I saw Heaven by Robert Liardon Chapter one

A shorter version of this book was published in 1983. Since then, I have had many questions asked me concerning my trip to heaven. I have tried to answer some of those in this book. Other things, I cannot answer—either because the question involves things Jesus will not let me reveal as yet, or because I simply do not know the answer. The first book was written primarily to believers, and I took for granted readers would know the scriptural basis for certain things that I saw in heaven and that I wrote about in that book. However, a number of years have gone by since then. In the meantime, thousands of souls have been born into the Kingdom of God who have no background in Bible study. So for their benefit, and for the benefit of the many unbelievers whom, I believe, God intends to read this book, I have included the scriptures that apply to what I saw. The most important thing I can tell any reader is this: Jesus is a real Person. He is alive today, walks with those who will receive Him, and will return for all believers still living. He has gone on ahead of us to rule and reign over all things and to prepare mansions (John 14:2) for each person who is born again. I would ask you to read this book with that truth in mind. If you are already a believer, I pray this will strengthen your faith, encourage your hope, and give you an added expectancy of His soon return. If you are not a believer, read the story of my visit to heaven. Then, in the last chapter, I have told you how you too can make sure of being in heaven some day. There is no security like that of knowing you are going to spend eternal life with the Creator in a supernatural Kingdom. Your life will have light where now there is darkness. —Roberts Liardon. Young Men Shall See Visions . . . This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; (Joel 2:28-30) And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit: and they shall prophesy. Acts 2:16-18 I was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, because my parents moved there for my mother to attend Oral Roberts University. While she was attending ORU, I was born. Since I was the first baby boy born to a student, they named me Kenneth Roberts Liardon. ORU Founder and President Oral Roberts and his wife, Evelyn, wanted the privilege of helping name the first boy and the first girl to be born to students of the then-new university. I have always been proud of my name because of its origin. When I was between five and six years of age, my father left and I did not see him again for many years. At that time, my grandmother, an Assembly of God pastor, came to live with us. Grandmother pastored for many years alongside my grandfather. Together, they started more than 20 churches, mainly country Pentecostal congregations, during their ministry. Grandfather had died about four years earlier, Grandmother came to Tulsa to help raise me and my sister, Priscilla, in order for Mother to finish school and also be able to work to support us. One of the main things I remember about those years of my childhood is all of the prayer that went on in our house. We had more prayer at home than we did in church! I saw more of the power of God, more healings, more evidence of God in our home than I did at church. I do not mean that in any derogatory or critical way. I am simply stating facts. I believe these things happened because there was so much awareness of the Lord in our home. Many times, it seems I talk more about my grandmother in my books and messages than my mother. But there are two reasons for that, neither of which is that my mother was less spiritual, less strong in prayer, or less of an influence than my grandmother. However, Grandmother spent more time with Priscilla and me than our mother, who was working and finishing school. The second reason is that I knew even as a child I was called to preach. Therefore, as Grandmother was a preacher, she spent more time training me. Her "training" mostly involved prayer and reading the Word. When we had family prayer, my sister and I were not allowed to just sit and listen, and certainly not to watch television or color in coloring books while the grownups prayed! When it was time to pray, we had to kneel down just as they did. (At that time, many people thought they were not praying if they were not kneeling.) We were not expected to pray all of the time that our mother and grandmother prayed, because sometimes their prayer times would be hours long. But we were told to pray as much as we could. They knew what our limit of attention span and physical stamina was, and they encouraged us to pray to that point and a little beyond to build endurance in prayer. That is the way they trained us to be able to flow into a long season of prayer or intercession as the Holy Spirit leads. We prayed in English, and we prayed in tongues. (1 Cor. 14:14,15). Also, we memorized scriptures at home as well as at Sunday school. As we were eating breakfast or going out the door for school, Mother or Grandmother—whoever was getting us off to school that day—would ask us what verse we were memorizing that week. Sometimes, we were memorizing three or four verses. Some people, who have heard me tell or have read in my books about this kind of upbringing, have received the wrong impression. Some will say, "Boy, you had a tough childhood!" No, I did not have a "tough childhood." We lived under a divine discipline that flowed out of the Spirit of the Lord in love and compassion. The spirit of rebellion that permeates the world never had a chance to get hold of us as children. Rebellion was not allowed in our home. After the divorce, even more prayer began to take place in our home. And, yes, there are things in my life even yet that I have to work through because of the divorce. But, in comparison to many other children of broken homes whom I have met or read about, we have come through