What Happens To The Spirit Of Man When He Died?

http://www.savelifewithjoy.com Short history of the celebration of Halloween Worldwide.

     The celebration of Halloween worldwide can be traced back 2000 years ago in Ireland.  The folks living in part of this land was called the celtics and they believed that the spirits of their loved ones who died should be respected and celebrate through prayers, lighting through bonfire or lamp using the turnips, preparations of fruits, vegetables, and various foods and put these stuff in front of the house of the deceased member as a sign of welcoming and to show their love and high regards for him/her.  These people should do this yearly especially during the last three days of October, the end of the summer or harvest time.  They believed that the abundant harvest in their fields has something to do how they treat the spirits of the dead.  If they treat those spirits well, their harvest will become plenty or abundant, vice versa.  They called this time as Samhin ( pronounced as sow-in) or the Celtic Harvest Festival.  Before the celebration of "All Hallows Eve"  or "All Saints Day on November 1, this was first celebrated in the eve of October 31 of each year -  to honor and to give respect to the spirits of the dead people or they called them, fairies. 

In the year 609, the folks were celebrating this occasion every May 13 of each year but in the year 835, Pope Gregory lV was changed this date of celebration of remembering of the deads to November 1.  A Christian Catholic Minister named Prince Sorie Conteh wrote, "It was traditionally believed that the souls of the departed loved ones wandered the earth till the All Saints Day."  This belief was held and taught in the whole land by  the Roman Catholic Church , the predominating belief and followers in the world.  And this belief of praying for the souls of the dead who are in "purgatory" or temporary place of punishment of the sinners can be transferred to heaven, is still and hold on continuously by the majority believers of the Catholic Church today.

In 19th century, some citizens from Ireland and Scotland migrated to the United States and brought also this belief and became acceptable practice and celebration not only in America but in most parts of the world.  One of the activities in the celebration of the Celtics is the  lighting of the dark places when they were visiting different houses using the lamp made of a turnip and this was changed to the much bigger pumpkins which are produced or harvested locally.  This celebration became much glamorous and seemingly festivity to the point of becoming a big source of income for the businessmen.  This becomes the next event to Christmas Season that is well celebrated in US today.  From $2 billion sales in the past years, it reached already the $8 billion sales in the country today (www.origin of halloween).

The Biblical Understanding of death.

     Normally, the belief of a person becomes his guide in his daily life.  If a person holds a wrong belief, it becomes a norm or tradition that he will apply for the rest of his life.  Our God, our Creator  wanted men of all countries in the world to know the truth that will set them free from deceiving  teachings which they received  and believed  that resulted then to wrong patterns in life.  There is no answer to all the questions of men except the Bible, the words of God.  In II Timothy 3:16-17 says, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the men of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."  Below are some of the biblical proofs that teach us about the destination of man's spirit when he died:

     First, let us see what the book of Job 7:9-10 says, "As a cloud is vanishes and is gone, so he who goes down to the grave does not return.  He will never come to his house again; his place will know him no more."  Job is a man that overcame all the difficult trials in life like losing of all his wealth, death of their ten children at the same time, suffered from painful sores from head to toes, misunderstood and judged by his wife and of his wise and religious friends but he overcame these all and even Satan who caused this tragedy to Job didn't appear again before the throne of God because of shame and defeat through the faithfulness of Job to God.  God was so pleased to Job because of his being blameless, upright, God-fearing and he shuns evil that led him to victory over hardships in life and God has doubled all his earthly blessings in life.  But Job saw the reality of life in these verses when he was in the midst of anguish that the spirit of man will depart from his physical body forever when he died.  Man's spirit or soul has its' right  place after death.  Man's spirit or soul will never roaming around on earth or coming again to his house to disturb his loved ones, relatives and other people.

