Can We Enjoy Heaven Knowing of Loved Ones in Hell?

Today on Renewing Your Mind... I have to answer the question, how can we be happy in heaven if we know that some of our friends, loved ones, family members are in hell? Well, the first part of the answer to that question is found in the first part of chapter 21 of the book of Revelation.

I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away, and God is making all things new. Now, how can you be happy in heaven if you know that your friends or relatives are in hell?

The first thing we understand is that heaven is a place where God personally will wipe away our tears, and when He wipes them away, they never, ever come back. Expelled from the presence of the new Jerusalem, for the inhabitants thereof is death, disease, pain, and sorrow, for all who dwell therein will drink freely from the fountain of life. In this message this afternoon, I'd like to recount two embarrassing incidents I experienced while in seminary that involved reactions to me of my beloved mentor and professor, Dr. John Gerstner. You have to understand that when I was a student of Dr. Gerstner, I irritated him more than twice. I seemed to have a penchant for annoying my great professor.

The first incident that I'll relate to you was this. We had been in chapel at the seminary, which was a very liberal seminary, hostile to orthodoxy and certainly to Reformed orthodoxy, and I listened reluctantly to one of the professors giving a sermon that disrespected and dishonored everything precious to those who love the Reformed faith. And when the service was over, I walked out of the chapel with Dr. Gerstner, and Dr. Gerstner was headed to his car, which was not a car. It was a converted Volkswagen bus that had been converted into a library, and we were going towards the parking lot, and Dr. Gerstner was taller than I was, and he would always move with dispatch with long strides, and I would have to kind of skip to keep up with him as he would move with this determinant resolution to his destination, which in this case was his converted little bus. And I casually remarked as we were walking together. I said, wow, if John Calvin would have heard that sermon, he would have turned over in his grave.

And in mid-stride Gerstner planted his front foot, pivoted around, looked at me with a glare of death, and said to me, what did you say? And I said, well, you know, what did I say? I just said, if Calvin would have heard that, he'd have turned under. He said, young man, don't you know that nothing could possibly disturb the felicity that John Calvin is enjoying right now?

You may be disturbed by that sermon, but it's certainly not going to detract from the joy everlasting into which the magisterial Reformer has already entered. I said, okay, okay, okay. It was just a matter of speaking. I understand what you're saying.

You see, because Calvin was in that place where there's no more death, no more pain, no more tears, no more sorrow. But it was the other time that I really annoyed him. This time I was in class. It wasn't a lecture situation.

It was a seminar. There were only about eight students, and we were seated around the table with a professor, and one of the students asked the question, Dr. Gerstner, how can I be happy in heaven if I am aware that one of my loved ones is in hell? And Gerstner snapped around and looked at this man, and he said, don't you know that when you're in heaven you will be so sanctified that you will be able to see your own mother in hell and rejoice in that knowing that God's perfect justice is being carried out? And while the student who asked that question shrunk back in horror, his face turning white, I burst out laughing. I just… I was so laughing, and he looked at me and he says, what's so funny? I said, oh, excuse me, Dr. Gerstner. I said, I can't believe you just said what you just said.

I said, nobody talks like that. I'm thinking, this guy's nuts. I'll be so sanctified in heaven that I could look into the pit of hell, see my mother there, and be glad.

I can't imagine anything more ridiculous than that. But he got my attention. I had to think about it deeply and often. And with that incident in mind, I'd like to go to the second text, chapter 8 of Paul's letter to the Romans, beginning with verse 22. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. Not only the creation, but we ourselves who have the firstfruits of the Spirit groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what he sees?

But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. And likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we don't know what to pray for as we ought. But the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good for those who are called according to His purpose. And then Paul expands on this, and he says this. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined, he also called. Those whom he called, he also justified.

Those whom he justified, he also glorified. And what I've just read to you is called in theology, what I've just read to you is called in theology the golden chain of the ordo salutis, the order of salvation that begins in eternity, where God knows His elect from all eternity, and He loves them from all eternity. And those whom he foreknows, he predestinates.

