Can people really visit heaven and then tell about it?
1. When I became interested in Christianity one of the things that caught my attention was stories.
2. People talked about actually visiting heaven and hell.
3. I knew almost nothing about the Bible, but some of the stories sounded fishy.
4.
As the years
have gone by, more and more stories have surfaced about people going to
heaven and hell.
5. One such claimant is Choo (pronounced “chew”) Thomas.
6. This lady has authored a book entitled “Heaven is so real.”
7. In this volume Thomas tells of her “many encounters with Jesus Christ.”
8. She claims that Jesus has taken her to heaven “17 times.”
9. This just the start of her claims; listen to just one of the things she has written:
10. “He only used my body to write this book. He wants all believers and unbelievers to read it and prepare for His coming. He said, He is letting people know what it takes to enter His Kingdom, through this book” -- http://www.choothomas.com
11. This claim puts her book on the same level as scripture.
12.
God’s word
tells us what is needed to enter the kingdom and Choo says her book does
the same thing.
13.
What I want
to take from Thomas’ book is the idea that people are allowed to visit
heaven and write about it.
14. Throughout the years many have claimed that God “let them visit” paradise for a little while.
15. Others have made similar claims about hell.
16. I have had people in our area tell me about some of these claims.
17. The stories that are told may garner attention, but they do not match up with the scriptures.
18. Remember Rom. 1:16 – the gospel is God’s “power to salvation.”
19. The “word of the cross” is God’s power to save people (1 Cor. 1:18).
20. The word of God (1 Cor. 15:2) was preached at Corinth and this saved people.
21. God did not intend to save the world by human testimonials.
22. He selected His word which is living, active and sharper than any two edged sword (Heb. 4:12).
23. Acts 4:4 says many “heard the word of God” and believed (became Christians).
24. God did not send Peter down to hell for a little while and some other apostle to heaven.
25.
Time and
time again the Bible tells us God used the gospel and not human
testimony to save people.
26. We never find in the Bible people being led into heaven by Jesus and then coming back to tell about it.
27. What we find in the world—with Choo Thomas and others—is is a different gospel.
28. Paul condemned this in places like Gal. 1.
29. Before the destruction of Jerusalem in Mt. 24 Jesus said there would be “false Christs.”
30. People would say they knew where the Messiah was (Mt. 24:23-24).
31. Jesus plainly said, “Do not believe them.”
32. Jesus gave the truth and said people were to stick with it. We now have that truth in written form.
33. If people are deviating from it, they need to be rejected.
34.
Either the
people making the claims about going to heaven and hell are
self-deceived or they are lying.
35. People may claim whatever they want, but that does not make it true.
HAVING OFFERED SOME BASIC INFORMATION AS TO WHAT THE Bible SAYS ON HOW GOD SAVES PEOPLE, LET’S TAKE OUR STUDY A STEP FURTHER.
a) Let’s compare the “heavenly testimonials” to what the Bible says.
b) I did a simple Google search for “Jesus took me to heaven.”
c) What I found on the net is the same type of thing we can find in book form.
i) One man said he was taken through what he would call “clouds.”
ii) He claims he saw “meetings” going on in heaven.
d) This man decided to look for his wife, but couldn’t find her. He asked Jesus where she was.
e) The Lord waved his hand, and the floor of heaven opened up.
f) The man crouched down, peered into the opening and saw his wife in Hell.
2) This fellow makes sound like a nice tour guide, not deity who died for man.
3) Ms. Thomas says that on her last trip to heaven she cried.
4) I wonder if she sings that hymn we have in our books – “no tears in heaven.”
5) She says she “walked out of the changing room” and an angel hugged her once more.
6) Heaven is a spiritual place, but the testimonials described it in physical terms unlike the Bible uses.
a) Indulge me for just one more testimonial.
b) A person was having a medical procedure and was believed dead.
c)
This person
recounts going through a “long tunnel” and seeing a light that got
brighter and brighter.
d) Suddenly this patient said the light became “brilliant gold.”
e) After a bit this patient realized she was seeing “Jesus’ hair.”
f) According to her, Jesus’ hair is made of “curled gold leaf.”
g) Jesus had on a “Kelly-green sports coat and a beautiful yellow-knit shirt.”
h) One wonders what department store Jesus used to get these items. Did He use cash or credit?
7) This type of stuff is all over in the religious world. It is not only outlandish, it is completely false.
8) It really falls into the category of blasphemy.
a) To picture Jesus as some type of heavenly tour guide misses the whole point of God’s word.
b) Heaven becomes more of a joke than an environment for sinners redeemed by Christ’s blood.
