There is perhaps nothing so powerful as a
vision. When the heavens open and our eyes look
upon fantastic things once hidden, it can alter
the course of our lives (Isaiah 6:1-5). A
glimpse into heaven itself to behold the God of
all flesh made Isaiah panic with self-loathing.
His innermost heart was revealed in the light
of the Lord's glory, and there was no place to
hide. Who wouldn't want to have a vision of
this magnitude? And why shouldnt we? On the
day of Pentecost, the Christians present
experienced the outpouring of the Holy Spirit:
'[A]nd your young men shall see visions, and
your old men shall dream dreams' (Acts 2:17).
Never in the history of our planet have so
many who call themselves Christian claimed
visions from God. Encounters with Christ,
angels, demons, even saints long departed have
begun to appear in book form, crowding the
charismatic section of our local Christian
bookstores. The popularity of visions never
seems to wane, and the more a person has and
the greater the scope, the quicker he is
skyrocketed to Christian stardom.
Many
people cannot appreciate the gravity with which
visions are accepted in many charismatic
circles, and consequently cannot understand the
bondage that results. If someone has a vision
of 'the Lord Jesus' and is given a message to
convey to you, for you to treat it lightly is
to despise the very words of God.
Visions
are not the norm for a believer, but a rare
occurrence. Of those saints in the Bible
described as having bona fide visions from God,
a mere handful had more than one recorded
vision in their entire lifetime. None of these
occurrences were initiated by the individual,
but were the result of a divine act of God.
Most of what are reported as visions are
not such at all, but could be more
appropriately termed mental pictures.
According to the Bible, there are three sources
of visionsGod, the devil, and the flesh
(Ezekiel 13:3-8).
There is no such thing as
a harmless false vision, as such visions are
backed by the spirit of Satan.Remember men in
the Last Days are prophesied to become more and
more wicked, leading many astray (II Timothy
3:1317). A master of camouflage, 'Satan
himself is transformed into an angel of light'
(II Corinthians 11:14). We are admonished to
put to trial those things we see or hear
claiming to be from the heavenly realms (I John
4:1-3).
