01.07 The Spirit World
VII. The Spirit World The Scriptures are full of the "Supernatural." The only cure for the "Materialism" of the present day is to discover what the Scriptures reveal as to the "SpiritWorld." There is but a step from the "Natural" World to the "Spirit" World. The dividing veil is our "fleshy" bodies. The "Heavenlies" are peopled with Spirit Beings. They are of two classes, good and evil. They are classified as "Seraphim," "Cherubim," "Angels" (Good and Bad), "Principalities," "Powers," "Age Rulers of Darkness," "Wicked Spirits," (Ephesians 6:12), "Thrones," "Dominions," (Colossians 1:16), "Fallen Angels," (2 Peter 2:4), "Spirits in Prison," (1 Peter 3:18-20), "Demons," "Seducing Spirits." (1 Timothy 4:1.) The Angels are "innumerable in number." Hebrews 12:22. They are "mighty in power" but not almighty. 2 Thessalonians 1:7. They excel in strength. One angel destroyed 185,000 of the Assyrian army in a night. An angel rolled away the stone from the Tomb of Christ, and one angel shall bind Satan and cast him into the "Bottomless Pit." They are "Glorious" beings (Luke 9:26), and have "great knowledge," but are not Omniscient. The Angels are "Ministering Spirits" to them who are "heirs of salvation," (Hebrews 1:13-14), and "Executioners of God’s Wrath" on the "wicked." 2 Thessalonians 1:7-8. They will gather the "elect of Israel" from the four corners of the earth, (Matthew 24:31), and are commissioned to supply the physical needs of God’s people. Matthew 4:11; 1 Kings 19:4-8.
Among the "Principalities and Powers" of the Spirit World there are three great leaders:
1. Michael.
He is mentioned three times in Daniel (Daniel 10:13, Daniel 10:21; Daniel 12:1), where he is called a "Prince" who stands for Daniel’s People-the Jews. He is called in Jude 1:9 the Archangel. In Revelation 12:7 he is seen in command of the Angelic "Army of Heaven." His work seems to be to deliver God’s people, particularly the Jews, from the power of Satan, and finally to oust him and his angels from the Heavenlies, and cast them down on to the earth. Revelation 12:7-9. He also has something to do with the resurrection of the dead, for he is associated with the "Resurrection" mentioned in Daniel 12:1-2, and he contested with the Devil the resurrection of Moses (Jude 1:9), and the "voice" of the Archangel that will be heard when the "Dead in Christ" shall rise (1 Thessalonians 4:16), will be the "voice" of Michael, for he is the only Archangel mentioned in the Scriptures.
2. Gabriel.
He is mentioned by name four times. In Daniel twice, and in Luke twice. He seems to be associated with the redemptive work of God. He appeared to Daniel (Daniel 8:16; Daniel 9:21-27), to inform him as to the "time" of Christ’s "First Coming," and when the "time had come" he announced to Zacharias the birth of Christ’s "Forerunner"-John the Baptist, and later to Mary the.birth of Jesus. Luke 1:19, Luke 1:26-27. His position in heaven is lofty, for he said of himself to Zacharias-"I am Gabriel that Stand in the Presence of God."
3. Satan.
We speak of Satan last not because he is the least of the three, for in many ways he is the greatest, but because of his evil character. He is the source of all the anarchy and rebellion in the Universe. See the Chapter on Satan.