     Second, in Luke 23:42-43, one of the robbers said, "Jesus remember me when you come to your kingdom." And Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."  The robber that was hanged also near Jesus knew that his death is so near and he realized too for his need of a Savior when he died.  His statement meant that he is a sinner and needs Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior.  He learned to accept his being a sinner and is worthy to die.  When Jesus heard that true repentance and the need for a Savior,  He said, "today you will be with me in paradise."  Jesus knew that man needs assurance and when the robber heard that words of Jesus, he was assured and learned to accept death and knew also that when his hour comes, his soul will go directly in heaven.  It means that when a person died, his body will be left on earth and his soul will go instantly to heaven, the kingdom of God, but the other robber who didn't repent but still mocked Jesus, his soul went to hell instantly when he died.

     Third, is in Acts 7:59-60,  Stephen the first Christian martyr and while the Jewish leaders and their followers were stoning him he prayed and said, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.  Then he fell on his knees and cried out..."  Here Stephen has entrusted his soul to God.  He faced and endured the pain of dying through stones because he knew that what is waiting for him is the glorious experience of all who follow Jesus that even painful death can not hinder him.  He knew that life here on earth is temporal and he had the assurance that his soul will go directly to the kingdom of God when he died.

     Fourth, is the words of Jesus in Luke 23:46 that said, "Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." and when he said this, he breathed his last.  Death is the end of earthly activities of man here on earth and the start of life in heaven, the promised placed for all who believed and followed Jesus.

     Fifth, is in Luke 16:19-31.  Here the poor Lazarus died and was brought immediately by the angels to the bosom of Abraham or heaven not because he was poor but because he lived what Jesus taught him and he obeyed these.  And the rich man died and he went to hell, the place of agony and pain that he was experiencing that caused him to request Abraham to send Lazarus to him to dip his finger to his tongue that his thirst will be lessened and to go to the house of his father to remind his five brothers to repent that they will not suffer with him in hell. But Abraham has rejected his requests and he said that Moses and the prophets are there to do the tasks that were assigned to the living people. When the two men died, their souls  left their bodies on the grave and went directly to the place they chose to live for eternity.  The bible didn't tell men that their souls were roaming around and to remind the people to repent and that heaven is a blissful place.

     Lastly, is in Hebrews 9:27 and the author says, "Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment."  Death is the culmination or terminal of man's presence here on earth and his soul's next appearance is the judgment seat of God where all his deeds on earth will be exposed and punishment in hell will surely his lot in life caused he rejected Jesus Christ as his Savior but to those who believed in Jesus, heaven in the presence of God is his life time reward.

Conclusion:

      The truth in the bible is very clear that the tradition and practices of men should always be clarified according to the teaching of the Scriptures whether these are acceptable and need to observe in the community or society.  Since the celebration of Halloween is not supported clearly by the words of God, the believers of Christ Jesus should stand for the truth and tell the people who are deceived by the wrong teachings that the truth in the bible should be observed and obeyed before practicing any celebrations or follow any systems in the community.  This acts are not easy to do knowing that the people involved are many and much influential .  But for the sake of Christ the only way to heaven and the only one that can set the people free from the bondage of ignorance and for the sake of the salvation of men, we have to stand for the truth and if our lives need to sacrifice like what Stephen did, let the truth prevailed even it costs our lives and resources.  Be creative and wise how we can advance the gospel in the midst of this belief and commercialism in the society.  Do not be afraid for this is our Father's world!

     The believers in Christ should not be afraid of the prevailing beliefs in the society that the souls of men who died are free to roaming around and create fears knowing that these souls are intact to places where they chose to stay for eternity. Our mighty God controls even the souls of men and nobody can harm us for we are protected by the Holy Spirit of God and the angels of God are the ministering Spirits of all who believed in Jesus Christ in Hebrews 1:14.  Even Satan has power too and can imitate the appearance of our beloved loved ones who died, but he still unable to touch us as God's children for our God is God and much bigger and powerful compared to Satan and his angels.  We are in the hands of the loving and powerful God.

For your comments and suggestions, email us at agn623@gmail.com, msbecky112@gmail.com.  Visit also our website at http://www.savelifewithjoy.com for more biblical messages about life, death, hope, self-confidence, source of wisdom and inner strength, and others.
    

      

The Truth About Growth and Being fruitful In Life.

