Foreword
Webster's Dictionary defines "placebo"
as "a medication prescribed more for the mental
relief of a patient than for the actual effect on his disorder,
or something tending to soothe."
The
doctors tell us that if we know we are being treated with
a placebo, it does not work. In our minds we must think
that it is a real medication and has the strength or power
to heal. If the patient believes this, then the treatment
has been known to work wonders in many cases that otherwise
could not have been treated. Placebo treatment is, in fact,
nothing of substance, but in the mind of the patient it
is real. In order for this kind of treatment to work, the
doctor must convince the patient of the work of the medication.
My friend, I declare unto you that this is the exact "treatment"
that most "mouth-professing" Christians are using
today. The doctor administering this "medication"
is Satan himself. He gives the "patent" a sugar-coated
religion, a shallow experience, and whispers half-truths
into his ears. He then tells the "patient" that
it is real and that it is all the "patent" needs.
The "patent", having been taken in by Satan, believes
this and goes on his merry way declaring to all that he
has been born again, his salvation is real, and this experience
is all that he needs. Doctor Satan will allow his "patient"
to continue to go to church and will allow him to take part
in any church, that is, singing, leading in prayer, teaching
Sunday School, and even preaching. He will allow the "patient"
to make any kind of statement in connection with his "mouth-professing"
religion, even to the point of the saving power of Jesus.
Yes, he will allow the "patient" to do all and
say all with one exception. That exception is that the "patient"
will not be allowed to live the life that he confesses with
his mouth ...
Chapter 5: Preparation
In the year 1978, I retired from the New Orleans Police
Department and moved my family to a sixty-one acre farm
I Mississippi. Around August 7, 1979 I was suddenly stuck
with a grave and disastrous illness. The night before the
tragedy I went to bed as usual. On awakening that morning
I was slightly nauseated and skipped breakfast. My wife
asked me if was not going to eat. I replied that I had to
hurry to keep my appointment with some folks who I hoped
would support my candidacy for sheriff with campaign contributions.
I was unaware that God had also made an appointment for
me that day. Let me remind you that the Bible says that
it is appointed once unto man to die and, without warning,
my appointment came. Like a flash of lightning, the main
trunk artery in my body cavity ruptured causing a devastating,
sudden, blood loss So at midnight they carried me
into ICU and at 6:00 a.m. the following morning, my vital
life signs failed again. The chief physician came out of
ICU and told my wife, It is something else.
They took me into surgery where they worked on me for an
additional seven hours ...
[For the sake of brevity,
a large amount of Pittman's description of his Emergency
Room experience is not reprinted here. Read his book for
the full description.]
Somewhere in that period
of time when the physicians were working on me, I came to
myself and realized that I was dying Knowing that
only God could give me back my life and that only God could
change this appointed time to die, I prayed a strange prayer.
My prayer was that God would allow me to appear before His
throne and pleaded for an extension of my physical life.
In any other time and place this sort of prayer would be
unusual, however, all of this was planned by God to ultimately
serve His purpose. The thought to pray such a prayer was
instilled in my mind by the Holy Spirit ...
Chapter
7: The Grand Tour
What happens next is
so incredible that some people find it hard to believe.
May I say at the outset that I know the difference between
dreams, visions, and a real experience. May I also point
out that if you do not believe in Satan and demons as being
real, individual beings, then you do yourself and the Kingdom
of God a great disservice. It stands to reason that you
cannot understand or even withstand an enemy if you do not
believe he is real.
At the moment I resisted Satan,
he fled from me. The angels were there and they took my
spirit from my body. These angels were present all the time
that Satan tempted me although I did not know it because
I was still in the flesh. The angels did not attempt to
help me until I had resisted Satan with my own will. The
only help I had was the supernatural revelation from the
Holy Spirit that the voice I was hearing belonged to Satan
and not to God. Whether or not to obey that voice was my
choice.
When the angels lifted my spirit from my
body, they carried me immediately to the Second Heaven.
We did not have to leave that hospital room in order to
enter the Second Heaven. We entered there in that same room
where my body was, just by passing through a dimension wall.
It is a wall which flesh cannot pass through, only spirit.
For you the reader, to understand what was happening,
you must understand the separation of the spirit from the
flesh. To know how this works, we must know how we, ourselves,
are made. The Bible states that we, as humans beings are
made in the image of God. To understand this, we must know
what God is. The Bible states three immutable things about
God: 1st God is Spirit, 2nd God is invisible and 3rd God
is immortal. If we are made in His image, then we are spirit,
we are invisible, and we are immortal. Therefore, when we
look into a mirror we do not see our real selves. We see
only the body, or earthen vessel, in which we live. Since
we are all made in the image of God, we would all be mirror
images of one another without our earthly, physical bodies.
Therefore, we were given a soul to separate us from one
another to make us an individual.
The animals in
this world also have a soul. The only difference between
their souls and ours is that our soul belongs to the spirit.
Their souls belongs to the body. When their body perishes,
their souls perishes with it. When our body perishes, the
soul remains with the spirit. When the spirit was lifted
from my body, my soul came with it. I suppose the simplest
way to identify the soul would be to say that it is one's
personality. The entire time I was away from my body I remained
an individual, that is, I retained my own personality. I
retained all my faculties. In fact, they were greatly enhanced.
As we moved through that dimension wall into the Second
Heaven, I found myself in an entirely different world, far
different from anything I had ever imagined. This world
was a place occupied by spirit beings as vast in number
as the sands of the seashore. These beings were demons [devils],
or fallen angels, and were in thousands of different shapes
and forms. Even those in similar shapes and forms were contrasted
by diverse coloring. Many of the demons were in human shapes
or forms and many were in forms similar to animals familiar
to our present world. Others were in shapes and forms too
hideous to imagine. Some of the forms were so morbid and
revolting that I was almost to the point of nausea.
