THE DEVIL’S FAVORITE CHRISTIANS
MIKE CUNNINGHAM
NOVEMBER 18, 2012

As I left our church last Sunday I believed that this was the kind of message the Lord wanted me to deliver today. The postings on my blog and several conversations I had with various people throughout the week confirmed that strong impression. Allow me to share my opinion of a particular concern. I believe there are countless sincere followers of Christ who are mistaken about the topic I’m about to address in this and my next sermon. So much so, that they have unwittingly become some of the Devil’s favorite Christians.

This issue is very serious and I’m far from having all the answers. But, I am searching for them and hope you folks also will. Unless I’m mistaken, each of you know people who believe in the existence of heaven and that when they die they will go there. In fact, there are millions of non-Christians who also share this viewpoint.

In his excellent book, “The Glory of Heaven,” John MacArthur explains: “We need to see that as Christians even now, what God is doing in our lives is designed to fit us for heaven-not merely to acclimate us for life here on earth. We need to realize, like Abraham, that “here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come.” (Hebrews 13:14). “Our citizenship is in heaven” (Phil. 3:20, NASB). Our hearts should be there as well.”

“Jesus taught us to “lay up for [ourselves] treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal” (Matt. 6:20) Why? Because “where your treasure is there will your heart be also,” (vs. 21.) Clearly His point is not that He wants our treasures, but He wants our hearts. He was teaching us to fix our hearts on heaven, to long for the glory of heaven and above all, to seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God” (Col. 3:1). Pg. 12

“Mrs. Eadie recounts how she “died” in her hospital room while recovering from a hysterectomy in 1973. Her memories of what happened are extraordinarily vivid”

“My spirit was suddenly drawn out through my chest and pulled upward, as if by a giant magnet. My first impression was that I was free. There was nothing unnatural about the experience; I was above the bed, hovering near the ceiling. My sense of freedom was limitless and it seemed as if I had done this forever. I turned and saw a body lying on the bed. I was curious about who it was, and immediately I began descending toward it. Having worked as an LPN, I knew well the appearance of a dead body, and as I got closer to the face I knew at once that it was lifeless. And then I recognized that it was my own. That was my body on the bed. I wasn’t taken aback, and I wasn’t frightened; I simply felt a kind of sympathy for it. It appeared younger and prettier than I remembered, and now it was dead.” Pg. 16

“Many who call themselves Christians say they are convinced her experience should not be written off. I’ve heard from a surprising number of evangelical Christians who wonder if it is possible that Eadie’s account of heaven and the afterlife might be a reliable and true account of what Christians can expect after death.”

“The answer is no. Many of Eadie’s claims contradict Scripture, as we shall shortly see. Also, Eadie doesn’t disclose in her book, but she is a Mormon. Some of the truths she said she learned in heaven bear an uncanny resemblance to Mormon doctrines. In fact, despite her long discourse about the value of all religions, what Eadie does not say in her book-but apparently told a Utah reporter-is that during her visit to heaven she learned that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormon Church) is the truest Church on the earth. Pg. 19
I don’t believe any of that nonsense nor should any Christian, but how can I prove otherwise? For starters, let’s take a look at the experience of Paul and Silas.
1 Now they traveled through the cities of Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2 As was Paul’s custom, he went there to preach, and for three Sabbaths in a row he opened the Scriptures to the people, 3 explaining the prophecies about the sufferings of the Messiah and his coming back to life, and proving that Jesus is the Messiah. 4 Some who listened were persuaded and became converts—including a large number of godly Greek men and also many important women of the city.

5 But the Jewish leaders were jealous and incited some worthless fellows from the streets to form a mob and start a riot. They attacked the home of Jason, planning to take Paul and Silas to the City Council for punishment. 6 Not finding them there, they dragged out Jason and some of the other believers, and took them before the Council instead. “Paul and Silas have turned the rest of the world upside down, and now they are here disturbing our city,” they shouted, 7 “and Jason has let them into his home. They are all guilty of treason, for they claim another king, Jesus, instead of Caesar.”

