Defending the Glory of God
8. Can the Saints
hear us ? Are they even aware of us ?
Some Protestants
will contend that the Saints in heaven cannot hear us and
furthermore are not even aware of us here on earth. However,
several passages from the Bible show otherwise. The Saints in
heaven have profound concern for what is going on down here.
Revelation
5:8-10
and the
twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp,
and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the
prayers of the
saints; and they sang a new song, saying, Worthy art thou to take
the scroll and to open its seals, for thou wast slain and by thy
blood didst ransom men for God from every tribe and tongue and
people and nation,10 and hast made them a kingdom and priests to our
God, and they shall reign on earth.
Revelation
11:16-18 And the
twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their
faces and worshiped God, saying, We give thanks to thee, Lord God
Almighty, who art and who wast, that thou hast taken thy great power
and begun to reign. The nations raged, but thy wrath came, and the
time for the dead to be judged, for rewarding thy servants, the
prophets and saints, and those who fear thy name, both small and
great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.
Hebrews 12:1 says
that we are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses. A brief review of
Hebrews chapters 11 and 12 will reveal who Saint Paul is speaking
about.
Hebrews 11:1-40; 12:1-29
1 Faith
is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things
not seen. 2 Because of
it the ancients were well attested. 3 By faith
we understand that the universe was ordered by the word of God, so
that what is visible came into being through the invisible.
4 By faith
Abel
offered to God a
sacrifice
5 By faith
Enoch
was taken up
7 By faith
Noah, warned
built an ark
8 By faith
Abraham
obeyed
13-16
All these died in faith.
They did not receive what had been promised but saw it and greeted
it from afar and acknowledged themselves to be strangers and aliens
on earth, for those
who speak thus show that they are seeking a homeland. If they
had been thinking of the land from which they had come, they would
have had opportunity to return. But now
they desire a better homeland, a heavenly one. Therefore,
God
is not ashamed to be
called their God, for he
has
prepared a city for them.
17 By faith
Abraham,
when put to the
test, offered up Isaac,
20 By faith
regarding things still to come
Isaac
blessed Jacob and
Esau.
21 By faith
Jacob, when dying, blessed
each of the sons of Joseph
22 By faith
Joseph,
23 By faith
Moses
left Egypt
31 By faith
Rahab
32 What more
shall I say? I have not time to tell of
Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of
David and Samuel and the
prophets, who by
faith conquered kingdoms, did what was righteous,
35
Women received back their dead
through resurrection. Some were tortured and would not accept
deliverance, in order to obtain a better resurrection. 36
Others
endured mockery, scourging, even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were
stoned, sawed in two, put to death at swords point; they went about
in skins of sheep or goats, needy, afflicted, tormented. 38 The world
was not worthy of them.
39 Yet all
these, though approved because of their faith, did not receive what
had been promised. 40 God
had foreseen something better for us
Hebrews 12:
1.
Therefore, since we are
surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid
ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in
running the race that lies before us while
keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith.
3 Consider
how he endured such opposition from sinners, in order that you may
not grow weary and lose heart. 4 In your
struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of
shedding blood.
18 You have
not approached that which could be touched and a blazing fire and
gloomy darkness and storm
the
mountain
21 Indeed, so fearful was the spectacle that Moses said,
I am terrified and trembling.
22
No, you have approached Mount
Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and
countless angels in festal gathering, 23 and the
assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven, and God the judge of
all, and the spirits of the just made perfect,
24 and
Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant
28
Therefore, we who are receiving the unshakable kingdom should have
gratitude, with which we should offer worship pleasing to God in
reverence and awe.
29 For
our God is a consuming fire.
After Saint Paul
gives us a veritable list of the heroes in the Old Testament we see
that they are surrounding us and cheering us on to fight temptation,
to win the race, to follow Jesus Christ.
Luke 15:7
I tell you, in just
the same way there will be
more joy in heaven
over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no
need of repentance.
God has infinite
joy. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Hebrews 13:8. Therefore, the reference to there being more joy in
heaven refers to the Saints having more joy.
Therefore they know
about us.
Revelation
6:9-11
When he broke open the fifth seal,
I saw underneath the altar
the
souls of those who had been slaughtered because of the witness they
bore to the word of God. They cried out in a loud
voice,
How long will it be, holy and true master,
before you sit in judgment and avenge our blood on the inhabitants of the
earth?
Each of them was given a white robe, and they were
told to be patient a
little while longer until the number was filled of their fellow
servants and brothers
who were going to be killed as they had been.
*Therefore, the souls in Heaven have a passionate interest in the
events of Earth.
For the answers to more
objections
concerning praying to Mary or the other Saints see
GOD'S
GLORY MADE MANIFEST
MEETING
GOD'S FRIENDS
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