Chapter 3 - Before, Now, and After

At this point in my vision, the angel of the Lord began to reveal things to me that I had often wondered about previously. He began to tell me about a great mystery. He said, "God has spoken, and I am to show you before, now, and after. The things I am going to show will give you great excitement. I am going to reveal to you what happens when a person is born again. I will show you how a person’s sins are washed away by the blood of the Lamb in the record rooms.

"I am going to show you what happens when a born-again individual dies on earth and his soul comes to heaven. Come and see the glory of your God."

We traveled from heaven at a fast rate of speed, and soon we were back over the earth. I could see the earth as in a vision, and the angel said to me, "Look and behold." As the angel allowed the vision to pass be fore me, I saw a beautiful little church in the country. Now, I don’t know where the church was located geographically, but it was a rural church, way out in the country. With the assistance of the angel of God, I was allowed to look into the building. I could see about thirty people seated in the pews. The pastor in the pulpit preached on this passage:

Seek the LORD while He may be found.
Call upon Him while He is near.
the wicked forsake his way, and the
unrighteous man his thoughts; let him
return to the LORD, and He will have
mercy on him; and to our God, for He
will abundantly pardon...Isaiah 55:6-7

As I gazed on this scene, I saw a mighty angel standing over the church. The guiding an gel beside me said, "A large angel is stationed at every church. This angel is in charge of all the other angels of that church."

ANGELS AT CHURCH

Two angels with books stood outside the door of the church. I could see people going in and out of the church. Then my angel guide signaled with his hand, and it seemed as if the roof rolled back, and I could see inside the church. An angel stood on each side of the pastor at the pulpit. Beyond those two were two more an gels. This made four angels around the pulpit.

Two angels stood at the back of the church, behind the congregation. Two more stood about halfway up the aisle, and up near the altar stood two more angels. So there were quite a few an gels in the church, and several of them had scrolls and pens in their hands. The angel said to me, "I want to show you what happens." The pastor began to speak, and the ushers started to take up the offering. As the offering was received, the angels recorded the people’s attitudes in giving. They recorded the contributors’ thoughts-whether they begrudged giving to the work of the Lord, or if they enjoyed giving the offering and viewed it as an act of worship. The angels logged it all in their record books.

Then the two big angels in the front of the pulpit nodded their heads at the other angels.

These activities of the angels were invisible to the people in the church, but I could see it all clearly. Then my guide said to me, "I want to show you something else. Watch closely, and you will be blessed." Suddenly, it seemed as if I had been moved behind the pastor. As he was preaching on the sixth verse-"Seek the LORD while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near"-I could see a host of heavenly beings inside the church. All the time the service was going on, the angels were rejoicing. The minister was anointed as he preached that message. One of the angels was pouring what looked like fire on his head. The glories of God were coming from the preacher’s mouth.

At the back of the church, a door opened, and a man who was very drunk staggered in. He came down the aisle, saying, "I am the one you are talking to, preacher. I need the Lord. I need to be saved. I am an alcoholic." The man dropped to his knees at the front altar and began to cry out to God.

Two of the deacons went to the altar to minister to him. Putting their arms around him, they asked him, "Do you mean business with God? Do you really want to be saved?"

"Yes, I want to be saved," the man said.

"I’m an alcoholic. I need to be set free."

A SOUL IS SAVED

Two more angels suddenly appeared. They had scrolls in their hands, and they began to write down what the man said. Then the deacons began to lead him through the process of salvation. I saw that this man was filled with sin. However, as the deacons prayed with him, one of the angels touched his heart, and smoke as dark as a rain cloud came spewing out of his chest.

When I saw this, I recalled some of the Scriptures that talk about the vile sins that come out of the heart:

A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.
(Matthew 12:35)

But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man "unclean."
For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.
(Matthew 15:18-19 NIV)

As the man began to pray to God with up raised hands, I saw wide, black bands that were wrapped all around him. He was in bondage to all kinds of sin, but especially to alcohol addiction and drunkenness. A deacon said to him, "You must confess these sins to God, so that He can forgive you, and so you can be washed in the blood of the Lamb." As he began to confess his sins, an angel touched him. I could see fire come from the an gel’s hands. The bands started to break and burst off of him.