When I first arrived in the Second Heaven, I knew immediately
in what direction I must go to reach the
Third Heaven where God was. I don't know how I knew
that, but I did. I also knew that if I was going to get
my prayer answered, I was going to have to appear before
God the Father in the Third Heaven. I was aware that I was
traveling in that spirit world under the protection of the
Holy Spirit, and that the angels who were escorting me were
also moving about under the protection of the Holy Spirit.
It might seem strange to you, the reader, that the angels
needed the protection of the Holy Spirit, but remember where
we were, the Second Heaven. The Second Heaven is the place
where Satan presently has his throne located. Satan is not
yet in Hell although Hell is to be his final destiny.
All the spirits in that world were aware of our presence
and were aware of the Holy Spirit's protection over us.
To give you an idea as to why that protection was necessary,
let me give a Bible reference to the power of Satan as demonstrated
in the Second Heaven. The
tenth chapter of the book of Daniel tells about God
sending one of His angels to deliver a message to Daniel.
Because of the importance of that message, Satan did not
want it delivered. In order for the angel sent from God
in the Third Heaven to reach Daniel, he had to pass through
the Second Heaven. Satan sent one of his princes, or one
of his archangels, to stop the angel. The angel had to fight
and could not get through alone so he had to call for reinforcements.
God had to send one of His prices, or the archangel, to
help the messenger and even this took twenty one days. After
the angel delivered the message, he reminded Daniel that
he, the angel, would have to fight his way back through
the Second Heaven.
As we moved about there in that
world, I was greatly disappointed that my escort did not
take me in the direction of the Third Heaven where God was.
Instead, we moved in the opposite direction. As we moved
from place to place in that world, I learned many things
about demons.
I did things differently in the spirit
realm than what we do here in the physical world. For instance,
we do not communicate with our mouths and ears, but rather,
we communicated with our minds. It was like projecting our
words on thought waves and receiving the answer the same
way. Although I could still think to myself without projecting,
I discovered that this really did not benefit me because
the angels could read my mind.
I could hear different
sounds in that world, but I did not hear with my ears. I
heard with my mind, but I was still able to hear
those sounds. When we traveled, we traveled mostly at what
I call the speed of thought. When we traveled
at the speed of thought, there was no sensation
of movement. The angel would say where we were going and
we were there. There were other times when we did not travel
in that manner, and I was very much aware of movement while
traveling. One of those times when I was aware of movement
was when they brought me back into the physical world and
allowed me to see the demons working here. We moved about
here somewhat like floating on a cloud. Still, I had the
sensation of movement.
Make
no mistake about demons for they are very real. The Bible
makes more statements about demons than it does about angels
and it points out in
Luke 10:18 that demons are evil.
Mark 5:8,9 indicates how numerous they are and Matthew
10:1 shows that they are unclean.
Matthew 12:21-30 states that they are under the command
of Satan and
Matthew 8:29 shows that they can possess humans.
In the demon world, there is a division of power much
like a military structured chain command with rank and order.
Certain demons carry the title of prince, which is always
the demon in charge of a principality. A principality is
a territory, an area, a place or a group that may range
in size from as large as a nation to as small as a person.
When Satan assigns a prince a task, the prince is given
the authority to act in the name of Satan and use whatever
means necessary or available to him to accomplish his task.
When we started the tour of the Second Heaven, the angels
began by showing me the different types of demons. Each
demon was revealed to me in a form that indicated his area
of expertise, and I soon discovered that there is no such
thing as a general practitioner in all the demon
world. They have only one area of expertise which they do
very well.
Chapter 8: Demons
As
each type of demon was pointed out to me, I quickly discovered
a social order, or rank, that existed among them. Those
at the top of that order were revealed in forms similar
to humans. As we moved down the order, or rank, I saw demons
in shapes or forms that looked like half animal and half
human. I saw demons in forms resembling animals we know
in this present world and I saw demons in forms and shapes
so revoltingly morbid that you cannot possibly imagine them.
At the very top of the order were the warring demons
which were the cream of Satan's crop.
They moved about the Second Heaven and event his present,
physical world at will always traveling in groups, never
alone. Wherever they went, all other demons moved out of
their way. These warring demons were revealed to me in human
form. They looked like humans with the exception that they
were giants. Appearing to be about eight feet tall, they
were rugged and handsomely constructed, somewhat like giant
athletes. All of the warring demons were colored bronze.
They were giant, bronze soldiers. All of the other demons
seemed to be subject to them.
The second most powerful
type demon was also revealed to me in human form and these
demons looked like ordinary people. All of those possessing
this area of expertise seemed to group together at about
the second place of command. Chief among this group was
the demon of greed and contained within this same group
were demons of hate, lust, strife, and a few others.
The
third most powerful type and group of demons were revealed
to me in mixed shapes and forms. Some had human form while
others had half human and half animal forms. Others resembled
animals in their forms. These demons possessed skills in
the dark arts area such as witchcraft and other related
areas. Also among this group were demons of fear and the
demons of self destruction as well as those demons which
are expert in mimicking departed human spirits [familiar
spirits] and in manifesting themselves to the physical world
as ghosts.
When we got down to the fourth group,
or order, all the demons of this rank were revealed in forms
other than human. Some had forms like known animals while
others had unknown forms. In this group were the demons
of murder, brutality, sadism, and others related to carnage.
