Do You Believe In “Ghosts”?

Do You Believe in “Ghosts?”

“There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 1 Scene 5

Hamlet has been told by the night watch that the ghost of his father has appeared to them. Hamlet and his friend, Horatio go up to the battlements and the ghost appears. Horatio is a practical, down to earth scholar and he is stunned by this – he doesn’t believe in ghosts. He says: “O day and night, but this is wondrous strange.” Hamlet replies: “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” He is suggesting that the human imagination is limited and that there are many things we don’t know, things that haven’t been discovered and, in fact, things we haven’t even dreamt of.

I’ve been promising you a series on spiritual warfare – supernatural beings in conflict with God and his people. While technically NOT GHOSTS as we think of them, they are spirits from the spirit world. In this first lesson, I plan on dealing with our own skepticism regarding the unseen realm. Like Horatio, we tend to be skeptical of things that don’t fall neatly within our post-enlightenment worldview. We claim to believe in God and his activity in the world, but practically we see the world and events in almost exclusively rationalistic and secular ways. We like neat natural explanations of the unknown and limit spiritual phenomenon to what God did or allowed in the past, but not today.

God’s word clearly teaches that we are involved in a spiritual battle with malevolent beings opposed to God’s will and intent on our destruction. Paul’s words in Ephesians 6 come to mind.

Ephesians 6:10-13 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

MP<I’ll say more in my lesson.

Blessings, Joey