And when we look at this text, that's usually where we stop. And then we have conferences and discussions and debates and arguments about predestination, and we forget about the end of predestination, the goal of predestination, the purpose of predestination, that the purpose of predestination is that we be conformed to the image of Christ. We are elected in Christ, for Christ, to end up in conformity to Christ. And then he goes on to say, And those whom he predestined, he also called. And those whom he called, he also justified. And those whom he justified, he also glorified. How many lectures, how many discussions, how many times at these conferences have we focused our attention on the doctrine of justification? Luther called justification the article upon which the church stands or falls. Calvin called it the hinge upon which the door turns. Indeed, it is the article by which you stand or fall. But the end of the chain is not predestination, and the end of the golden chain is not effectual calling, and the end of the golden chain is not justification.

What is it? Those whom he justified, he also glorified. When is the last time you heard a sermon on the doctrine of glorification? All the rest of the links of this chain we treat exhaustively, foreknowledge, providence, predestination, gracious calling, justification. And for all those as important as they are, we have to say, So what?

until we get to the end of the chain, which is glorification. Now there are three reasons, and I don't want to be guilty of being glib, but there are three reasons why we worry now about our future happiness if we discover when we arrive in heaven that friends and relatives, even spouses, are not there. The three reasons why we worry about that and worry about justification of holy war that we've just heard about is because we don't understand three things. The first one is we don't know who God is. We really don't know what it means that God is holy. That is so foreign to our experience, so alien to our own existence, that we have almost no grasp whatsoever about the character and the nature of God. In fact, we are so baffled by God's holiness that more often than not, that more often than not, we find it offensive. The second thing that we don't know is who we are. Sin is such a regular part of our experience, a part of our nature, that we say, well, to err is human, to forgive is divine, as if because it is so human of us to sin that God is somehow obligated to forgive us. We don't know who we are.

And the third thing we don't know is what this glorification means. And when we think about heaven, which is not often enough, what usually provokes your thinking about heaven? What are you looking forward to about heaven?

I know when I think about heaven, I think about my legs won't be hurting anymore. I'm going to get a new body. I'm not going to need a hearing aid.

I'm not going to need glasses. I'm not going to have to take pills every day. All the aches and pains that are a part of growing older will go away.

I'm going to have a new body, and it's one that God will fashion that's not going to be made out of titanium, that causes me to be stopped every time by security when I try to go to the airport and get on an airplane. Isn't that what you think about how great heaven will be because all the pain will be gone, all the death will be gone, all the tears will be gone? And we think about all the things that won't be there. There's not going to be any sea threatening us with destruction. There's not going to be any tears there, no death, no temple, no sun, no artificial lights because God and the Lamb in their radiance will illumine the presence of heaven.

I can't wait to see all of that thing. But you want to know what the most conspicuous thing that will be absent from heaven is sin. Can you imagine being in a place where there is no sin?

We've never been to that place. The moment the Holy Spirit dwells in our souls from that moment forward for the rest of our lives, God is at work within us, shaping us, molding us, conforming us to the image of Christ. But that work is not finished until we step across the veil, and then the sanctification is perfected. Until our glorification, our concerns, and our sympathies rest much more with wicked human beings than they do for the glory of God and for the exaltation of Christ. And what Gerstner was trying to communicate to me that day in the classroom, which I thought was so absurd, was that once sin is removed from my life and once I get to that state where I love the Lord my God with all of my heart and all of my soul in undiluted affection, my compassion, my love, my concern will be much more for the vindication of God's holiness than it will be for a corrupt fallen kinsman of mine according to the flesh. Do you get it?

Do you get it? See, that's so hard to imagine because what is so hard for you to imagine and so hard for me to imagine is to be free of sin. You know, I hate the doctrine of hell in many ways.

