Throughout history to the present day many people have talked face to face to demons who they mistakenly believed to be their dead loved ones coming back to visit them. But just humans can record and playback someone’s voice and visage, Satan can also. He has access to technology far in advance of anything humans are capable of and can perfectly impersonate people’s dead loved ones.
Second Corinthians 11:14 also says that Satan transforms himself into an angel of light. Demons can appear as good angels to deceive people into thinking they were communicating with messengers from Heaven. Living in a world inhabited by fallen angels, we must know who our enemy is and remain spiritually guarded while seeking to understand principles of scripture and stay connected with God to avoid being overtaken by Satan’s deceptions.
Scripture is clear that the dead know nothing and are merely resting in the grave, awaiting the resurrection. This Word of truth is a safeguard against deception. Jesus himself also compared death to sleep, and in relation to his own death, after several days resting in the grave he said that he had not yet ascended to heaven. Lazarus, also, said nothing about experiencing anything while he was dead.
There are many people have seen apparitions that they call “ghosts.” But if you think about it, it makes no sense that such appearances would cause fear if they really were the spirits of dead people, whether good or evil. It’s because they are evil angels rather than dead people that we fear them.
As an indicator that ghosts are demons, consider why people would be afraid of them. We aren’t afraid of people when they are alive, so why should we fear them after they die, if it were really them? If it were true that ghosts are some kind of “energy,” spirit, or essence of a person that remains after they die, it should cause no fear. Why would someone who is dead but continues to have some sort of presence act any different than they did when they were alive? Why would they “haunt” and do weird things that scare us?
It's because, in fact, they are not people, they are demons seeking to gain access to unguarded souls. The reason people naturally feel afraid of ghosts is because they are aware of that on some level, that they are not people but are sinister forces of evil. By continuing to flirt with ghosts or watch movies about them we open ourselves up to Satan’s influence, which is a dangerous game.
Our common sense witnesses to our minds about the truth. The natural fear we feel about things like ghosts, aliens or unknown creatures speaks of something more than mortal fear of death. The only reason people feel terrified or afraid about ghosts and paranormal phenomenon is because it is a foreboding of spiritual evil, a knowledge of the danger of demonic possession. Imaginary creatures cannot do us spiritual harm, but evil angels, who take these deceptive forms, can take possession of the control centers of the human mind.
But many have wandered into trouble when they becoming increasingly fascinated with paranormal phenomenon and thus invite evil spirits in to their lives. Demonic forces can gain entrance to our minds through fear because it is a form of worship or honor and violates the repeated biblical instructions to trust God and not fear Satan. This is why satanic influence is manifested through fear, to try to tempt people to fear him through intimidation.
Evil spirits can work through a variety of emotions and are not always easy to recognize. We can invite their presence through cherishing unkindness, pride, or selfishness. Pride was the original sin, as it was when Satan became proud of his beauty and self-focused that his heart turned from God (Ezekiel 28:17). But this kind of thing has become so common on Earth, under his influence, that people scarcely recognize it as evil.
Mind-altering substances can also cause people to let their guard down, which can open your mind to the influence of demonic forces. This may partially explain why people sometimes go into go into abusive rages when drunk.
Human strength alone is not enough to prevent this intrusion. But Satan does not have power over everyone because God is merciful to humanity and protects people to give them time to turn to him. We can defeat him by refusing to fear him in the power of God’s strength. Although it’s only natural to feel somewhat afraid, it’s the terror that submits to believing he is stronger than God’s power for good in our lives that can allow him to work. That’s what we must resist in Christ’s name.
Parts of this article are excerpted from the upcoming book, “The Dragon’s Revenge.”