Nine Days in Heaven: A True Story (15 page)

So I pleaded to be released from the light and harmony and peace that filled that place. I realized I was completely unfit for paradise. I had wanted so much to be there, but I had not considered what changes were needed in me before I could enter.

It was true that I had seen the deformity of the infant spirit, and I watched amazed as it was restored by the grace of God.
1
But I had never applied this knowledge to my own situation.

In addition to that, when I was sucked down by the darkness, I had looked up to heaven, passionately wanting to go back there and be saved. Little did I know I could suffer so much agony from the love and harmony of heaven. I had no idea my own condition would cause me misery equal to the deepest hell.

All these thoughts now raced through my mind as I begged for help. My condition was plain to me. I was certain all was lost and I was doomed to bitter grief. At length the angel spoke. “Marietta, you are not lost. Yes, your sin has been exposed, and you are suffering because your spirit has discovered its true state. But perhaps now you will understand how good God is in providing redemption and transformation through the Lord Jesus.

“When you first came here, you had no idea of your real position. As a guest you were permitted to receive a covering of holiness that protected you and enabled you to enter. But in this place, the breath of holiness is so perfect that your inner life was penetrated and your sin exposed. That is why you are suffering.

“You can now see why God has arranged for spirits of similar nature to be kept together in the same place, with good and evil kept apart. The misery experienced by the evil is not increased, and the happiness of the good is not diminished. This is why the apostle John said that no unclean thing can enter the Holy City.
2

“F
OR INTO THIS SACRED
T
EMPLE, NO
UNHOLY DISEMBODIED SPIRIT COULD
ENTER
. N
OR CAN ANY LAW OF EXISTENCE
RECEIVE THE GROSS, UNSANCTIFIED SOUL
WITHIN THAT CITY OF INTERIOR LIFE
…”

“For no unholy soul can ever enter this sacred temple or this city of inner life. In the same way, the inhabitants of this happy place could not live in the place of darkness with spirits that have not been reconciled to God.”

The angel reached forward in earnestness. “Marietta, can you see the goodness of God in this law of existence? It would be unjust of a righteous Creator if He condemned any of these infants to the dark regions. Their pure and tender natures would shudder if they were even touched by the inflamed passions of its inhabitants. Certainly God could be considered unjust if He treated the innocent in this way.

“In the same way it would be unmerciful to send an evil spirit to the place of holiness. For the greater the light and supreme good of that place, the greater would be their suffering.”

She leaned back again. “So, you can see that God is wise and good. This is the fulfillment of the Bible verse that says, ‘Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy.’
3
In other words, let there be a separation between good and evil spirits.

“It is written that there is an impassable gulf
4
fixed between the unholy and the righteous because the two extremes cannot blend. Whoever is born of God is born of love, and love has no similarity to hatred. Whoever is under the dominion of evil does not love God.
5

“I
F MORTALS DID BUT REALIZE
THIS LAW THEY WOULD STRIVE
AGAINST EVIL AND CULTIVATE
RIGHTEOUSNESS IN THEMSELVES
…”

She paused for a moment and then spoke again. “If mortals only realized this, they would war against evil and live righteous lives. Marietta, think about the things you have seen. Use your common sense and bring your life into order. Otherwise, a worse thing will happen to you, worse than just the realization that you are not fit for this place. When you return to the world, put your trust in Jesus. He is the only one who can make you fit to return so that you can enjoy the happiness here.”

The angel’s rebuke struck my heart like an arrow, and I began to cry. “Do not weep, Marietta,” the angel continued. “A ransom has been provided to save your life. There is a ‘healing fountain,’ and it will wash away your impurity.
6
So be encouraged! God’s mercy is vast, and He offers redemption to everyone who wants to be rescued from their prison and brought into His kingdom. That is why the saints in heaven are always singing hymns of thanksgiving to their Redeemer. Day and night, they never stop!”
7
On saying this, the angel touched my forehead, and a stream of light filled me. I stood up, strengthened and refreshed. “Now,” said the angel, “the infants have just been brought into the center dome of instruction from the temples of learning. Listen to their songs.”

The infant voices rose up, filling the expanse and swelling into gentle waves in the atmosphere above. They had formed into small groups, which then united to become one. It was a beautiful sight. Each infant seemed to glow with holiness as they sang the sacred songs.

A female spirit was moving from group to group, dressed in pure white clothes and a dazzling crown set with gems on her head. She held an open book in her left hand and a scepter in her right. She listened to each infant carefully, so that she knew how the voice of each one related to the other and also to the whole group. She was watched closely by the infants who sought to follow her example, just as students follow their teachers in schools on earth.

There were many parts to the music, but they harmonized as one. As they sang, their fingers moved over their soft, mellow harps with increasing confidence so that they became like one person, with the spirit and harmony of heavenly love.

Support From
the Word of God

1.
This incident can be found in the three sections in Appendix B.

2.
See Revelation 21, particularly verse 27: “Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”

3.
“Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy” (Rev. 22:11).

4.
This refers to Luke 16:26:

And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.

5.
“No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother” (1 John 3:9–10).

6.
A reference to Zechariah 13. This passage foretells the coming of Christ the Shepherd, who would come and die, shedding His blood to bring cleansing from sin.

7.
“
Day and night they never stop…
”

After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”

All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying:

“Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!”

Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”

I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “
These are they who have come out of the great tribulation
; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore,

“
they are before the throne of God
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.”

—R
EVELATION
7:9–15,
EMPHASIS ADDED