JY“And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young man will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.” (Joel 2:28-29)

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“Even a child is known by his actions, by whether his conduct is pure and right.” (Pr 20:11)

My daughter Chen Jia-Yin was born in 1996. She is a special heritage given by our Lord Jesus.  I recalled the night of 21 September 1999, when a strong earthquake struck Taiwan, and the ground was roaring and rocking, my daughter was only three years old.

On that day, I thought the concrete ceilings were going to collapse and I used my own weak body to shelter Jia-Yin who was fast asleep. I acted out of part fatherly instinct and part naivety, for who but the Lord Jesus is mighty enough to keep us from harm? We humans amount to nothing! (Ps127:1-2)

Time flies; at the blink of an eye, she is now in the third year of primary school 9 yrs old.  Her liveliness has been a source of comfort and joy, but at the same time, I have often fretted over her faith, her studies and other areas of growth, especially that she would receive the Holy Spirit. I would be much more at ease when she has the Holy Spirit to help and to guide.

“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth…”(Jn16:13)

From my experience as a full time preacher, I thought that with my daughter’s level of focus and zeal towards prayer, it could be years before she would receive the Holy Spirit. I always worried over her attitude in prayer.  But the love and the grace of God go beyond the imagination of man. During a prayer session for the Holy Spirit, she saw a vision of two roads. After a few days she received the precious Holy Spirit (Jn 14:16-17). She then had in her life, the guidance and help of the Holy Spirit. As a parent I feel that she has made a lot pf progress and we received much comfort.

On the 23 April 2004, Friday, during the spiritual convocation at North Tai Chung Church, Jia-Yin went to the front of the chapel to pray for the Holy Spirit after the sermon. As she continued to praise God, saying “Hallelujah, praise the Lord”, there appeared before her a sudden darkness. She felt her spirit being lifted and then floating in the air, she saw a vision.

Two Choices for Every Soul

The Spirit gives life, the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life (Jn 6:63)

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it (Mt 7:13-14)

Jia-Yin saw souls of the dead arising from their bodies and proceeding to walk on the same road.  Not long after, they arrived at a junction where they had to choose between two roads. There was a broad road that led downhill, and which became narrower and darker as they walked. The other was narrow and full of stones, going uphill. But as they walked, the road became brighter (Ecc 3:11) (Jn 5:28-29).

There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death (Prov 14:12) (Prov 27:20) (Mk 9:48)

She saw that those who chose the broad road crowded together as the road became smaller; at the end of the road was a beautiful and magnificent bridge. Those who walked this road thought that the oft spoken Western Paradise must lay beyond this bridge, so many trod of this road, following blindly . As they rushed and pushed along the bridge, those in front came to sudden ending, and they fell, one by one, into the bottomless pit. They had no opportunity to warn those behind them: “This bridge is cut off, don’t come over”. The people following behind thought that they had already passed the bridge to paradise, and did not think that they had fallen into the bottomless pit. In the bottomless pit were skeletons of many corpses; there were also worms that would not die and fire that could not be quenched.

First Question of the Angel at the Heavenly Gate: “Have you been baptized?”(Acts 22:16)

5Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. (Jn 3:5-6)

6This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7For there are three that testify: 8the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. (1 Jn 5:6-8)

 

Then Jia-Yin saw a small and stony road. The longer one walked along it, the brighter it became. They eventually arrived at a large and magnificent gate. The gate, cast in fine gold, looked very splendid.  Jia-Yin descended in front of the gate and stood among the crowd.  Suddenly from the top of the gate, a dove carrying an olive branch in its beak flew gradually from the air. It became larger and larger. At this moment, a bright and glorious light surrounded the gate. Three angels flew from behind the gate. Two angels were at each side of the gate, and the third angel said in a loud voice: “Have you been baptized?” Some people looked shocked. They did not know why in believing the Lord Jesus they had to be baptized. They did not believe in the efficacy of baptism and had not been baptised. They thought that believing the Lord Jesus was enough. So they automatically turned back to walk along the broad road that led to destruction.

Although another group of people agreed that in believing Jesus, they had to be baptised, they did not know that the baptism they received was not in accordance with the teachings of  Bible. So the heavenly gate appeared to them as if it was the gate of hell and they angrily returned to the broad road. They also fell to hell like those on the bridge (Lk 1:77-79) (Mt 3:16-17) (Acts 22:16)

The angel’s second question: (Acts 19:2)

“Have you received the Holy Spirit?”

13And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory. (Eph 1:13-14)

To those remaining at the front gate of heaven, the angel asked second question: “Did you receive the Holy Spirit

when you believed?” A force pushed back those who did not receive the Holy Spirit and they slid back into the broad road of destruction. Two other groups suffered the same fate: those without the Holy Spirit but refused to leave and those who mistakenly thought that they had the Holy Spirit. She also saw Judas who sold Jesus because of greed and lost the right to receive the Holy Spirit, being cast to hell (Acts 2:37-39)(Acts 19:1-7)(2 Cor 1:22)(Jn 3:31-36).

The angel at the heavenly gate opened the book of life and roll called accordingly

(Gal 5:22-23) (1 Tim 4:12) (Is 4:3-4) (Heb 12:14).

3 Those who are left in Zion, who remain in Jerusalem, will be called holy, all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem. 4 The Lord will wash away the filth of the women of Zion; he will cleanse the bloodstains from Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire. (Is 4:3-4)

14Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. (Heb 12:14).

