During our time at the Bible school, two preachers told us about how they had been able to make trips to heaven. As we listened to what they told us, we realised that it was not just imagination or empty talk. They really had experienced something special! If people from outside our group were to express their scepticism regarding such experiences, we would talk about them with a sense of superiority, and we said that they had no understanding of spiritual things.
Journeys to Heaven and Teaching How!
The preacher, Roberts Liardon, wrote a book about his first journey to heaven which happened when he was eight years old. He visited our Bible school and was one of many who made a great impression on me. He said that it would become much more common that people would get caught up to heaven or take a trip to hell and come back and tell the story.
Liardon described how he was caught up in the air and started his trip to heaven. He gave this account of his meeting with Jesus: “And there stood Jesus! And Jesus stands about 5 foot 11 to 6 foot 1. His hair came down to about here. And the one thing that I was glad that I really noticed, was that He had muscles! Isn’t that good dudes? … And as He walked toward me, He said: ‘I want to give you a tour of heaven today, because I love you!’ … The only way you are going to find out if I am right or wrong, is if you get there yourself … So when you get there, you will find out that I am right! And I walked into this storehouse building, and I found the strangest thing I ever saw in my life! On the right wall, there were legs and arms hanging …. I turned around and looked to my left, and I looked down, and the first thing I saw was eyes! And they were all staring at me! … And I saw all the interior and exterior parts of the human body …. This is what Jesus said, I want you to listen to me. He said: ‘These are the unclaimed blessings …. These things you see here belong to people on earth.’ He said: ‘If they will believe me, they can have them.’ And He began to tell me how creative miracles begin to come from heaven.” 17
The most important message from Liardon’s heaven seems to be that we have no need to pray to God — we can simply go and fetch the answers ourselves!
In his book, “I was in Heaven,” Liardon elaborates on this message. He claims that Jesus sheds tears because Christians are not claiming enough body parts from the store house in heaven. He says that we do not even need to ask God to heal us. We should simply go and claim the parts of the body that we need, thus causing a transition from the spiritual realm into the physical one. To do this, is the essence of magic. How could it possibly be true that Jesus is crying because Christians are not making enough use of such magical methods?
One of the visiting speakers at the Bible school who gave us a glowing account of her visit to heaven was Sandy Brown. It was fascinating to listen to her at the time. Her experience seemed very genuine. I think we all longed to experience something as fantastic as the following story of her heavenly visit:
“One night, I was driving from a meeting, and I was real wound up in the spirit …. And in one moment, I was gone. And I was before the throne of God. I don’t know who drove that car, because when I looked at my watch when I came back, I had been driving over an hour. I was in that throne room over an hour. God must have had an angel drive. He must have put it on His heavenly computer system. But I was in heaven, and I was standing before the throne of God …. And He spoke to me, and His words came out of His mouth, and they had substance to them…. And what the words did, is that when they floated out of His mouth, I saw them. I could touch them…. And immediately I flew off into space…. And I found a place in eternity, and it was all black. There was no light there, and I went there, and out of my very being, these words of power, these words of wisdom, these words of glory, created a place. It is like they created a world…. And I ran back to the throne, and I went jumping up and down, and the Father was laughing. …. And He said: ‘Oh, Sandy, throughout eternity, you will take my words of power and wisdom and glory, and you will do exploits, and my children will create.’ …. He says, ‘So take my words of power and wisdom and fill the earth with glory.’” 18
The possibility that Sandy Brown might have been deceived, did not occur to us. Her experiences were so strongly supported by the leaders at the Bible school that seemingly no one dared to doubt the validity of what we had heard.
Sandy Brown did not hesitate to encourage us to press into the spiritual realm in order to reach heaven. “Because of Jesus Christ, you can now step in and see the glories of God. There is nothing wrong with you seeing invisible things. In your prayer closet, you need to press in . Press past the thick darkness! Press past the warfare! Press past the second heaven, where the devil fights! Press past it into the third heaven, where you can see God! In heaven, you can press in, and you can walk on those streets!” 19
This is the essence of occultism. It is a central concept in occultism to enter into the hidden (occult) spiritual realm on one’s own accord, in order to make discoveries and gain a deeper understanding of spiritual things.
During an evangelistic outreach in Stockholm in 1985, I heard firsthand reports of journeys to heaven. Two teachers from the Bible school told the participants at the outreach about these experiences. The following quotes are from a recording of the same story that was told later in a public meeting in another place.
