20.72\00:25:24.99 She looked around. She didn't know how to 00:25:24.99\00:25:27.16 explain that. She stepped out of the room 00:25:27.16\00:25:30.29 and the music stopped. So she stepped in and it 00:25:30.29\00:25:32.86 started and she stepped out and it stopped, and she had a 00:25:32.86\00:25:35.06 little fun with this for a while and she wondered what 00:25:35.06\00:25:37.03 was going on and she wondered if she was hearing things and 00:25:37.03\00:25:39.70 then she realized that's the kind of music Uncle Larry 00:25:39.70\00:25:43.54 used to live. That's what is going on here. 00:25:43.54\00:25:46.24 Uncle Larry is back and he is telling us everything is 00:25:46.24\00:25:49.88 okay. Well, you can believe that if 00:25:49.88\00:25:53.52 you want to but it's not what the Word of God says. 00:25:53.52\00:25:56.99 The Bible does not tell us that the dead come back to 00:25:56.99\00:26:00.79 the earth, haunt houses, scare people and roam the 00:26:00.79\00:26:05.03 streets of cities like Gettysburg. 00:26:05.03\00:26:07.30 In fact, that's far from the truth. 00:26:07.30\00:26:10.97 It just doesn't happen and we have that on the authority of 00:26:10.97\00:26:15.20 the Word of Go The Mystery of Death is a 00:26:15.20\00:26:32.22 book that will help you discover the truth of the 00:26:32.22\00:26:34.99 after-life, death whenever it happens is a tragedy and 00:26:34.99\00:26:38.79 people wonder what happens next. 00:26:38.79\00:26:41.33 In this week's free book, the mystery of death, pastor 00:26:41.33\00:26:44.83 Bradshaw explores this often misunderstood subject 00:26:44.83\00:26:47.87 and provides answers directly from the Bible. 00:26:47.87\00:26:52.27 Just call 1.800.253.3000 and ask for the book 00:26:52.27\00:26:57.75 The Mystery of Death. You can call anytime, 00:26:57.75\00:26:59.68 day or night. If the line is busy, please 00:26:59.68\00:27:01.22 keep trying. You can also request 00:27:01.22\00:27:04.25 this free book by writing to It Is Written, Box O, 00:27:04.25\00:27:06.52 Thousand Oaks, California, 91359 and we will mail a copy 00:27:06.52\00:27:10.73 to your address in North America. 00:27:10.73\00:27:13.40 Please note this free book is limited to the supply on 00:27:13.40\00:27:16.03 hand. For immediate access, you can 00:27:16.03\00:27:18.70 download a free electronic version of the book, The Mystery 00:27:18.70\00:27:21.90 of Death, from our website itiswritten.com. 00:27:21.90\00:27:26.44 It Is Written is a faith-based ministry made possible 00:27:26.44\00:27:28.58 by viewers like you. Thank you for your letters 00:27:28.58\00:27:31.71 and your continued support. Our toll free number 00:27:31.71\00:27:34.92 is 800 253 3000 and our web address 00:27:34.92\00:27:38.39 itiswritten. Thanks for joining me today. 00:27:38.39\00:27:46.86 I look forward to seeing you again next time. 00:27:46.86\00:27:49.23 Until then, remember, it is written, man shall not live 00:27:49.23\00:27:53.80 by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the 00:27:53.80\00:27:58.04