quite well, because of the prayer and strong emphasis on the Word. Many times, the Word working in us broke feelings of rejection and self-pity that otherwise might have set up strongholds. Many times, I would get on the school bus and head for school praying under my breath or quoting verses of scripture. There were times, of course, when I felt badly that I did not have a dad to do things with. There were times other kids would ask me about my dad. Then I might be wanting to cry and say, "Where is my dad? Where is he when I need him?" All of a sudden, I would remember my mother and grandmother saying, "You may not have a natural father living with you every day, but you have a heavenly father Who is with you every day. He will be your dad, if you let Him." And, at one of those moments of remembering what they had said, there was a revelation of truth. The seed they had planted within me began to grow, and I knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that knowing my heavenly Father was the most important thing in my life. My mother remarried when I was about 15, but the Holy Spirit by that time had become my "dad" in many respects. It was wonderful to have the kind of relationship with God that we had at home. I found at school that, because of the strong principles from the Word that had been placed inside me, I could not use certain words or do certain things the other kids did. Especially during my teenage years, I was out of step with my peers (or better stated, my peers were out of step with God). I had been taught not to lie, not to steal, not to covet. The Ten Commandments were a way of life. If any of the other children made fun of us, and we came home and told of it, Mother or Grandmother would say: "Truth outlives a lie." But my sister and I were not unique in receiving some persecution for our way of life. The problem of peer pressure is there for Christian teenagers in any situation or generation. We were able to handle it without bending or breaking because of the love and respect we had developed for our mother and grandmother and for Jesus. Respect for Elders in the Lord When I see how many children today have been allowed to operate in disrespect for their parents and older relatives, I often think of the story of the turtle and the rabbit. Most of you probably remember hearing the story as children: A rabbit and a turtle set out to run a race. The rabbit, which in this illustration is symbolic of a lie, seems to be gaining in the race. He seems to be a sure winner. It seems the truth, represented by the turtle, will never get to the finish line. The lie is bouncing everywhere with everyone's eyes on it. However, the rabbit is over-confident, and he decides to take a nap. He thinks he "has it made." While he is resting, the turtle crosses the finish line and wins. During the past few years, when rumors have run rampant concerning nearly every ministry and well-known minister, I have stood on that principle. I have said, "They may say this, and they may say that, but the truth will outlive a lie." The truth is that honoring the elderly, especially elderly ministers—those "elder statesmen" of the faith—will add to your knowledge and to spiritual wisdom. There are many things we can learn from them, just as I learned from my grandmother's long experience in the ministry. Actually, I come from a long line of preachers, so my grandmother learned from her ancestors and passed it along to me. I am not just talking of the wisdom of one generation. For several generations back, there have been preachers in my family. There were United Brethren circuit riders, preachers in various denominations, and my grandfather and grandmother, the first Pentecostal preachers in the line. I am grateful to my mother and grandmother that they insisted on our reading four chapters a day in the Bible in order to finish it in a year, and that they insisted that we pray every day. That is just the way we lived. And I believe the "turtle" of truth concerning the value of listening to and honoring our parents, grandparents, and those older in the Lord will hit the finish line in this generation. I believe in these endtime-years, we will see a return to this principle and others God has set out in His Word. We must have an understanding of the continuity between the past, present, and future in order to make a climate for God to do His signs and wonders. Through prayer, spiritual maturity, knowledge of the Word, and learning from the lessons of the Church's past, we will be prepared to walk in the supernatural, as God's Spirit is poured out on all flesh. Upon All Flesh The Apostle Peter said the prophetic words at the beginning of this chapter began to be fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost. Those words were spoken forth by the Prophet Joel more than 800 years before Christ. The "last days" began at the Day of Pentecost, according to Peter and some of the other writers of the New Testament epistles and books. (Heb. 1:2, 1 Pet. 1:20, 1 John 2:18.) You can see that Joel listed several characteristics of "the last days" which, in his day, were still to come: • God would pour out His Spirit on all flesh, meaning that everyone would come into contact with the power of the Lord in some way. Unbelievers all over the world are deciding, or wall have to decide in this generation, what they are going to do with God. • A surge of manifestation of God's supernatural power would come on the youth, both male and female. • The youth would see visions, have supernatural dreams, and prophesy. As we move closer to the end of this age, I believe visions, dreams, and other operations of the Holy Spirit will come more and more into manifestation. Discernment of supernatural manifestations will be absolutely necessary, as well as testing of doctrines. Satan always tries to counterfeit what God does. When he sees the Holy Spirit moving in a certain way, he comes up with a