Nine Days in Heaven: A True Story (11 page)
• Job was tested in his suffering—Job 23:10; see also Psalms 26:2; 66:10; 139:23; Isaiah 48:10
• Jesus’s test of Philip—John 6:5–6
• Our tests—1 Corinthians 3:13; James 1:12–14
5.
“
…moral law
”—the Ten Commandments.
6.
“
sin…insidious enemy of peace and heaven!
” Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death.”
The Intellectual,
the False Teacher,
and the Heartless Worshipers
I
N THAT INSTANT
I
FOUND MYSELF IN A PLACE OF COMPLETE BLACKNESS
. I could see nothing—no sun, no stars, no light. The blackness became more and more intense and closed right around me. I felt I was suffocating. There was no way out! My doom was sealed!
Then I heard a soft and beautiful voice in the distance saying, “Ask Jesus for help. He is the One who gives life.”
Hope welled up within me, but in a flash a giant wave of rebellion rose up and fought against it. Immediately I fell even farther through an immeasurable depth and came to rest in an abyss inhabited by another group of spirit beings. I soon discovered that these spirits were in an even more terrible situation than those I had just left behind.
First they gathered around me and praised me for the doubts I had about the divinity of the Son of God. Then a spirit of “giant” intellect came up and spoke confidently to me.
“The religion of the Bible is revered by many who live in darkness and are backward in their thinking. But you, of course, should be able to see that it is just a spiritual farce.” Loftily he went on, “The God of the Bible, whom Christians call the Savior of the world, was only a man. So all that religious faith can do is restrict the breadth of human thought. It shackles the noble intellect and hinders the development of the human race.
“Those you have just visited are a class of spirits who have been blinded by the deceptive ideas of religious people on earth.” He sneered. “They are totally immature when they arrive here. They still cling to the idea of a possible redemption through Christ! They appear to suffer, but their suffering is only imaginary.” A look of supercilious pity swept over his face. “Understanding will reach them before long, and then they will discover the foolishness of their religious learning. At present they still cling to it, in spite of the fact that the better part of their nature has rejected it.”
He waved his arms grandly.
“Here, we are free. Our intellect is unrestrained, and we understand the magnificence and glory of the peopled universe. We enjoy the rich products of the highest qualities of the mind and are constantly lifting ourselves into ever-higher intellectual achievements and the nobility of earthly things. Hah! We don’t need the religion of the cross to achieve these things.
“W
E ENJOY THE RICH PRODUCTIONS OF
THE SUBLIME ATTRIBUTES OF MIND, AND
THUS—AND NOT BY THE
R
ELIGION OF
THE
C
ROSS—WE ARISE INTO THE MORE
EXALTED SPHERES OF INTELLECTUAL
ATTAINMENTS, AND THE MOVING
GRANDEUR OF TERRESTRIAL THINGS
.”
“Marietta, we were watching you when the blackness surrounded you a few moments ago. We knew you might pray for help in the name of Jesus, because that is how you have been taught. We also heard the voice saying ‘Look to Jesus.’” He laughed mockingly. “Did that save you? Of course not! You must realize by now that salvation comes from the natural unfolding of your own being, not by calling on someone’s name!”
He looked around and continued, “What can you see here, Marietta? Look at the wonders of this existence, and get rid of your ideas about the empty religion of the Bible. This place is known as the Second Sphere. Gathered around you now are great minds from many different places on earth. They have a strength of intellect that would never give in to the force of imaginary religion. They never sang the useless psalms and hymns, the foolish music of the church. What they sing about is nature.
1
Yes, and even more, they are a noble part of it, growing and developing together as one.”
E
VERY ENERGY WAS EXERTED TO ITS
HIGHEST CAPACITY TO ROLL BACK
THE TIDE THAT WAS OVERWHELMING
HIM
. S
UDDENLY HE GROANED, AS IN
THE BITTERNESS OF ONE SINKING TO
IRREMEDIABLE DESPAIR, AND THEN
YIELDED TO THE INTRUSIVE INFLUENCE
…
At this point the spirit talking to me hesitated and then became agitated. I stared, terrified, as I witnessed a dramatic change. His hazy, nebulous form was shaken by a series of shocks, causing him to writhe and convulse. I could not see where the shocks were coming from, but flashes like broad sheets of ghastly light lit up the cloudlike form surrounding him, and he struggled wildly to overcome the power that was on him. He fought with all the strength he could muster but finally groaned with the bitterness of hopeless despair and gave in to it.
Instantly a vast arena opened up before me. At one glance I could see every imaginable kind of vice, together with every type of human society, government, and tribe. I saw atheists and every kind of religion as well as every form of worship. Even the nominal churchgoing people were there, those who had worshiped under the message of the cross but with hearts untouched by it.
2
As I watched, I heard a voice from far above saying, “Marietta, don’t be afraid, but study this place of confusion. Here are the self-deceived, those who trust in false philosophy and those who hate God. You will also find the counterfeit Christianity of earth with religious mockery and hypocrisy. You will see human wolves who came dressed in sheep’s clothing, which satisfied their greed by exploiting simple and unsuspecting people.”
As the voice spoke, a weird cacophony of sound fell on my ears.
“Listen! Hear that wild chant! It is coming from the thousands who once sang hymns of worship to the living God without any feeling at all. Listen to that croaking organ. Look, the people are standing up. Watch what they do, and listen to what they are saying.”
As I think about what I saw, I am profoundly aware of my inability to describe it properly. Only those who saw it could understand its horrific reality. I can only say that every evil scheme that could be found in man was alive and obvious. Each spirit was like an actor, performing the role he had cultivated on earth. I knew that if these people had any hope of happiness, it could only be make-believe and futile. Each one struggled to get some kind of fulfillment from the experience, but the dreadful fantasy of the whole thing recoiled onto them with an inexpressible horror.
As I looked, the choir in the galleries stood and began to sing. The dismal sound of the spectral organ grated on my ears, and note after note of their attempts at singing produced only mocking discords. I pitied them as I saw them sink back in utter despair.
B
ELOW THEM WERE SEATED A FASTIDIOUS
AUDIENCE, BEFORE WHOM WAS STANDING
,
IN A PULPIT OF
G
OTHIC ARCHITECTURE
,
ONE CLAD IN PRIESTLY GARB
…
Below the choir sat a congregation, keenly critical of the things presented to them. In a Gothic pulpit in front of them stood a man wearing priestly robes. He was their minister, but he had dishonored the Redeemer by his hypocrisy and pride. His love for God was a pretense, and his behavior had brought true Christian ministry into disrepute. In this dreadful place he represented all who exploit and abuse religious things.
