As a Christian, how do we test
any spiritual claim of this or that? The Bible. By what measure or standard do we consult
if something is true or not in matters of faith and practice? The Bible. What if people assert to have had an after-death experience or out-of-body experience
and then return to tell about it? We must consult the Scriptures on their veracity. I am not going to deny a person’s experience;
I wasn’t there. However, I can challenge whether any claim of going to heaven or hell is lining
up with biblical truth or not.
I am mindful that I
have no authority in and of myself, so I must refer to a greater authority than
any man, dead or alive. You know who that is; it is Yahweh Himself and His
Self-revelation to man in the volume of the Book of books, the Word of God from
Genesis to Malachi and Matthew to Revelation, exclusively.
This is our providential guide
in how we view and interpret and make sense of the world around us according to
the Creator God who is the Logos (Jn 1:1). In the very first 18 verses of John
chapter 1, John loads us up with some exquisite and elegant theology about
Jesus. The meaning of Christlikeness is revealed in Scripture which is our
moral and ethical compass in living a life pleasing to God. It promotes eternal
values rather than the temporary treasures of the world.
I was asked recently to listen to this
older man’s claim to have died when he was younger. He was not a believer in what he called the “hocus pocus” at the time. When he died on the operating table, he was taken to the very gate
of heaven by Jesus Himself, and he even provided a description of Him: cropped
hair, manicured beard, not homely looking at all as if to validate he was
there! A huge gate opened up, and the light was intense, penetrating, and revealing. The quality of the street of gold was so pure it was transparent. Then, without warning, the angels carried him abruptly away and “dropped” him into the
darkness of hell!
Years later, at the request of his wife, he made a video for all to see. He is on a mission to warn
everyone of the realities of hell as if Jesus needed to personally commission
this man to tell the world that heaven and hell are real. It reminds me of what
Abraham told the rich man in hell who requested Abraham to send Lazarus to his
brothers to warn them of hell (Lk 16:27-28. Pay close attention to what Abraham
said; it is crucial,
(Lk 16:29) Abraham said to him, They have Moses and the prophets;
let them hear them.
(Lk 16:30) And he said, No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them
from the dead, they will repent.
(Lk 16:31, emphasis mine) 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.
We have the complete canon of
Scripture! There is absolutely no need for this man’s unverifiable experiences
to heaven and hell and back to the operating room to validate or boost the Word
that is living and powerful, and
sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and
spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and
intents of the heart (Heb 4:12; cf. 2
Tim 3:16-17). It is arrogant and an affront to God that this man thinks
that God needs his video or testimony to convince people of the reality of hell
because “he has been there!”
Let me push the edge of
absurdity with this notion of “I’ve been there” argument in proving heaven or
hell. Jesus raised the other Lazarus, the
brother of Mary and Martha, from the grave, and all that the Sanhedrin, the
judicial and ecclesiastical authority in Jerusalem, wanted to do was put him
back in the tomb where he belonged (Jn 12:10)! Lazarus had been dead for four days before being raised from the dead; did this move the Jews that hated Jesus? Where was the verification? Lazarus was alive, and people were coming to see him and believed in Jesus (Jn 12:11). Let me paraphrase Abraham,
“If they do not hear the Word of
God, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead!”
Some take the logic of
reciprocation to make the case that if one can claim to go to heaven and
return, then the opposite is true; one could go to hell and come back. Uh, God
is not bound by human logic, for one, but more importantly, there is not a
scintilla of biblical evidence of any human consigned to hell ever coming back.
You have to pervert the Scriptures to make that happen. The only time any human
inhabitants of hell will come out is to be reunited with their bodies at the
Great White Throne judgment in the future. From there they, who are without
Christ, which is why they are there before the Judge in the first place, will be
cast into the lake of fire, being separated from God for eternity.
What about people claiming to
have gone to heaven and returned? Again, I would not challenge their
experience; I was not there. When Paul was under inspiration, he spoke
impersonally in the third person as being caught
up [Gk., harpazo, used of
the saints in the rapture, 1 Thes 4:17] to
the third heaven (2 Cor 12:3, not the
earth’s atmosphere or interstellar space, but the abode of God – heaven),
(2 Cor 12:2) I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in
the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God
knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven.
(2 Cor 12:3) And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the
body I do not know, God knows—
(2 Cor 12:4) how he was caught up into Paradise and heard
inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
Read G. Campbell Morgan’s comments
on people experiencing extraordinary things,
“There are some who seem eager
to talk of visions and revelations which they have had. The question is as to
whether such eagerness is not proof that the visions and revelations are
not ‘of the Lord.’ When they are granted (and they certainly are granted
to the servants of God under certain circumstances), they produce a reverent
reticence. They are too solemn, too overwhelming, to be lightly described or
discussed, but the effect of them will be apparent in all life and service.”