MAN’S RELATION TO THE "SPIRIT-WORLD"
Man in his physical and spiritual makeup, was made for two worlds, the Physical and the Spirit world. Writing to the Thessalonians Paul says,
"I pray God your whole ’Spirit’ and ’Soul’ and ’Body’ be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Thessalonians 5:23. Writing to the Hebrews he says-
"The Word of God is quick (alive), and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of ’Soul* and ’Spirit,’ and of the ’Joints and Marrow’ (body), and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Hebrews 4:12. From these references we see that man is a Trinity, and is composed of "Body," "Soul," and "Spirit." Man was made in the "Image of God" and God is a Trinity. The Tabernacle was a tent surrounded by a court, which court was enclosed by a curtain fence. (See diagram of the Tabernacle.) The tent was divided into two parts’, one twice the length of the other, by a "veil" or curtain. The larger part was entered from without by a curtained doorway, and contained the "Table of Shewbread," the "Altar of Incense," and the "Seven-Branched Candlestick." This part was called the "Holy Place." The smaller part was entered from the "Holy Place" through the "veil" or dividing curtain, and contained the "Ark of the Covenant," on the lid of which, between the "Cherubims," God took up His residence in the "Shekinah Glory." This part was called the "Most Holy Place." There were no windows in the Tabernacle, and the only entrance was through the curtained doorway into the "Holy Place." The Tabernacle and its Courtyard is a type of the "Threefold Nature of Man." The "Courtyard" represents his Body, the "Holy Place" his Soul, and the "Most Holy Place" his Spirit, and as there could be no communication between the "Courtyard" and the "Most Holy Place," only through the "Holy Place," so there can be no communication between a man’s Body and Spirit only through his Soul. After the completion of the Tabernacle it remained empty of the "Presence of God" until the "Spirit of God" descended and took up His abode in the "Most Holy Place." So a man may be complete as to body, soul and spirit, but his spiritual nature will remain unregenerate until the Holy Spirit enters and takes possession of the "spirit" compartment of his nature. This happens when the "New Birth" takes place. The "Threefold Nature of Man" is clearly brought ouc in the Diagram "The Threefold Nature of Man." The outer circle stands for the "Body" of man, the middle for the "Soul," and the inner for the "Spirit," or what Paul calls the "CARNAL" (1 Corinthians 3:1-3); the "NATURAL" (1 Corinthians 2:14); and the "SPIRITUAL" (1 Corinthians 3:1), parts of man. In the outer circle the "Body" is shown as touching the Material World through the five senses of "Sight," "Smell," "Hearing," "Taste" and "Touch." The Gates to the "Soul" are "Imagination," "Conscience," "Memory," "Reason" and the "Affections." The "Spirit" receives impressions of outward and material things through the Soul. The "Spiritual Faculties" of the "Spirit" are "Faith," "Hope," "Reverence," "Prayer" and "Worship." In his unfallen but when the human race fell in Adam, sin closed the state the "Spirit" of man was illuminated from Heaven, window of the Spirit, and pulled down the curtain, and the "chamber of the Spirit" became a Death Chamber, and remains so in every unregenerate heart, until the "Life" and "Light" giving power of the Holy Spirit floods that chamber with the "Life" and "Light" giving power of the NEW LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS. We see then why the "natural" man cannot understand "spiritual" things. He cannot understand them until his spiritual nature has been renewed.
’But the Spirit of the Natural man is not only darkened, his "Will" stands as a "guard" at the door, and prevents the entrance of the Holy Spirit, and it is not until the "Will" surrenders through the power. of the "Sword of the Spirit," the "Word of God," that the Holy Spirit can enter and take up his abode in the "Spirit" of man. When a man dies his "Soul" and "Spirit" separate from the "Body," and the "Body" is laid in the grave, but the "Spirit" is not "bodiless," it has what Paul calls its "PSYCHICAL" or "Soulish" Body. As this "Soulish Body" can hear, and speak, and think, and feel, it must have some "tangible" form. It is not a "ghostlike" structure. There are doubtless limitations in its use, or there would be no need for it to recover its "physical" body at the Resurrection. That there is such a thing as the "Soulish Body" is brought out in the story of the "Rich Man and Lazarus." Luke 16:19-31. The story is not a Parable, but a description by Christ of something that really happened in the other world to his own personal knowledge. It declares that both Lazarus and the "Rich Man" died and were buried. That is, their bodies were left on the earth. What happened to them in the "Underworld" then, is descriptive of what happened to them in their "disembodied state." In that state they were conscious and the Rich Man recognized Lazarus, which he could not have done if Lazarus had not a body, not his "physical" body, he left that on the earth, but his "Soulish" body. This is proof that the "Soulish" body is not simply a body, but that in its outward form and appearance it conforms to the earthly body of the owner, otherwise he would not be recognizable in the other world. Again the "Rich Man" could see, and feel, and thirst, and talk, and remember, proving that he possessed his senses and had not lost his personality. This proves that there is no break, as "Soul Sleep," in the Continuity of Existence, or Consciousness, in passing from the "Earth-Life" to the "Spirit-Life." Sleep in the Scriptures always refers to the "Body," not to the "Soul," and the expression "Asleep in Jesus" refers to the Believer only.
Let us trace the life of the "Soul" and "Spirit" after they have left the "Body." In the account of the "Rich Man and Lazarus" we have a description of "THE UNDERWORLD." See the Chart of "The Underworld," page 90.