As we moved even further down the order toward the end
of the chain of command, all the demons were revealed in
horrible and morbid forms. Some were so revolting that their
appearance produced nausea. They are so despised by their
own companions that they always seem to be lurking off to
themselves while in the Second Heaven and even while in
this physical world. They do not associate with the other
demons except in the line of their duty.
There was
another group of demons that I was able to see, but I do
not recall much of their ability. It was purposely taken
away from me as I was not permitted to learn or retain too
much memory about them. I don't even know where they rank
in order and their form was not revealed to me. I am not
sure of their entire area of expertise, however, I am vaguely
aware of their powerful hold on the flesh. It seems that
this mysterious group of demons work differently from all
other demons and are used in only special cases and special
situations of which I do not clearly understand. As I stated,
I was not permitted to retain too much in my memory about
this particular group of demons. I was only permitted to
retain that portion which I am now reporting to you and
this, in itself, is very vague.
I'm
also aware that these particular demons are harder to deal
with than any of the rest. It seems their great strength
rests in their ability to remain anonymous in their work
in the human being. Among this group is the one that is
able to manifest himself as a form of epilepsy in the human.
I am not sure but I seem to recall that some other demons
in some of the other groups also have the ability to mimic
epilepsy. I do not know if demons cause epilepsy, per se,
but I do recall very vividly that they can mimic this condition
in human beings.
At one time during this tour of
the Second Heaven, I watched the demons within their own
related group and I experienced an awful feeling. It was
an overwhelming, oppressive, and morbid feeling. This feeling
came to me shortly after I had entered the Second Heaven
and I wondered what was causing it. It was at this time
that I learned that the angel could read my mind because
my guardian angel said to me, That feeling you are
wondering about is caused by the fact that there is no love
in this world. The angel was telling me that in this
Second Heaven there is not one bit of love! Wow! Can you
imagine all of those demons serving a master they don't
love and the master ruling over beings that he doesn't love?
Worse than that, these companions are working together for
an eternity and they do not even love each other.
I started reflecting on what our physical world, called
the First Heaven, would be like without love. If God had
not introduced His love her in our world, then we would
be living in a no love atmosphere like the Second Heaven.
By God giving us His love, we are able to return that love
and then love one another. Can you imagine what it would
be like in your own home or your community it was totally
void of love?
When I was made aware of the fact that
no love existed among the demons, I wondered even more about
their motivation and zeal. What makes them work so hard?
What makes them carry out orders so rapidly? They don't
love one another, yet they carry out these orders so quickly
and with such zeal that any military organization on Earth
would be proud to have such loyal and obedient employees.
I wonder if their motivation could have anything to do with
the judgment and sentence that awaits them. It seems that
since their first rebellion ages ago while in the Third
Heaven, they have reached a place in their existence where
they can no longer rebel. Whatever it is that motivates
them seems to excel in their very being while they, in turn,
are expressing their fury upon the flesh. It may just be
that the only enjoyment of their entire existence is to
create misery for the flesh. Even though I was permitted
to go among them and watch them while they worked, many
things were not explained fully or made clear to me. Some
of the things that I saw in entirely, I was not permitted
to retain in my memory. I knew the high order of the demons
resented my presence and would have withstood me had I not
been under the protection of the Holy Spirit. One of the
warring demons came right up to me and leered into my face,
but I did not flinch for I was not afraid. I knew it would
not be me with whom he would have to contend but, instead,
it would be He who brought me, the Holy Spirit. The demons
in the middle order seemed to totally ignore me and went
about their existence as if I were not there. Those of the
lower order seemed to display slight fear of me or fear
of the angel that was escorting me, however, the higher
order of demons had no fear of me or the angel.
My
escort informed me that he wanted me to see a demon in the
process of actually possessing a human being. At this point
in the trip, I was escorted back through the dimension wall
separating the Second Heaven from the physical world. When
we came back into this world, we were in the same hospital
with my body but in a different room. The room appeared
to be an employee's lounge. I saw tables, chairs, dishes
with food, and in the room were a young man and a young
lady facing each other while laughing and talking. It was
obvious that they could not see nor the angels, yet I was
so close to them I could almost reach out and touch them.
I could hear and understand every word they said. They thought
they were alone and as they laughed and talked, they were
unaware of the horrible creature standing between them.
This demon was so horrible in the appearance of his shape
and form that I recognized him immediately to be from the
lower group, the perverted group. The angels, the demons,
and I were in the spirit in that room and were aware of
everything that was happening. Those in the flesh were only
aware of themselves for they could not see or hear us even
though we were back in this physical world. Since we were
in the spirit, we still communicated with our minds.
I
was not really paying close attention to the words the two
were speaking. My entire attention was focused upon the
demon. He was a most horrible looking thing, reminding me
of an over grown, stuffed, slimy, green frog all out of
shape and proportion. He moved slowly up into the face of
the man then, suddenly, like a puff of smoke, he seemed
to disappear into the face of the an just as if he went
through the pores of his skin. When the demon had entered
the man, the angels said, Now it's done. The
angel then proceeded to tell me how it was that this man
was possessed. He stated, The demon made himself desirable
and attractive to the human. The angel then pointed
out to me that mankind has a sovereign will, all his own,
beyond which the demons cannot come. He also pointed out
to me that the angels could not come beyond that sovereign
will of man. God, Himself, will not violate that will. We
are made in the image of God, therefore, we were given,
like God, a sovereign will, the right to choose our destiny.
I was not permitted to retain all that I learned along these
lines. [Not Pittman's comment but mine kissed a frog
(demon), got a prince (demon) people ought to watch
what they say book of Revelation frog
demons will be loosed in the last days. I have found
that many of the things we say in slang, have been set up
by the demons as actual things if you knew and understood
you would never say them again such things like
he's just a little devil, and there are many others
we say that need to be stopped immediately as Christians!
