Nine Days in Heaven: A True Story (14 page)
I looked up, and a voice spoke. “Marietta, where do you want to go now? You left the sinful earth. Why do you want to go to places that are evil? How can you waver between the worlds of good and bad?
“A
ND WHY ART THOU INCLINED TO
SCENES WHERE EVIL PASSIONS REIGN
?”
“I have been watching you. I saw you in the Paradise of Peace, and then I saw you fall into the place of the wicked. I watched you sink under its burden and heard you cry for God’s help.”
The voice came closer. “Learn from this! Your heart must be grounded in truth and controlled by holy love. If it is not, you are vulnerable to the forces of evil. There is no safety for someone who is not born of God. You are exposed to the forces that can ultimately lead you to outer darkness.
“If you want to follow truth and enter paradise, you have to deny yourself the ‘pleasures’ of sin. Get rid of things that cripple your desire to follow God. Change your ways and do good. This is the only way you can receive everlasting good.
“Marietta,” the voice went on, “you were shown these things for a very important reason. You represent people who have not made up their minds about spiritual issues. Take this lesson back with you: a perverted spirit—such as you have seen—will continue to do evil when left to its own devices. If there is no restraint, that spirit will then aggravate the grief and suffering of the other spirits around it.”
The voice paused and then continued. “It is the same in the world. The increase of sin in the world is simply dependent on the number of people who pursue sin. One evil person will encourage another and destroy much good. Sin added to sin increases its power, until eventually families, tribes, and nations arm themselves for war. If only mortals knew the power of evil!
“O,
THAT MORTALS BUT KNEW THE
POWER OF EVIL INFLUENCE
!”
“Marietta, you could well write the word
sorrow
over all mankind. So many people multiply the evil in their lives by persisting in sin. And they finally end up in the world of evil spirits, joining many others like themselves.”
The voice quickened. “But if the grace of God is allowed to enter a heart, it changes the character and even the desires.
4
Whenever divine life enters a soul, it turns the mind toward God. Then, because of the law of holy attraction, it enables that soul to enter paradise.
“Marietta, this city is the one where you saw the infant nurseries. You have seen the places of sorrow and death; now you are allowed to return again.
“We are above the center dome of the infants’ nursery now, and you can see the educational temple. The schools of the infants’ paradise are all here.”
As the spirit finished speaking, the great dome below us suddenly opened up, revealing all its glory and magnificence. I saw the grandeur, variety, and order of the entire paradise. At the center was the cross, and around it were the twelve spirits, each holding a smaller cross and a harp. The infants all had their attention fixed on the twelve spirits around the cross. All was silent.
Support From
the Word of God
1.
The apostle Paul wrote:
This will take place on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.
—R
OMANS
2:16
Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.
—1 C
ORINTHIANS
4:5
Jesus said:
But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.
—M
ATTHEW
12:36
2.
“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life” (Gal. 6:7–8).
3.
“Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Rev. 21:27).
4.
“
…it changes the character and even the desires.
” Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
The Music of Heaven
and the Separation
L
ISTEN
, M
ARIETTA
,”
SAID THE ANGEL
. W
ITH HER RIGHT HAND
she pressed my temple, and from the deep silence I heard music begin. It was like angelic breath, like the inner and most holy life of the spirit. I could hardly hear it, yet it moved softly over and through me. I had never realized there were elements within me that could be awakened to such sacred music. I thought that my nature must have been totally transformed for me to experience such harmony. I felt totally at one with it.
As the sounds continued, it came into my mind to force myself into the music rather than simply allowing it to flow through me. My willpower wove itself into the sounds, and immediately discord flared up and the full force of my sinful nature swept over me. Note after note continued to penetrate me, but they no longer moved in unison with the musical chords of my inner being. In striving to blend with the music, I had produced a terrible discord. Several cadences broke up in this way, and the music became harsh to me. I knew my nature could never meld with it.
The discord within me became agonizingly painful. Every part of me rasped and grated. The waves of harmony that moved throughout the dome foundered in a sea of turbulent sound when they fell into my degenerate heart. I wanted to get away. Any other thing or any other place would have been better by far. I thought even the hellish place of false worship would fit my nature better. But I could not escape.
I was completely disoriented. Each moment seemed like an eternity, and my condition became more and more awful. Finally I cried out in despair, “Let me get away from this place!”
I tried to analyze what was happening. I loved the sacred music when I first heard it. But when I tried to join myself to it, a discord was created and my unholy nature was exposed for all to see! Obviously I was not fit to be with angels. I was lost beyond redemption, my spirit broken and fallen. No part of it was compatible with that place.
I cried out in agony, “Let me get away! Let me hide in darkness forever! Angel! Hide me! Hide me from this light! It has exposed my sinfulness! This harmony is torment! Save me from it! Is there a deeper hell somewhere? Let me go there—even if I am lost and demons mock me. At least my spirit would not be awakened only to be crushed because it is not fit for this place!”
T
HUS
I
PLEAD TO BE RELEASED BY
SOME METHOD, FROM THE LIGHT
,
THE HARMONY, AND THE BLISS THAT
FILLED TO THE UTMOST CAPACITY OF
ENJOYMENT, THE GREAT CONGREGATION
.