This gave the man tremendous liberty. He raised his hands and praised the Lord. He stood up, and I saw the glory of God come down on him. I know the Lord sobered him up, because he began to shout praises to the Lord. Then the two mighty angels looked at each other and nodded their heads. They came back through the air to where we were and said, "Come and see the glory of God." 

IN THE RECORD ROOMS AGAIN

We traveled back to heaven with the other two angels very rapidly. After we entered through the gate, we went down a beautiful pathway that appeared to be made of gold. Quickly we were transported to a lovely room. The angel said, "Come and see what we do here." The long corridor we were in led to many other rooms similar to the one we were entering. The angel said, "There are many of these rooms in heaven. These are called rooms of records. You will see what goes on in these rooms."

The angel said, "We are going to the room that contains the name of the man who was just converted on earth." In the room I saw the angels from earth go quickly and give the report written on a scroll to another angel. Several ladders were positioned along the walls in the rectangular room. Shelves covered the walls, and all the books were on the shelves. The scene reminded me of a library on earth. Other angels, singing and praising God, stood in a line in front of a large desk. It was about eight feet across and four feet wide. A square cutout was in the center of the desk, which was overlaid with solid gold. It was so beautiful. It was carved with leaves and fruit.

It was the most beautiful desk one could ever imagine. I have never seen anything like it-or even a picture like it-on the earth. I was caught up with the glory and the majesty of God in this room.

Angels were going up and down ladders. They were continuously pulling books down from the shelves and returning them to the correct places. Several angels were standing nearby with reports from other parts of the earth. I noticed that some of the books in the wall were different shades of color. Then I saw two of the angels from the church standing in a line with a book they had pulled from the shelf. It contained the record of the very man I had just witnessed being born again on earth.

The angel with me said, "Do you see the two angels from the church service?"

"Yes."

"Do you see the book in their hands?"

"Yes."

"That is the record book of the man who just got saved. They have retrieved it from the shelves. Now they must go to the angel in Charge"

My guide explained that in every record room, there is an angel in charge. Everything that goes in or out of the room goes past that angel. All is done in order to the glory of God. I was amazed to see all these things going on. The angel in charge wore a brilliant head dress that is beyond my capacity to describe. He had golden hair and a glistening, white robe with a lot of gold on it. This gorgeous angel had a wingspread of about twelve feet. He was the most beautiful angel I had ever seen. The angel was the main record keeper of that room.

The angel in charge looked at me and motioned for me to come to his side. The power of God moved me, and I was quickly standing by the angel’s right side. He said to me, "You are allowed to be here so that we can show you what happens when someone on earth is born again. You are to tell the people on earth." The wonder of it thrilled me beyond words!

KEEPING RECORDS

As I looked out in front of me, the high praises of God were going up all around. I could hear bells ringing, although I could not see them. Delightful, laughing, glorious, happy an gels stood with books in their hands, waiting to talk to the angel in charge.

I started to praise and magnify God anew for His wondrous power and His glorious acts.

"Do you see the two angels in front of the desk?" my angel guide asked me.

"Yes," I replied.

"They were present when this man was born again."

He pulled a message out of the scroll; it was like a marker in the book. I couldn’t see what was written on the paper or the scroll. Then the angel said, "Look at what is written here," as he showed it to me.

The message was written in an orderly fashion, and it was beautiful. I saw the name of the country, the name of the state, the name of the county, the name of the city, and the name of the church. The angel showed me the name of the pastor and how many people were in the church. He showed me the order of the service. The entire record was written down. He showed me the people who participated in the church service and the details of the offering that was taken.

The name of the man whose salvation I had seen on earth was recorded on the paper. The message of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ that was preached to save his soul and the exact time to the very second he was born again-it was all written there. I shouted, "Glory to God!"

When the written account got to the point where the man prayed the sinner’s prayer and received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, the angel looked at the two messenger angels and asked, "Were you witnesses that this man was born again at this hour and this time?" They said, "Yes, we were witnesses. We were there. He received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We saw it happen."

The noise of the glory, the praises, and the shouts that went up at that moment was astounding. All of heaven was magnifying God. Then the angel wrote something in the book he kept and closed the pages. The book was very thick. He said to me, "Look behind you." I saw many people, redeemed saints, dressed in white robes and arrayed in splendor. 