Leadership by example.

     In the book of Mark chapter 1 verses 35 to 39, the  author has given us the guiding principles that all Christian leaders and parents should know how to  become more effective leader in any organizations, churches, or family.  The authors of the bible including the Apostle Paul knew that Jesus is God like God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.  All of them are co-equal in nature as God though all of them have different role in the creation account, salvation, the present time and the future event that will surely come.  In Philippians 2:5-11, Jesus though in the very nature of God has obeyed the Father to be with man and to be like the real man.  He left temporarily his being God and the nature of  being God and considered himself lowly, humble and emptied himself of all the grandeur and power as God in obedience to the will of the Father to save man from the power of Satan and punishment of sin.

But how come that Jesus made to preach the gospel with power and authority?  How come that He healed various sicknesses of  men, He made to cast out demons, the strong winds and waves obeyed Him, the dead man Lazarus and other people were raised from the dead and did a lot of miracles before the eyes of many people including the leaders of the religious sects and political leaders during His  time?  How come that He made to live a holy life?  

First is the Prayer life of Jesus.  In verse Mark 1:35 says, that early in the morning while it was still dark, Jesus woke up and went off to a solitary place to pray.  Many studies made by the students and respected theologians that Jesus wakes up regularly  around three to four in the morning to pray to His Father to have guidance in daily decision making, inner strength to face challenges and great demands in the ministry, power to perform miracles like healing, casting out demons, and others.  Jesus knew that He is in the form of a true man who is weak, fragile, prone to temptations of the devil, expose to sickness, thirst, hunger and dangers.  He knew that all of His physical needs and power to do miracles are at the disposal of His God and Father.  For Jesus, to talk with the Father regularly was the very important discipline that he needs to win the battle in life and the fear and the painful humiliating death that awaits for Him at the cross.  Before His public ministry, Jesus went to the dessert to fast and pray for forty days and forty nights to be prepared in his ministry.  Satan has tempted Him with all temptations that will surely defeat man, but Jesus has won all those schemes of Satan through prayer and fasting.  And the day before His arrest, He prayed hard and because of His intense dealings with His Father, his sweat drops  like a blood.  His agony was turned to a brave statement that "if possible, don't let me drink this cup but let your will be done".

Second is the results of being prayerful of Jesus.  In Mark 1:37-39, the disciples looked and came to Jesus and said, "the people are looking for you".  But Jesus told them to go to the other places to preach the gospel of the kingdom of God and heal many sicknesses and perform miracles that others may come to repentance and be saved too.  Here, Jesus taught His disciples that there is wisdom as a result of intense prayer.  Jesus knew that He is not yet finished in his ministry in Capernaum but they need to go to Galilee because people there are in need of salvation too.  In every place where Jesus ministered, there were who believed and became His faithful followers and they were the one that need to share to others what they've learned from Him.  

Third is,  prayer creates a burning desire to share continuously the gospel and this is vouched by many miracles like healing, casting out demons and others.  Jesus knew the purpose why God the Father has sent Him on earth, and that is to share the good news of forgiveness and salvation to all.  That's why He learned to obey voluntarily the will of His Father even to die on the cross just to save you and me from the power of Satan and punishment of sins in hell (John 3:16).  He sacrificed everything, lived like a poor and died like a true criminal that all might have life (John 10:10). And before he ascended  to heaven, He left his command to his disciples "to go into all the world and preach the gospel..." (Matthew 28:18-20).  This is the prime task that Jesus left also to us until His second coming.  

Lastly,  pray that you will not fall into temptations, pray for your daily needs, pray without ceasing, pray to become prepared for the second coming of Christ, pray for the lost souls and love ones, and pray that all of us will become steadfast and endure hardships until He comes.  

For more messages about life, victory over temptations and hardships, death, Halloween, and others, visit our savelifewithjoy.com, or email us at agn623@gmail.com for more information.  Pray also for our ministry to share the salvation of Jesus Christ through this blog.  Kindly give send your suggestions and comments to our contact information.  May the Lord richly bless you all.