By Adrienne Greene
Q:
Dear Pastor,
I don’t see the spiritual difference between raising the dead in a séance and raising the dead in a hospital. Doesn’t the Bible support both?
A.
The difference is that one activity comes from Satan and the other comes from the Savior of the world. One brings a curse and the other brings a blessing.
According to the Book of John, chapter one, Jesus created all things. So on the sixth day, when he created human beings, he imbued us with the ability to do whatever we want. It’s called “free will” and frankly, we’ve had trouble with it from that day forth. Since God made us with a spirit, a soul and a body, we are able to utilize spiritual power to accomplish things. Yet there are two distinct power-sources we may tap into to do it: one is rooted in heaven and one in hell. These two power-sources are manned at the top by either Satan himself, the fallen seraphim created by God for worship (he blew it, lost the job and now walks the earth looking for prey); or God, the Triune perfection of all love, hope and goodness.
The issue here in your frank comparison about engaging the dead, is that it matters to God how we go about that exercise. Certainly, there are numerous biblical and even current examples of the power of God hitting a corpse and awakening life. In the Christian world, we do this through prayer, the laying-on of hands and the summoning of God’s power—the glorious, miraculous kind that raised Jesus from his grave. But Satan’s counterfeit way of raising the dead; opening up a communication highway between the living and the dead; is forbidden throughout the Bible and carries serious consequences with it.
Let’s listen-in on a conversation between God and Moses about this very issue: “When you enter the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, a soothsayer, one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who consults the dead. For whoever does these things is detestable to the Lord; and because of these detestable things the Lord your God is going to drive them out before you. You are to be blameless before the Lord your God. For these nations, which you are going to dispossess, listen to soothsayers and diviners, but as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do so.” (Deuteronomy 18:9-14, NASB)
God then worded a long discourse in chapters twenty-eight and twenty-nine of the same book, explaining in detail what happens to people who do not obey these edicts.
Many of you are eager to revel in the various Halloween activities where dares and double-dares produce “harmless fun” with Ouija boards, séances, para-normal visitations, Tarot cards, crystal balls and tempting participation in secretive parties and gatherings. It is important to remember that God does not look upon those undertakings as either harmless or fun. If the Lord Jesus Christ is your Savior, he asks you to leave the throng and abandon the herd. Stay home, leave the party and honor God.
While it is tragic that you never got to tell someone how much you loved them before they died…or that you have a gnawing-need to know that they are now with God…I tell you the truth: a demon will step into that séance in place of your relative or friend who died. How do I know? Because your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion; seeking someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8) Satan is a legalist, a brilliant strategist and above all, an opportunist. If you disobey God, Satan has legal permission to gain access to you. If you open the door, he’ll walk through it with no knock. You won’t want to hear what he has to say. And I know you don’t want the consequences afterward.
Do you have a question or comment for Pastor Adrienne? Send your inquiries to: info@adriennewgreene.com or write to P.O. Box 214, Harrison, OH 45030. For more information, please visit www.adriennewgreene.com or tune into the “Ask Pastor Adrienne” YouTube channel.