'After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven:
and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me;
which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.
And immediately I was in the spirit:
and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.'
(Rev.4:1-2)
Hello
@PloughBoy,
Revelation 1:10; 4:2; 17:3; 21:10 all refer to John being
'in the spirit', and I think of Ezekiel who said the same in Ezek. 37:1,
'The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones.' Also of our Lord Jesus Christ in Matt. 4:1, Who Himself was,
'led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.' Also in Acts 8:39, it is said of Philip,
'the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more.' Paul also in 2 Corinthians 12:2-4:-
'I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago,
(
whether in the body, I cannot tell;
or whether out of the body, I cannot tell:
God knoweth )
such an one caught up to the third heaven.
And I knew such a man,
(
whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell:
God knoweth )
How that he was
caught up into paradise,
and heard unspeakable words,
which it is not lawful for a man to utter.'
(2 Cor. 12:2-4)
* The words,
'caught up,' does not necessarily mean an upward motion: and paradise is spoken of in Scripture in relation to where the tree of life is found, which in Revelation is in the city which comes down out of Heaven, the New Jerusalem (Revelation 2:7). So what could have been seen by the person in question, be it Paul himself, or John, could, as in Revelation have been a vision of a yet future time. The third heaven, being not the third of many heavens above, but the third in time: following the destructions of judgment which the earth has already experience, and will again. ...
Just thoughts.
Thank you
In Christ Jesus
Chris
You know this, it is has been place in you before the Foundations of The Worlds, For you are that "Holy Seed", and that unspeakable language of GOD cannot be spoken by a "mortal Human being" The Language of God for us to express ourselves, we term it "Anthropomorphic" especially in The form of visions pertaining to that which is Eternal, And we know, even our "Spiritual Senses" are Contaminated by our mortal host. So our visions and Spiritual insights are within the Human conception. For that which is HOLY is HOLY and must be Filters and must reduce. That is why we read, and let that reading be "Illuminated" and go no further and ponder that, we will, all be of, one mine, in "Christ Jesus" that is in Christ.
I have written about some of my experiences as you have related above. "Visions and trances" of the highest rankings, comes with and fueled by a great deal of sufferings and pain. Especially, "Theophanies and Beatific visions" The Powerful the event is fueled BY A GREAT SUFFERING . And sometimes you get sick after the event.
So what Am I saying, We read and do not define, and when we experience something, our habit is reading, and GOD will "ILLUMINATE" that event In "LIGHT of HOLY SCRIPTURE" He Breathes, on a maybe a portion of text.. Many do not quite understand, so they run to the pastor, to the a minister, their religious adviser. Instead of The BOOK. Instead of GOD's resources He has provided in "Christ Jesus". It is The BOOK, The BOOK is "THE WORD OF GOD" It is in There! "THE VOLUME of THE BOOK". not verses. although verses are "TRUTH" and valuable and not to be over looked, it is the crumbs of ETERNAL LIFE that Falls from his table.
JESUS is ALSO "THE WORD OF GOD"! The Bible IS "THE WORD OF GOD" He is The WRITTEN WORD" His IS THE REVEALED WORD, He is the LIVING WORD, HE IS THE WORD MADE FLESH and walked among us< He was in the Beginning with GOD, AND HE IS GOD. And HAVE ALWAYS BEEN with GOD, there was never A time That He did not exists. He Always Has BEEN.
We have not the words to explain this, but it is "TRUE". and you know it is TRUE, and the world and science tries to figure this out, with words. It cannot be explain with The Mind of Humans. There are no Humans words for it.
I understand you, you understand me, But The WORLD Do Not UNDERSTAND NEITHER OF US When we Begin To Talk about GOD. And when you talk to them you drop down, trying to think about words to express yourself, and they still do not get it.
Like you are speaking a different language, but you are, whether you know it or not!
Some words and all words in the Bible are human words and can be and should be human interpreted. But When GOD "BREATHES" HE "illuminates"
words like:
show bread
atonement
Lamb
Eternity
The Coronation table
am I my brothers keeper
Heirs
Shared Inheritance
Adoption
Regenerated
Conversion
Born of GOD
Born from Above
They know these words and worldly definitions, but to us it has a totally direct meaning. Beyond our own expectations. These words have been, "Illuminated" by GOD, For us. because if they knew
What those words mean.
