Death and messages

The mother-in-law of a young man, who died tragically in a farm accident and left a wife and three young children behind, said that she talked to a friend of hers who has received a message from the young man who died. She wants to give the message to his parents. The father called me and wanted to know if he should listen to the message. I told him to hear the message with a great deal of skepticism because the devil can use many different ways to deceive us and give us a false hope. Are there other parts of Scripture, other than Isaiah 8:19, I could direct him to?

Another part of Scripture to which I could direct your attention is the account of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). The rich man who died and went to hell wanted to get a message to his brothers on earth to warn them about the place of suffering he was experiencing. His request was denied. His brothers did not need any special messages or messengers because Scripture was available to them (Luke 16:29-31). The Bible explains how to avoid hell and, instead, experience eternal joys in heaven (Mark 16:16).

When death takes place, judgment also takes place (Ecclesiastes 12:7; Hebrews 9:27). The souls of Christians go to heaven, while the souls of unbelievers go to hell (Luke 16:22-23). On the Last Day, Jesus will make public the judgments that took place when people died; he will also render judgment on those who are alive on the earth when he returns (Matthew 25:31-46; 2 Timothy 4:1).