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A personal supernatural event, feeling, sight or sound can be defined as a spiritual experience. It is something unexplainable by natural or scientific means, something that has the ability to leave us shaking, fearing, excited, confused or aghast with amazement if not all of the above. It doesn’t matter how small it is, as long as it cannot be explained by the laws of nature, it is defined as a spiritual experience. A large number, if not everyone claims some spiritual experience one way or the other. Stories abound from an atheist who died and saw himself floating to a pastor who appeared in heaven and had tea with Jesus. From a girl who dreamed the death of her mother to a man who woke up naked outside his home. There is also a wide range of these occurrences; common to unusual and strange to worse than bizarre.
As much as we are all thrilled by our individual encounters with the supernatural, we must also deal with the fact that these are a cause of concern to those who care about guarding the truth of the Gospel. Let us address this directly, on we go;
They are not salvation
The message of salvation is simple; salvation is by faith in Christ alone. That faith is preceded and followed by repentance (turning away from sin). Those who are saved are evident by a changed lifestyle. Yet many are they who ignore this, instead, appeal to their individual experiences as proof of their spirituality. Dear friend, do not be deceived – the fact that you saw a pair of white angels somewhere in the sky is no confirmation that you are now walking with God. Let me say this again; the fact that you dreamed of a yellow car only to wake up and see a yellow car is no evidence that you are right with God. There is one way to be saved; it’s not seeing a vision, it's not rolling on the ground after hearing a voice calling your name. It is faith and repentance through Christ. We must all come to Christ the same Way; you are not a special case either. All have sinned and fallen short of God’s righteous standard (Rom 3:10). We must all repent! Therefore, I beg you my dear one; let us forget your so-called heavenly encounter and begin at the starting point; did you head to the call of the Gospel to repent? Is there evidence that you are born again?
Varies with every person
The second problem with these personal occurrences is that they are not the same for everyone. One would come and say I have been to heaven and there are angels with blue wings, while another will say I have been to the same place and there is no such thing. On another day someone else would emerge and say God spoke to me and said A.B.C. That same day, another one will also come out and boldly declare that the Lord also spoke to him and said we must do this and that. Do you now see that we would all be in trouble if we based our faith on individual experiences that contradict each other? In fact, Christianity is already in deep trouble because we listened to these strange voices and based our faith upon weird experiences; to the neglect of the basic truth that is clearly defined in Scripture. That is a…big problem!
Source uncertain; what spirit?
Whatever you do; do not accept any sort of supernatural occurrence as coming from God. I have been amazed by the fact that even the most demonic Sangomas (traditional healers) claim to be used by God. You see friend, no one is denying that you saw something that you thought was a vision of Jesus, what worries us is this: how can we know that you were not deceived by demonic spirits that projected themselves as whatever you saw? Our Bible warns us that Satan always appears as an angel of light (2 Cor 11:14). If the wise Corinthian believers were human enough to easily accept another Jesus, another spirit and another gospel (2 Cor 11:4), what makes you think you are too clever to be deceived? Do you want to know how demonic religions, satanic cults and false doctrines have appeared in the name of Christianity? It was through visions and dreams. And guess what, you are right on that same path unless you take this next warning seriously. Beware of spirits that come to you as representing God and goodwill, only so they can recruit you into deception. Again I say; do not trust your dreams, no matter how shiny they seem. Do not trust a vision of anything! Do not trust any invisible voice that whispers your name. Only trust one thing; your Bible. And always read it to renew your mind, especially after having some strange spiritual occurrence that you will never understand. Particularly you who are Christian leaders; you are the target of these strange visions that you also love. If you are a preacher or pastor; do all of us a good favour by making the Bible your best friend – you will thank me later.
Overrides what we know from Scripture
Everything about the Christian faith is grounded and guided by Scripture. Did you get that? I said Scripture! Whenever you look down upon the Holy Writings, unsatisfied by what they offer you and unimpressed by the glory of the Gospel message, it is obvious you will seek something else from other sources. Before you go there, first know this; anything that the good Lord never cared to write about in Scripture is unimportant, worse, it is unnecessary for salvation and godly living if not untrustworthy to be believed by anyone with a working brain. How many times have many of our well-meaning brethren listened to their weird dreams than they read their Bibles? Most are they who are foolish enough to abandon the clear doctrines of the tried and tested Truth because they were inspired by their feel-good spiritual happenings –such is the beginning of a journey to the city of Deception-No-Return.
But people in the Bible were also having powerful encounters?
Indeed there were spiritual experiences inside the pages of that Good Book. I can choose to name Samuel, Daniel and the young Joseph among many. However, please observe this;
(1) All miracles, signs, and visions that happened in the Bible pointed people back to the glory of God and the salvation of man. Such is not the case with many strange occurrences today that neither glorifies the Creator nor contribute anything in bringing anyone to repentance.
(2) Every dream was followed by immediate interpretation from the Lord and every angelic visitation was rare, urgent and beneficial to the whole nation or kingdom of God. It wasn’t just a personal experience that individuals boasted about to prove their better spirituality to others (that is what is happening today).
(3) Most of those who had spiritual experiences inside Scripture were inspired writers of Scripture itself (open canon), therefore it was necessary for them to have these occurrences for the purpose of writing the Bible. Now that we have a complete Bible on our doorsteps (closed canon), a sufficient tool for all of life and godliness, what do we need weird experiences for? (1 Tim 3:16-17).
Conclusion. Permit me then to say my last words: spiritual experiences are yet to happen to a lot of us. However, let us be wise and very discerning. If anything, we would be safe with only one ingredient as the salt and pepper of our faith; the Holy Scriptures. The more one studies, loves and believes only what is written, the less weird spiritual occurrences will he or she have. On the other hand; according to the history of the Christian faith, those who define their spirituality by their private manifestations to the ignorance of the Holy Book have joined the league of deceivers and heretics. May God help all of us.
Sinothi Ncube
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