We have been taught for years that the Apostle Paul went to Heaven (or the Third Heaven), but did he really go himself, or was he talking about someone else?
2 Corinthians 12:1-5 says,
1 It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.
2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.
3 And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)
4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
5 Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities.
To me, it sounds like he is talking about someone else. Look at verse 5,
Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities.
He will glory of that man, but not himself? Thar sounds very contradictory to me. Either he was talking about someone else, or he had multiple personality disorder.
I personally believe that he was talking about the Apostle John, when John went to Heaven, and then wrote the Book of Revelation! I know that some futurists want to believe that John was talking about the distant future (our time), but in the light of reality, that fable doesn't make sense (or as they say in the South, "That dog just won't hunt.").
Most of what John was talking about was fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. We are in the "Millennial Reign of Christ" right now, and the resurrection and final judgement is still to come.
Everything else that fearful Christians worry about has passed. It's time to start living like the World Overcomers that we are!