Can We Enjoy Heaven Knowing of Loved Ones in Hell? - RC Sproul

we're coming now to the last question of this conference and here's what happens when the themes of the national conferences are being put together by the Ligonier staff two things remain constant one is that they always make me give the last address so I'm the last of the speakers to have the opportunity to rest easy and put the butterflies away the other thing that seems to be constant is that every time they give me that last message it always has some eschatological orientation that drives me to speak at least in part from the last couple of chapters of the book of Revelation and that has remained the same for this year and so since 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 and so I would like to read two New Testament texts this morning in an effort to respond to that problem briefly the first is from chapter 21 of the book of Revelation beginning at verse 1 and reading through verse 8 and then the second text is found in the eighth chapter of Romans which I will read moment Cheerilee but first the Word of God as its found in the book of Revelation chapter 21 then I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and the sea was no more and I saw the holy city New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from from God prepared as a bride adorned for her husband and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying behold the dwelling place of God is with man he will dwell with them and 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 and neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more for the former things have passed away and he who was seated on the throne said behold I am making all things new also he said write this down for these words are trustworthy and true and he said to me it is done I am the Alpha and the Omega the beginning in the end to the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment the one who conquers will have this heritage and that will be his God and he will be my son but but as for the Cowardly the faithless the detestable as for murderers the sexually immoral sorcerers idolaters and all Liars their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur which is the second death before I read the passage from Romans I'd like to comment first on this they called it this shot heard around the world that triggered in part the Revolutionary War that brought the United States of America out of its colonial status to the status of an independent nation after a war that endured for eight years the citizens of Lexington Massachusetts have an ongoing dispute with the citizens of Concord Massachusetts as to in which of those villages that first shot was fired but one of the most provocative events that precipitated that shot was an event that took place in the city of Boston that was called the Boston Massacre the massacre that galvanized the likes of Samuel Adams John Adams and people beyond the city limits of Boston reaching up to Ethan Allen in Vermont reaching down to Patrick Henry George Washington and a host of others the Boston Massacre where British troops fired on unarmed citizens of the city and killed them in cold blood do you know how many people were killed by the British in the Boston Massacre there was such a provocative act that made the Boston Tea Party pale into insignificance by comparison 5,000 500 no 55 people and we call it a massacre nothing compared to the execution of the inhabitants of Joshua's destruction of Jericho or of the complete destruction of the Canaanites in the holy war that dr. Thomas just so brilliantly interpreted for us every Sunday that we come together into the presence of God the author of Hebrews tells us that we are not coming again to a mountain that we can touch with our hands but we are mounting into Mount Zion into the heavenly City into the presence of God into the presence of Christ into the presence of angels into the presence of just men made perfect into the presence of the General Assembly on high and that spiritually we really do every time we come together in worship have a taste of heaven but what was experienced in Jericho in AI and the other cities of Canaan was a taste of hell you want to talk about a massacre forget about Jericho look at the deluge where God destroyed the entire human race save for one family because he said the desires of the hearts are only wicked continuously in everybody what was was doing what was right in their own eyes until God said my spirit will not strive with these people anymore it wasn't just the wickedness of the amur rights it was the wickedness of the entire world that God judged Derek said a few moments ago I hope you didn't miss it that the final consummation of the reign of God over his creation must and will certainly involve separation there will be an antithesis between those who are faithful and who receive their inheritance in the family of God who will experience the inestimable joy and happiness of heaven and those who will be outside the camp who will be consigned to the lake of fire this story of the final triumph of Christ is a story of gates of pearls streets of gold and fire and brimstone any attempt to water that down exposes us to the curse of God but what does that have to do with my question how can we be happy in heaven if we know that our loved ones are in that lake of fire well the first part of the answer to that question is found in the first part of the text that I just read in 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 and it seems like every year I get the verse warrior he will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more for the former things have passed away and God is making all things new how can you be happy in heaven if you know that your friends our 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 seem 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 professor's giving a sermon that disrespected and dishonored everything precious to those who loved 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. Gerson 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 has converted little bus and I casually remarked this 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 we knew what did I say I just said if girl if governor would I heard that he determined err he said young me don't you know that nothing could possibly disturb the felicity that John Calvin is a join 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 should ok ok it was just a matter of speaking I'd I understand what you're saying you see because Calvin was in that place well 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 was in class it wasn't a lecture situation it was a seminar we're 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 oh stop laughing and he looked at me says what's so funny I said I'm excuse me doctor nurse I said as I can't believe you just said what you just said husband nobody talks like that I'm done thinking this guy's nuts I'll be happy I'll be so sanctified in heaven that I could look into the pit of hell see my mother there and be gracious be clad 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 I know it's in here Chapter eight of Paul's letters letter to the Romans beginning with verse 23 now let me go back one