I can't stand the thought of anybody's being in hell, even Hitler, because I am so Hitler-esque, monstrous sinners I can relate to. The Holy One of Israel is the alien. That's why we're brought up short when God plunges the world into a flood, institutes the ban at Jericho, strikes Uzzah down when He touches the ark of the covenant, consumes the son of Aaron because they play around in worship, or immediately lets His judgment fall upon Ananias and Sapphira. And we look at these people who are like us, we say, Ooh, poor Ananias, poor Sapphira, poor Uzzah, poor Nadab and Abihu. Because if the holiness of God is compromised, if it's desecrated, it's no skin off our nose. But God said through Moses to Aaron, do you remember what the Lord said?

He said, I will be regarded as holy by anyone who comes near to me, and I must be honored among the whole congregation. And if it means that my friends, if it means my family being in hell for the righteousness of God, for the manifestation of His holiness, for the glory of His righteousness, though I can't stomach the thought of it now, this word tells me that the day will come where I will be so concerned about the glory of God and of Jesus that I will be able to rejoice in His judgment. We're not there yet, folks, but that is our destiny.

We're not there yet, but that is our destiny. Comforting insight from Dr. R. C. Sproul. You're listening to Renewing Your Mind, and all week we have had the privilege of addressing some of the tough questions that Christians face. Finding answers to difficult questions always boils down to this. What does God say about it? When we ask that question and seek the answer in His Word, we're engaging in theology. Dr. Sproul was quick to say that everyone's a theologian, and his desire was for everyone to be a good one.

That's why we think today's resource offer will be helpful to you. It's R. C.'s book by that title, Everyone's a Theologian. In 357 pages, he takes a systematic approach in explaining the teachings found in Scripture, including creation, God's communicable and incommunicable attributes, how God saves His people, and the church. We invite you to request the paperback edition of this book with your donation of any amount to Ligonier Ministries.

You can reach us by phone at 800-435-4343, or you can make your request and give your gift online at renewingyourmind.org. And again, the title of the book, Everyone's a Theologian. Before we go today, I've invited our president and CEO, Chris Larson, to stop by. And Chris, people who have attended our national conference see you up there on the stage, welcoming them and introducing our speakers and telling folks about the ministry. Your passion for this ministry is unmistakable.

Would you tell us where that passion is rooted? Chris Larson Reformed theology changed the complete trajectory of my life. It was through the teaching of Dr. Sproul passed along through a mentor that helped me to better understand that God was a covenant-keeping, sovereign God. And I first came across Reformed teaching when I was in college.

And as a young man, I was full of all of the typical anxieties of what's going to be my vocation, who will I marry, where will I live, and all the worries that come along with that. My friend tenderly took me to Genesis 15 and God's covenant with Abraham. And as many of our listeners to Renewing Your Mind will know, that's one of Dr. Sproul's favorite passages to exposit. And it's really God's covenant with Abraham, where God promises on the testimony of his own unchanging character that he would do for Abraham what he had promised. And so my friend really channeling Dr. Sproul at this point said, it's not so much the strength of your faith, Chris, it's the strength of the object of your faith.

And I knew from that moment, my life would never be the same. And it has been my personal sense of calling to help introduce more people to this sovereign holy God, helping to introduce as many people as possible to the historic Christian faith. And even today, I don't think we find a better spokesman for the historic Christian faith than Dr. RC Sproul, and the many outreaches of Ligonier Ministries. And I thank all of our listeners who come alongside and help new people who are just beginning this journey like I was back in college. And you all put wind in our sails to keep going in this cause.

And indeed they do. Thank you, Chris, for that. And one thing I always have appreciated about Dr. Sproul's teaching is this is a man who thought deeply about theology and about life. And the series that we're going to present next week is going to require us to think deeply as well. Did the universe begin with a pinpoint of matter billions of years ago?

We're certainly led to believe that, aren't we, in today's secular culture. Next week, R.C. addresses that in his series Creation or Chaos. We hope you'll join us beginning Monday here on Redoing Your Mind. Thank you.