Last week we established that visions are “divinely granted appearances given by the Holy Spirit…” (Acts 2:17, AMP). Today, we want to look at “THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF VISIONS!”
What is a closed vision? That vision which is received while asleep is called A CLOSED VISION.
What is an open vision? The one received while awake is called AN OPEN VISION.
There are three types of closed visions: 1) Spiritual or inner vision, 2) Trance, and 3) Dreams. We have only one type of Open Vision. In closed visions, only spiritual vision and trance belongs to visions in the real sense of visions.
Dreams are different and will therefore, be handled differently latter.
Real visions include (A) Spiritual vision, (B) Trance, and (C) Open Visions. Let’s now consider them:
A. Spiritual vision: A spiritual vision occurs when the Holy Spirit moves on an individual to see something with the eyes of his spirit and not with his physical eyes.
During a spiritual vision your mind is not displaced. Your physical senses are not suspended in any way. You know who you are. You know where you are. You are simply seeing things within your spirit, on the inside of you.
Spiritual vision usually occurs during spiritually stimulating exercises like fasting, praying in tongues, meditating on scriptures.
You will just notice that an image or picture will form within your spirit or an occurrence played like a movie would flash across your consciousness.
Examples of individuals that experienced spiritual visions abound in the Scriptures: For instance, Jesus saw Nathaniel under a fig tree with His spiritual eyes (Jn. 1:47-49). Elisha saw Gehazi when he went after Naaman (2 Ki. 5:26).
Another example is Paul’s experience on the road to Damascus. Paul was headed for Damascus, determined to persecute the Christians, when suddenly a light brighter than the noonday sun shone around him, and Paul, then known as Saul, heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutes. It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks” (Acts 9:4-5).
When relating this experience, Paul said that when this happened, his eyes were shut: “And Saul arose from the earth, and when his eyes were OPENED, he saw no man….” (Acts 9:8).
Here, Paul did not see the Lord with his physical eyes; he saw in the spirit realm with the eyes of his spirit-man. When Paul saw the Lord in Acts 9, it was a spiritual vision. He did not see Him with his physical eyes; else others would have seen him also. But they did not see Him. They only heard the voice of the Lord.
Look at another example of a spiritual vision: In Acts 9:12 the Bible says, “And in a VISION he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight." This is also a spiritual vision because at this time Saul was already physically blind.
Also in Acts 9, the Lord spoke to Ananias, who was a layman in the city of Damascus. The Lord told him to go to the street called Straight and inquire for Saul.
In Acts 9:11-12 the Lord said unto him, “Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, 12 And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight.”
So we see that Jesus appeared to Saul, even though Saul’s physical eyes were blinded. This was a spiritual vision. Saul saw Jesus with the eyes of his spirit-man. This is the first and lowest type of vision.
B. Trance: This is the second highest type of vision. What is a trance? A trance is like an open vision in its seeming reality, only that your physical senses are suspended. A trance is a half-conscious state characterized by an absence of response to external stimuli, typically as induced by hypnosis or entered by a medium.
A trance is a state of mind in which a person seems to be asleep and to have no conscious control over his thoughts or actions, but in which he can see and hear things and respond to commands given by other people.
A trance is a dazed state: a state in which you are unaware of your environment and unable to respond to stimuli. It is a hypnotic state.
What is the difference between vision and trance? Vision is the sense or ability of sight while trance is a dazed or unconscious condition.
Trance is like an open vision in its seeming reality, only that your physical senses are suspended. You are not conscious of your physical body when in a trance.
What happens in a trance is basically that the consciousness of your physical surrounding disappears and you are fully conscious of the realm of the spirit.
In this type of vision, if a man sees an angel for example, he will see the angel in relation to the realm of the spirit and not the physical.
When exactly does a trance happen? Trance happens when you are in between being asleep or awake. It comes when you are semi-conscious. When one falls into a trance, his physical eyes are suspended for the moment. He is not aware of where he is or of anything that contacts the physical realm. He is not unconscious. He is just more conscious of the spiritual realm than he is of physical realm.
We see an example of this in 2 Corinthians 12:1-4. Also we see another example of this type of vision when Paul went to Jerusalem the first time. Notice that Paul says that he was in a trance.
Acts 22:17-18 says, “And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance...”
When you fell into a trance, you’ll see a vision. In Acts 11:4-14 the Bible says, “Then Peter told them exactly what had happened. 5“One day in Joppa,” he said, “While I was praying, I went into a trance and saw a vision…”
c. Open vision: This is the third, and the highest type of vision. It often involves the physical visit of an angel. You can hear, touch, feel and clearly see him with your physical senses.
An open vision is different from a spiritual vision in that in this type, what is been revealed is shown to you like a screen placed in front of you, and you’re seeing it right in front of you.
In an open vision, you are awake but suddenly the Holy Spirit opens your spiritual eyes to see things. You are conscious of yourself and your surroundings while you are seeing TV-like pictures.
You can see whether your physical eyes are open or closed. However, the pictures are often clearer with your eyes closed. Here, your eyes will be wide open. Your physical senses are intact; they are not suspended.
You will see into the realm of the spirit with your physical eyes open. You still possess all your physical capabilities, yet you still see and hear in the realm of the spirit.
In open visions, you see with the eye of your spirit-man (not with your natural eyes with which you can see things in the physical realm only). Your physical senses are not suspended.
An example is that of Cornelius. Acts 10:1-6 says, “There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, 2 a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always. 3 About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him...”
Here is yet another example. In Acts 8:26-29 an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, "Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." This is desert. 27 So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship, 28 was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go near and overtake this chariot."
Although God does lead us through visions and through some other supernatural manifestations, I encourage you not to seek a vision because you could get beyond the Word where the devil could deceive you.
Visions just happen without anyone in the Bible seeking them. Be content, if that is all that you ever have, to follow the “Inward Guidance” [Inward Voice plus the Inward Witness]. But educate, train and develop your spirit-man so that Inward Witness can become more and more real to you.
Watch out for the next edition of Good News from the Pulpit!
Your friend: I. I. Madubunyi (Senior Pastor).
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