Recently I went to the local Christian bookstore to browse and the lady working there tried to get me to buy a book, Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy’s Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back. Now I can’t make a judgment about the book because I have not read the book and nor will I. I have never enjoyed these types of books. When I first became a disciple, someone gave me the book, A Divine Revelation of Hell by Mark Baxter where the author claimed that she was commissioned by God to write the book. As a very young disciple I read the book believing that the book was from God since He was the one who told her to write the book. Yet it entered into my mind back then, “Why would God want to give us more information about heaven or hell when He has already given us His Word?”
I have noticed that these types of books are popular again. I think most people do think about death. We do wonder what will take place when we die. Oscar Wilde’s final words were, “And now the mystery begins…” Thomas Edison’s final words were, “It’s beautiful over there.” People have debated whether Edison was speaking about the after life or about the fact that his wife had opened the window for him to look outside. All of us are curious, I think, about death. We wonder what will happen to us. What will heaven be like? For unbelievers, what is hell like? This one thing is for sure, all of us will make it. 100 out of 100 people still die. None of us can escape the fact that, apart from the second coming of Jesus, we will die. We will cross that sea that John Bunyan wrote about in his classic, The Pilgrim’s Progress.
For disciples of Jesus Christ, I want to issue this warning. First, we should always heed the Scriptures as the final authority for all things including heaven and hell. Jesus crossed the river of death and He now holds the keys of death and of hell in His hands (Revelation 1:18 KJV). Jesus destroyed the power of death according to Hebrews 2:14. Jesus said in John 11:25-26 that everyone who believes in Him will never die. Yes we will die in this flesh but not in the spirit (Luke 12:5). In Jesus, we will live forever (Romans 6:23)! What a hope for the Christian that when we die, we actually begin to live (Philippians 1:21).
Therefore what the Bible says about heaven and hell, angels and demons, salvation, death, etc. should guide the disciple and not books written by fallen creatures. Only the Bible is the God-breathed truth (2 Timothy 3:16). Only the Bible will last forever (Matthew 5:17-18). Only the Bible sanctifies (John 17:17) and only the Bible produces true life (James 1:21). Books written by people claiming to be by divine inspiration are wrong. Books claiming to speak for God about heaven, no matter how good they may seem, are not on the same plane as Scripture. Scripture is sufficient and Scripture is enough. Further, Scripture is clear on the subject of heaven and hell. We don’t need revelations by little boys or people claiming to be “in the Spirit.” What we need is to read the Bible and allow it to be the one guide that we listen to and obey in all areas (John 8:31-32).
My reply to the lady who tried to sell me the book about the little boy going to heaven was this, “I have everything I need to know about heaven in the Bible.” She said, “Oh but this story is so good and it doesn’t take away from the Bible but brings more light to it.” I just smiled and said I wasn’t interested. Someday I will go to heaven when I die (Philippians 3:20-21) and I will get to see the mystery unfold before my eyes. Revelation 21:1-9 reveals all that I need to know about heaven and hell. It reveals the glory of heaven that Jesus has gone to prepare for His bride (John 14:1-6). Others can speculate about heaven and hell but I will stick with the God-breathed revelation that He has given to me in the Bible. That is enough for me.
© 2011 – 2020, Matt. All rights reserved.