Also, holy angels never, never, never enter ever human beings
]
I faintly recall that there is another process
under certain given circumstances whereby demons may possess
or be allowed to enter small children. It seems as though
those demons from that mysterious group are the ones that
are allowed to do this. From what I recall about this, it
is only under the most unusual circumstances that this can
happen. According to what the angels told me, over ninety
percent of all cases of demon activity in human beings is
restricted to those humans who are at or over the age of
accountability.
During the course of this talk the
angel was giving me, he pointed out that all of God's children
have been given power over all demons and can cast them
out, however, this power is based on the faith of the Christian.
It will only work when the Christian knows without a doubt
what he is doing. There are certain Christians who have
received a special gift in this area. They are those who
have been called specifically by the Holy Spirit to a deliverance
ministry and in almost every case, those called to a deliverance
ministry have also received the gift of discernment. When
one is commanding demons, it is most important to know what
spirit one is dealing with. In those rare cases where children
are possessed [not so rare anymore folks a number
of children are possessed today because of the opened doors
to the enemy.], it takes a special effort and divine insight
in each case to deliver them. Such a case was reported in
the Bible in
Matthew 17:14-21. All Christians potentially have the
ability to command demons.
My escort told me that
they wanted me to see demon activity in the outside world.
I was then escorted outside the hospital directly through
the brick wall into the streets of that city. I was amazed
as I watched all the activity of the humans in the physical
world. Going about their daily pursuit, they were completely
unaware that they were being stalked by beings from the
spirit world. I was totally flabbergasted as I watched and
horrified as I saw the demons in all shapes and forms as
they moved at will among the humans.
While I learned
about demons not being able to work in a person's life against
their will, I also learned the angels cannot do it either.
Each born again Christian has a guardian angel and before
that Christian's life is over, it might take a whole host
of angels to keep him. I learned that guardian angels fight
for us, but they cannot fight in the area of our will. The
fighting they do is sort of like protecting our blind
side. They oppose the demons when the demons come against
us outside the area of our will. They cannot oppose the
demons when the demons come against us through our own will.
Remember, we are made in the image of God, like God, we
have a sovereign will.
I learned that the demons
will fight the angels if they must, but they prefer not
to do so. They find that it is easier and safer to destroy
us through our own will where the angels are unable to interfere,
rather than go outside our will where they would have to
fight angels personally. Because of this, the demons have
developed great skills in the area of deception. They move
through our lives by deceit and trickery and keep us totally
unaware of their activity.
I was made aware of the
fact that not all demons are in the Second Heaven. There
are some demons so awesome that they are reserved in chains
in Hell, however, Satan and his army of demons are not in
Hell, presently. Neither do they want to be there. I was
not permitted to look into Hell, nor was I permitted to
view the chained demons. I do know that these demons who
are chained went beyond the limitations of their domain.
God in His wisdom has allowed Satan and his demons certain
bounds or limitations within which they may work. They may
not go beyond those limitations established by the Lord,
however, those demons who are chained in Hell did just that.
Because they went beyond the restrictions established by
the Lord, they are now chained in Hell.
The Bible
points out this fact in many places, especially in the book
of Jude. Any time Satan goes beyond those bounds, he must
receive permission from God. In the case o f Job, he was
granted the permission, but in Peter's case he was not granted
permission. The demons who work in children under the age
of accountability are allowed to do so only after obtaining
this special permission. [I might add that a legal
door was opened by certain sin or sins that gave the demon/s
a right in the first place ] It was not made plain
to me what sort of circumstances must be present for God
to grant permission, although it was made clear that in
certain circumstances permission is granted. However, permission
to work in children under the age of accountability is rarely
granted. [Look around since he got this, things have changed
folks, Satanic doors have been opened more by parents.]
The majority of the time Satan is denied this special permission,
but in these last days we can expect a substantial increase
I demonic activity, not only in adults but in children as
well. This increase in demonic activity is what the Lord
warned us about in
Mark 13:22 when He spoke of the incredible miracles
that false prophets would perform in the last days. It is
difficult to understand why the Lord would allow demons
to work through children
The demons that are reserved
in chains did not obtain permission for their activity which
violated the restrictions established by our Lord. Their
illegal deeds are recorded in
Genesis 6:2-5. Because they did not obtain permission,
they received immediate punishment. Specific punishment
for the devil and his demons is scheduled for the end time
and is recorded in
Revelation 20:1-3. As you well know, the lake of fire
was created for the devil and his demons as their eternal
fate.
In this age we must be on guard for Satan's
fiery darts of deception and temptation that are allowed
within the limitations of the Lord's permissive will. There
is a time limit set by the Lord in which demons may work,
but that time period has not yet been fulfilled. As Christians
we are able to have them bound under the authority
of Jesus, however, this is NOT permanent. We can NOT cast
them into HELL for only God can do this. That is why it
is very important for someone who has just been delivered
to be properly instructed I remaining in the Lord's will
lest they become afflicted again. A Christian CAN cast out
demons from a lost person, but unless that person gets saved
and abides in the Lord's will, there will be the possibility
of the demons returning. [See
Matthew 12:43-45].
Demons are real, individual,
spirit beings and they are the ones manipulating all the
evil in the world today. This was shown to me while I was
in the spirit world traveling through the street of a city
and watching in horror as the demons went about their task
of corrupting humans.