9) All the stories also conflict with the information we have about heaven.
a) There are some instances in the Bible of people having some degree of access to heaven.
b) When we study these accounts we find that they bear no resemblance to modern heavenly testimonials.
c) The balance of our lesson is going to concentrate on these Biblical examples.
10) Consider Acts 10, the place where we read about Peter and Cornelius.
a) Peter did not “go to heaven” on this occasion.
b) Heaven was “opened” (verse 11) and something big descended.
c) What is described is called a vision; it is referred to four times as a vision.
d) It is called a vision in Acts 10:3, 17, 19; 11:5.
e) We are told something “descended” from heaven (Acts 10:11).
f) Unlike the modern claims of so many today, Peter was not “led around heaven.”
g) A vision was all that was needed and given.
h) Today people today claim they get receive more than Peter got.
11) In addition to Peter, we have some information about John, Rev. 1:10.
a) John said he was “in the spirit on the Lord’s day” (Rev. 1:10).
b) In the testimonies that are often given, Jesus meets up with people and everything is great.
c) Jesus just chats with people who are taken to heaven for a little tour.
d) John did not see Jesus as a tour guide in a green coat and a yellow shirt.
e) Listen to Rev. 1:12-16 - READ
f) The Jesus John met up with was part of the Godhead – Jehovah.
12) Jesus was hardly some type of guide to take people from place to place.
13) Rev. 1:17 – READ
14) When we look at the Bible, we find a contrast between what it says and the heavenly testimonies.
15) The discrepancies are so vast, we cannot accept both.
16) We must either believe what the word of God says and reject the testimonies or reject the scriptures.
17) Some might say the examples given only tell part of the story.
18) Other experiences with God and heaven are less dramatic.
19) Someone might say a more typical example of divine visions and trips is found in Acts 22.
a) Although this account might be cited, it would not be advantageous to do so.
b) In a moment I will read Acts 22:17-21 – here Paul explains what he experienced in the temple.
c) He does record what might be called a heavenly vision.
d) Verses 18 and 21 specifically say God used this experience to communicate commands.
e) READ Acts 22:17-21.
20) There is nothing like a guided tour in this account; Paul was a servant receiving instructions.
21) This is not what heavenly testimonials claim.
22) In fact, they cannot claim this because the Bible is our instruction book.
23) Prophets, apostles…the spokesmen for God are all gone. We now have their recorded words.
24) Speaking of Paul, I would be remiss if 2 Cor. 12 were not cited.
a) Paul described a “man in Christ” who was taken up into “paradise.”
b) This is precisely what people today claim in their testimonials.
c) Do we remember what is said in verse 4 of this chapter, especially the end of the verse?
25) These words should be underlined in our Bibles and a cross-reference (Heb. 13:8) put in the margin.
26) Let’s first read 2 Cor. 12:2-4 – READ
27) There is some discussion on who Paul described.
28) Many believe (and I am of this persuasion) that Paul described himself.
29) Because of what he was going to experience as an apostle, God gave him a glimpse of the afterlife.
30) The end of verse 4 specifically says this person was not allowed to share this information.
a) Some things that people are told to keep secret are really not worth the name secret.
b) Other secrets are really important and this one was important.
c) Let’s complete the information in 2 Cor. 12 with Heb. 13:8.
d) That passage says Jesus is constant – He never changes.
e) This piece of information creates a question.
31) If a Christian was forbidden from telling about his seeing paradise, and Jesus never changes…
32) Why can people now go to heaven and tell about their experience?
33) This means that Jesus (deity) has changed its position on heavenly visitors and testimonials.
34) God’s word says that deity does not change.
35) Someone has gotten it wrong; are the scriptures in error or are the testifiers wrong?
36) As I said earlier, we cannot accept the stories of men as well as the word of God.
37) Heavenly testimonials are not the only issue where people believe things that differ from the Bible.
a) Testimonies about the afterlife impresses a lot of people.
b) Many will not stop to look at the word of God to see what it says about this matter.
c) They will read about or listen to a man’s wild stories about visiting heaven or hell and believe that.
38) If God had wanted to save the word through personal testimony, he could have done that.
39) Think about the man in Lk. 16 who had “five brothers.”
40) He wanted to go back and testify to these relatives, but he was told “no.”
41) He wanted Lazarus to go back and testify but was told “no.”
42) There was not going to be a representative from heaven or hell to testify to people on the earth.
43) Abraham said, “your brothers have Moses and the prophets” (God’s word).
44) This is still true – we have the scriptures and these are the power – these are our testimony.
45) Many want something else, but as Abraham said, that will not happen.
46) We can believe lies or God’s word. We hope we have decided to choose the scriptures.
47) We also hope that such a belief has led us to obedience.