It Is Sad The Holy Bible Is Not Enough For Many People

Luke 16:27-31, “Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.”

One of the most popular false prophets today in America today is Evangelist Bill Wiese. Mr. Wiese is popular for claiming he spent '23 Minutes In Hell.' Bill has authored a book about his alleged experience, which has made him a bunch of money! What saddens me is that millions of people are enamored with this man's claims, intrigued by every word that comes out of his mouth. Romans 3:4, “God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.” On his website, Mr. Wiese states:

On November 23rd, 1998 I had an experience that truly changed my life. This was not a near death experience. This was an out-of-body experience that would be classified as a vision in the Bible. In 2 Corinthians 12:2, when Paul was called up into heaven in a vision, he said whether in the body or out of the body, he didn’t know. Well, the Lord showed me that I left my body. —Bill Wiese - '23 Minutes In Hell' | Watch Video

What's at the scripture? Hebrews 1:1, “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;” The Bible tells us that God no longer speaks to people through dreams and visions today. Hebrews 1:1-2 tell us that God speaks to us today through His Son, who is the Word of God. The Holy Bible is the Written Word; Jesus is the Living Word. According to the Bible Bill Wiese is a theological liar. 

Mr. Weiss claims that he went to Hell in a vision for 23 minutes. I'm not saying that Bill Wiese didn't see something, because I wasn't there; but I can't say without any doubt, with full Biblical certainty, that Bill Wiese did not actually go to Hell. No one has ever gone to Hell and come back to talk about it. When the apostle Paul was caught up into a "third heaven," he was not permitted by God to mention the things he had seen and heard (2nd Corinthians 12:1-4). Likewise, God would not allow someone to go to Hell and come back to talk about it. Effectively Bill Wiese is saying that the inspired Word of God is not enough!

A Biblical Warning About Adding To The Scriptures

By claiming to have supplemental information that the Bible does not contain, Wiese is placing himself in the position of God. Deuteronomy 4:2, “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.” It is very wrong and sinful for Bill Wiese to add to the Scriptures, providing additional details about Hell that the Bible does not teach. In so doing he is playing God with people's lives. 

I am not saying that Mr. Wiese didn't experience something. Perhaps he did. I cannot say, and neither can you or anyone else (and he knows that). But I can say, without any doubt whatsoever, that Mr. Wiese DIDN'T actually go to Hell, nor did he receive a vision from God, nor can we place any veracity on anything that he says about what's in Hell. Bill Wiese may have had some type of experience (personally I think he is a greedy fraud and a con man), but I cannot prove that he didn't see and hear something. Wiese mentions short demons a couple feet tall. In his book he talks about seeing giant demons with big fangs, monsters, a foul stench, worms and maggots, and seeing people on fire that look like skeletons. Sadly, churches across America have invited that religious clown to speak to their congregation!

It is an insult to the inspired Word of God (which is the King James Bible), for anyone to claim that they have additional information that supplements the Word of God. God is told us everything that He wants us to know about Hell. If God wanted us to know more about Hell, then He would have told us more about Hell, but He didn't. The Holy Bible is a complete Book. Their are no parts missing. God didn't forget to put some things in His Word. All 66 books of the Bible are complete. Theologically we call this plenary inspiration, which means that we have the complete inspired Word of God. Nothing is missing in the Bible! There is nothing in the Bible that doesn't belong there. 

I loved Pastor Texe Marrs (1944-2019), but I once heard him say that the Old Testament book of Esther is a fraud, because it portrays the Jews as the good guys in the story. God is the Good Guy! Dr. Marrs said the book of Esther doesn't belong in the Bible. Texe sometimes took his preaching a little too far. The book of Esther is inspired! It belongs in the Scriptures, because it is the Word of God! There is no missing epistle of Laodicea! There is no missing book of Thomas! We have the complete canon of Scripture in the blessed King James Bible (which was translated from the precious Textus Receptus manuscripts). 

Beware Of False Prophets Who Claim To Have Seen Visions

Dear reader, you don't need to listen to the whims of people like Ellen G. White, Bill Wiese and Charles Taze Russell, who are all false prophets who claimed to have seen visions. Maybe they were smoking something, who knows! Hebrews 1:1-2 plainly teaches us that God no longer speaks to us through dreams and visions, as He did in the Old Testament. The reason why is obvious, because we have the wonderful completed Word of God today. Since 96 AD the Holy Bible has been completed. We are so blessed to have such a beautiful, accurate, precious, awesome, sacred, beloved, preserved and inspired HOLY BIBLE! If you don't have a King James Bible in English, you don't have God's Word.

Run away from Bill Wiese. I am disturbed that millions of people refuse to accept the plainly written Word of God, but they will rally around and accept the nonsense of someone who claims to have seen something. What saith the Scripture? John 5:43, “I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.” People haven't changed in 2,000 years! Sinful human nature hasn't changed throughout history. Jesus said that He came in His Father's name, and the people wouldn't accept Him; but if a man comes in his own name, they'll receive him. That is so true! 

In our text Bible passage, the rich man in Hell begged Abraham to send Lazarus from the dead to warn his five living brothers, lest they also come to a horrible place of torment. The account in Luke 16:19-31 is a factual, literal, true, story! This was NOT a “parable” as some people foolishly assume. Jesus did not call it a parable, and He used proper nouns to identify people (i.e., Abraham and Lazarus). The Lord never used proper nouns when He told parables. Abraham made an astonishing statement to the rich man suffering in the torments of Hell. He said that if the rich man's brothers refused to heed the Word of God (i.e., Moses and the prophets), then seeing Lazarus return from the dead would not convince them either. Wow! That same truth applies today in 2020. If people will not listen to the inspired Word of God, then miracles and signs will not convince them either. To them that believe, no explanation is necessary; to them that believe not, no explanation is possible.

The King James Bible is all you need dear friend! I have nothing personal against Bill Wiese, I just know that he is not helping the cause of Jesus Christ. What he is doing is horrible, leading people away from the Word of God. What Mr. Wiese is doing is the same thing that younger earth advocates do, who claim that dinosaurs roamed the earth 5,000 years ago. Intelligent thinking people avoid fools like that. People will avoid a wacky preacher like David Hoffman, who preaches that the earth is flat! Bill Wiese is driving many lost souls away from the Gospel, by sensationalizing the Scriptures with bizarre claims of large demons with fangs. I cannot say with all certainty that Ellen White, Charles Russell, Joseph Smith and Bill Wiese didn't see visions, but I CAN SAY with all biblical certainty that those alleged visions didn't come from God!!! Hebrews 1:1-2 makes this abundantly clear.

2nd Peter 1:20, “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.” No one can claim to have some exclusive information from God that no one else has. We all have the SAME inspired Word of God to read, study and live by. 

“I'm tired of colleges and universities advertising that they use the King James Bible. Tell the whole story! Tell everyone that you do not believe that it is inspired word for word.” —Pastor Jack Hyles, “The Need for an Every-Word Bible,” page 54