Although humans are spirit
beings, we are confined to physical bodies. The great spiritual
warfare that rages today is between the spirit of
man and the spiritual forces of evil directed
by Satan which are contending for control and manipulation
of our fleshly, physical bodies. Our spirits fight by faith
and through our sovereign will; while the devil and his
[fallen] angels fight through deceit, cunning, trickery,
and temptation. You must make no mistake about this war
or the weapons involved because the scriptures are plain
and empathic on both. I actually saw these demons contend
for control of that human body.
It may seem to you
that mankind is vastly over powered by these spirits because
these spirits are able to see and hear everything we think,
say, and do; while we are totally unable to perceive any
of their activities. It is very difficult to fight an enemy
you cannot see, hear, and feel, but as long as you trust
the Lord, you have nothing to fear. At times, even the strongest
Christian may doubt their existence and activities, thus
making it easier for them. However, man was not left defenseless.
Being made in the image of God, man, like God, has a sovereign
will and no spirit can violate that will without the permission
of the person himself. Because of this, these demons have
developed great skills in deception. The basic principle
of their operations is to make something evil as desirable,
beautiful, and non threatening as possible so that the person
being tempted will lower his guard and accept whatever it
is that is being used to cause SIN. Once someone is deceived,
it becomes easier for the deception to remain. In the case
of possession, it becomes easier for the demon to maintain
his control.
Another great defense man has is the
guardian angel. The guardian angel is not assigned to all
mankind, but only to those who are saved and belong
to God. Remember, just like the demons the guardian
angel cannot violate the will of any man which is why most
of his activity is reserved to protecting that individual
outside his sovereign will. Man's greatest weapon, however,
is the Word of God. In his description of the weapons used
in our spiritual warfare, Paul insists the Word of God [Ephesians
6:11-18] as the only offensive weapon mankind has. Although
vastly outnumbered by these beings [thousands to one individual],
man is adequately prepared for battle. Because of a sovereign
will, guardian angels, and the Word of God, man has superior
defense and is much more potent in the battle for his soul
than the demons.
Therefore, I say to everyone
if you are serious in your commitment to fight this war
and win, fear not! Your commander in chief, teacher, healer
and sustainer the Holy Spirit will
NEVER leave you NOR forsake you.
Chapter 9:
The Way Home
When
the angels decided that I had seen enough of the demons
at work in this physical world, I was taken back into the
Second Heaven just by passing through the dividing, dimension
wall. Once back inside the Second Heaven, my escort guided
me in the direction of the Third Heaven and I was happy
at last. After all, this was where I had wanted to go all
the time. Even at this stage, my physical life was still
my primary concern.
Suddenly we came to a most beautiful
place. I know that I've already reported how terrible that
the Second Heaven was, so you can imagine how surprising
it was to find anything beautiful over there. God would
not allow me to retain the memory of why this place was
so beautiful. I do remember that it was the most beautiful
place I'd ever seen. This place looked like a tunnel, a
roadway, a valley or some sort of highway. It had a most
brilliant light all its own and was completely surrounded
with an invisible shield. I knew that the invisible shield
was the protection of the Holy Spirit.
Walking in
this tunnel, or along that roadway, or valley, or whatever,
was what appeared to be human beings. I asked my escort
who they were. He told me, They are saints going home.
These were the departed spirits of Christians who had died
on Earth and they were going home. Each of these saints
was accompanied by at least one guardian angel and some
had a whole host of angels with them. I wondered why some
saints were accompanied by only one angel and others had
many. I was watching as the saints passed through the way
that all saints must take to go home. Here it was, the passageway
from Earth to the Third Heaven. I found that only
authorized spirits were allowed in that tunnel. No
demon was permitted there.
When my escort had finished
explaining to me about the homeward trip of the saints.
I started into the tunnel. The angel stopped me and told
me that we had to travel alongside the tunnel and not inside
of it. I traveled, therefore parallel with but outside the
tunnel where the saints were. While we were traveling here
alongside the tunnel, we did not move at the speed
of thought. Instead, we traveled as it floating on
a cloud. In other words, there was no cloud but the mode
of traveling felt as if I were floating on a cloud.
I could see the saints at all times moving along inside
the tunnel. They were in the form and shape of humans, yet
I could not detect any race, age, or sex. They were all
clothed alike with the garments appearing to be made up
of two pieces. There was a blouse or shirt and a pair of
slacks. The color of the garments was a pastel, baby blue
with one of the garment pieces being a shade lighter than
the other piece. The blue was so light that it was almost
white. I realize that these saints I was viewing had not
yet received their glorified body because that must wait
until the first resurrection.
At first I was disappointed
that I was not permitted to travel in the tunnel with the
saints, but the disappointment was eased when I was told
that we were going to the same place they were going. After
all, I knew that if my physical life was going to be extended,
I would have to appear before God. Even now, my physical
life was still the uppermost thing to me.
As we traveled
along, I noticed all around me that the demons were beginning
to drop behind. The Gates came into view and the closer
we got to those Gates, the farther behind fell the demons.
When we arrived before the Gates there were no demons in
view. Although the Gates of the Third Heaven opened out
into the Second Heaven, no demon could come close.
Instead of allowing me to enter, the angel stationed
me before the Gates, slightly to one side. He instructed
me to stay there and watch as the saints were permitted
to enter into Heaven. As the saints were allowed into Heaven,
I noticed a strange thing. They were permitted to enter
only one at a time. No two were permitted to enter those
Gates at the same time. I wondered about this but it was
never explained to me. I've studied about this often since
I have returned and now I think I know why. I believe this
is a tribute or a salute to the individual. After all, that
individual made the choice with his own sovereign will.
Remember, it had been pointed out to me specifically that
we, as images of the Living God, possess a sovereign will
through which we have the right to choose our own destiny.
