“Ghost Stories” delves into Biblical accounts of supernatural or ghostly encounters to reveal greater truths about faith and fear. With passages like Matthew 14, where Jesus walks on water, and Luke 16, recounting the rich man’s appeal from Hades, this sermon contrasts common fears of ghosts with the Biblical command to fear and revere God alone. It encourages listeners to replace fear of the unknown with confidence in God’s power and presence.
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Matthew 14:25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking
on the sea.
Matthew 14:26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were
troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear.
Matthew 14:27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer!
It is I; do not be afraid.”
Most people believe that ghosts are the spirits of the living dead, and over 40%
of American adults claim to have been in contact with someone who’s died.
Of these, 78% claim that they saw a ghost, 50% heard one, and 18% claim to have
actually talked with them.
Students in a writing class were challenged to pen two sentence horror stories:
“Every night at midnight, I’d hear a faint cry for help until one night I let my curiosity
get the best of me and followed the voice. I ended up staring at a headstone with
my name engraved on it.” -Savannah Fernandez, ninth grade
“After working without rest, I finally opened my mother’s door and I lay there leaning
my head upon her cold shoulders. It was time to leave before the groundskeeper
found me, so I got up and reburied her.” -Jaser Flores, 12th grade
I woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. As I stood in front of
the mirror, there was no one staring back at me.” -Lucas Smelser, ninth grade
GHOST STORY #1: Jesus Appears as a Ghost to His Disciples.
Matthew 14:25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking
on the sea.
Matthew 14:26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were
troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear.
Matthew 14:27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer!
It is I; do not be afraid.”
Luke 23:46 (KJV) “… and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.
Ghost or Phantom definition
1. Something apparently seen, heard, or sensed, but having no physical reality;
2. The soul of a dead person thought of as living in an unseen world or as
appearing to living people
3. Something that is not real and exists only in a person’s mind.
Matthew 14:27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer!
It is I; do not be afraid.”
GHOST STORY #2: The Rich Man, Lazarus and a Ghostly Request.
Luke 16:19 “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine
linen and fared sumptuously every day.
Luke 16:20 But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was
laid at his gate,
Luke 16:21 desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table.
Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
Luke 16:22 So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to
Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.
Luke 16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar
off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
Luke 16:23 (MSG) In hell and in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham in the
distance and Lazarus in his lap.
Luke 16:23 (TLB) And his soul went into hell. There, in torment, he saw Lazarus in
the far distance with Abraham.
Luke 13:28 There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham
and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves
thrust out.
Luke 16:24 “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send
Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am
tormented in this flame.’
Luke 16:25 But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received
your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and
you are tormented.
James 2:13 For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy.
Luke 16:26 And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed,
so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from
there pass to us.’
No one (spirit or ghost) can pass from heaven to hell or from hell to heaven.
Luke 16:27 “Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him
to my father’s house,
Luke 16:28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also
come to this place of torment.’
Samuel Clemens “Mark Twain” said in a speech (quote)
A dying man couldn’t make up his mind which place to go to — both have their
advantages, “heaven for climate, hell for company!”
Luke 16:29 Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them
hear them.’
Luke 16:30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from
the dead, they will repent.’
The torment of the dead is that they cannot warn the living,
Luke 16:31 But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.
A Woody Allen movie character said:
“If only God would speak to me–just once. If he would only cough. If I could just
see a miracle. If I could see a burning bush or the seas part. Or my uncle Sasha
pick up the check.”
1 Corinthians 1:22 (NIV) Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom,
1 Corinthians 1:23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and
foolishness to Gentiles
GHOST STORY #3: Dead Saints are Raised and go to Jerusalem.
Matthew 27:50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.
Matthew 27:51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to
bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split,
Matthew 27:52 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had
fallen asleep were raised;
Matthew 27:53 and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into
the holy city and appeared to many.
Our problem is we are afraid of things we should not be afraid of and we are
not afraid of things we should be afraid of.
Matthew 10:28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.
But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Scripture References:
- Matthew 14:25-27
- Luke 16:19-31
- Matthew 27:50-53
- Luke 13:28
- James 2:13
- Matthew 10:28
- 1 Corinthians 1:22-23