duplicate move. Much of what is known as "New Age" counterfeits Bible miracles, signs, and wonders. As I have traveled around the world in the last decade and studied church history of past years, it has become obvious that more and more Christians are experiencing the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy. Many believers tell of dreams and visions pertaining to heaven, hell, or spiritual things in books and publications, such as Guideposts and the monthly magazine of the Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International. In fact, the Lord promised as early as the days of Moses to make Himself known to His prophets in visions and dreams. (Num. 12:6.) The very first mention of a vision in the Bible is when the Lord came to Abram in a vision and told him to leave Ur of the Chaldees and go to a far country that He would show him. (Gen. 15:1.) Great men of the day report having had more than one vision.1 So, I feel privileged to have been allowed to visit heaven when I was only eight years old. But at the same time, I do not consider myself in any way unique—not in these "last days." And, of course, in Bible days, there were numerous occasions when men of God saw visions and dreamed dreams. Isaiah saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up (Is. 6:1); Ezekiel had a number of visions during his years as a prophet to the Jewish exiles in Babylon, as did Jeremiah, who was prophet to the remnant of Judah left in Jerusalem. Also, after the return from exile, Zechariah saw several visions. The list of such Biblical experiences would be quite long, if we wrote them all down. Visions, Dreams, and Supernatural Experiences We see three kinds of visions described in the Bible, particularly in the Old Testament: spiritual visions, trances, and open visions. In addition, any of the three kinds of visions can be literal or symbolic. There are also night visions, or dreams. There are dreams of literal and symbolic things given by the Holy Spirit for various reasons. And there are other supernatural experiences—such as Philip, the disciple of Jesus and early evangelist, being transported bodily from one place to another. (Acts 8:39.) In the Old Testament, Elisha literally saw Elijah taken up into a chariot of fire pulled by horses. That was not a vision, open or closed (2 Kings 2:11), but was a real occurrence, a time when the supernatural intruded into the natural world. Apparently, the sons of the prophets waiting for Elisha to return across the river also saw what happened. They assumed that Elijah's spirit went in the chariot without his body, so they insisted on looked for his body for three days, although Elisha told them not to bother. (2 Kings 2:16-18.) A spiritual, or closed, vision is something—a scene, happening, or place—seen with the "eyes of the spirit," not with the natural eyes. The vision, if it is literal, might be of earthly things or of heavenly things. The Apostle John on the Isle of Patmos saw spiritual (closed) visions, some were literal—such as Jesus standing behind him (Rev. 1:13-16)—and some things were symbolic—such as the seven golden candlesticks (seven churches) among which Jesus was standing, and the two-edged sword in His mouth. We know they were spiritual visions, because John wrote that he was in the Spirit. (Rev. 1:10.) The Apostle Peter's vision of the clean and unclean beasts was a trance, so Luke wrote in the Acts of the Apostles. (Acts 11:5.) In his trance, Peter saw a sheet let down by the four corners from heaven containing all kinds of tame and wild beasts, birds, and creeping things. He also heard a voice (Jesus) speak to him from heaven. (Acts 11:7-9.) Peter saw the same vision three times. This was a vision of symbolic things. The interpretation of what he saw was given him by the Lord: What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common (Acts 11:9b). Through the context of the rest of chapter 11, we understand that the things he saw were symbolic of the Gentiles (non-Jewish peoples), whom the Jewish nation of that day called "unclean." God used this trance to change the direction of Peter's life and ministry. The prophet Balaam apparently saw an open vision when God opened his eyes to see the angel standing in front of him with a drawn sword. (Num. 22:31.) Balaam's donkey also saw the angel with natural eyes. But when the donkey spoke to Balaam (Num. 22:28-30), that was a supernatural occurrence. Apparently, my experience would fall more into the supernatural occurrence category than in the categories of visions. As far as spiritual dreams go, Bible examples include the Pharaoh of Joseph's day, Nebuchadnezzar, and the prophet Daniel. Also, an angel appeared to Joseph, who was betrothed to Mary, mother of Jesus, and warned him of things concerning Jesus at least three times. (Matt. 1:20; 2:13,20.) Spiritual dreams may be more common today than visions or supernatural occurrences. There is no way you can earn a vision or a trip to heaven. I know nearly every Christian would love to have a preview of heaven or to see Jesus. There seems to be no criteria for these experiences except the sovereign will of God. I do believe all of the prayers that were prayed over me by my mother and grandmother had a lot to do with it. Also, my heart was open to Jesus, and as far as I know, there was no doubt or disbelief present in my mind at all about the Bible, the Trinity, and heaven and hell. However, my primary belief is that God's will alone is involved in selecting those people for these experiences. Also, I know it is not because He favors those selected, but their visions, dreams, and experiences ar e designed to further God's plan in the earth in some way. Ultimately, I believe He does these things to establish His will and His Kingdom rather than primarily for the benefit of those who see and hear into the supernatural realm. In other words, they are for His purposes, not just for our enjoyment.