Distress in heaven?
(James, "The
Christian Father's Present to His Children" 1825)
Will it cause distress in heaven, to know
that our
unsaved beloved friends and relatives are forever lost?
The only way of solving this difficulty, is to realize that a
perfect knowledge of God, and of the wisdom and justice
of all His designs and operations, will constitute a chief
part of the happiness of heaven. We shall be . . .
so convinced of the equity of His dealings towards the wicked,
so divested of all the weakness of 'human sentimentalism',
so absorbed in the love of what is right and just,
that the absence of our loved ones from the world of
glory, will cause no interruption of our heavenly bliss!
This, I acknowledge, is now hard to conceive. The day shall
reveal it. "Now we know in part and we prophesy in part, but
when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears." 1 Cor. 13:9-10
After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great
multitude in heaven shouting: "Hallelujah! Salvation and
glory and power belong to our God, for true and just are His
judgments!" And again they shouted: "Hallelujah! The smoke
from her goes up for ever and ever!" Revelation 19:1-3.