What Becomes of Those Who Die in Ignorance of the True God and His Word?

        God has his witnesses in every land and every nation. There is no race, as far as known, which has not a definite idea of a Supreme Being and of right and wrong. The Jews held that the heathen were lost, but Christianity has always held that they will be judged under God's natural law and may be accepted as being a law unto themselves (see Rom. 2: 14, 26, 27). No one can set limit to the divine grace and forgiveness, and no church or creed can dogmatize concerning those who, not having the Gospel, have yet lived according to their lights. If Christ's atonement was made for all mankind, it is logical to believe that it includes the virtuous and upright in pre-Gospel days as well as those who come afterward.

Will Every One Be Saved?

        The statement (I Tim. 2:6) that Christ gave himself a ransom for all, and other statements of like import might be taken to imply that all will eventually be saved in the next world if not in this, but it would be very rash to depend on such an interpretation. It would be an awful thing for a person who did so to find that it was wrong. If a king were to offer amnesty to all rebels who laid down their arms within a given time, the offer would be made to all, but only those who complied with the conditions would be benefited. Salvation is offered to all who accept Christ and there is no limit. If the whole world would accept him, his sacrifice would avail for all. Thus it is universal. But what is to be said of those who neglect it or reject it? There is no further sacrifice. It is not for us to limit God's mercy, but he gives us in his Word no ground for hope that another opportunity of accepting Christ will be afforded after death.

Is the desire for immortality a universal one, or must we regard it as one that appeals only to the enlightened or spiritualized heart?

       The belief in immortality and the desire of it are worldwide. Yet when we look around us and see the vast majority of the human race with their affections strongly concentrated on material things, we may well doubt whether the problem of a future life is receiving the supreme attention it merits. There are three classes.

1. Those who really desire immortality and who try, with divine help, to mold their lives accordingly. 
2. Those who shrink back from the great question...
3. Those who apparently never think of it. 

This last is a very large class. What they hear on the subject seems to make no impression. Christ came to bring life and immortality to light, but there is no outward evidence that these darkened minds have ever heard and understood the message. The pursuit of riches, of pleasure, of luxury, of sinful indulgence, and of the prizes the world offers is fatal to spiritual development. Yet even such persons, once thoroughly awakened, often become the most zealous of Christians and the world's allurements seem to them a very little thing in comparison with the life to come.

Will a Christian who has studied and cultivated his mind here on Earth be any further advanced in heaven than if he had not?

       All that has been revealed to us concerning the other life justifies the conviction that it is a state of vastly enlarged activities and uninterrupted progress. There the spiritual life, which has been kindled in the soul while here, will find amplest room for expansion, and all those noble qualities of heart and mind that go to the formation of the best type of character here below, and which are elementary forms of the perfect manhood, will doubtless survive after our spiritual enlargement, since they have a close affinity to the spiritual life. To efface all intellectual culture in the next life is as great an improbability as would be the effacement of individuality. Consequently, one who while on earth has cultivated the nobler faculties will probably begin the heavenly life with that advantage.

Is there scriptural authority for the claim that Christ will rule on Earth?

        The passage in Revelations 11: 15 has its parallel in Daniel 2: 44. It is the visible setting up of heaven's sovereignty over the earth - that sovereignty which was rejected before by the world's rulers. This done, the distinction of the worldly and the spiritual shall cease. The whole earth, with all of its affairs, will at once be worldly and Christian, but worldly in the transformed sense, all being ordered in accordance with the divine will and in perfect recognition of and obedience to God's laws. But it should not be forgotten that the kingdom has its first beginnings in the hearts of God's true children here and now. This is repeatedly emphasized by Jesus in his talks with his disciples. These beginnings, though only a faint foreshadowing of the ultimate development of the kingdom, are nevertheless real and their earnest cultivation is a duty laid upon all believers. Christ ushered in the kingdom; his followers, like a little faithful flock, maintain it perseveringly and we look forward to the day, in the fullness of time, when it shall be proclaimed in divine majesty and power over the whole earth.

Does memory of the Earthly state continue after death?

        In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:27, 28) it is clearly shown that memory of the earthly state continues after death. This is so because the soul being freed from earthly obstacles sees clearly through space. Death is only a veil and transparent to those on the other side are the things here. In two distinct passages (I Cor. 13 : 12 and II Cor. 3 : 18) Paul employs a figure of speech to convey the idea that our mortality is an obstacle to spiritual vision - a veil. Death is the shedding of the garment of mortal flesh. As the believer nears the close of life, his hold on material things becomes feebler and his spiritual perception grows clearer. The soul is preparing to loosen its material environment; it is ripening for release - the putting off of the tabernacle of this flesh (II Pet. 1: 13, 14 ; II Cor. 5:1). As the end of the journey comes into view, the spiritual vision is enabled to perceive and understand many things it could not do before. With regard to the knowledge of those on the ''other side" of what is going on here, we have scriptural evidence in support of it. Hebrews 12:1 tells us that we are encompassed with "a cloud of witnesses.'' All heaven is looking on and watching our struggles here, although our own eyes are still holden. There are other texts in Scripture which go to show that those who have passed "beyond the veil" are not indifferent to us who are left behind (see Luke 16: 19-25).