8 The people of the city, as well as the judges, were concerned at these reports and let them go only after they had posted bail. 9 10 That night the Christians hurried Paul and Silas to Beroea, and, as usual, they went to the synagogue to preach. 11 But the people of Beroea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and gladly listened to the message. They searched the Scriptures day by day to check up on Paul and Silas’ statements to see if they were really so. 12 As a result, many of them believed, including several prominent Greek women and many men also. 13 But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching in Beroea, they went over and stirred up trouble. Acts 17:1-13 (TLB)

MacArthur asks: “Precisely what does Betty Eadie claim was revealed to her in heaven? Some of what she recounts are echoes of her Mormonism; other ideas are drawn from New Age teaching; and some are simply other unbiblical inventions that find her way into Eadie’s retelling of the tale.” Pg. 21 Betty Eadie claims all of us had an existence the pre-mortal world, This is a key doctrine of Mormonism, but it is nowhere taught in Scripture.” Pg.21

1 Dear brothers, even when I first came to you I didn’t use lofty words and brilliant ideas to tell you God’s message. 2 For I decided that I would speak only of Jesus Christ and his death on the cross. 3 I came to you in weakness—timid and trembling. 4 And my preaching was very plain, not with a lot of oratory and human wisdom, but the Holy Spirit’s power was in my words, proving to those who heard them that the message was from God. 5 I did this because I wanted your faith to stand firmly upon God, not on man’s great ideas. 6 Yet when I am among mature Christians I do speak with words of great wisdom, but not the kind that comes from here on earth, and not the kind that appeals to the great men of this world, who are doomed to fall.

7 Our words are wise because they are from God, telling of God’s wise plan to bring us into the glories of heaven. This plan was hidden in former times, though it was made for our benefit before the world began. 8 But the great men of the world have not understood it; if they had, they never would have crucified the Lord of Glory. 9 That is what is meant by the Scriptures which say that no mere man has ever seen, heard, or even imagined what wonderful things God has ready for those who love the Lord. 10 But we know about these things because God has sent his Spirit to tell us, and his Spirit searches out and shows us all of God’s deepest secrets.

11 No one can really know what anyone else is thinking or what he is really like except that person himself. And no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. 12 And God has actually given us his Spirit (not the world’s spirit) to tell us about the wonderful free gifts of grace and blessing that God has given us. 13 In telling you about these gifts we have even used the very words given to us by the Holy Spirit, not words that we as men might choose. So we use the Holy Spirit’s words to explain the Holy Spirit’s facts. 14

But the man who isn’t a Christian can’t understand and can’t accept these thoughts from God, which the Holy Spirit teaches us. They sound foolish to him because only those who have the Holy Spirit within them can understand what the Holy Spirit means. Others just can’t take it in. 15 But the spiritual man has insight into everything, and that bothers and baffles the man of the world, who can’t understand him at all. 16 How could he? For certainly he has never been one to know the Lord’s thoughts, or to discuss them with him, or to move the hands of God by prayer. But, strange as it seems, we Christians actually do have within us a portion of the very thoughts and mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:1-16 (TLB)

“The Bible says, “The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Gen. 2:7). Not until God was finished with creation did Adam become a living soul. There is no room for any sort of preexistence in the biblical account. In fact, one of the crucial arguments for divine sovereignty posed by God to Job himself was that when the universe was created, Job was nowhere around:

4 “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much. Job 38:4 (TLB)

“Job could not boast of having been there. He wasn’t. Scripture nowhere suggests that our human souls existed prior to our conception-in fact, all the biblical data argues otherwise.”

5 But I was born a sinner, yes, from the moment my mother conceived me. Psalm 51:5 (TLB)

God alone created the universe.

1 When God began creating the heavens and the earth, Genesis 1:1 (TLB)
17 He was before all else began and it is his power that holds everything together. Colossians 1:17 (TLB) pg.22

“We have already noted that Betty Eadie claimed she enjoyed omniscience in heaven. This is in harmony with the Mormon notion that all believers are progressing toward godhood. Elsewhere she writes, “I understood with pure knowledge that God wants us to become as he is, and that he has invested us with god-like qualities.’ Pg. 23

“Scripture does teach that in heaven we will be like Christ in holiness, but not that we will share the incommunicable attributes of God, such as His omnipotence and omniscience. Even in the glory of heaven, we will remain God’s creatures. We will not obtain a divinity of our own, or even share His deity.”

8 I am the Lord! That is my name, and I will not give my glory to anyone else; I will not share my praise with carved idols. Isaiah 42:8 (TLB pg. 23

Baptist pastor, Don Piper, in his book, ’90 Minutes in Heaven,’ writes about his out of body experience. “I died on January 18, 1989. Paramedics reached the scene of the accident within minutes. They found no pulse and declared me dead. They covered me with a tarp so that onlookers wouldn’t stare at me while they attended the injuries of the others. I was completely unaware of the paramedics or anyone else around me. Immediately after I died, I went straight to heaven. While I was in heaven, a Baptist preacher came on the accident scene. Even though he knew I was dead, he rushed to my lifeless body and prayed for me. Despite the scoffing of the EMT’s, he refused to stop praying. At least 90 minutes after the EMT’s pronounced me dead, God answered the man’s prayers. I returned to earth.”

