SOULWINNER’S CROWN

(We were all praying in church one day) I knelt on the platform beside a folding chair near the pulpit. I began to pray in other tongues, and I heard a voice say,
"Come up hither."
At first, I didn't realize that the voice was speaking to me. I thought everybody heard it.
"Come up hither," the voice said again. Then I looked and saw Jesus standing about where the top of the tent would be. As I looked up again, the tent had disappeared, the folding chairs had disappeared, every tent pole had disappeared, the pulpit had disappeared, and God permitted me to see into the spirit realm.

Jesus was standing there, and I stood in His presence. He was holding a crown in His hands. This crown was so extraordinarily beautiful that human language cannot begin to describe it.
Jesus told me, "This is a soulwinner's crown. My people are so careless and indifferent. This crown is for every one of My children. I speak and say, 'Go speak to this one or pray for that one,' but My people are too busy. They put it off, and souls are lost because they will not obey Me."

When Jesus said that, I wept before Him. I knelt down and repented of my failures. Then Jesus said to me again, "Come up hither." It seemed as if I went with Him through the air until we came to a beautiful city. We did not actually go into the city, but we beheld it at close range as one might go up on a mountain and look down on a city in the valley. Its beauty was beyond words!

Jesus said that people selfishly say they are ready for heaven. They talk about their mansions and the glories of heaven while many around them live in darkness and hopelessness. Jesus said I should share my hope with them and invite them to come to heaven with me. Then Jesus turned to me and said, "Now let us go down to hell."

We came back down out of heaven, and when we got to earth we didn't stop, but kept going. Numerous Scriptures in the Bible refer to hell as being beneath us. For example, "Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming... thou shalt be brought down to hell.... " (Isa. 14:9,15). "Therefore hell hath enlarged herself. . . and he... shall descend into it" (Isa. 5:14).

We went down to hell, and as we went into that place I saw what appeared to be human beings wrapped in flames. I said, "Lord, this looks just like it did when I died and came to this place on April 22, 1933. You spoke and I came back up out of here. I then repented and prayed, seeking your forgiveness, and You saved me. Only now I feel so different: I am neither afraid nor horrified, as I was then."

Jesus told me, "WARN MEN AND WOMEN ABOUT THIS PLACE," and I cried out with tears that I would. He then brought me back to earth. I became aware that I was kneeling on the platform by the folding chair, and Jesus was standing by my side. As He stood there, He talked to me about my ministry. He told me some things in general that He later explained in more detail in another vision. Then Jesus disappeared and I realized I still was kneeling on the platform. I could hear people praying all around me. (Kenneth E. Hagin)