Here's a question that is not rare, although because it's a little bizarre, it may strike us as a little weird at first, but it's sincere and important, and it's not infrequent in our inbox. This time it comes from a listener named Leslie. Pastor John, I'm not trying to derive personal comfort from this question, I just honestly wanna know, can people who are in heaven look down and see us, their loved ones, on earth?

- Well, who of us would not like to know? - Right, exactly. Who has not asked this good question and wanted to know, especially those of us who've lost loved ones and think about it personally that way, as well as those who wonder whether Jonathan Edwards is looking down or the Apostle Paul.

So let me say five things in response to this question. Number one, ultimately, I think the answer is we don't know for sure. At least we don't know to what extent they might be allowed to see and know all that goes on on earth. There's at least one passage of scripture that some writers would interpret in a way that makes it quite clear that they do know what's going on, and I'll get to that in just a moment.

But I think I would not stake my life on a position on this because I don't know for sure. But I'll tell you what I think in just a minute. Number two, I would say that if God grants saints in heaven to see the suffering and misery, as well as the good on the earth, we may be sure that they see it, not with their old imperfect eyes, and they understand it not with their old imperfect minds, and they assess it not with their old imperfect hearts.

Rather, we may be sure, because the Bible says that they have been perfected in heaven, Hebrews 12, 23, that they will see and understand and assess all things in a perfectly spiritual way that takes into account everything they need to know in order to make sense of it and to keep from making any mistakes.

And so they will not in the least doubt the goodness of God in what they see or the wisdom of God in what they see. That may be as important as any surety of whether they can come and see. Third, there is one text that may well, I think probably does, probably does suggest that God grants the saints in heaven to witness the race that we are running on earth, Hebrews 12, 1.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Now, the reason that doesn't settle things for me completely like it does Henry Alford, he thinks that just closes the deal, he thinks they definitely see us, watch us, cheer for us, but the reason that doesn't settle things completely for me is that the Greek word witness here, just a couple of verses earlier and three times at least in chapter 11 is a word used to refer to the testimony that the saints of old gave in their willingness to die for the truth of God.

So it's possible that Hebrews 12, 1, surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses simply means that all the saints in the past, when they died, successfully witnessed to their faith on earth and made it to heaven through their suffering so you can make it too, not that they're watching you.

But I'm inclined to think it does mean that they're watching partly because of the picture of the race. And it's as though the saints finished their marathon at their deaths, then they come around and stand on the side of the racetrack and watch us. And we are supposed to take heart from that because in essence, they would be saying, "Hang in there, trust God, you can do this.

"We made it, you can make it too." And I find that very, very encouraging. And the fourth thing I would say is that we should be more cautioned to beware of spending too much time thinking about the saints above so that we're tempted to interact with them in the way that the Roman Catholics do when they pray to the saints and pray to Mary.

I think this is very dangerous for the health of our faith. It has led many people, millions I fear, to look to the saints and to Mary in their longing for help rather than focusing on Christ and the throne of grace that he has opened to us. This very book of Hebrews that we just quoted also says in chapter 415, "We do not have a high priest who's unable to sympathize "with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect "has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

"Let us with confidence then," because of Christ, because of Christ, "Let us with confidence then "draw near to the throne of grace." Not to Mary, not to the saints. "Let us draw near to the throne of grace "that we may receive mercy and find grace to help "in time of need." Christ is the one mediator between God and man.

And the New Testament does not encourage us to make the saints or Mary into mediators as we seek God's help. And the last thing I would say is a caution against sentimentalism. You know, if you watch movies or television, sooner or later, it seems, every show that has somebody die is gonna have some sentimental, sappy statement about, well, they're with the angels or they're in heaven or they're looking down on us, et cetera, without any reference to God or Christ.

And we're all tempted to hope that those who had no faith as far as we could see or little faith, we hope they might be saved. And of course, Jesus is merciful and the thief on the cross was saved in his 11th hour. And we're not the last judge.

Maybe God turned somebody's heart just before they died. We don't make those judgments, but Jesus warns us. "On that day, many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, "'did we not prophesy in your name, "'cast out demons in your name, "'do many mighty works in your name?' "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you.

"'Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.' "And that's a warning, not just for ourselves, "lest we deceive ourselves into thinking "we're following Christ when we're not. "It's also a warning that we not be sentimental "as though everybody who was a good person who died "is going to be in heaven.

"So the bottom line is that we should focus "on the great central realities of the New Testament, "which are rock solid, absolutely certain, "full of hope for all who trust in Christ. "And if you think about the great saints in heaven, "take heart, if they see you at all, "they are cheering you on to endure every hardship "by encouraging you to focus on Christ." - Amen, what a motivation.

That's a great balance of text, Pastor John, thank you. And a very interesting twist on Hebrews 11 too. I was not expecting that. Leslie, thank you for your question. And thanks to everyone who listens in to this podcast. You can find our audio feed and our episode archive, and you can reach us via email all through our online home at desiringgod.org/askpastorjohn.

We are gonna take a break for the weekend. Now on Monday, we're gonna return and talk about heaven again, and whether some people will have more joy in heaven than other people will have. Some things Pastor John has said in the recent past, and some things that Jonathan Edwards said in the distant past, leads one listener to conclude that yes, some people will have more joy or less joy in heaven.

We'll get to the bottom of that question using biblical texts on Monday. I'm your host, Tony Reinke. Have a great weekend, and we'll see you on Monday. (upbeat music) (upbeat music)