After these two questions, many still remained beforef the gate of heaven. The bright gate of heaven slowly opened. Two angels guarded the gate, and another angel brought the book of life and came before the people. The angel then took the roll call. Those who were called immediately walked through the gate of heaven.

Suddenly, Jia-Yin’s eyes could see through the book of life. It was filled with names. Behind the names were recorded fruit of the spirit (Gal 5:22-23): love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. God used many different symbols such as [] [Χ] [] to record each person’s daily life, in terms of whether one had lived a life filled with good deeds, full of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Those who were called, and were able to enter the gate of heaven were not perfect and made no mistakes. Rather, these are those who in their lives, always repented and confessed their wrongdoings. They were those who relied on the Holy Spirit’s rebuke and humbled themselves. Through prayers, they repented and removed impurities of faith. They had good examples of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. They led their lives to glorify God and to benefit humanity. In the end they are the ones who were saved.

Those whose names were not called failed to qualify - although they had the Holy Spirit, they did not place importance on the function of the Holy Spirit. They did not pray for their mistakes and rely on the Holy Spirit to watch and pray, and applied righteousness and judgment to rebuke themselves (Jn 16:8). They lacked faithfulness, humility and a repentant heart. They did not place importance in their faith and wasted time in their lives. Hence, they were also not qualified to enter the kingdom of heaven.

Although some now knew their mistakes and resolved to repent and confessed heir wrongdoings, it was too late. There was no longer an opportunity for repentance. At the completion of the roll call, those who were called had all entered. At this moment, the gates of heaven closed rapidly. It created such a strong force that those standing outside were pushed into hell (1Pet 2:1-2)(Prov 3:1-7)(I Jn 1:5-10)(1 Jn 2:1-6)(Jn 16:8-11)(Phil 2:14-16)(1 Thess 5:23-24)(Mt 22:11-14)(Rev 20:11-15)(Rev 21:27)(2 Thess 2:8)

The people of Heaven are all beautiful and wore white linen. They sang new songs.

7Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.
8Fine linen, bright and clean,
was given her to wear." (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)

9Then the angel said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!' " And he added, "These are the true words of God." (Rev 19:7-9)

1Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. 2And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. 3And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. (Rev 14:1-3)

 

Those who were called and qualified to enter the gate of heaven, entered one by one. Once they entered the gate of heaven, the clothes that they wore suddenly transformed into bright white garments. Regardless of age and gender, each person’s face and appearance became the same as the angels; young, tall and beautiful. The ground in heaven is covered in bright and shining gold. In heaven, even the flowers could sing!

Saints who were called earlier lined horizontally in front of those who were called later. In the spirit, one could discern everyone, including the twelve apostles. There were Peter, John, James or Matthias etc. They also lined up with the others. Everyone held one another's hands and joyfully sang hymns as they walked forward. On both sides, many angels accompanied them and sang hymns with them. The language used was not of this world.. It is the language in heaven. Everyone could sing and the sound was beautiful.

“There he was transfigured before them.  His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.”(Mt 17:2) (Mt 22:23-32)

The people in heaven are blessed to hear the Lord Jesus delivering sermons

As the people sang and walked together hand in hand, they came to a very tall, majestic, glorious and beautiful church building.  One after the other, they entered the church building. On both sides, the angels played flutes, violins and harps and produced beautiful music. They welcomed the congregation into the church building to listen to Jesus preach.

The first saint to enter the church building was Mary, as indicated by the spirit. Everyone followed suit and entered the church building. They all sat in their own place. This church building is very tall, wide and full of glory. The walls were made of precious stones and very glorious.

An angel was playing the harp at the front of the church and there was another person with dark brown hair. In the spirit, Jia-Yin knew He was the Lord Jesus, who was going to deliver the sermon. First, He spoke of the calling of the first four apostles, Peter, Andrew, James and John, to be fishers of men. Then, he spoke of the miracle of the five bread and two fish where because of the offering of a small child, five thousand were fed, and of the remains of twelve baskets filled with fragments. (Mk 1:16-20) (Jn 6:9-13)

I asked Jia-Yin why Jesus still had to give these sermons in the kingdom of heaven. She replied that Jesus said,

“Today you are all able to enter the heavenly kingdom and to be seated here, not only to preserve yourselves. You have the duty to preach the gospel and to offer your abilities. Let the Lord bless and guide, and finish the salvation of God.” The Lord Jesus' sermon is to remind believers who are still on earth their commission in lives.

“Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.” (1 Cor 15:58) (2 Tim 4:7-8) (Rev 14:13)

(Rev 21)

Prayer for the Holy Spirit. (Lk 11:10-13)

Through out this time, Jia-Yin prayed fervently. She saw the vision and heard the Lord Jesus’ sermon. Her heart was touched and she cried joyfully. It was during this time that a deacon patted her shoulder and encouraged her: “Jia-Yin, pray harder, you will receive the Holy Spirit soon.” Then Jia-Yin opened her eyes and the vision disappeared.

Although she did not receive the Holy Spirit at that spiritual convocation, thanks be to the Lord, after a few days, in a night prayer, as Jia-Yin was saying: “Hallelujah, praise the Lord Jesus” she began speaking in tongues. She was filled with the Holy Spirit and her prayer was loud. After a while we said “Amen.” I told her, “Jia-Yin, you have received the Holy Spirit.” This further confirms that to the vision of heaven and hell is to remind us we must make the correct choices in our faith, and that it is necessary to hold fast to our faith, be watchful and diligent, and to prepare ourselves to enter the kingdom of heaven. Then we would have led a valuable and successful life. May all glory be to God. Amen.