As the saints were being admitted, I was wondering why
I was not being allowed to do what I came to do. I was so
impatient to get my request before God that I missed the
whole point of what I saw. This point was so important that
the Holy Spirit told me Himself. I watched the fifty saints
enter Heaven but the point I missed was the time frame involved.
It was explained to me that at the same time those fifty
saints died on Earth, 1,950 other humans also died; or only
50 out of 2000 made it into Heaven. That other 1,950 were
not there. Where were they? That was only 2
percent going to Heaven! Ninety seven point five percent
did not make it! Is that representative of the entire would
today? If so, 97 and percent of the population
of this world today is not ready to meet God. The sad part,
my friend, is that is exactly representative of this
Laodicean Church Age in which we live today. We are
now in the time when the great majority of church goers
are only mouth professors and not heart
possessors.
At the outset, I stated that I would
not try to convince anyone of anything I said. However,
I would like to offer as evidence the parable of the sower
as told by Jesus in the
thirteenth chapter of the book of Matthew. If you read
this chapter closely, you will notice that three out of
every four people who heard the gospel preached, turned
it down. That is seventy five percent anyway you look at
it. I am talking about three out of every four people who
bothered to hear the gospel, turned it down! The sad part
about this is the overwhelming majority of the people that
did turn the gospel down, do not know that they have turned
it down! They have bought a lie of Satan and have been deceived.
They have been led to believe something that is not the
truth and they been fooled by Satan into rejecting the gospel!
Place the seventy five percent who turned down the gospel
with those in the world who made no pretense of hearing
the truth and you have the overwhelming ninety seven and
one-half percent of the population today!
As I contemplate
this fact. I now understand the Lord's disgust with the
Laodicean type Church. I also clearly understand the verses
of scripture in
Matthew 7:22-23 that describes how many people will
stand before the Throne at the Judgment pleading.
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in they Name? And in
thy Name cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful
works? only to have the Lord process to them,
I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity
Chapter 10: The Rude Awakening
My escort told me to stand to one side of the Gates
and present my case. He assured me that God would hear and
answer my request. As I stood before the Gates, the sense
of joy, happiness, and contentment radiated out from Heaven.
I could feel the warmth it produced and as I stood there
to plead my case. I could feel the awesome power of God.
No being could possibly appear before Him, even separated
by a gate as I was, without experiencing this awesome power,
might and majesty. At first I had a sense of fear, sort
of guilt feeling that is always produced in me when I believe
I have imposed on others. In my mind's eye I could just
visualize a busy God who was annoyed with me for taking
Him away from important things. Then, just as suddenly as
this feeling came, it passed. I then found strength or boldness
in my belief that I had served my God faithfully for many
years. To me, I was convinced that this request of mine
would be a snap!
Boldly I came before the throne
and started out by reminding God what a great life of love,
worship, and sacrifice I had lived for Him. I told Him of
all the works I had done reminding Him that I was now in
trouble and only He could help by granting me an extension
on my physical life. God was totally silent while I spoke.
When I had completed my request, I heard the real, audible
voice of God as He answered me.
The
voice I heard was not like the sweet voice that Satan had
used to trick me before in the valley. You could put together
the noise of all the storms, volcanoes, tornadoes, and hurricanes
and they could in no way imitate what I heard. The sound
of His voice was in no way like the sweet voice I talked
about earlier. The sound of His voice came down on me from
over the Gates even before the words hit me. The tone of
His anger knocked me on my face as God proceeded to tell
me just what kind of life I had really lived. He told me
what He really thought of me and even others who did as
I had. He pointed out that my faith was DEAD, that my works
were NOT ACCEPTABLE, and that I had labored in VAIN. He
told me that it was an abomination for me to live such a
life and then dare call it a life of worship. Furthermore,
He said to those who do it, they are in danger of experiencing
His everlasting wrath. As God dealt with me, He displayed
His wrath to me. Notice, it was not His everlasting wrath.
He did say there are some who will experience His everlasting
wrath.
I could not believe He was talking to me in
this manner! I had served Him for years! I thought I had
lived a life pleasing to Him! As He was enumerating my wrongs,
I was sure He had me confused with someone else. There was
no strength left in me to even move, let alone protest,
yet I was panicking within myself. No way He could be talking
about me! All of these years I thought I was doing those
works for God! Now He was telling me that what I did, I
did for myself. Even as I preached and testified about the
saving grace of Jesus Christ, I was doing that only for
myself in order that my conscience might be soothed. In
essence, my first love and first works were for myself.
After MY needs and wants were met or satisfied, in order
to soothe my conscience I would set out to do the Lord's
work. This made my priorities out of order and unacceptable.
Actually, I had become my own false God.
He makes
it plain in His teachings that He is a jealous God and will
have no other gods before Him; flesh, stone, blood, or whatever.
He will have no other gods before Him. God told me that
He would not accept this kind of worship in the day of the
Pharisees and He certainly was not about to accept it now
in this the
Laodicean Church Age. He put it to me as plain as words
and actions could make it. In order for our works to be
acceptable, we must work according to His command in
Matthew 6:33 which empathically states, But seek
ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and
all these other things shall be added to you. As God
told me about my true motives, the verse of scripture in
Matthew 16:24-26 and
Luke 14:26-33 became so clear to me. In
Matthew 16 it states, Then said Jesus unto His
disciples, If any man will come after me, let him DENY himself
and take up his cross, and follow me, for whosoever shall
save his life shall lose it; and whosoever will lose his
life for my sake shall find it. In
Luke 14 beginning with verse 26 it is stated,
If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother,
and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea,
and HIS OWN life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever
doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my
disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower,
sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he
have sufficient to finish it? In verse 23 of this
same chapter Jesus makes the following statement which is
the cornerstone of the two portions of scripture previously
stated: So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh
not ALL that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
Only now as I was here before Him being chastised did those
two portions of scripture become crystal clear to me as
to their true meaning. As God told me about my TRUE MOTIVES,
I could see plainly for the first time how MY WORKS were
DEAD. Because God was displaying His wrath toward me, I
could not stand nor could I speak. No strength was left
within me as I was nothing more than a wet rag lying there
writhing in agony. It indeed, was fortunate for me that
this was not God's everlasting wrath, only temporary wrath.
