The Ghosts of Gettysburg Program No SPEAKER: JOHN BRADSHAW

Transcription

1 It Is Written Script: 1256 The Ghosts of Gettysburg Page 1 The Ghosts of Gettysburg Program No SPEAKER: JOHN BRADSHAW I m here behind the G.A.R. Hall, the oldest church building in the city of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1822 by Methodists, and it was the first church in this area to allow blacks and whites to worship together. The church is still in use today. In 1863, during and after the Battle of Gettysburg, most public buildings and most church buildings were pressed into emergency service. Many college buildings, seminary buildings, and even private homes were converted into hospitals to take care of the many wounded and dying. Behind the G.A.R. Hall, you find this little cemetery. There is no shortage of cemeteries here in Gettysburg, and that is because so many people died in battle. During the course of the American Civil War, more than 700,000 soldiers died almost 8,000 alone during this one battle and more following the battle. If you plan to make a trip to come and visit Gettysburg and you do a little bit of research, you are probably going to discover this interesting fact: The number one money-making tourism enterprise in Gettysburg is ghost tours. In fact, one company that operates ghost tours here in Gettysburg has this to say on its website: Of all the forlorn, countless souls awash in time, none reach out to us more than those of the dead at Gettysburg. They were young men, mostly, with hopes for a bright future and moved by sincere patriotic dreams, caught up and cruelly thrown down again, in that great hot world of mortal combat. Their presence on earth was silenced forever by death. Or maybe not What s really going on here? Are the ghosts of dead soldiers really wandering around Gettysburg lost in some sort of purgatory? And if they really are, what stranded them here? Was it the tragedy of war? Or was it, as the website says, their intense desire for a bright future? Did nobody tell them that the battle of Gettysburg ended a century and a half ago? When it comes to the subject of what happens to the dead, the only place you can go to for reliable answers is the Word of God. It is the only thing we can really trust. Today, we re talking about the ghosts of Gettysburg. It is big business around here. In fact, let me tell you a local ghost story. The word is that not that many years ago, two men in a multistory building somewhere around here in Gettysburg got on to an elevator and headed down to the bottom floor. When they got to the bottom floor,

2 It Is Written Script: 1256 The Ghosts of Gettysburg Page 2 the doors of the elevator opened. As they looked out, they were shocked to see, right before their eyes, in vivid color, larger than life, a battleground scene from Gettysburg. They looked out there and they could hear the groans of the dying and they could smell warfare and death and they could see doctors and medical people scurrying to and fro. They could experience it all, and they looked at this thing, and they looked at each other, and they pressed the button. And as the elevator doors were closing, one of the doctors looked up at them with an appealing look in his eyes. Do you think it was true? Well, keep listening. Today s program is going to answer that question really very clearly. The idea of people dying and leaving spirits here on the earth to wander to and fro is an old idea. As a matter of fact, people have been believing in ghosts since before human beings started leaving written records. Today, most people fall into one or the other of two main camps when it comes to this question of what happens when you die. Many people believe that when you die, you go straight to Heaven or straight to hell or perhaps purgatory. In other words, you survive bodily death. You go on living after you die. Then there is a school of thought that says that when you die, your spirit goes back to God. Your hopes and dreams and thoughts and desires and aspirations all cease to be. As Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 9:5, the dead know not any thing. Well, whatever you believe about that, there s one thing everybody ought to be able to agree on and that s this: That when you die, you don t leave a spirit behind that roams the earth. The dead don t come back to visit their families or haunt houses. In the Bible, the only spirit beings that roam the earth, at least in the Old Testament, were angels. Interestingly, even in the Bible, there were people who believed in ghosts. Let s consider a New Testament story. We get it from Matthew chapter 14. The disciples were out on the lake, on the Sea of Galilee. It was nighttime, and a big storm had come up. The wind was blowing and these guys were in a fight for their lives. Keep in mind they were tough guys many of them fishermen and they had spent a lot of time out there on that lake. But this night, they actually thought that they were going to die. They were scared stiff. Let s pick up the story in Matthew 14:25, 26. Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a ghost! And they cried out for fear.

3 It Is Written Script: 1256 The Ghosts of Gettysburg Page 3 Did I read that right? Did the disciples actually believe in ghosts the ones who spent many of their waking days in fact, every day for several years with Jesus, the divine Son of God? Did these guys believe in ghosts? Evidently so. And it wasn t just the disciples who believed this either. There is a very curious story found in the Old Testament concerning a man named Saul that is, King Saul, the King of Israel. King Saul believed that he had an encounter with a ghost as well. You find the story in 1 Samuel 28, and the fact is, it s the only real ghost story that you find in the Bible. Understanding this story gives us some real insight into the supernatural. Let s pick it up in 1 Samuel 28:8-15: So Saul disguised himself and put on other clothes, and he went, and two men with him; and they came to the woman by night. And he said, Please conduct a séance for me, and bring up for me the one I shall name to you. Then the woman said to him, Look, you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and the spiritists from the land. Why then do you lay a snare for my life, to cause me to die? And Saul swore to her by the Lord, saying, As the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing. Then the woman said, Whom shall I bring up for you? And he said, Bring up Samuel for me. When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman spoke to Saul, saying, Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul! And the king said to her, Do not be afraid. What did you see? And the woman said to Saul, I saw a spirit ascending out of the earth. So he said to her, What is his form? And she said, An old man is coming up, and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground and bowed down. Now Samuel said to Saul, Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up? Interesting, isn t it? Now, the question we want to ask ourselves is this: Was that actually the ghost of Samuel? It evidently looked like Samuel, and apparently talked like Samuel. This Samuel figure evidently recognized Saul, and Samuel wasn t too happy about having been brought back from the dead. So how do we understand this? The first thing you want to do is consider the context in which this took place. King Saul was talking to a medium and this was something that God had expressly forbidden His people from doing. Leviticus 19:31 says: Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God. Then we read this in Deuteronomy 18:9-13: When you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or