Caught up into third heaven? that is "ANTHROPOMORPHIC" No one knows what heaven looks like it is TOO HOLY even for a DREAM. let alone a mortal's mind. {you know all of this. But we are surrounded by Contaminations. By Man, by church , by books , mortal thoughts trying to convey The INFINITE. That is why the commands is; "come out from among them"! instead of being obedient, we bring them into our "congregation" and fellowship with them and believe the lie and put our arms around them and our garments Get dirty! In totally disobedience
and claim, that we see. "Well, how are we, going to evangelize them then"? "ASK GOD"!
Paradises, could paradises be heaven? yes. Could paradise be not heaven? yes. The Bible Emphatically, proclaims, that the only things that are in heaven, is heavenly creatures, which are; "ANGELS [seraphim, cherub, Strong Angels, Arch,} and there are "Beasts' and no telling what else is there", God is there, And JESUS.
Now "Soul under the ALTAR" and we know that is a "Future event" they get their white robes. Most scripture proclaims when we die, we the saints, are sleeping, but church will argue and fight and they will proclaim we are not sleep. Even, they fought Jesus so hard, when he said 'LAZARUS is sleep" they protested so bad .he just gave in, Ok he is dead. He knew they could not get it, although making it so plainly in The Old Testament writings.
We Sleep in The BOSOM of ABRAHAM! What or where is that, I don't know, I ain't been there!
But Jesus said: it is a big Gulf there! And we will see them and they will see us, if we go there. But WHEN that HORN, is Blown, The Child of GOD where he or she is "sleep or DEAD" they are getting UP from The GRAVE, now whether it is the dirt or The BOSOM? They are going to get up, whether you call it sleep, or the dead! It is The Resurrection.
And JESUS said: believe in Him, a man will NEVER DIED! So I am going to sleep, and when ever he gets here, He is going to wake me up, And I do believe That "PARADISE" is SWEET SLEEP, with Sweet dreams. Now that too, can be considered sweet dreams. "Paradise" There is nothing like a "GOOD NITE" SLEEP. and when you wake up , you feel so good.
Some times I am so Amaze how good it feels, when you "Wake up in the Morning!"
"Did you get That"
"When You WAKE UP In THE MORNING"
So "Complete" what ever you get go with it, from The Book, Never mind what "PLOUGHBOY" says. I am not the ABSOLUTE he is!
We have to makeup words to describe that which is Heavenly. We Have unclean Lips and contaminated hearts to describe The Heavenly Hosts and all that is there. Our SPIRIT, that which is Holy and The PARAKLETOS gives us The words to convey to our Brains to the best of our abilities by being human then we express in "Anthropomorphic" ways about the things referring to The Deity. referring to the things about Our GOD.
have you ever notice, about The False religions and people who worship "Idol gods, and goddesses" can not express in ways we can, They cannot be "illuminated" in thought of such a anointing. They can impress with words in defining but they cannot "illuminate" or receive "Illumination".
So we cannot look to be impress with words from the text of HOLY SCRIPTURE but wait for it to be "illuminated" even by the orders of The GOD ALMIGHTY>
By our "MINISTER SPIRITS". even In " a BUSH" that was not Consume.
"Another good reason to pray every time we read: "LORD<, guide me to thy TRUTH and RIGHTEOUSNESS as I read thy WORD, SHOW ME LORD, what You want me to see, and not what I want to see, ILLUMINATED it LORD, place your light upon it. And STAMP it On The TABLES of My heart and The MEMORY BANKS of My Mortal Mind< give it to Me in Time of need."
I hope I covered everything,
Note; The New JERUSALEM , in which I spoke about in other threads of post. The Measurement are correct as recorded, But We too must Understand The POWER of OUR GOD, Can he take one room, 10x10 and place a trillion people in there and a million rivers, and still have room to share and amaze you when you walk in.
"WHAT GOD can DO"
with 2 Pennys.
REMEMBER THE LOAVES, THE FEW FISH?
and you,
Remember what he said to the religious rulers:
Mark 12 KJV
"In the resurrection therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife shall she be of them? for the seven had her to wife. And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither THE POWER OF GOD? For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven. And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err."
I hope you like it, even the reminder. and if I omitted something please bring to mind or if I diverted.
Twistie