However, at this time I did not know this was only temporary.
It needs to be stated that at no time while God was
chastising me did He say I was not saved nor did He say
that my name was not in the Lamb's Book of Life. He never
mentioned salvation to me at all but only spoke about the
works produced through my life. He told me the type of life
I lived was an unacceptable life for a true Christian. As
He spoke to me of my dead works, he indicated that there
are some people who are not saved but think they are. These
people will experience His everlasting wrath. He also made
it plain to me that there are others of His children who
will find themselves in my present condition on Judgment
Day. This revealed to me the true meaning of
1 Corinthians 3:15 which states, If any man's
works shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself
shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
The first time
I started to enter the Third Heaven, the angel stopped me.
At that time he did not tell me I could not enter. He only
said that if I went in I could not come out again and that
I would have to remain there until God brought me back with
Him. Notice that I made the choice not to enter Heaven but
to have my physical life restored. I was unaware that I
had made that choice at that particular time. I thought
I had been living in the Lord's will and I was not thinking
in terms of unfinished work. My choice was based entirely
on SELFISH MOTIVES.
There are no words that can describe
the pain I endured as God's wrath was upon me for this life
of so called service. The agony was beyond the scope of
the imagination and the remorse that I felt produced a very
heavy burden similar to a physical weight pinning me down
or an enormous stone crushing me. Growing weaker and weaker,
my mind was frantically racing in an effort to grasp what
the Lord was telling me while recalling each actual incident.
God leaves no room for error and that includes whatever
is in our minds.
The surprise was so overwhelming
in its magnitude that it rendered me senseless. My strength
left me immediately, just as though I had been hit by a
bolt of lightning. Even if God would have ceased and allowed
me to speak on word of protest, I would not have been able
to do so. I had absolutely no strength whatsoever to utter
anything or to project my idea. In my mind I was constantly
DENYING the wrong in my life while acknowledging the fact
that I had committed them. My conscience was asleep but
my mind was NOT.
Slowly, it all began to be absorbed
by me. Remember how the Bible tells us to have no other
gods before us? I had thought that the Most High God was
the only God of my life, but I was not fulfilling that part
of scripture which tells us that if we allow anything to
come between us and the Lord, (whatever it may be) it becomes
our God. I realized that each day of my life
was devoted only to MYSELF! My whole life I was preoccupied
with MY needs FIRST and THEN I was concerned with what the
Lord wanted. The money to help the church, the poor, or
anything else was secondary because I was my OWN god.
Naturally, the devil was contented with allowing me to remain
in that condition because as long as I was in that condition,
I was of no use to the Lord and His kingdom.
I allowed
this to occur because I was really indifferent to the things
of the Lord. It was too uncomfortable to change and I was
convinced I could remain as I was without having to really
DO anything (such as following the Lord's commandment about
DENYING myself and picking up my cross daily to follow HIM.)
For this reason, my life was wasted and amounted to absolutely
nothing in the Lord's eyes.
I hope that you understand
what it is that I am saying because it is the whole point
of this chapter. The fact is we must prove we are really
Christians by first examining our motives behind each deed
in our lives, and then repenting and recommitting ourselves
to follow the Lord daily. When we decide to serve Him FIRST,
this decision must be followed by ACTION or it will be as
useless as if we did not decide to do so in the first place.
Chapter 11: My Real Father
When
God was through with me the interview was over as suddenly
as one would turn off a faucet. I was not allowed to linger
or even reflect on what God said. The angels immediately
carried me away as if I were as wet rag having no strength
in myself. Totally annihilated, I could not even gather
my thoughts.
The angels carried me back through the
Second Heaven, through the dimension wall, and into the
hospital room where my body was lying. It was not until
I reached the bed upon which my body lay did I regain my
composure. As I regained my composure, I vehemently protested,
No! No! I told the angels, God did not answer
me! He did not say yes or no to my request! Please, oh please,
take me back! I pleaded with the angels.
God
is a God of order and He never does anything haphazardly.
Since all of this entire experience had been planned by
God, the angels complied with my request to take me back.
God was dealing with me gently and tenderly through His
great LOVE knowing what was necessary for me to experience
in order for me to have the scales fall off my eyes.
During the time God was displaying His wrath toward
me, I thought this wrath was terrible and painful. I found
out later that it was nothing compared to the pain the lost
will experience when they receive His everlasting wrath.
While in route back to the Third Heaven, I was beside
myself trying to come up with a logical reason or legitimate
basis on which to plead my case. God had already told me
that my life had been a failure, therefore, I could not
offer my past life as evidence of my intentions to serve
Him. Somehow or another, the thought of Hezekiah came to
my mind. When God sent word for him to put his house in
order, he cried and prayed and God heard him. God extended
his life for fifteen years. I remembered from my studies
about him that Hezekiah was the good old boy
type, similar to me. I remembered how he had good intentions
in his heart but how he had trouble translating out those
intentions into everyday living. Since this seemed to be
the same kind of trouble I had in my life, I concluded that
God dealt with Hezekiah based on the intentions of his heart.