“When I died, I didn’t flow through a long dark tunnel. I had no sense of fading away or of coming back. I never felt my body being transported into the light. I heard no voices calling to me or anything else. Simultaneous with my last recollection of seeing the bridge [where the accident took place] and the rain, a light enveloped me, with brilliance beyond earthly comprehension or description. Only that.” Pg. 21 “In my next moment of awareness, I was standing in heaven.”

“Joy pulsated through me as I looked around, and at that moment I became aware of a large crowd of people. They stood in front of a brilliant, ornate gate. I have no idea how far away they were; such things as distance didn’t matter. As the crowd rushed toward me, I didn’t see Jesus, but I did see people I had known. As they surged toward me, I knew instantly that all of them had died during my lifetime. Their presence seemed absolutely natural.”

“They rushed toward me, and every person was smiling, shouting, and praising God. Although no one said so, intuitively I knew they were my celestial welcoming committee. It was. They had all gathered outside the gate, waiting for me,” pg.22

“More and more people reached for me and called me by name. I felt overwhelmed by the number of people who had come to welcome me to heaven. There was so many of them, and I had never imagined anyone being as happy as they all were. Their faces radiated a serenity I had never seen on earth. All were full of life and expressed radiant joy.” Pg. 24 “I gazed at all the faces again as I realized that they all had contributed to my becoming a Christian or had encouraged me in my growth as a believer.” Pg. 25

“Age expresses time passing, and there is no time there. All of the people I encountered were the same age they had been the last time I had seen them-except that all the ravages of living on earth had vanished. Even though some of their features may not have been considered attractive on earth, in heaven every feature was perfect, beautiful, and wonderful to gaze at.”

“As soon as I stopped gazing at the people’s faces, I realized that everything around me glowed with a dazzling intensity. In trying to describe the scene, words are totally inadequate, because human words can’t express the feelings of awe and wonder I beheld.” Pg.27 “Everything I saw glowed with intense brightness. The best I can describe it is that we began to move toward that light. No one said it was time to do so, and yet we all started forward at the same time. As I stared ahead, everything seemed to grow taller-like a gentle hill that kept going upward and never stopped. I had expected to see some darkness behind the gate, but as far ahead as I could see, there was absolutely nothing but intense radiant light.” Pg. 28 “I wasn’t blinded, but I was amazed that the luster and intensity continually increased. Strange as it seems, as brilliant as everything was, each time I stepped forward, the splendor increased. The father I walked, the brighter the light. The light engulfed me, and I had the sense that I was being ushered into the presence of God. Although our earthly eyes must gradually adjust to light or darkness, my heavenly eyes saw with absolute ease. In heaven, each of our senses is immeasurably heightened to take it all in. And what a sensory celebration!” pg.28

Baptist pastor Edwin Lutzer in his book ‘One Minute After You die,’ writes: “We have reason to believe that a person may see Christ in the twilight zone between life and death. Before Stephen was stoned God gave him a glimpse into heaven. Stephen said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:56.) This experience was unique in that it happened before Stephen died, not at death.” Pg 24. “The apostle Paul had a similar experience.” Pg. 24

4 and heard things so astounding that they are beyond a man’s power to describe or put in words (and anyway I am not allowed to tell them to others). 2 Corinthians 12:4 (TLB)

“If Stephen saw our Lord before he died, and if Paul died and was caught up into paradise, it is just possible that other believers might also have such a vision. Reports of seeing Christ or relatives long dead might have some validity. We should not expect such experiences, but they could happen. Pg. 25

God doesn’t want His children to be spending a lot of time thinking about this kind of stuff. I plan to have more to say about it next week. Instead He wants them to struggle diligently to become increasingly holy.

44 “I am the Lord your God. Keep yourselves pure concerning these things, and be holy, for I am holy; therefore do not defile yourselves by touching any of these things that crawl upon the earth. Leviticus 11:44 (TLB)

44 “Make yourselves holy for I am holy. Don’t make yourselves ritually unclean by any creature that crawls on the ground. Leviticus 11:44 (MSG)

14 Work at getting along with each other and with God. Otherwise you’ll never get so much as a glimpse of God. Hebrews 12:14 (MSG)

14 Try to stay out of all quarrels, and seek to live a clean and holy life, for one who is not holy will not see the Lord. Hebrews 12:14 (TLB)

3 For God wants you to be holy and pure and to keep clear of all sexual sin 1 Thessalonians 4:3 (TLB)

Christians can take comfort in the fact that they will be holy. God will see to it that they will experience hell on earth so that they don’t suffer never ending torment as soon as the die and leave this world. The next time you look at yourself in a mirror I hope you will wonder whether or not you are one of “The Devils Favorite Christians.”

16 For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son so that anyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 (TLB)

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26 (NIV)

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6 (NIV)

Lord willing, soon….