"The Underworld" is made up of two compartments, "Paradise" and "Hell" (not the final Hell, that is "Gehenna" the "Lake of Fire") with an "Impassable Gulf between. At the bottom of the "Gulf" is the "Bottomless Pit," or "Abyss." This is a place of temporary confinement for "Evil Spirits" (Demons). It has a King -"Apollyon," but is kept locked by God who commissions an angel to open it when He so desires. Revelation 9:1-16, Revelation 17:8, Revelation 20:1-3. Before the resurrection of Christ the Soul and Spirit of the "Righteous Dead" went to the "Paradise" compartment of "The Underworld." There Christ met the "Penitent Thief" after His death on the Cross. On the day of His Resurrection Christ’s Soul and Spirit returned from "The Underworld." But He did not return alone. He brought back with Him all the occupants of the Paradise compartment and locked it up, and He now has the "Keys of Death and Hades." Revelation 1:18. R. V. Here "Death" stands for the "grave" and "Hades" for "The Underworld." Some of those who came back from "The Underworld" with Christ got their bodies, and ascended with Him as the "First Fruits" of the resurrection "from among the dead." Matthew 27:52-53. The rest were taken up to the "Third Heaven" where Paul was caught up. 2 Corinthians 12:1-4. Paul called it "Paradise." There all the "Righteous Dead" that have died since Christ’s resurrection go that they may be "WITH THE LORD." Php 1:23. 2 Corinthians 5:8. There the souls of the "Righteous Dead" shall remain until the time comes for the resurrection of their bodies, then when Christ comes back to meet His Church in the Air, He will bring back the souls of the "Righteous Dead" from the "Paradise" of the "Third Heaven," for we are told that He will bring them whose bodies "Sleep in Jesus" on the earth WITH HIM (1 Thessalonians 4:14), and they will continue on to the earth and get their "bodies" from the grave, and then ascend again together with the "Translated Saints" to meet the Lord IN THE AIR. See the Chart of "The Underworld." So far as we know the souls of the "Wicked Dead" are still in the "Hell Compartment" of "The Underworld," and will remain there until the "Second Resurrection," when they will return to the earth and get their bodies, and then go to the "Great White Throne" Judgment. After judgment they will be sentenced to the "Second Death," which means that they shall die again in the sense of losing their bodies the second time, and as "disembodied spirits" be cast into the "Lake of Fire," (Gehenna, the "Final Hell"), to suffer in flames forever. As soul and spirit are impervious to flames, this explains how the wicked, after being disembodied again by the "Second Death," can exist forever in literal fire. Mark 9:43-48.
We are reading a great deal in these days about "Spiritualism," or the communication of the living with the dead. What is called "Spiritism" is DEMONISM, and is forbidden in the Scriptures. Leviticus 20:6, Leviticus 20:27. Deuteronomy 18:10-11. Isaiah 8:19 (R. V.). The "Familiar Spirits" of the Old Testament are the same as the "Demons" and "Seducing Spirits" of the New Testament.
SPIRITISM Of the revival of "Spiritism" in these days we have been fully warned in the New Testament. The Apostle Paul, writing to Timothy, says-
"Now the Spirit (Holy Spirit) speaketh expressly, that in the ’LATTER TIMES’ (the last days of this Dispensation) some shall depart from the Faith (that is, give up the Christian Faith) giving heed to ’SEDUCING SPIRITS,’ and ’DOCTRINES OF DEVILS’ (Demons), * * * forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats." 1 Timothy 4:1-3. The phrase "forbidding to marry" does not refer to "celibacy," but to the abrogation of the marriage relation, the practice of "FREE LOVE" and the doctrine of "AFFINITIES," which Spiritism leads to. The phrase "Abstain From Meats" is not a reference to fasting, but the requirement of a "vegetable diet." It is a well-known fact that a "vegetable diet" renders the body more susceptible to spiritual forces than a meat diet. The close connection of this warning of the Apostle with the words-"Refuse profane and ’OLD WIVES’ FABLES,’" in verse seven, is doubtless a reference to some of the "ISMS" of these last days. For "Christian Science" is but an "OLD WIFE’S" Fable, for Mrs. Eddy was an "Old Wife" in the sense that she had been many times married. It is an indisputable fact that most of the "Witches" and "Mediums" of Scripture, and these "Latter Days," were and are women. It was through Eve and not Adam that Satan sought to destroy the race. The reason may be that the nervous and impressionable character of women is better adapted to demon influence. The revival of "Spiritism," or "DEMONISM," is one of the "Signs of the Times," and should be a warning to every true child of God of the approaching end of the Age. The "Demons" belong to the "Powers of Darkness." They are not few in number, but are a great "Martialed Host," veterans in the service of Satan. Their central camp or abode is the "Bottomless Pit" from which they "sally forth" at the command of their leader. Revelation 9:1-11. They are not angels. Angels have bodies. But the fact that demons can enter in, and take possession of, and control human beings and animals (swine), is proof that they are "Disembodied Spirits." They are supposed by many to be the "spirits" of the inhabitants of the "Pre-Adamite Earth," whose sin caused its wreck, and whose bodies were destroyed in the catastrophe that overwhelmed it, and their desire and purpose in entering human bodies is to re-embody themselves again on the earth where they once lived. That the "Demons" have a personality is clear from the fact that Jesus conversed with them, asked them questions, and received answers. Luke 8:26-33. They are possessed of more than ordinary intelligence. They know that Jesus is the "Son of God," and that they are finally to be confined in a place of "Torment." Matthew 8:29. THE POWER OF DEMONS OVER THE HUMAN BODY
They can cause DUMBNESS (Matthew 9:32-33), and BLINDNESS (Matthew 12:22), and INSANITY (Luke 8:26-35, and the SUICIDAL MANIA (Mark 9:22), and PERSONAL INJURIES (Mark 9:18), and impart SUPERNATURAL STRENGTH (Luke 8:29) and inflict PHYSICAL DEFECTS AND DEFORMITIES. Luke 13:11-17. Once they have got control over a human body they can come and go at will. Luke 11:24-26. The Devilish character of "Demons" is seen in the use they make of their victims. They use them as "instruments of unrighteousness," (Romans 6:13), for the proclamation of the "DOCTRINES OF DEVILS," (1 Timothy 4:1), and the teaching of "DAMNABLE HERESIES." 2 Peter 2:1. The effect of such use of the victim is not only unmoral, it is IMMORAL. It leads to vicious and inhuman conduct. The conduct of "demonized" men and women seems to indicate that the "Demon" takes possession of them for the purpose of physical sensual gratification, thus letting us into the secret of the cause of the wreck of the Pre-Adamite Earth, the SIN OF SENSUALITY. This accounts for the desire of the victim to live in a state of nudity; to have lustful and licentious thoughts. In these days of increasing tendency to yield to "Seducing Spirits" it may account for the immodesty of fashionable attire, and the craze of dancing. The purpose of the "Demon" is often to alienate husband and wife, and.break up homes by preaching the doctrine of "FREE LOVE." In short, the "Demon," for personal gratification, has the power, once he is in control of his victim, to derange both mind and body, and wreck the victim’s health, and if deliverance is not obtained by turning to Christ, who alone has power to cast out the Demon, the victim will be lost soul and body.
Demon-possession must not be confounded with diseases, such as "Epilepsy," which causes the victim to fall in convulsions, foam at the mouth and gnash the teeth, for the Scriptures make a clear distinction between them. Matthew 4:24. In 1 Corinthians 10:20-21 we read-
"But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they SACRIFICE TO DEVILS (Demons), and not to God; and I would not that ye should have FELLOWSHIP WITH DEVILS (Demons). Ye cannot drink the ’Cup of the Lord’ (Communion Cup), and the ’CUP OF DEVILS’; ye cannot be partakers of the ’Lord’s Table,’ and of the TABLE OF DEVILS (Demons)." This passage proves that behind all heathen worship there is the "Spirit of Demonism," or "DEVIL WORSHIP," and accounts for the "wild orgies" and voluptuous and licentious mode of worship of the heathen. The story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) reveals the fact that communication with the spirits, of our departed dead, is not only unnecessary, but is not permitted. It is not necessary for we have Moses and the Prophets, that is, the Holy Scriptures, to give us all we need to know of the state of the dead. And it is not permitted, or Lazarus, or the rich man himself, would have been allowed to return to the earth and warn his brethren. The inevitable conclusion to be drawn from this story is, that the spirit of a good man MAY not, and the spirit of a bad man CANNOT return to this earth. If this be true then Spiritism is a fraud, and is one of the devices of Satan in these latter days to lead astray the unwary. Those who dabble in Spiritism are in great danger of having their "understanding darkened" (Ephesians 4:17-19) and come under the power and control of Demons.