Will the final judgment be of two kinds?

       All that we read about the final judgment indicates that it will be of two kinds. There will be the great separation of the sheep from the goats (Matt. 25:32) and there will also be another and more joyful judgment, in which rewards are distributed among the children of God in proportion to the work each has done for Christ (Luke 19:22-26). These rewards will not be given according to the prominence Christians have attained in the world, nor according to the quantity or conspicuity of the work done; but on Christ's principles of fidelity to him and his spirit. The apostle teaches that many a servant of Christ will miss a reward, because his work has not been done in the right spirit and motive. He will be saved if he is in Christ, but his work will not be accepted (see I Cor. 3: 13, 14). To cite examples: Can you conceive of a Christian man doing good works from an impure motive? Suppose a clergyman has lost the high ideal he had when he entered the ministry, and now his aim in preaching is to increase his popularity, or to get more money. Suppose a man gives a public library to the city, or pensions a widow, and his real motive, if he would honestly analyze it, is to get a reputation for charity and beneficence, or to promote his election to Congress. The clergyman's preaching may be earnest and effective and the other man's gifts may be well applied, but God, who reads the heart, knows that he has had his reward in getting the applause, or the money, or the position which was sought. Having had it he deserves no other, and he gets none. He suffers the loss of the reward God would have given him for work done for his sake.

There being no marriage in heaven, will spouces recognize eachother in heaven?

       Recognition does not imply a resumption of the old relations. Christ's words were a reply to a question which assumed that there might be a dispute between husbands of the same woman as to the right of one of them to treat her as his wife. He reminded them that in heaven people would not have their fleshly bodies. After the resurrection they will have spiritual bodies (see I Cor. 15:44). The husband may and doubtless will recognize his wife and the wife the husband, and it will be a loving recognition; but they will be so absorbed in the spiritual delights of the new condition that the old relations will be gross and coarse in their eyes.

Did the Jews Believe in the Immortality of the Soul?

        While the belief is nowhere directly stated in the early Jewish writings there are many passages which appear to indicate that it was general. The laws in the Pentateuch against holding communication with the dead imply a prevalent belief that the soul lived on after the death of the body. Saul's application to the witch of Endor (I Sam. 28) shows that he believed in the continued existence of the soul. In Heb. 11: 16 the statement is made that the patriarchs expected to enter a heavenly country. Christ also referred to the belief as existing in the days of Moses (see Luke 20:37).

Will There Be a Resurrection of the Wicked?

       In the earlier stages the resurrection doctrine was evidently taught as a hope which applied to righteous Israelites, and it was afterward extended by degrees to others, including the Gentiles. In Luke 14: 14 a distinction seems to be made between the resurrection of the righteous and that of the wicked, and in Luke 20: 35, 36, those who are accounted worthy to attain the resurrection from the dead are spoken of as "the sons of God" - the inference drawn by some commentators on this point being that the resurrection of the righteous is to be separate from that of the wicked (see John 5 : 29 and Acts 24: 15 ; also I Thess. 4: 16; I Cor. 15 : 23, 24) . Compare also John 6:40, in which the resurrection of the righteous is represented as an act of grace, as also in John 5: 21; and in John 6: 44, 54 Jesus says: "And I will raise him up at the last day." Paul also, in Rom. 8:11, teaches a resurrection of the righteous. With regard to the second resurrection, whether it will be simultaneous with the first, or after an interval, commentators differ. Rev. 20: 4-6 has been held to imply an interval of a thousand years, but this is merely conjecture. There has been a great deal of discussion concerning the two resurrections, and many books have been written on the subject. 

Is Sanctification Complete at Death, or Does It Continue in Heaven?

        We cannot dogmatize about the state of the believer in heaven. So little is revealed to us about that state, that absolute knowledge is impossible. Judging by what we do know, we infer that there must be a vast increase in knowledge of God and divine things which must have its effect on the character. Then, too, to be in the presence of God, and associated with pure and holy beings and liberated from the gross influence of the flesh would, we should imagine, tend to elevate and ennoble and develop the spiritual nature. Perhaps it would be more accurate to describe the progress we expect as growth and development rather than sanctification.

Will the Future State Be One of Material or Spiritual Glory?

        The future state will be one in which our personal identity will be preserved. We will have what may be called resurrection bodies, not greatly unlike that of our Savior after his resurrection. The book of Revelation being prophetic and highly figurative, is to be interpreted accordingly. As the resurrection body will be spiritual, so will the abode of these bodies be spiritual - a state of indefinite development of our highest powers, chiefly the moral, intellectual and spiritual. It will not be a disembodied state. The qualities seen in the spiritual bodies of those who have reappeared on earth (such as Moses, Elijah and Jesus himself) are, very likely, but properties superior to those we now possess. Read and compare Job 19 : 25- 27 ; Ps. 17 : 15 ; I Cor. 13 : 12 ; I Cor. 15 : 44, and entire chapter, and I Thess. 4: 17, etc. Many believe that the earth will be refitted, for the abode of the righteous in this exalted state. To others, it appears that then all the universe will form the theater of that existence, as we shall have powers of locomotion commensurate with all our other conditions.