Cloud Of Witnesses

I recently read what a friend of mine wrote on the subject of our friends and family members and what happens to them after they "die". It is as follows, 

"We don't teach our children that the deceased are watching over them. Heaven is happiness, worship, peace...not looking down wishing they were with us. There are not holes in the floor of heaven and there are no tears falling down. But we do teach them that they will be reunited with them one day if they love, follow, obey, worship and give their life to Jesus." -Anonymous Friend

I don't question this friend's devotion to God, nor do I question the sincerity of this person's writing, but what I did question was how they and thousands of others came to this conclusion...Where does this teaching come from?

I will say this, Heaven is happiness, full of worship, filled with peace, and probably a lot more greatness than our human comprehension is capable of. I also agree that no one in Heaven is wishing they could be human again, nor do I believe that they miss us. I would firmly agree that there are no tears falling down either, but take a look at what I found. As usual, this topic has thousands of years of teaching attached to it and the following beliefs have been questioned and proven over and over...

The following contains many scriptures that talk about this subject as well as many quotes from great Christians. The following doctrine has been believed by Christians from the time of Christ for over 2000 years. As for being "reunited" with our loved ones, we were never "un-united". I lost my brother about 5 years ago and I believe that he is in heaven as I type. I believe that he prays for me and my family each and every day, as do many other saints in heaven. I believe he is aware of me and my life and God gave him and my family an eternal bond that will last for all of eternity. Christ not only gave us forgiveness, but He also conquered and defeated death too! I hope you'll read this and I pray that the Holy Spirit will be the only influence on you as you read...not me or anyone else.

The below paragraph is from a website called newadvent.org...it's a site that gives an encyclopedia of what the Catholic Church believes, other topics and the many saints' lifestories.

"The communion of saints is the spiritual solidarity which binds together the faithful on earth, the souls in purgatory, and the saints in heaven in the organic unity of the same mystical body under Christ its head, and in a constant interchange of supernatural offices. The participants in that solidarity are called saints by reason of their destination and of their partaking of the fruits of the Redemption (1 Corinthians 1:2 — Greek Text). The damned are thus excluded from the communion of saints. The living, even if they do not belong to the body of the true Church, share in it according to the measure of their union with Christ and with the soul of the Church."....

Look in Matt. 13:52, "He said unto them: Therefore every scribe instructed in the kingdom of heaven, is like to a man that is a householder, who bringeth forth out of his treasure new things and old." In the New-Testament period the scribes were the professional interpreters of the Law in the Jewish synagogues.

Look at Matt. 22:28-33, "At the resurrection therefore, whose wife of the seven shall she be? For they all had her. And Jesus answering, said to them: You err, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they shall neither marry nor be married, but shall be as the angels of God in heaven. And concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read that which was spoken by God, saying to you: I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead but of the living. And the multitudes hearing it were in admiration at his doctrine."

Then look at Luke 15:8-10, "Or what woman having ten groats, if she lose one groat, doth not light a candle and sweep the house and seek diligently until she find it? And when she hath found it, call together her friends and neighbors, saying: Rejoice with me, because I have found the groat which I had lost. So I say to you, there shall be joy before the angels of God upon one sinner doing penance.

Look in Hebrews 12:1, "And therefore we also having so great a cloud of witnesses over our head, laying aside every weight and sin which surrounds us, let us run by patience to the fight proposed to us."

Look at Luke 20:36-38, "Neither can they die any more for they are equal to the angels and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection. Now that the dead rise again, Moses also showed at the bush, when he called the Lord: The God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. For he is not the God of the dead, but of the living: for all live to him."

We see in 1 Corinthians 12 that Paul is explaining that we all have different roles in the body of Christ, but we are all still the body of Christ, a part of the same eternal kingdom. One might say that Paul is only speaking of those of us on earth, but if that's the case then those in heaven aren't a part of the kingdom of God. That would lead me to the question...are we a part of the same kingdom of God that Moses is or better yet, Paul?

We find in scripture that angels carry out the works of God and do His service, just as God uses us on earth to carry out His works and to do His service as well. We pray for one another, we help one another, we rejoice for one another, and we protect one another all because of the grace and authority of God which is given to us. We see that Luke tells us that the angels rejoice in our penance or the reconciliation of our sins, which would mean that they would have to be aware of us and our actions. Luke also tells us that those worthy of the kingdom are equal to angels. These aren't verses pulled out of context, they are in reference to those that have left this world and about the unity of God's kingdom in heaven and on earth, with Christ as our head. I ask, why would God stop using His people for His service once they become perfect beings or saints in heaven? Wouldn't they be more "useable" now that they are perfect beings and do not have to contend with the flesh or sinfulness? We are encouraged to pray for one another on this earth and are encouraged to serve one another...why would the prayer stop and the service stop when we get closer to God in heaven? It wouldn't make sense for it to and it doesn't. There are thousands of saints in heaven who still serve God and who pray for us on earth; and those saints have many different roles just as we do.