4 It Is Written Script: 1256 The Ghosts of Gettysburg Page 4 one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you. You shall be blameless before the Lord your God. And then Leviticus 20:6: And the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from his people. Spiritualism is one of Satan s most overwhelming and most effective deceptions, and it was cooked up in the theological seminaries of hell itself. There is no question something was going on, and what was going on was this: Saul the king was speaking to the medium, and the medium was communicating with the devil. It s important that we know this, especially in this world where psychics are big business and mediums have their own television programs. It wasn t that long ago that a cable TV channel came here to Gettysburg, and they filmed a show on paranormal activity. They brought high-tech electronic equipment that they hoped was going to help capture communication with spirits from the other side. How successful were they in doing so? Well, you and I both know. People say Gettysburg is haunted. People refer to hearing strange things and seeing odd things from time to time activity they can t really adequately explain. But you know, that s true for just about anywhere in the United States you might hear something or see something. If you hadn t been told that there are spirits roaming around, you d never have even thought it was a spirit. You would have thought that noise in your attic was a raccoon, and you would not have been worried about some departed Gettysburg soldier. It is said that Gettysburg is the most haunted place in the United States. True or false? Well, it s true that it s called that, but I think we both know why it is said. You know why? Because it s good for business, that s why. Now, God does have a means of assisting those of us living on the earth even sometimes communicating with us here on earth. How does God do that, supernaturally? 1) Through the Holy Spirit. 2) Through the Word of God. 3) Through angels. One thing that is consistent in the Bible about angels is that when angels interact with human beings, they have this tremendous capacity to be able to fill human

5 It Is Written Script: 1256 The Ghosts of Gettysburg Page 5 beings with awe. They are awe-inspiring. I will share with you a couple of verses from the Bible that make that point very, very clear. Matthew 28:5 says: But the angel answered and said to the women, Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. These are the women who came down to Jesus tomb. The angel appeared and they were awestruck. Now, the word used is fear, and I ve got to be honest with you and tell you that I m not sure how much terror filled these people as much as wonder and awe a heavenly being! They were in the presence of somebody who had come from God. They didn t have to be terrified of God, but I tell you, the word is not inappropriate anyhow they were afraid; they were awestruck. I ll give you another verse that makes the same point, and we ll discuss a couple of others again. Luke 1:12 says: And when Zacharias [that s the father of John the Baptist] saw him [the angel], he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. So the angels of Heaven have this ability to instill fear or inspire awe in those people who encounter them. You read in Daniel 8:17, where Daniel said that when the angel appeared to him, he was afraid and he fell on his face. So point #1: angels inspire let s say fear or awe. You choose which word works best for you. Point #2: angels are powerful. I want to share a little story with you from Isaiah 37. How powerful are the angels? Well, let s look at this. At Gettysburg in 1863, the battle at Gettysburg ended with 8,000 or thereabouts deaths. Plus many more casualties when you take into account the wounded and the missing and so on. And then about another 8,000 people died shortly after the battle of Gettysburg. It is interesting to just say that as though it is of no consequence, because it was of colossal consequence. Then you had the battle of Antietam, the bloodiest single day in the history of the American Civil War. But look at this. How powerful is an angel of Heaven? I ll read in Isaiah 37, starting in verse 33. Listen to this. God says: Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor build a siege mound against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return; and he shall not come into this city, says the Lord. For I will defend this city, to save it for My own sake and for My servant David s sake. (Isaiah 37:33-35)

6 It Is Written Script: 1256 The Ghosts of Gettysburg Page 6 And then what did God do? God commissioned an angel who went forth and well, let s read. Let s read and see what happens in verse 36: Then the angel of the Lord went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses all dead. (Isaiah 37:36) One angel so powerful that 185,000 soldiers were killed in one fell swoop. How powerful are the angels of God? They are tremendously powerful. Now there is another point I want you to look at concerning the angels of Heaven God s messengers sent to this earth and that s this in 2 Kings 6:13-17: And he said, Go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan. Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about. And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! How shall we do? And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. In 2 Kings 6, the angels appeared as brilliant beings. What a display to see the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire sent from God and angels. The Word of God said a great host was there. How impressive that must have been to Elisha s servant to walk out there and look out and see what God had sent all sent by God to assist and aid and help God s people and bring encouragement and assure God s people that He was with him. God was there with his people, and the angels appeared as messengers of God to bring strength and hope. Now, about the way angels appear, the Word of God makes clear that angels are able to assume other forms. Here is what I mean by that. I will give you a couple of very biblical examples. In the New Testament, the Word of God says that Satan is able to appear as an angel of light. Now, he is an angel of darkness. He is the devil. Nevertheless, he can disguise himself in such a way that he can appear to be an angel of goodness, an angel of light. Let s get an even more graphic example than that. We go back to Genesis. In Genesis 3:1-3, the Bible says: Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of

