GHOSTS, GULLIBILITY & GOD'S WORD

MARK 6:45-53



Pastor Rick Jackson



34% of Americans say they believe in ghosts, according to a poll by The Associated Press and Ipsos. That's the same percentage who believe in UFOs — exceeding the 19% who believe in spells/witchcraft. 48% believe in ESP.



23% say they have actually seen a ghost or "have been in one's presence, with the most likely candidates for such visits including single people, Catholics and those who never attend religious services. By 31 percent to 18 percent, more liberals than conservatives report seeing a specter."


Those who dismissed the existence of ghosts include Morris Swadener, 66, a Navy retiree from Kingston, Wash.
He says he shot one with his rifle when he was a child.
"I woke up in the middle of the night and saw a white ghost in my closet," he said. "I discovered I'd put a hole in my brand new white shirt. My mother and father were not amused."


3 in 10 have awakened sensing a strange presence in the room... singles are more likely than married people to say so.


14% — mostly men and lower-income people say they have seen a UFO.



Spells and witchcraft are more readily believed by urban dwellers, minorities and lower-earning people. Those who find credibility in ESP are more likely to be better educated and white — 51% of college graduates compared to 37% with a high school diploma or less.


Overall, the 48% who accept ESP is less than the 66% who gave that answer to a similar 1996 Newsweek question.


1 in 5 say they are at least somewhat superstitious, with young men, minorities, and the less educated more likely to go out of their way to seek luck. 26% of urban residents — twice the rate of those from rural areas — said they are superstitious, while single men were more superstitious than unmarried women, 31% to 17%.


The most admitted-to superstition, by 17%, was finding a four-leaf clover. 13% dread walking under a ladder or the groom seeing his bride before their wedding, while slightly smaller numbers named black cats, breaking mirrors, opening umbrellas indoors, Friday the 13th or the number 13.



Generally, women were more superstitious than men about four-leaf clovers, breaking mirrors or grooms prematurely seeing brides. Democrats were more superstitious than Republicans over opening umbrellas indoors, while liberals were more superstitious than conservatives over four-leaf clovers, grooms seeing brides and umbrellas.


The poll, conducted Oct. 16-18, involved telephone interviews with 1,013 adults and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.



I. WHY DO SOME PEOPLE "SEE" GHOSTS?



1. THE WORLD [v. 45-48] physical surroundings create atmosphere



2. THE FLESH [v. 48] physical state causes anxiety



3. THE DEVIL [v. 49-50a] spiritual adversaries take advantage of our weaknesses



Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against ° flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.



1 Timothy 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;



John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.



II. WHY AREN'T GHOSTS REAL?



1. GHOSTS, BY DEFINITION, ARE THE SPIRITS OR SOULS OF THOSE WHO HAVE DIED



2. THE SPIRIT OF A SAVED PERSON GOES IMMEDIATELY TO HEAVEN



2 Corinthians 5:6-8 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and ° willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.



3. THE SPIRIT OF A LOST PERSON GOES IMMEDIATELY TO HELL



Luke 16:22-23 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.



III. HOW CAN I SETTLE THE MATTER ONCE AND FOR ALL?



1. ACCEPT GOD'S WORD ON THE MATTER [6:50]



2. ACCEPT CHRIST'S PERSON AS GOD



Matthew 14:33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.



3. ACCEPT ALL OF GOD'S WORK AS INDICATIVE OF HIS NATURE [6:51-52]