THE BLOOD OF JESUS

These redeemed saints of the Most High God were singing this song:

Oh, nothing but the blood of Jesus Can wash my sins away.
Oh, nothing but the blood of Jesus Can make me whole today.
Oh, nothing but the blood of Jesus Can cleanse me today.
I’ve been redeemed
By the blood of the Lamb.

As I observed, the man’s book was handed to one of the rejoicing saints. Page after page of the old writings were washed away. They lifted up the pages one by one, and I could see that every page had been washed in the blood of Jesus. Nothing of this person’s sins remained. And this Scripture came to me from Isaiah:

I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.
(Isaiah 43:25)

I thought, "Oh, God, how beautiful it is that Your Word still marches on. That man’s sins were washed away by the blood of the Lamb." As I watched, the book was handed to an other angel. This heavenly being had long, beautiful hair. The book was laid on a tray that the angel carried. The angels saluted each other, and shouts of glory went up. The angel who accompanied me said, "Come and see the glory of your God." I began traveling with him at a very fast pace through the corridors of heaven.

THE LAMB’S BOOK OF LIFE

Again I stood before the throne of God. Dear ones, there were horns blowing, and the sound of trumpets blared. A cloud of glory, the Shekinah glory, illuminated the entire area around the throne. There was much thunder and lightning. I could hear a multitude of voices saying, "Glory to God! Hallelujah!" I watched this mighty scene, and I saw the angel lay the book on the altar of God and bow down low. The voice of God resonated loudly through the air, yet I understood every word. 

God said, "Another soul has been redeemed by My Son’s blood. Another person has received eternal salvation through the blood of My Son." All the bells of heaven were ringing! All of heaven’s populace was shouting! I bowed down and began to praise God. I saw the Lamb’s Book of Life (Revelation 21:27) on the altar of God, and I saw a hand come out of that cloud and open up the book that was laid there by the angel. Then the man’s name was written down in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Glory to God! Saints, our names are surely written down in the Book of Life, also.

As I watched this mighty scene, the angel of God said, "Come and see the glory of God." Immediately, I was taken out of heaven again at the speed of light. As I went with the angel, I thought of this passage from Isaiah:

I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the LORD, who call you by your name, am the God of Israel. For Jacob My servant’s sake, and Israel My elect, I have even called you by your name; I have named you, though you have not known Me.
(Isaiah 45:3-4)

RIVER OF LIFE

In the next scene of my vision, I watched as the Lord took the saints of the living God through the River of Life. Oh, the River of Life flows from the throne of God and the Lamb (Revelation 22:1). As the saints passed through the River of Life, I could hear them shouting, "Glory to God!"

Then I saw a countless company of saints who were being clothed in the whitest, most gorgeous robes anyone could ever see. I remembered that John wrote this:

Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, "Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?" And I said to him, "Sir, you know." So he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."
(Revelation 7:13-14)

BEFORE THE THRONE

I was allowed to go again before the throne of God and witness an awesome, exciting scene. I could hear the sound of trumpets as I stood before the throne of God. Words fail me to describe adequately the thrill and awe I felt. Twelve angels stood ministering before the throne, arrayed in garments beyond any worthy description. The best I can tell you is that on the breastplates of their apparel, they had jewels embedded in their garments. Atop their heads they had some kind of heavenly material of glorious colors. Gold edging adorned their long robes.

The blare of trumpets announced the saints as they came, one by one, to stand before God. An inestimable number of saints, angels, and heavenly beings made up a huge gallery. All of them were glorifying God.

REDEEMED ONES

The redeemed of all ages were glorious and beautiful. They were real people-not puffs of smoke or clouds floating in space. Everywhere I looked, I saw the angels of God praising His majesty continuously. Standing before the throne, I heard a great voice saying:

Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. (Revelation 21:3)

Then I saw a cloud of glory filled with lightning, thunder, and voices. As I looked, I saw the hand of God come out of the cloud and begin to wipe the tears of the saints from their eyes. The Word says that "God will wipe away every tear from their eyes" (Revelation 2 1:4).

I heard God say,

There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. …Behold, I make all things new. (Revelation 21:4-5)

God said to the assembled saints, "I see that your names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Welcome into the joy of the Lord." Once again, another Scripture came to my mind

Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord. (Matthew 25:21)

With that the Lord placed magnificent golden crowns on the heads of all of His sanctified ones.

I knew that the blessings of God would continue to flow for all of the redeemed. I knew they would never end!