Because of this assumption, I concluded this reasoning would
be the basis of my plea.
Upon my arrival back before
the third heaven, I was brought to the same place from which
I had previously pleaded my case. Not nearly so bold this
time, I remembered how God's wrath had floored me beforehand.
Nevertheless, I had asked God for a favor and God had not
answered. Wanting his answer no matter what it was, I timidly
started pleading my case again.
This time God did
not knock me down but let me talk. God did not talk to me
in anger but started out answering me in a tone of pity.
Before it was all over, God was speaking in sorrow.
Opening my plea by quoting scriptures to God, I began
by telling him all about
Hezekiah. I told God that I figured out that Hezekiah
was the "good-old-boy" type, that the intentions
of his heart were pure, but he seemed to be unable to translate
out those intentions into everyday living. Here I was, an
insignificant nothing and the smallest creature in all his
universe, bartering words with this great and awesome God
who had created it all.
I said, "Father, if
You will grant this request, I promise you I will do better
the next time."
The Lord answered me thusly, "Howard
Pittman, you have promised before." God did not have
to say another word. There they were, all the promises I
had made to a holy God in my past entire life. Not one of
them remained whole. Somehow, someway, I had managed to
break them all. With nothing left to say, no words in all
my vocabulary, nowhere to go, I fell on my knees before
him. All I could say was "Amen" to my own condemnation.
I knew that if at that moment God would banish me into the
pits of hell, it would be just to say "amen" to
my own condemnation.
At that moment God did not demand
justice but showed me mercy. The scales fell from my eyes
and my soul was suddenly filled with light. That powerful,
awesome, all-consuming God was now not evident. There on
that throne dealing with me was my REAL Father. God was
no longer a distant God, but a real, genuine Father. The
realization of his being my true Father and my best friend
came to me for the first time in my life. The wonderful
relationship I had enjoyed with my physical father and the
wonderful love we shared for each other was suddenly brought
to mind yet magnified a thousand fold. For now I was with
my real Father, the one who loved me so much that God left
all of his creation to deal with me, the prodigal son.
For
the first time in my life, I saw in my mind's eye who God
really is. For the first time I met God as God truly is,
my real Father, my very best friend. As the realization
of who God is flooded my soul, great and painful sorrow
also came. Sorrow came when I realized that through disobedience
I had hurt my Father. This realization and sorrow produced
actual pain which was not just a guilt feeling but actual
pain similar to what one would experience in the flesh when
one sustains a physical injury. At this point in time, God
started dealing with me in sorrow and no longer did the
tone of his voice express pity. Instead, the sound was of
genuine sorrow. I suddenly realized that God was hurting
too. God was hurting because I was hurting. Being a true
and just God as God is, God had to allow me to suffer the
pain and God could not lift it from me. Although God had
to allow me to suffer the pain, God would not allow me to
suffer it alone. God the most High, the most Supreme, the
Creator of all, the Father of all would not let me suffer
alone.
By this time I suddenly realized that my physical
life was not so important after all. What I was really concerned
about now was what my Father wanted. His will had suddenly
become the first thing of my life and my physical life was
no longer important. This is when God gave me back my physical
life. Only when I reached a place that my life did not mean
anything to me, did God give it back to me. Now that the
prodigal son had returned, the Father could talk at last.
God could tell me what my trip to heaven was all about and
that God had a message God wanted me to tell people on Earth.
Chapter 12: Wake Up!
I
now repeat for you point by point the entire five point
message that God gave me to deliver to this world today.
Point Number 1: For those who call themselves
Christians, this is the
Laodicean Church Age in which we live. A high majority
of so-called Christians are, in fact, living a deceived
life. They talk Jesus and play church, but do not live it.
They claim to be Christians and then live like the devil.
They have bought the great lie from Satan who tells them
that they are alright. He tells them that it is alright
to go to church on Sunday and attend mid-week services but
as far as the rest of the time is concerned, they are to
get all they can out of life. As far as their Christian
life is concerned, they believe they are comfortable and
have need of nothing and as a result, they are only lukewarm
Christians if Christians at all.
Point Number 2: Satan is a
personal devil.
Point
Number 3: To the whole world, this is Noah's
second day. As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be
in the days of the coming of the son of man. Humans took
no thought of what Noah was saying nor did humans believe
that anything was about to change. Humanity could see the
storm clouds over the horizon, but yet did not believe the
rain was imminent. Notice the close parallel today. Humanity
can see all the signs of the last days, yet humanity does
not believe that anything will change. He does not believe
in the impending coming of our Lord and he does not prepare
to meet God."
Point Number 4: For those who claim
to be Christians, they are supposed to be ambassadors for
Christ here on Earth. One cannot have any true witness or
power in his life unless that one lives his Christian faith
at all times, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
To be a true Christian one must live it, not just talk it.
To honor God with your lips and not your heart is not acceptable.
Those who accept the responsibility of teaching, preaching,
or any leadership role have much for which to answer.
Point Number 5: God is now in the process
of recruiting an army with which God will shake this old
world one more time. By working through his soldiers, God
will produce great miracles that will shake the established
hierarchy of the so-called organized religion that is in
this world today. These soldiers that God is now recruiting
will demonstrate the power of God to a greater extent than
did the disciples in the Pentecostal age. Now the recruitment
has begun in earnest because God is about to perform the
great miracles through his army that God promised us God
would do in the Bible. John the Baptist brought the spirit
of Elijah into this world and he did not even know he had
it. John denied it, but Jesus confessed that it was so.
The purpose of that spirit was to make straight the paths
of the coming of the Lord.
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