Matt. 10:28; Eccles. 9:5; Isa. 8:19, 20; John 11:11-14, 21-25; 1 Thess. 4:16, 17; Rev. 16:13, 14; Matt. 24:23-27; 2 Thess. 2:9-12.

 “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17, NKJV).

 Decades ago, stories surfaced about near death experiences (NDEs), in which people who died and were then revived gave incredible accounts of what they had seen and heard while “dead.” Millions now believe that these accounts are evidence that the dead are not really dead. This foundational belief of spiritualism is one of Satan’s most widespread and effective deceptions.

 In fact, spiritualism began back in Eden with the serpent’s lie to Eve, “You will not surely die” (Gen. 3:4, NKJV). This idea also lay at the root of one of the greatest spurious religious movements of the nineteenth century with the Fox sisters’ claim, later admitted to be fraudulent, that they could receive answers to their questions from spirits of the dead.

 The aim of this lesson is to show that our only safeguard against Satan’s last-day delusions is a personal relationship with Christ and a solid grounding in the teachings of the Bible. This includes its teaching about death, regardless of what our eyes and ears and hearts might try to tell us.

 *Study this week’s lesson, based on chapters 31-34 of The Great Controversy, to prepare for Sabbath, June 8.