GHOSTS! 
(From Treasures, “Take a trip out of this world!” pages 640-641 and 643-644) 

Departed Saints and Holy Ghosts!
	In several cases in the Bible, the spiritual messengers sent to convey a message to a Prophet or a man or woman of God were not Angels, but the spirits of some former men of God! One example of this is when the Prophet Samuel, who had died, appeared to Saul to give him a message from the Lord!--1Samuel 28:13-20.
	In the Book of Revelation, when the Apostle John was astonished by the great mysteries of God that a "ministering spirit" was showing him, he wrote, "And when I had heard and seen these things, I fell down to worship at the feet of the Angel which had been showing them to me. But he said to me, `Do not do it! For I am a fellow servant, with you, of your brethren the Prophets. Worship God!'"--Revelation 22:8,9. This messenger whom John mistakenly thought was an "Angel" was not an Angel at all, but a departed Prophet, in a supernatural spiritual body!

	Two departed Saints even appeared and ministered to Jesus, God's Own Son! Shortly before His crucifixion, "Jesus went up into a mountain to pray. And as He prayed, the appearance of His face changed, and His clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning! Then two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendour, talking with Jesus, and spoke of His death."--Luke 9:28-33. These two former Prophets, Moses and Elijah, had departed from this life many centuries previously, yet God sent them to counsel and confer with His Son! So God can and does use His human servants who have already passed on from this life to minister to and help those of us who are still here!
	The Holy Spirit uses these holy spirits, these departed saintly spirits, to lead and guide God's children. In fact, I believe that one or more of them are assigned to each of us who receive the anointing or empowerment of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. When we are filled with the Spirit of God, we also receive, at the same time, specific good spirits who have specific gifts, hence, the "gifts of the Spirit" described in 1Corinthians 12:4-11. In other words, God uses these spirits as His agents in imparting not only messages but also the particular spiritual gifts that each of us are given when we receive the Holy Spirit.
	This makes it easy to understand how a person receives a gift of tongues, for example: The ability to fluently speak in an unlearned language. God lets another spirit, a departed Saint, speak through you in another language, the native tongue of that particular individual departed Saint. This is what Paul meant when he wrote, "I speak with the tongues of men and of Angels"!--1Corinthians 13:1.
	These departed saints are they of whom Paul speaks in Hebrews 12:1 "as a great cloud of witnesses" which surround us--here and now! "We are surrounded with so great a cloud of witnesses!" So thank God for His Spirit & for all of His good spirits who are helping us!
	God's Word welcomes and introduces His born-again children to this marvellous Spirit World, saying: "You have come to the City of the living God, the Heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of Angels, to the general assembly and Church of the Firstborn, whose names are written in Heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant."--Hebrews 12:22-24. Hallelujah!

Spooks, Ghosts and Familiar Spirits!
	Just as the good spirits of departed Saints of God continue to serve Him in the Spirit World after they die, there are also billions of people who die without the Lord's Salvation. As is brought out in our lesson, "Heaven, Hell and In-between" (See page 783.), such folks do not go straight to Hell when they die, but they await their final judgement in "Hades", the Ghostly state, the unseen Spirit World!
	Some of them, because of their previous bad deeds & evil lives, suffer by being assigned to remain at the scene of their death or the house where they lived. Down through the centuries many people have reported encounters with ghosts in haunted houses. These ghosts are not necessarily all evil--although some no doubt are--but, as a form of punishment, are simply not allowed to leave the place where they are confined.

	However, there are other departed human spirits which are definitely evil!--People who were in rebellion against God and serving the Devil in this life, who, after they die, continue to serve Satan and do evil! This is why the Bible warns us: "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but try (test) the spirits whether they are of God, because many (spirits of) false prophets have gone out into the World!"--1John 4:1-4. These are "seducing spirits" or "familiar spirits" against which the Bible clearly warns!--1Timothy 4:1; Acts 16:16; Leviticus 20:6,27: Deuteronomy 18:10-12. If they do not freely confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He has come in the flesh, rebuke them and have nothing to do with them!
	Christians who love the Lord should also have nothing to do with witchcraft, wizardry, the occult, using magical arts or participating in such things as seances, "divining" to know the future, or dabbling with Ouija boards etc. All of these are avenues for the Devil that can result in demon-possession (if you're not saved) or at least in you being "haunted" and troubled by an unclean familiar spirit. Hypnosis, where you yield your will and spirit to another, as well as so-called "transcendental meditation" where you open your mind wide to spiritual influences, are also very dangerous! As God's saved children, we should be filled with His Holy Spirit, satisfied with Christ's Kingdom of Light, & should "give no place to the Devil" by dabbling in or being curious about any doubtful spiritual influences.--Ephesians 4:27.