Do Our Loved Ones in Heaven Guide and Comfort Us?

The spirits of departed people are in Hades, the place where the souls of the dead await the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and final judgment (Luke 16:19-23 ASV). It is clear from the context of Luke 16:19-23 that though the dead desire to affect the living favorably, they cannot communicate with the living. Further, the apostle Paul assured the Thessalonians that the living and the dead would meet the Lord together in the last day (i.e., neither living nor dead saints will precede the other into heaven, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). In answer to the question, then: (1) Our loved ones are not in heaven as no saints have entered heaven, yet; (2) no, the dead cannot guide, comfort or communicate with the living.

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