Seeing and Sharing Visions

𝘚𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦.

The ancient prophet Joel foretold it:

𝐉𝐎𝐄𝐋 𝟐:𝟐𝟖
𝟐𝟖 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐡; 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐲, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐒𝐄𝐄 𝐕𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒:

The apostle Peter quoted it, and said that the outpouring of the Spirit in the upper room on the day of Pentecost had happened in fulfillment of it (see Acts 2:14-21).

When I was a young teenager, a new Christian, I was hungry for it. I remember kneeling in prayer one day and saying to God, "You said in your Word that 'young men shall see visions'. I'm a young man, so..." And I went on to tell God that I therefore expected to see a vision.

And it wasn't too long afterwards that I did see my first vision. But it was so real, I didn't think of it as a 'vision'. It was as real as if someone was to sit in your room and talk with you. To this day I still can't tell whether it was in the body or not, whether it was physical or not—that's how natural it felt. It was only a long time afterwards that I thought maybe that experience was an answer to my prayer to see a vision. Paul, and others in the Bible, experienced seeing visions in such a way that they couldn’t say for sure it wasn’t physical (for example, see II Corinthians 12:1-7). Sometimes a number of disciples experienced it together. The experiences included components which they couldn’t say weren’t physical.

It's okay to ask for visions, to ask for such things, you know! In I Corinthians 12-14 Paul commended the Corinthians for 'earnestly desiring' the expressions of the Spirit, for 'coveting' it, and for 'coming behind in no gift'. Sometimes I think if we were to ask for such things, we might see more of it!

Another type of vision is when unexpectedly you go into a scene; you go into it so thoroughly that your physical surroundings seem to disappear. It's like you are right there in the scene. Peter had this type of vision while praying and fasting on a rooftop; so did Paul (in the Book of Acts)—and in Revelation, John called it being 'in the Spirit'. You're totally caught up in it. For the moment, you become all but unaware of your surroundings. But afterwards, when the vision has ended, you know it was a vision—you know you've been in the Spirit—it's not like you're unable to tell whether it was a physical experience or not.

With these types of visions, you might not only 𝘴𝘦𝘦—you might also interact with what you're seeing. You might engage in two-way conversations with others you might see in the vision (John did, in the Book of Revelation).

Sometimes in a meeting a number of people might go into the Spirit, into a vision, together—and everyone else in the meeting can see and hear that they are acting and interacting together with each other and with whomever or whatever they are seeing and hearing in their vision. Then afterwards they might tell the congregation all that they saw and heard. We can let the move of the Spirit in meetings get to this depth.

Another type of 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 is where the physical surrounding in front of you disappears, and you see a scene unfold—but as it's transpiring, you're still somewhat aware of your surroundings and of your physical posture while you’re seeing it.

On occasion, through the gift of the ‘discerning of spirits’ (I Corinthians 12:10), as the Spirit wills, you might see an angel, or demons, or maybe even see the Lord whose we are and whom we serve. But others standing by might not see it. We can ask for more of this, and the Lord will do it among us.

Then another type of 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 could maybe be called 'mini-visions': you 'see' a picture—it's like your imagination, except you know it didn't come to mind just because you were already imagining something along those lines: rather, it comes by the Spirit of God, and you are aware of the picture. It might have a personal meaning for you; or you may be meant to share it. You likely also know the meaning, and you can tell it too. Sometimes you may not know the meaning: but the meaning might be revealed to someone else standing by.

Kenneth E. Hagin described three types of visions as: open visions, trance visions and spiritual visions.

Visions provide edification, exhortation, comfort and revelation; and it can have an impact on visitors, resulting in them getting saved—for the furtherance of the gospel, all to the glory of God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Joel, and Peter quoting it, said this will happen 'afterward'—'in the last days'—as God 'pours out His Spirit'—before the 'great and terrible day of the Lord'. In other words, it's still for today, and it's for you and me. It can happen in our meetings. We can pray particularly that our ‘young’ experience it, even children.

"𝐀𝐒𝐊 𝘺𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯; 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 (𝘡𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘩 10:1).