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does make a difference, that exer–
cise is beneficia!, that sorne drugs
are effective in prolonging youth .
One can take steps to live lon–
ger.
But stay young
forever?
No.
Eventually, the physical body
wi ll simply wear out, as do all
things physical. This can be post–
poned, but not prevented.
1t
is
inevitable. And wbether death
finally comes at 80 or 100 or 120,
it still comes " too soon" for
mos
t.
Sorne few people have even
gane
lO
the length of having thei r
bodies frozen and stored at the
time of death, hoping to be reani–
mated and rej uvenated at sorne
future time when advances in
scientific knowledge make such a
feat possible. Though most scien–
tists remain highly dubious about
the prospects for success, the very
fact that bodies are being frozen
shows j ust how desperate sorne
are to hang onto physical life.
What Next?
In the absence of the discovery of
sorne sort of elixir-of-life or foun–
tain-of-youth drug in your life–
t ime, therc is no alternative but to
view death as inevitable.
" lt
is appointed unto men once
to die," the Bible declares (He–
brews 9:27).
So what, many ask, of uncom–
pleted plans? Unfulfilled ambi–
tions? Unrea.lized dreams? Will
they simply die with us, never to
be accomplished? Or are there
future oppor tunities-somewhere
beyond death?
Sorne would have us believe
there is nothing after death, that
this physical life is all there is.
Others claim tbat one's " immor–
tal so ul " wi ll spend eternity
either in " heaven" or in " hell ,"
depending on one's conduct in
life. (Write for our free booklet
f s
There a Real Hell Fire?
for an
in-depth look at tbis question.)
Mankind has pondered these
ideas for centu ries. Few, if any,
have failed to ask themselves,
"What next?"
The answer to th is burning
March 1981
question is that there is a future
beyond death- and what a pro–
found and awe-inspi r ing futu re it
is!
What God has in store for
mankind-as shall be amply dem–
onstrated- is a n eternity of
absorbing and creative productive
activity! He offe rs us unl imited
opportunities-as his immortal–
ized sons and daughters- to real–
ize our many unrealized poten–
tials, to embark on adventures in
learning and accomplishing that
we may never have d reamed of
during our physical lifetimes!
Not Just for a Few!
Befare examining this great desti–
ny in greater detail, it is impor–
tant at this juncture to clear up a
widely misunderstood point.
We are not here describing a
future destined for an exclusive
few. Rather, it will be the destiny
of the overwhelming majority of
all people who now live or have
ever lived!
Understand this: The vas t
major ity who have ever lived have
never heard the name of J esus
Christ- the only name whereby
we can be saved (Acts 4: 12)!
What kind of God would
con–
demn
these count less billions of
H indus, Buddhists, Confucianists
and others for no fault of their
own?
Moreover, the vast major ity of
people who have heard the name
of J esus Chri st h ave been
deceived into believing a false
Christ and a false gospel
(ll
Co–
rinthians 11 :4) . Satan and bis
minis ters, rnasqueradi ng know–
ingly or unknowingly as ministers
of righteousness
(11
Corinthians
11 :1 4-15) have bli nded and
deceived these people. Would a
fair and jus t God ho ld tbem
accountable for not acting on vital
knowledge they never received?
By no means!
Tbe simple fact is that the vast
majority of people in the world
today are neither "lost" nor
"saved " ! Likewise, the vas t
major ity of those who have ever
lived since the time of Adam are
neither lost nor saved!
Don't be misled. God is not
locked in sorne sort of spi ri tual
combat with Satan for "souls. " If
that were the case, Satan would
clearly be winning! Is Satan more
powerful than God ?
S atan can do only what God ,
for a time,
al/ows.
And Satan's
time is about up! God is working
out a great purpose on earth–
and
no power
can prevent it from
being accomplished!
Where Are the Dead?
If
the vast majority of all people
who live today or who have ever
lived a re ne ithe r " los t " nor
"saved ," where are they now?
And, for that matter, where are
those t rue Chr istians who have
d ied throughout history?
The answer is simple: they are
all in their graves!
Notice: " The dead know not
any thing," the Bible clearly
teaches (Ecclesiastes 9:5). And
again: " His [man's] breath goeth
forth , he returneth to his earth; in
that very day his thoughts perish"
(Psalm 146:4).
Those who have died over the
centuries i:md millennia of his–
tory- including many of your rel–
atives and loved ones, whether
true Christians or not- are all
"asleep" in the grave, "on hold"
as it were, awaiting futu re dispo–
sition.
The Bible use of the word
sou/
(in Hebrew,
nephesh;
in Greek
psuche)
designates one's physical
life . The sou l is mortal, not
immortal. It can die (Ezekiel
18:4, 20). The journalist who
declared that "1500 sou ls per–
ished in t he s ink ing of th e
T itanic" was using the word cor–
rectly.
Understanding that the soul is
mortal makes it easy to compre–
hend Jesus' statement in J ohn
3: 13: "No man hath ascended up
to heaven... ." J esus also told his
own apost les that "whith e r
[where]
1
go, ye cannot come"
(John 13:33).
1f
the apostles were
not to go to heaven, how could we
expect to?
So what, then, wi ll become of
these bi ll ions of dead who today
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