One of the preachers told about how an American lady preacher helped him to experience heaven and see Jesus. The lady preacher told him to lie down on a mat on the floor. Then she began to pray for him. She mentioned certain things that would hinder him from seeing Jesus. Fear is supposed to be the main hindrance, while a strong anticipation of seeing Jesus is said to be helpful. Then she told him to concentrate on Jesus, and said: “Now we are going to go up to heaven in the spirit … so you pull yourself with your spirit up to heaven!” 20
Then he was led through a tunnel, along a beach by a sea. After that, there was a breakthrough which he describes like this: “Then I experienced — bang! — that I had got through. A very strong light shone towards me. …. Straight ahead of me, stood Jesus. I could see Him amazingly clearly. I saw His eyes. It was these eyes that shone in such a powerful way! He just stood there and smiled, and showed His love to me. Turning my head to the right — well, I can’t quite explain it — I sensed that the Holy Spirit stood there. And then, turning my head to the left, I sensed the Father standing there. What is more, I sensed that the Father leaned towards me, put His arm around me, and embraced me. This is the strongest thing I have ever experienced!” 21
When the same preacher gave an identical account at the outreach I attended, he did it with such warmth that I was deeply moved. I longed to experience such strong love! As a result of his experience, he was able to help others to experience heaven. He says: “I have also gone up to heaven together with other people. Christopher Alam and I, for instance, pulled ourselves up to heaven together, and saw and experienced different things together, exactly the same things.” 22
The other preacher (Christopher Alam) told us that his visits to heaven had given him a greater love for Jesus. After his first visit, Jesus had told him that he was always welcome to return whenever he wanted to. He said that Jesus had promised always to receive him at the great gate of heaven, which, incidentally, was reported to be made out of a single giant pearl. As a result of these visits, he said he had been healed and delivered from things which he had previously been unable to get rid of.
On another occasion, he landed in a place which he thought, first of all, was heaven. Naturally, he noticed the same white beings he had met before in heaven. But then, something was not quite right as it ought to be. Jesus had not been present to receive him at the gate this time. Gradually, he discovered that there were also some black beings. He thought this was strange, seeing they had all been white at his previous visits to heaven. Then he understood that he had not arrived at the right place. He succeeded in getting away from there and then got through to the real heaven. He thought this experience was a useful example, and it was said that many people make similar mistakes. I attempted to file all this for reference.
On one particular occasion, I was very close to experiencing something which according to my understanding, was being in heaven with Jesus in just about the same way as the previous descriptions. It happened when I was with an evangelistic team, and some of us came forward for prayer. I collapsed on the ground and had a convulsive fit of laughter, and the leader felt that I was now ready for going to heaven. He guided me into the spiritual dimensions that were to bring me there. We went through a tunnel, past a lake and arrived at an enormous pearl gate. Then I was left with Jesus, who was to take me into heaven itself. Somewhere along the line, I lost concentration and did not really get into this experience. All the same, I felt that something powerful had happened, and that maybe next time I would really get there. As a result of this, my attachment to the Faith movement became stronger than ever. At this point, I became a very zealous member of the movement, believing that I was on the verge of a heavenly experience.
In connection with this experience, somebody mentioned that they had heard another Faith preacher say that we as Christians should learn to help each other to get into the spiritual realm. Just as spiritualists function as mediums in order to lead people into the evil spiritual realm, he said that we ought to function by the Holy Spirit as mediums in order to lead people into the holy spiritual realm. No one objected to what he said. We thought that this was what we were actually learning to do. We were convinced that we were on the right side in the spiritual experiences and that it was the Holy Spirit that was our guide. It did not even occur to us that it could possibly be otherwise.
At this point in time, I began to get a special radiance. An acquaintance of mine who had been sceptical towards the Faith movement, was struck by this glow around me, and she began to reconsider her view. It really seemed as if God had done something with me.
But was it actually heaven that I had been so close to? Was it the Jesus of the Bible that had been standing there at the gate to receive me? What kind of radiance was it that I had got? I will come back to this point later.
But before going any further, I have to issue the strongest possible warning to the reader against trying to get an out-of-the-body experience, or trying to get into heaven by means of any kind of technique. All this is frequently described in occult literature, as I will explain later. Such techniques can lead a person into occult experiences with very dire consequences.
Footnotes
17. Roberts Liardon, “Heaven is a Real Place – I was There.” Audio Cassette, 24 April 1987 19.00 hours RL 113. Word of Life, Uppsala.
18. Sandy Brown, Vi borde se och uppleva Jesus i Anden. (We Ought to See and Experience Jesus in the Spirit.) 10/4 -85 KL. 10.20, Audio Cassette, part 2, SB 205. Word of Life, Uppsala.
19. Sandy Brown, Vi borde se och uppleva Jesus i Anden. (We Ought to See and Experience Jesus in the Spirit.) 10/4 -85 KL. 10.20, Audio Cassette, part 2, SB 205. Word of Life, Uppsala.
20. Jan Wallander: “Seeking the Presence of the Lord,” 16 February 1986, Kristet Center, Mjallom, Nordingra.
21. Jan Wallander: Att soka Herrens narhet / Seeking the Presence of the Lord, 16 February 1986.
22. Jan Wallander: Att soka Herrens narhet / Seeking the Presence of the Lord, 16 February 1986.
