Luke 24:36-43 “Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, "Peace to you." (37) But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. (38) And He said to them, "Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? (39) Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have." (40) When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. (41) But while they still did not believe for joy, and marvelled, He said to them, "Have you any food here?" (42) So, they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. (43) And He took it and ate in their presence.”
And so we come to the highest level of vision that occurs, which as we have already stated is commonly referred to as an open vision. We have stated that this type of vision occurs in one of two ways, i.e. either the spirit realm manifests in the physical realm or the individual is taken physically into the spiritual realm. And so the first example that we will discuss, is one in which the spirit realm manifests in the physical realm and the above quoted passage of scripture is just such an example. In this account we see that the Lord Jesus appeared out of nowhere, as He stepped out of the spirit realm into the physical realm on this occasion. And so this was an open vision which the disciples were being exposed to. Notice that the Lord Jesus interacted with the disciples in this realm just as any other physical person would, for He allowed them to handle Him as He ate with them and conversed with them. When the Lord had finished interacting with the disciples on this occasion He simply disappeared, as He stepped out of this physical realm back into the spirit realm. During this vision, the Lord Jesus taught the disciples numerous things concerning the kingdom of God. And He gave them guidance concerning their being filled with the Holy Spirit.
2 Corinthians 12:2-4 “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. (3) And I know such a man--whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows-- (4) how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.”
We have stated that the second way in which an open vision occurs is when the Lord takes the individual physically into the spirit realm to show them that which He chooses, and then returns them to this physical realm. There is no clear example of this type of vision given to us in scripture however, for the only two clear examples of individuals being taken physically into the spirit realm are Enoch (Genesis 5:24) and Elijah (2 Kings 2:11). Those two examples don’t count however, because those individuals have remained in heaven ever since then. And so although there are numerous accounts in scripture of saints being taken into the spirit realm to be shown things and then returned to the physical realm, such as the apostle John in the book of Revelation for example, scripture does not reveal to us if the individual was taken up physically or in spirit. Nevertheless there are numerous accounts in scripture of the Lord transporting His saints physically from one location to another in the spirit, e.g. the account of Phillip being transported from Gaza to Azotus in the spirit (Acts 8:39-40). And so if there are accounts of the Lord moving His saints physically through the realm of the spirit on earth, then it is certainly scriptural to envision the Lord taking His saints into the spirit realm in heaven to show them a vision and then return them to the physical realm. Another reason we know that this type of vision does occur is because of the above quoted passage of scripture. For in this passage Paul mentions that he was taken to the third heaven and Paradise on two separate occasions (all biblical scholars agree that Paul is relating his own experiences in this passage). Paul mentions that on both occasions he was unaware as to whether he was taken up either in the body or out of the body. Clearly Paul was on his own on both occasions, for had others been present they could have answered that question for Paul. And so we can see from this passage that when individuals are caught up in the Spirit, it sometimes becomes unclear just what kind of vision the individual is actually experiencing. Paul gives us very little direct insight into what the Lord communicated to him in these visions, but we can assume that it certainly impacted on that which he taught us through his epistles.
Hebrews 13:2 “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.”
And so we see clearly that our Lord Jesus still guides the New Testament saints through visions. Not everyone who has a vision granted to them by the Lord Jesus has been given the gift of discerning of spirits however. It is just that this gift is in operation when they do have a vision. Ananias was a saint who received a vision from the Lord on one occasion only (Acts 9:10). Cornelius was also a saint who received only one vision from the Lord (Acts 10:3). As with dreams, God speaks to His saints today through visions as and when He wills. There is no account in the New Testament where the saints sought visions from God. And there is no place in the new testament where we are taught to seek guidance through visions. As an aside, there are those in the church who have had open visions granted to them without even realizing it. The above quoted passage of scripture reveals this truth to us.
Michael E.B. Maher
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