7 It Is Written Script: 1256 The Ghosts of Gettysburg Page 7 the trees of the garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. The devil appeared as a snake. Must have been a very beautiful creature, because Eve was enticed. She was beguiled. She was drawn. She was attracted to what was taking place. And maybe there is something about a talking snake. A little hard for me to relate to because I was raised in one of the very few countries in the world where there are no snakes. There are only three of them and I was raised in one of those three countries no snakes at all. I wasn t raised with any affinity for snakes in any way, shape or form. Now I ve developed a working tolerance for them. I can t imagine what I would have done if I d have heard a talking snake. I d like to think that I would not have hung around. Eve heard the voice, looked and saw the snake the serpent. It must have been a beautiful creature, and she entered into a discussion with it, and where did that discussion lead? It led to where we are today plunged into misery and sin and depths of despair as a planet hoping for a better day, and we know that better day is the return of Jesus. Lucifer, now Satan, changed his form, and he did that to draw Eve and Adam and this whole planet into the depths of the misery of sin. Now, there is another point I want to make about angels, and that s this: You know God created us in such a way that we can be inhabited. The Bible says that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. We were created to be filled with the presence of God. In Revelation 3:20, Jesus says: Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. Jesus wants to come into us and live His life in us. We read that again and again and again in the Word of God. We were made to be inhabited. However, you have also read in the Word of God that there are people who have been inhabited by the wrong spirit, and there are probably several places we could go in the Bible to illustrate that, but I want to go to Luke 11. There is an interesting passage in Luke 11:24-26 that demonstrates this. When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.

8 It Is Written Script: 1256 The Ghosts of Gettysburg Page 8 Isn t that something? You see, we were made to be inhabited by a Spirit. God is a Spirit, and that is who we want to fill us up. Jesus wants to live His life in us and He would do that today through the Holy Spirit. But if we are not filled with the Holy Spirit, we are going to be filled with something. Notice, when the demon was cast out or went out of a man, he came back to that person and found the man empty empty! and because he was empty, there was room inside that person s mind or heart or life for that demon and many of his associates. We were made to be filled up. We were made to be filled with the Spirit of God. However, if we are not, we can be filled with the spirit of Satan. We can be filled with demons. People can be possessed. You know, that s one of the reasons why it s so very, very important not to go to mediums, not to consult mediums, not to consult with psychics, to stay away from psychic phenomena, to stay away from that dangerous, unbiblical paranormal activity. Why? Because it is not of God. And if you will give the enemy a toehold, he will take it. If you give him an inch, he will take a mile. If you give him access to your life at all, before you know it, he has taken over your life completely. The only safe thing to do is to stay away from that dark side, to stay away from the mediums and the psychics, to stay away from the ghosts and the ghost stories, and to run to Jesus and hang on to Jesus and just don t let go. You can t always explain things that go bump in the night, except you can know this: The devil is a liar. Jesus called him the father of lies. And to get a world full of people to believe that the spirits of the dead come back to the earth and roam the streets and haunt houses, really, that s quite an achievement, especially when the Bible says plainly and simply in Job 7 that the dead return no more to their house. So, are there demons roaming the streets of Gettysburg? I wouldn t doubt it for a moment. But are they the spirits of dead soldiers wandering around, troubling people and bothering lives? It absolutely cannot be that way at least, not if you want to believe the Bible. I will never forget the experience I had visiting a lady in her home a number of years ago. She told me this story: She said that her uncle lived with her family in the last years of his life and that he died right there in her home. It was not but a couple of days after the funeral that she went back into Uncle Larry s bedroom to straighten something up or return something or retrieve something, and as she stepped into that room, music started playing. She looked around. She didn t know how to explain that. She stepped out of the room and the music stopped. So she stepped in and it started. And she stepped out and it stopped. And she had a little fun with this for a while and she wondered what was going on. She wondered if she was hearing things, and then she realized it was

9 It Is Written Script: 1256 The Ghosts of Gettysburg Page 9 the kind of music Uncle Larry used to like. She thought, That s what is going on here. Uncle Larry is back and he is telling us everything is okay. Well, you can believe that if you want to, but it s not what the Word of God says. The Bible does not tell us that the dead come back to the earth to haunt houses, scare people and roam the streets of cities like Gettysburg. In fact, that s far from the truth. It just doesn t happen and we have that on the authority of the Word of God! It Is Written Box O Thousand Oaks, CA USA Tel: (805) Fax: (805)