|~~~~~._O_.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~._O_.~~~~~| | [_____]_______________________________________________[_____] | | | | | | | | | | A STUDY ON "OUT OF BODY" EXPERIENCES | | | | !___!_________________________________________________!___! | | [_____] [_____] | |______'O'___________________________________________________'O'______| You have probably read various accounts about people who had what has been described as near death experiences. They sometimes are called "out of body" experiences. Some have related floating above the hospital emer- gency room and looking down at their bodies while the doctors and nurses were feverishly working to resusitate them. Others have described float- ing out of the operating room and entering a waiting room where relatives were talking about them. After "re-entering" their bodies, they were able to surprise the relatives with the knowledge of what they had been saying. Still others relate an experience best described as entering a tunnel. Many of these claim that they saw a bright light at the end of the tunnel. Others said they saw relatives who had previously died and some made the claim that Jesus or an angel was standing at the end of the tunnel. Before they were able to reach the far end of the tunnel they were told that they had to go back. Their experiences ended when they regained consciousness. A neurologist published a documentary in a medical journal in which he endeavored to explain these experiences. He claimed that as a person was nearing death, the brain began to suffer from lack of oxygen. In the area of the brain that is used to process optical nerve impulses a sensation builds up that appears as an intense bright light surrounded by darkness. The neurologist claimed that the brain of a person nearing death would interpret this sensation as a bright light at the end of a dark tunnel. He went on to suggest that a person who has Christian beliefs interprets the bright light to be a supernatural being such as Jesus or an angel. He said that people with other religious beliefs make other interpretations of the brightly clothed person. Buddhists, for example, have claimed that the person at the end of their dark tunnels was Buddha. This explanation doesn't account for everything that was experienced by these people. It certainly doesn't explain how they knew what was said in another room. Certainly certain physical and neurological experiences should be able to be studied and explained by medical personnel. But we need to look elsewhere for the explanation of what most likely are spirit- ual experiences. The place to look for these answers is the Bible. The first person that came to my mind was what happened to a very dear friend of mine whose name is Stephen. Certainly you read about my friend, Stephen. When the Apostles needed help in administering the needs of the church members, seven men who were "known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom" were appointed as deacons (Acts 6:3). Stephen, the first one who was appointed, was additionally described as "a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit" (v.5). He certainly wasn't limited to waiting on tables. A further description of Stephen is as "a man full of God's grace and power" and able to do "great wonders and miraculous signs among the peo- ple" (v.8). Even the members of the Jewish Sanhedrin described Stephen's face as "the face of an angel" (v.15). The seventh chapter of Acts gives the text of Stephen's last sermon and I leave it for you to read at your leisure. The experience I want to include here happened at the end of his sermon. Let me quote Acts 7:55- "But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God." This could be called "an out of body experience." A Christian from your century once said, "I wish I could have received the vision that Stephen had of Jesus standing at the right hand of God." I would have responded by asking him, "Would you also be willing to share with Stephen the other experience he had, being stoned to death?" Based on what the Neurologist had written regarding the way a human brain reacts to death it could have been thought that the lack of oxygen in Stephen's brain could have caused him to have an "out of body experi- ence." One could even think that God had given him this vision at such a time to help him endure the pain of being stoned. But note the sequence. Stephen had the vision at the end of his sermon before he was stoned. The sermon did not encite the stoning. Verse 54 clearly says Stephen's sermon only caused some to be "furious" and they "gnashed their teeth." It was only after Stephen shared his vision of heaven opening and "the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God" (v.56) that "they covered their ears" and yelled "at the top of tbeir voices" and "rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him" (vv. 57-58). I believe God had at least three purposes for Stephen's vision. I am sure it was to help Stephen in what he was about to suffer. But it was not a natural, physical result of his death experience. It was a special vision given to Stephen by the Lord. But it was also given early enough to be used as part of Stephen's sermon. It was God's verification that what Stephen said about Jesus was true. And I also believe that it was to serve a special purpose in the memory of a certain individual. Note what was said in Acts chapter 8, verse 1- "And Saul was there..." The second person that came to mind who had what could be described as an "out of body experience" was Saul of Tarsus. He could be described as a very stubborn man. He had heard all that Stephen had said and it still didn't change his view. In Acts 9:1 He was "still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples" and he received written permission from the high priest to take them "as prisoners to Jerusalem". On the road to Damascus Saul experienced a blinding "light from heaven" along with a supernatural voice. This was not caused by anything physical or neurological. It was a special revelation from God. The others who were traveling with him also heard the sound of the voice (v.7). I am certain the reason Saul cried, "Who are you, Lord?" was that he had been present when Stephen shared his vision of Jesus. I believe that what was said by Stephen came flooding back to Saul. It was what Saul needed to stop him in his tracks and turn him to salvation. Nothing less than such a personal vision from Jesus would have changed Saul. The last Biblical passage of a supernatural experience that I want to share with you is found in the sixth chapter of Isaiah. This Old Testament prophet wrote that he "saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings" and "they were flying" and "they were calling to each other" and "at the sound of their voices the doorposts and the threshholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke" (vv.1-4). Note this "out of body experience" was not a death experience of Isaiah's. The only one mentioned who had died was King Uzziah. I believe the Lord had a very real purpose for this experience. Isaiah wrote it down for us to read because what God wanted Isaiah to learn He also wants us to learn. The first thing Isaiah realized by this vision of the holiness of God was that he was a sinful creature and needed to repent and receive God's forgiveness. After he cried out, "Woe is me" and "I am a man of unclean lips" he experienced one of the ser- aphs purge his lips with a hot coal and declare to him, "your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for" (vv.5-7). We also need to respond to the holiness of God by repenting of our sins and receive the atoning blood of Jesus to purge us. Isaiah's next experience was the Lord asking for his dedicated service- "Whom shall I send? And who will go go us?" (v.8). Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord and responded by saying, "Here am I. Send me!" If a Christian requires such supernatural experiences to respond to God, I believe He will give them but whether or not it requires you and I to experience such visions, we still need to respond to our Lord as Isaiah did by our also saying, "Here am I. Send me!" >=> >=> >=> >=> >=> >=> >=> >=> >=> >=> >=> >=> >=> >=> >=> >=> >=>
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