Paul’s Vision of Heaven: What You Can Expect in the Third Heaven
While we know we experience victories in this life, it is hard to imagine what living in Heaven will be like without having a resurrected body yet.
Remember, when a Christian departs this life, it’s only their spirit that goes to Heaven, and their body returns to the dust of the ground. While we know we will receive our glorified bodies at the Rapture, few realize the awesomeness of Heaven, even without a physical body. This is where we must look at what Paul, who had been in both places, tells us.
Paul had a beautiful experience. He was taken into a part of Heaven called Paradise. The word “paradise” in the Hebrew and in the Greek means “orchard or garden.” He was literally taken to the Garden of God in Heaven. But how did this happen? What was the event that allowed him to enter? By his own words, he said that this event took place fourteen years before he wrote the letter to the church in Corinth (2 Corinthians 12:2). Where was he fourteen years earlier?
Paul, the Missionary
On Paul’s first two missionary trips, he traveled to Lystra. Lystra is an ancient Greek city in the country that is now known as Turkey. It is mentioned six times in the New Testament and visited several times by the Apostle Paul, Barnabas, and Silas. It was there that Paul met a young disciple named Timothy (Acts 16:1,2).
The Roman Empire made Lystra a colony 600 years before Paul’s visit and by the time Paul traveled there, it had been incorporated into the Roman province known as Galatia. Paul visited Lystra on his first missionary trip eighteen years after the crucifixion of Jesus and again two years later on his second missionary trip.
Acts 13 recounts Paul’s first missionary journey. While Paul was in Antioch, he was separated by the Holy Spirit, along with Barnabas, for the work of the gospel. After the brethren had fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them out to Seleucia and then from there, they sailed to Cyprus. When they arrived in Salamis, they preached in the synagogues and John assisted them.
They traveled on to the island of Paphos, where there was a Jewish false prophet and sorcerer whose name was Bar-Jesus, who was with the proconsul of the city. The proconsul called for Barnabas and Saul, because he wanted to hear the Word of God. But the sorcerer tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith. When Paul encountered him, he was not shy or timid, but rather looked intently at him and openly proclaimed, “O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord? And now, indeed, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time” (Acts 13:10-11). Immediately a dark mist fell on Bar-Jesus and he was blinded. Because of that, the proconsul believed and Paul’s fame spread across the region.
Then Paul and Barnabas sailed to Perga, which is located in Pamphylia. There, John left the group and returned to Jerusalem. After leaving Perga, they came to Antioch and went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day where the rulers of the synagogue read the law and the prophets. The synagogue rulers asked Paul to speak, so Paul stood up and with great gestures spoke boldly and delivered a powerful message. It was so well received that the Gentiles begged him to preach the message again to them on the next Sabbath.
On the next Sabbath, nearly the entire city came together to hear the Word of God spoken by the Apostle Paul. But with this great success came equally great envy among some of the prominent people and they opposed the things Paul was speaking. They stirred up the leaders of the city and Paul and Barnabas were persecuted and expelled from the region. But they shook the dust from their feet and went to Iconium where the disciples were filled with joy and filled with the Holy Spirit.
In Iconium, great multitudes of both the Jews and the Gentiles believed the gospel. But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds toward Paul. So the city became divided into two groups. One group sided with the unbelieving Jews and the other group sided with the apostles. Violence broke out and word spread that Paul and Barnabas were going to be stoned. But Paul discovered this plot so they fled to Lystra.
The City of Lystra
In Lystra, great healings took place. But the town was full of idolatry; the people thought the missionaries were gods because of the great healings. They called Barnabas “Zeus” and Paul they called “Hermes.” In the front of the city was the temple of Zeus and their priests brought sacrificial animals to the gates intending to sacrifice them to their new “gods.”
When Paul and Barnabas heard this, they tore their clothes and ran among the multitudes of the people asking them why they were doing these things. They told them they needed to turn away from these useless practices, and turn to the living God who made Heaven and earth. But the more they preached, the more the multitudes wanted to sacrifice to them, calling them Zeus and Hermes.
The angry Jews from Antioch and Iconium then came to Lystra to persuade the multitudes to stone Paul. And so, the multitude picked up rocks and hurled them at Paul until he was dead. As they would do with any dead animal or unworthy person, they drug his body outside the city and left it to the animals or to decay.
Left for Dead
Everyone present believed that Paul was deceased. But his faithful disciples gathered around him and he rose up. Paul was not a man of fear because he immediately went back into the city to the people who thought they had killed him.
Then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there (Lystra); and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city. And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derby (Acts 14:19,20).
I believe that from the moment Paul was stoned inside the city (and thought to be dead) until the time the disciples surrounded him and he miraculously rose up, that Paul was in Heaven itself and more specifically, went into the area called the Paradise of God.
Fourteen years after this, Paul wrote a letter to the church in Corinth telling them about an event that took place fourteen years earlier. Fourteen years earlier was when he was in Lystra, stoned and left for dead.
The Vision of Paradise
Paul said in his letter that fourteen years ago, he was caught up into the third heaven. He went on to say that he didn’t understand exactly how it happened. He did not know whether he was in his body or out of his body. But this he did know. He went into the third heaven and in the third heaven he entered into Paradise and he was told things that earthly words were not capable of explaining.
It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord: I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter (2 Corinthians 12:1-4).
Remember, the thief on the cross (who acknowledged Jesus as Lord) immediately went to Paradise upon his death (Luke 23:43). And we know that Lazarus was carried by the angels immediately upon his death to the bosom of Abraham (Paradise) (Luke 16:22). Paul said that when a person is absent from the body, they are present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8). And we know that the Lord ascended into Heaven and has not yet returned.
Paul in the Third Heaven
So with all of these scriptural proofs, we can accurately say that when Paul was stoned in Lystra, his spirit left his body and was carried to Paradise. Paradise was in Heaven and there he heard and experienced things that could not be expressed in earthly words. Paradise contains beauty beyond words. He said he saw things and heard things that were inexpressible. One version of the Bible says they were unspeakable. The Amplified Bible says: “He heard utterances beyond the power of man to put into words” (2 Corinthians 12:4). He couldn’t find words to explain what he saw and heard.
Paul’s Hard Choice
After his visit to Paradise, I’m quite sure that Paul had a different perspective about life on earth. In fact, he told the Philippian believers very plainly that if he had a choice of whether to be in Heaven (Paradise) or to be here on earth, he would much rather be in Heaven. Then he went on to say he would stay on the earth because there was still more he needed to accomplish. He made it very clear that if he had a choice, he would rather be back in the Garden of God rather than living a life here on earth. It was only because of the call of God on his life and his desire to bring more people to Heaven that caused him to remain on earth.
For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.
Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith (Philippians 1:21-25).
Let me ask you this question. Why would Paul rather be in Heaven? Well, the answer is quite simple. He’d been on earth and he’d been in Heaven. By his own words, Heaven was better – so much better that in all of his letters, he could not find the words to express the beauty, the greatness, the peace, and the glory of Paradise. Paul had not even received his glorified body yet and still he would have preferred Heaven. How much more will we enjoy the presence of God and the glories of eternity when we are united with the Father, the Son, and the ones we love when we are eventually caught up like Paul into the Paradise of God.
It is interesting to note that when Paul said he was “caught up” to Paradise, he used the same Greek word harpaz which was used in 1 Thessalonians 4 where it says that Jesus will return and the Church will be caught up in the Rapture. I believe that Paul experienced what every believer experiences when their body ceases to function. We become absent from the body and present with the Lord in the Garden of God in Heaven where we wait until the Father sends the Son to rapture the Church.
