Do Loved Ones in Heaven Look Down on Us?
00:00:00.000 | [Music]
00:00:05.000 | April writes in to ask, "Dear Pastor John, when a Christian dies and goes to heaven in spirit,
00:00:10.000 | do they see their loved ones who are still on earth? I hear it said sometimes that they are looking down on us or watching out for us.
00:00:18.000 | Is this true or is this just another happy funeral thought?" What do you say, Pastor John?
00:00:23.000 | I want to say that the comforts that the Word of God gives to those of us who've lost Christian loved ones
00:00:34.000 | are so massive and so glorious, it's a shame that anyone would resort to speculation to find comfort.
00:00:46.000 | That's what I want to say. It is speculation to wonder how much the saints in heaven know about the events on earth.
00:00:57.000 | We don't know. And it's a sign of ill spiritual health when someone feels the need to know in order to be happy.
00:01:11.000 | There's no evidence that the saints in heaven serve the saints on earth.
00:01:18.000 | The Roman Catholic Church is going beyond the Bible when they cultivate the practice of praying to the saints for help or for intercession.
00:01:27.000 | Jesus is the one mediator between God and man.
00:01:32.000 | 1 Timothy 2.5, there's one God and one mediator between God and man, the man, Christ Jesus.
00:01:41.000 | So what I say to people who ask me about their loved ones in heaven is this.
00:01:48.000 | Since the Bible is clear that being there is better than being here,
00:01:55.000 | and being at God's right hand is fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore,
00:02:02.000 | we can say for sure that God will give the saints whatever measure of knowledge they need for the greatest experience of happiness in God.
00:02:15.000 | That's why I answer. If they need to know something here for their fullest experience of joy in God, they'll know it.
00:02:24.000 | I mean, he won't withhold what's needed for their happiness in him.
00:02:28.000 | If they need to be ignorant of something for the fullest experience of joy in God, he'll keep them ignorant.
00:02:36.000 | In other words, we need to trust what we're told in the Bible about the happiness of the saints in heaven.
00:02:43.000 | It is glorious. It is supreme. God loves them and he's providing for them everything they need.
00:02:51.000 | But the main thing to emphasize is that all speculation about such things for the sake of strengthening our souls is a spiritual detour
00:03:03.000 | off the main highway of God's blessing and comfort and strength and hope.
00:03:09.000 | The highway is what he has revealed in the Bible, and it is glorious beyond words.
00:03:16.000 | Here's a few tastes to end with. To me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
00:03:21.000 | If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose, I cannot tell.
00:03:27.000 | I'm hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far and away better.
00:03:34.000 | Philippians 1 or so we're always of good courage.
00:03:38.000 | We know that while we are in the body, we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight.
00:03:44.000 | Yes, we are of good courage and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
00:03:52.000 | They're at home. Relax. They're at home. And Paul said it's far preferable.
00:03:57.000 | Or Luke 20. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living for all live to him.
00:04:04.000 | So they're alive and they're living to him and he is their God.
00:04:08.000 | Or first Corinthians 15. Death is swallowed up in victory. Oh, death, where is your victory?
00:04:14.000 | Death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin. The power of sin is the law.
00:04:18.000 | But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
00:04:22.000 | So my beloved brothers, be steadfast. Now this is this is what you need to say to these people who are all worked up about whether they're seeing us.
00:04:31.000 | You be steadfast. You be immovable.
00:04:34.000 | You always abound in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
00:04:39.000 | When you get there, you won't regret anything you've invested in the Lord.
00:04:43.000 | Or one more. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
00:04:47.000 | Death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning or crying or pain anymore for the former things have passed away.
00:04:55.000 | So my response is if these solid biblical promises don't give strength and joy and solid hope to the grieving, there's a deeper problem that needs addressing.
00:05:07.000 | And that problem will not be solved by speculating about the saints in heaven.
00:05:13.000 | Very good. Thank you, Pastor John. And speaking of speculation in heaven, one of the most popular episodes that we released back in March,
00:05:20.000 | we talked about the books of these near-death experiences or return from heaven stories that are so common and popular today.
00:05:26.000 | See, that episode is titled "How Real is the Book? Heaven is for Real." That's episode number 302.
00:05:32.000 | We talk about Calvinism or Reformed Theology here on the podcast a lot, and we increasingly get questions from listeners who are new to those terms.
00:05:40.000 | Tomorrow, I'll ask Pastor John for a very basic definition of Calvinism or Reformed Theology.
00:05:45.000 | I'm your host, Tony Reinke. I'll see you back here tomorrow on the Ask Pastor John podcast.
00:05:50.000 | [end]
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