After reviewing over 50 short testimonies of out of body experiences (OBE) and near death experiences (NDE). Here are my Top 5 on Heaven.
Those who share testimonies about Heaven are they lying or are they telling the truth? A Pastor said, "Anyone who gives a testimony about Heaven is lying as Jesus said, "No one has ascended to Heaven" (John 3:13). Pity he didn't quote Jesus properly and using it to support his doctrine. Is Yeshua contradicting what was said earlier in scripture as both Elijah and Enoch ascended into Heaven? Obviously not. Could Yeshua be meaning that no one can talk about things they don’t know about? Correct, they can’t talk about Heaven unless they have seen it, it is not that no one has seen things in Heaven or been to Heaven. For example; Moses has seen heavenly things but didn’t necessarily go to Heaven (Heb. 8:5 - Same with Ezekiel etc.).
Also, both Enoch and Elijah went to Heaven but didn’t come down to tell what they saw. This is the context. Yeshua said, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man HAS ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven (John 3:11-13).” Perfect interpretation is when all scripture is in harmony and nothing is in tension. If it is in tension then it is not good interpretation.
We also know from scripture that this statement from Yeshua was before His resurrection. This was not a command, like “No one will ascend to Heaven and come down”, but more of a reflection that no one HAS gone to Heaven and come down to tell. We also know from scripture that after His resurrection, people did go to Heaven and did return to tell. We could say 20-25% of the New Testament writers went to Heaven and came back to tell (2/8-9) - Paul (or someone he knew 2 Cor. 12:1-4) and John (Rev. 4:1-2) who ascended to Heaven. Also, the whole book of Revelation is about what John saw and some of it was from Heaven.
What about those people today who have said they have gone to Heaven and come down to tell, like Paul and John? Everything is measured according to the scripture. If they say something against Scripture, we discount it, nor is it a call to action, nor do we base doctrines on it. If what they say lines up with the scripture then let it be an encouragement, think about it, but we can’t say they are lying or from the Devil because we could be found speaking against Holy Spirit. This is very dangerous, just like the Pharisees who spoke against the miracles of Yeshua by attributing it to the Devil and Yeshua said that they were blaspheming Holy Spirit.”
https://heavenscatalyst.org/witness/yeshua-is-eternal-life/