I then thought that there must be something in scripture that would have led to my friend's thought on the subject, but where does it say in scripture that they stop serving God and praying for us? It doesn't, in fact we see the opposite teaching. We are taught to be unified; to be slaves to one another; we are taught that if one member of the body suffers, then all members suffer; we are told to pray as we see Jesus pray for His deciples. As the faithful of God we are all a part of the same kingdom and family either on earth or in heaven; and we see in scripture that our God is the God of the living, not of the dead. We are the living just as those in heaven are the living, so I ask where it says in scripture that those that enter into heaven STOP serving God through prayer and acts of service? We are all one...unified as the children of God and we continue His work in His eternal kingdom! This type of teaching isn't my own, it's been taught for 2000 years. So for over 1500 years, Christians believed in this communion with the saints, with those that have entered heaven. There has also been the belief that those saints continue to pray for people on earth and those saints continue to carry out acts of service for God, with each saint having individual purpose just as we do on earth. 

These quotes below are from some very important men who helped in maintaining our Christian faith and these are only a few:

St. Cyril AD350:

In 350 A.D., St. Cyril wrote a remarkable and exquisitely detailed description of the Mass, which clearly corresponds with today's Mass. In it we find this beautiful statement on the family of God which we all belong to, and which even today we pray for in every Mass: 

":.. upon completion of the spiritual Sacrifice, the bloodless worship, over that propitiatory victim, we call upon God for the common peace of the Churches, for the welfare of the world, for kings, for soldiers and allies, for the sick, for the afflicted, and in summary, we all pray and offer this Sacrifice for all who are in need. Then we make mention also of those who have already fallen asleep: first, the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs, that through their prayers and supplications God would receive our petition; next, we make mention also of the holy fathers and bishops who have already fallen asleep, and, to put it simply, of all among us who have already fallen asleep; for we believe that it will be of very great benefit to the souls of those for whom the petition is carried up, while this holy and most solemn Sacrifice is laid out." 

Hermas AD80:

"[The Shepherd said:] 'But those who are weak and slothful in prayer, hesitate to ask anything from the Lord; but the Lord is full of compassion, and gives without fail to all who ask him. But you, [Hermas,] having been strengthened by the holy angel [you saw], and having obtained from him such intercession, and not being slothful, why do not you ask of the Lord understanding, and receive it from him?'" (The Shepherd 3:5:4 [A.D. 80]). 

St. Clement of Alexandria AD208:

"In this way is he [the true Christian] always pure for prayer. He also prays in the society of angels, as being already of angelic rank, and he is never out of their holy keeping; and though he pray alone, he has the choir of the saints standing with him [in prayer]" (Miscellanies 7:12 [A.D. 208]). 

Origen AD233:

"But not the high priest [Christ] alone prays for those who pray sincerely, but also the angels . . . as also the souls of the saints who have already fallen asleep" (Prayer 11 [A.D. 233]). 

St. Cyprian of Carthage AD253:

"Let us remember one another in concord and unanimity. Let us on both sides [of death] always pray for one another. Let us relieve burdens and afflictions by mutual love, that if one of us, by the swiftness of divine condescension, shall go hence first, our love may continue in the presence of the Lord, and our prayers for our brethren and sisters not cease in the presence of the Father's mercy" (Letters 56[60]:5 [A.D. 253]).

St. John Chrysostom AD392:

"He that wears the purple [i.e., a royal man] . . . stands begging of the saints to be his patrons with God, and he that wears a diadem begs the tentmaker [Paul] and the fisherman [Peter] as patrons, even though they be dead" (Homilies on Second Corinthians 26 [A.D. 392]). "When you perceive that God is chastening you, fly not to his enemies . . . but to his friends, the martyrs, the saints, and those who were pleasing to him, and who have great power [in God]" (Orations 8:6 [A.D. 396]). 

St. Jerome AD406:

"You say in your book that while we live we are able to pray for each other, but afterwards when we have died, the prayer of no person for another can be heard. . . . But if the apostles and martyrs while still in the body can pray for others, at a time when they ought still be solicitous about themselves, how much more will they do so after their crowns, victories, and triumphs?" (Against Vigilantius 6 [A.D. 406]). 

St. Augustine AD400: 

"A Christian people celebrates together in religious solemnity the memorials of the martyrs, both to encourage their being imitated and so that it can share in their merits and be aided by their prayers" (Against Faustus the Manichean [A.D. 400])...."At the Lord's table we do not commemorate martyrs in the same way that we do others who rest in peace so as to pray for them, but rather that they may pray for us that we may follow in their footsteps" (Homilies on John 84 [A.D. 416]). 

I Hope you got this far and I hope you got something out of it...I know I did the first time read this type of stuff! When I read these quotes (there are hundreds more); in all of their variety, coming from different men, of different times, and of different regions I couldn't help but believe the validity of these teachings as oppose to listening to what someone interpreted 1500/1800/2000 years later.

As always, please pray for me as I pray for you!