earlier we've already heard this verse 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 if we're in this hope we were saved I hope that is seen is not hope for who hopes for what he sees but if we hope 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 when I just read to you is called in theology the golden chair name 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 who before knows he predestinate 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 it about the end of predestination the goal of predestination the purpose of predestination which Burke Parsons reminded us by looking at the high priestly prayer of Jesus 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 those of you 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's the last time you heard a sermon on the doctrine of glorification all the rest of the lengths of this chain we treat exhaustively for knowledge 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 that's what Derek was saying 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 and than not we find it offensive the second thing that we don't know is who we are again Derek pointed out that what we fail to grasp about ourselves as the heinousness of sin sin is such a regular part of our experience a part of our nature that we say for all to err is human to forgive is divine as if because it is so human of us the sin that God is somehow obligated to forgive us we're not who we are and the third thing we don't know is what this chlorophyll Cashin means now when we think about heaven which is not often enough what usually provokes you're thinking about heaven what are you looking forward to about heaven I know when I think about heaven I'm gonna be I think about my legs will be won't be hurting any more I'm gonna get a new body I'm not gonna need a hearing aid I'm not gonna need glasses I'm not gonna have to take pills every day all the aches and pains that are a part of growing older will go away I'm gonna have a new body and it's one that God will fashioned it's not gonna 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 is that what you think about how great heaven will be because all the pain will be gone all the deaths will be gone all the tears have begun and we think about all the things that won't be there there's not going to be any see threatening us with destruction not going too many tears there no death no temple no Sun no artificial lights because God and the lamb in their radiance will illumine the presence of him 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 in the high priestly prayer Jesus prayed about glorification he prayed about the father's being glorified being exalted being honored being treated according to who he is with his Co bowed his glory and he even prayed for himself that he might have the glory that he had with the father from the beginning restored to him after his earthly humiliation but it's not just God who will be glorified it's not just Jesus who will be glorified but the final chapter of our Redemption will be our own glorification not our exultation we won't be glorified in the sense that we'll be elevated to the level of deity no no no no no what glorification refers to here in the golden chain is the finalization and consummation of our sanctification again the moment we are born again 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 now used to do a little illustration in the classroom in seminary and I would have three actors on my stage in the front of the room I would select one student to represent Jesus come on up here Campbell go on run up the stairs or you come right up here if you can jump I know you can jump I have at least two grandsons that I know will be able to jump you be Jesus this is your finest hour man this is this is my grandson RC sproule Robert Campbell right okay hey guy come on up and help me out will you come up over the steps over here ah you can just come on up here you I don't know why I chose you for this role but mr. Rizzo here is going to play the part of Hitler good roll huh you stand over here now this is Hitler okay and this is Jesus Steve come on help me out the student is not above his master now I called Steve up because he's such a holy guy he's such a righteous man he has such a passion for God that his sanctification is in an advanced state but I'm not going to let him represent himself I'm going to let him represent the Apostle Paul because I believe that apart from Jesus the most godly man that ever walked on the earth was Paul all right now we have a continuum here a spectrum between Jesus on this side and Hitler over here and we have to imagine this continuum and on that continuum where do we put Paul Paul the most sanctified man being conformed to the image of Christ by the Holy Ghost coming into maturity getting closer to his Lord and the fullness of his sanctification over here buster right there now stay here for a second what I want you to visualize here is the gap the chasm that separates the righteousness of Christ from the most righteous person or the most wicked person all the advances in sanctification that our Apostle Paul here has experienced makes his difference between himself and Jesus and his health and Hitler that difference comparatively is negligible there is still this huge cavern this huge abyss of difference between sinless Jesus and unclarified Paul right now when you have your glorification when you're justified God counts you as being over here right and when you're glorified the real separation takes place and you are conformed without sin to your Savior but until your glorification you guys can go sit down though thank you very much what I'm trying to do here is to dramatize our predicament 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 exultation of Christ and what Gerstner was trying to communicate to me that day in the classroom which I thought was absurd was that once sin is removed from Iowa 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 then it will be for a cup corrupt fallen kinsman of mine according to the flesh 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 soon 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 montrose 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 Institute's the band at Jericho swallows up Korah and his co rebellions strikes as a 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 said pour in and I pour so far for us a coordinated Abner by who 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 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 must be sacrificed 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 let's prep our Father and our God through your word inform us as to who you are and consequently as to who we are so that we may see your holiness for what it is and our unholiness for what it is and that we can rejoice that in the new heaven and the new earth all sin will be under the band before we ask it in Jesus name Amen

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Views: 313,185

Rating: 4.698225 out of 5

Keywords: Christianity (Religion), Calvinism (Religion), Reformed Baptists (Religion), Ligonier Ministries (Organization), R. C. Sproul (Author)

Id: D00_sM-rTCQ

Length: 45min 16sec (2716 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 12 2013