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person dies, all his or her thoughts
perish.
Right now, the unknown warrior
feels nothing, hears nothing and
thinks nothing. Like all the rest of
the dead, he has no consciousness.
He is not suffering. He is not aware
in any way of the passage of time.
He has no awareness whatsoever.
He is dead.
The beautiful thing is that he–
and all the others who have died–
will not remain dead. They will be
resurrected (Acts 4:2; 24: 15;
1
Cor.
15: 13-42). That is, they will "1ive"
and "breathe" again (Ezek. 37:8-
10).
The agnostic cannot know this
because he has never proveo to
himse1f that there is divine revela–
tion. He remains ignorant of this
revealed truth.
This knowledge is a vital part of
God's master plan. We don't bave
to
b~
eaten up with undue grief
over someone who has died. All
who have lived and died will even–
tually be brought back to life!
Why the Resurrection?
But what exactly will happen to the
unknown warrior and all the other
dead when they are resurrected and
are able to breathe and think again
in new physical bodies? Are they
"lost" or "saved"?
Most of you have heard that if
anyone is not saved in this life he is
eternally "lost." But what about
the millions who lived before the
time of Jesus Christ and did not
even hear his name!
What kind of God would con–
demn to eternal torment millions of
people of other religions who did
not have a chance to hear the name
of Jesus Christ or have not heard
the name today? And what about
the great majority who have lived
since Jesus' birth and who have had
little or no interest in religion of
any kind? What will happen to
them in the resurrection?
Even the vast majority who have
heard the name of Jesus Christ
have been deceived by Satan into
believing a false gospel that the ,
apostles never preached
(11
Cor.
11 :4). Would a fair and just God
hold these millions accountable
for not acting on the knowledge of
the truth- a knowledge they have
not received? By no means!
20
The vast maJOrtty of mankind
are not yet either finally lost or
saved! They have simply not yet
had an opportunity" to understand
the purpose of life. But they will
have that opportunity when they
are resurrected to physical life.
The divine revelation of Holy
Scripture makes this plain.
The Bible teaches that all who
have died will be brought back to
life to discover the purpose of life.
That is the good news Jesus
preached. Those who are now "in
the graves shall hear" the voice of
Jesus Christ (John 5:28-29).
This will happen at different
times with different people. The
just- those few now called to
understand the truth of God-are
Whether we die
in war or sorne other
way, we do die.
Against man's greatest
enemy-death-
no scientific progress
has been made
whatsoever.
resurrected before the unjust- the
rest of the dead who did not
understand what life is al! about.
All this is already planned out.
In the crisis at the close of this
age God will intervene and send
Jesus Christ to set up the king–
dom of God over all nations. He
will teach them the ways of hap–
piness.
To help him, God will place
assistants in lesser but, neverthe–
less, glorious positions of rulership.
These assistants are the just, the
few who have been called and
trained in this life to believe God
and to come under bis authority.
They will be resurrected and
changed into immortality at Jesus
Christ's return
(1
Cor. 15:23).
Also, those true Christians who
are alive at the Messiah's Second
Coming will be changed instantly
to immortality- in their case,
bypassing the sleep of death alto–
gether
(1
Cor. 15:51-52). These
two groups will combine to be the
assistant world leaders under Jesus
Christ in his government. This is
stunning news to many. But it is
the plain teaching of the Bible.
There will be a resurrection
of the
just
at the return of Jesus Christ.
Few in number, then made immor–
tal, they will rule "on the earth"
(Rev. 5:10).
Why should this sound so fantas–
tic to people? Why shou1d the plain
teachings of the Bible seem
strange? Would it make more sense
if God permitted his creation to
self-destruct in a last final suicida!
war? Of course not.
When the world is on the very
brink of cosmocide (Matt. 24:21-
22), Jesus Christ will return to
save humanity and establish bis
kingdom on earth. The result will
be a thousand years of world
peace in happiness and prosperity.
This is the age of which all the
ancient Hebrew prophets of God
spoke.
But what about the rest of the
dead? What about those-the over–
whelming majority-who had no
opportunity for conversion in this
life? What will happen to them?
Will God forget them?
After 1,000 Years
No, absolutely not. God !oves them
too. During this period (Rev. 20:4),
when the kingdom or family of God
will have ruled over this earth for a
thousand years, "the rest of the
dead" will be resurrected (Rev.
20:5, 7-13). It is the second resur–
rection.
At this time, the book of life is
opened (Rev. 20:12), symbolizing
that all wbo have not been called
to conversion in this life will have
their opportunity then. They will
then be given their first opportu–
nity to receive the gift of immor–
tality. How? God will pour out his
Holy Spirit on those then resur–
rected and they will be converted.
They will learn the way of give
instead of the way of get.
That fantastic resurrection will
alter the life of nearly every person
who has ever lived, because the vast
majority of people who have walked
the earth have died totally oblivious
The
PLAIN TRUTH