If this man was truly on the
operating table and died, how can we evaluate his experience; we can’t. He
obviously believes that he visited heaven and hell whether people believe him
or not. But is it wise to be so dogmatic when his experience conflicts with the
teaching of Scripture, particularly as a “licensed minister?” He encouraged any
church to contact him if they wanted for him to give his testimony. When I
heard him mention, in addition to repenting and receiving Jesus, that he had to
tell people about this in order to go to heaven, I knew instantly that there
was a greater danger here (cf. Gal 1:8-9) or a basic misunderstanding about
salvation.
As believers, it is imperative
that we compare claims like this to what the Word has to say about what happens
after death for a believer (2 Cor 5:8) and an unbeliever (Jn 3:3). In order to
properly assess an out-of-body claim, we must first believe that the Word of
God is the ultimate and final authority in all matters of faith and practice.
It is our rule of life. That being the case, subjective experiences should
never trump the absolute, objective truth of God’s Word. If we don’t stand for
something, we fall for anything.
We should be noble like the
Bereans when Paul and Silas fled Thessalonica and went to Berea approximately
forty miles away. Paul and Silas shared with them the same message presented to
the Thessalonicans. Their response was significantly different. In what way?
Read it for yourself,
(Act 17:11, emphasis mine) These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica,
in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the
Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.
(Act 17:12) Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of
the Greeks, prominent women as well as men.
When this man was suddenly dropped into hell, he said it felt like every
bone was broken in his body, but there were
no broken bones. There was a fire unseen but a burning nonetheless. There was
darkness, but he could still see. People were biting and grabbing him as the
pile grew of lost souls. He managed to break away but was confronted by a great
wall. A thirty foot tall demon cracked a whip on his back to prevent him from
scaling the wall. Now, that’s interesting for the only demonic creatures bound in
hell according to Scripture is in that part of hell referred to as Tartarus, suggesting gloomy dungeons (cf. 2
Pet 2:4; also cf. Rev 9:1-12).
The doom of these critters
confined in Tartarus is already sealed; they will go straight from Tartarus
into the lake of fire (Jude 1:6). Why they are in the pit is debated; apparently, it
was for some gross apostasy. Neither Satan nor the majority of his demons is in hell;
they never were. They are trying to keep from that place as long as possible
(cf. Mt 8:29). Satan is not coming and going from the pit (cf. Job 1:7; 1 Pet
5:8). He is the prince of the power of the air (Eph 2:2), not the
prince of the pit!
Getting back to this preacher’s
story, after an indeterminate amount of time, he remarked that Jesus had
convinced the Father to bring him out of hell and back to life on earth. The next thing he knew was he was standing with Jesus over the operating
table, and he reentered his body. After all these years, he is now on a mission to tell the world as an older man. He doesn’t
want to have the medical doctors or his pastor hassled so he refused to disclose any
corroborative evidence; that’s convenient. According to him, the only people who did not make
sport of him was his Daddy, Momma, Grandma, and Spouse. The rest he would run off who did not believe him because he truly believed that he was there.
Frankly speaking, we do not need
this man or any man’s video to warn people of hell, particularly when it collides with biblical truth. Why would Jesus need to try and convince the Father of bringing
this man back anyway? Were Jesus and the Father of differing opinions? This would
contradict the unity of God among other things. When you infuse just enough truth
into an exaggeration, it is easier to sell deceit among those ignorant of the Scriptures.
If this experience so changed his life when he was younger, why now after all these years? You
cannot help but wonder if this licensed minister has an agenda in peddling his questionable
experiences in order for churches to contact him to give his testimony. Again,
I would refer back to Abraham’s words to the rich man in hell. He comes across as sincere, but sincerity is not the test
of true religion; a person can be sincerely wrong. God knows his heart; I do not. What I do know is that experiences or feelings
cannot be of any spiritual value if it contradicts the Scripture. It is a deception.
Do I believe that hell and
heaven are real? I do this without reservations because the Bible says that they are real
places as real as where we live (cf. Mt 10:28; Jn 14:3). But we do not need this man or any man to tell us hell is
real because he has been there! I do not need a young boy to tell me that
heaven is real. We have the Word of God. To hell and back is a work of fiction. Stick with what the Word
has to say about it, not someone's experiences. Since this man's heaven and hell story is deviating from the authority of the Word, there is no credibility to his testimony. Such deceit has the earmarks of the devil – Did God really say… (Gn 3:1, HCSB)? <><
THOT: Our theology should be based and shaped by the Word of God, not by our feelings or experiences.
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