Objection: So-and-So Had a Vision Where Jesus Said That a Relative Who Died in the Prime of Life Was Called Home by God and Had Finished His Course

So?  Sun Myung Moon and Joseph Smith claim that they had visions from God, too.  It surely wasn’t God talking to them because their “revelations” contradict the Bible.  Are you going to believe someone because he said he had a vision?  That’s how the Moonies and Mormons got deceived, and you’ll get deceived too if you believe everyone’s vision stories.

I’ve heard this objection (in person by a speaker), and you might have heard some variation of it.  Let me state this as plainly as I can – that vision was not from God and that person did not see and hear the Lord Jesus Christ.  Jesus did not tell that person that the prematurely dead relative had finished his course.  The person may have been under a lot of psychological pressure and the vision was likely a fabrication of his mind, not a real vision given by the Holy Spirit.  Or it could have been a vision sent from Satan, who likes to masquerade as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14).  Satan can give people visions.  The fact that you are a Christian and you have a spiritual vision does not mean that you heard from God.  New Agers and other cultists have visions.  If you smoke or snort certain things, you’ll have plenty of visions, too, and they won’t be from God.  I have never had a vision of the Lord at this writing, though I know quite a few people who have had one.  Even if I had one, I would not attempt to convince you that anything I said was true on that basis.  The only basis I can legitimately use is Scripture.  Otherwise, I could see one thing and someone else could see another thing, and you’d be confused.

Anyone who dies in the prime of life (other than a martyr; this is covered elsewhere) was not called home by God and did not finish the course that God intended for him.  Period.  If you want to compromise your faith for healing because of someone’s alleged vision, that is your loss.  It was God’s will for the person to live a long, satisfied life (Psalm 91:16) and to be healed and prosperous (3 John 2).  God wanted to heal all that person’s diseases (Psalm 103:3).  Jesus purchased healing for that person so that he would not have to die in the prime of life.  For one reason or another, most likely lack of instruction on healing, the person did not receive it.

If you want to fight to defend someone’s nice “comforting” vision, that is your privilege.  It will also be your privilege to be sick yourself and encourage others to accept a premature and unnecessary death when you believe that such nonsense is really from God.  You must draw the line with Scripture and reject anything that is inconsistent with the healing Scriptures quoted throughout these discussions.  Don’t be moved by anyone’s vision, no matter who had it.  Only the Word should move you when it comes to doctrinal matters.