Preface by Sundar Singh
The following is adapted from the preface of the original publication of 1926:
In this book, I have attempted to write about some of the visions, which God has given me. Had I considered my own inclinations I would not have published the account of these visions during my life time; but friends, whose judgment I value, have been insistent that, as a spiritual help to others, the publication of the teaching of these visions should not be delayed. In deference to the wish of these friends, this book is now presented to the public.
At Kotgarh, fourteen years ago, while I was praying, my eyes were opened to the Heavenly Vision. So vividly did I see it all that I thought I must have died, and that my soul had passed into the glory of heaven; but throughout the intervening years these visions have continued to enrich my life. I cannot call them up at will, but, usually when I am praying or meditating, sometimes as often as eight or ten times in a month, my spiritual eyes are opened to see within the heavens, and, for an hour or two, I walk in the glory of the heavenly presence with Yeshua the Messiah, and speak with angels and heavenly spirits. Their answers to my questions have provided much of the material that has already been published in my books, and the unutterable ecstasy of that spiritual communion makes me long for the time when I shall enter in permanently to the bliss and fellowship of the redeemed.
Some may consider that these visions are merely a form of spiritualism, but I would emphasize that there is one very essential difference. Spiritualism does presume to produce messages and signs from spirits, but they are usually so fragmentary and unintelligible, if not actually deceptive, that they lead their followers away from, rather than to, the truth. In these visions, on the other hand, I see vividly and clearly every detail of the glory of the spiritual world, and I have the uplifting experience of very real fellowship with the Saints, amid the inconceivably bright and beautiful world made visible. It is from these angels and Saints that I have received, not vague, broken and elusive messages from the unseen, but clear and rational elucidations of many of the problems that have troubled me.
This "Communion of the Saints" was a fact so real in the experience of the Early Community of Yeshua, that it is given a place among the necessary articles of faith, as stated in the Apostles' Creed. Once, in a vision, I asked the Saints for a proof from the Scriptures of this communion of Saints, and was told that it was to be found clearly given in Zechariah 3:7-8, where "those that were standing by" were not angels, but Saints in glory; and God's promise, on condition of Joshua fulfilling his command, is that he will be given "a place of access to walk among them (Saints) that stand by," and these are his "fellows" the spirits of men made perfect with whom he could commune.
There is repeated mention of spirits, saints and angels in this book. The distinction I would make between them is that spirits are good or bad, which after death exist in a state intermediate between heaven and Gehenna. Saints are those who have passed on through this stage into the heavens — the spiritual world, and have had special service allotted to them. Angels are those glorious beings to whom all kinds of superior service have been allotted, and among them are included many saints from other worlds, as well as from this world of ours, who live together as one family. They serve one another in love, and, in the effulgence of God's glory, are eternally happy. The World of Spirits means that intermediary state into which spirits enter after leaving the body. By the Spiritual World is meant all spiritual beings that progress through the stages between the darkness of the bottomless pit and the throne of the Lord in light.
SUNDAR SINGH
Subathu, July 1926