2 Corinthians 12:1–4

"I know a man in Christ": not "I knew," as the older Authorised Version so strangely misunderstands. Even in the way the apostle puts it, he shuts out personal boasting. He does this so thoroughly that even our translators seem to have thought he was speaking not of himself but of some other man.

Notice he does not speak of himself as Paul; this is very blessed. If he has anything humbling to say about himself, he speaks of Paul. He will say, "I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall." There was nothing very elevating for a man in that. It was a humbling position, so he says "I." But the moment he comes to speak of what is elevating, it is no longer "I," it is "a man in Christ" — which is true of every Christian.

Faith does not boast of visions and revelations of the Lord, any more than of its doings… So David said not a word about the lion and the bear God enabled him to kill at his lowly work. He spoke only when it was needed to calm the fears of others, for God's glory. In the same way, the apostle waited many years before he told of a wonderful experience. Others less spiritual would have talked about it everywhere for as many years or more. What would the Corinthians or their misleaders not have made of it?

The one who had known what it was to be "let down" in a basket on earth had also known the immense privilege of being "caught up to the third heaven." The third heaven speaks of the dwelling place of God. First come the heavens of the air, then the starry heavens, and then the third heavens, where the throne of God is. The Apostle speaks of the third heavens as paradise. That shows how blessed they are: a scene of joy, beauty and glory, a garden of delights, where no shadow of death will ever come.

He identifies being caught up to "the third heaven" with being caught up into "Paradise." It is the highest view of heaven that Scripture gives. It leaves no room for the empty dream that sends a soul to some lower holding place because it has not yet gained the fitness to share the inheritance of the saints in light.

The wonderful experience was his, though he was not sure what his condition was when he had it. This shows us in passing that the "falling asleep" of a believer does not mean the sleep of the soul. Suppose the death of a believer meant total unconsciousness until the coming of the Lord. Then the Apostle would have had no uncertainty. He would have said, "I must have been in the body, for I was conscious. If I had been out of the body, I would have had no consciousness at all."

Of this Paul — of what he knew himself to be down here — he would not boast. But he had been given the enjoyment of his place as a man in Christ, with everything else set aside as far as his awareness went. Of such a one he would boast. And so can we. We may never have been in the third heaven, so we may never have grasped the full glory and privileges of the position we are brought into. Yet we are men in Christ. We have known enough of that blessing to rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory — and the feeblest saint who knows his place in Christ has known enough.

The words "in Christ" matter, because they take him out of himself. In himself he will not boast, but of such a man he will boast. It really was Paul, but he will not admit that it was himself, because he cannot tell whether he was in the body or out of the body. He did not have the ordinary awareness of the senses. He perceives these things now, but at the time he did not know how he knew or saw any of it.

The moment he speaks of something that lifts him up, it is no longer "I," it is "a man in Christ" — which is true of every Christian.

He does not know whether it was in the body. He does not know whether it was out of the body. He says this twice, and surely for a reason. He does not want us to dwell on the circumstances, or on the exact part a miracle played in it. We tend to pull back from the miraculous, since we do not expect miracles, but he leaves the question open. He likely thought little of himself, drawn out of himself by the power of what was given to him.

The third heaven is the very highest blessedness a creature can enter — paradise. In Luke 23:43 a redeemed soul, apart from the body, is received there after the Saviour's death. Here in 2 Corinthians a living believer is taken up to paradise, and the apostle could not tell whether he went in the body or out of the body. We ought to be very thankful for this, since many today deny eternal judgment and laugh at the idea of any consciousness out of the body. If they were right, how could Paul say he did not know whether he was "in the body, or out of the body"?

The third heaven speaks of the dwelling place of God. There are the atmospheric heavens, then the starry heavens, and then the third heavens, where the throne of God is. The Apostle speaks of the third heavens as paradise. That shows how blessed a place it is: a scene of joy, beauty and glory — a garden of delights, where no shadow of death will ever come.

Some writers believe that Paradise is in the heart of the earth and has two compartments, one for believers and the other for unbelievers. This idea has no foundation in Scripture. 2 Corinthians 12:2 and 4 identifies Paradise with "the third heaven" — the immediate dwelling place of God, while Revelation 2:7 speaks of it as "the Paradise OF GOD," where the tree of life is.

Every Christian is a man in Christ, but not every Christian is "caught up into paradise." The first is the true standing of every Christian; the second is a possible experience for a Christian. None of us have been caught up as Paul was. That was something special to him alone.

Paul certainly had the wonderful experience he describes so vividly. But he puts it in a way meant to show any "man in Christ" that in substance this is his privilege too, as it was Paul's own in actual fact by a miracle. And the man whose work it was to make known God's purposes about Christ and His own for heaven was allowed to hear these things, so that all who are in Christ might know their portion through such a chosen witness.

The apostle identifies being caught up to "the third heaven" with being caught up into "Paradise." It is the highest view of heaven that Scripture shows us, and it leaves no room for an idle dream. Some imagine that a soul must first go to some lower holding place, because it is not yet fit to share the inheritance of the saints in light. But Colossians 1:12 teaches that God has already given this fitness by grace to all believers here.

Paradise is a Greek word, used of an enclosed garden or pleasure park. In the New Testament it describes the present place of believers who are out of the body (Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 12:4). It also describes their future place of bliss, where the tree of life will stand (Revelation 2:7). Paul clearly distinguishes it from the third heaven. He was caught up to, or as far as, the third heaven where God dwells. He was caught up into paradise, where believers out of the body now are. There he heard what he could not pass on to people on earth.

Then he heard "words not possible for a man to utter." "Possible" is the word, rather than "lawful." He means this: as soon as he came back to the awareness of being in the body, he found he had no way to communicate. No words could express the greatness of what he had seen. And so it is — the deeper a thing is in our souls, the greater the difficulty we find in speaking of it. We cannot convey to another the sense, the impression, of what we have received for ourselves.

Note the contrast between Moses' long stay on the mountain and Paul's brief stay in the third heaven, whether in the body or out of it. God commanded Moses to give the people what he heard and saw. Paul heard "unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter." The gospel will in the end put us in touch with wonders that no one can reveal to us while we are in our mortal bodies. Our language has no words to express them.

Paul did not receive a revelation in the third heavens to pass it on to others. On the contrary, he went there to hear mysteries which it is not lawful for a man to utter. He went there to experience the presence of God, and to draw his strength from it. When the eye of faith enters God's presence, it finds communion there, and strength to walk before Him in every circumstance.

Notice how he speaks of himself here. His own name, whether Saul or Paul, drops out. He is simply "a man in Christ" — a description that applies to every true believer. Such a person has a new life, drawn from a new source — not Adam but Christ. In the power of that life he stands before God in a new place, Christ's own place.

Once he was back in the awareness of his human life on earth, the apostle's flesh would have used the favour he had enjoyed to exalt him in his own eyes. It would say, "None have been in the third heaven but you, Paul." To be near God in the glory, out of the body, does not puff a man up. All is Christ, and Christ is all; self is forgotten. To have been there is another matter. The presence of God makes us feel our nothingness. The flesh can take advantage of our having been in it once we are no longer there. To have taken him up to a fourth heaven, so to speak, would only have increased the danger.