PHIUPPIANS place in our bodies because of His rising triumphant from the grave. The subject of our eternal state covers a broad expanse of truth and consideration. The Bible sure ly teaches, for example, that there will be spiritual recognition in heaven. When you stop to reflect on heaven, certainly if conscious ness, character, love, memory and fellowship are in that blessed life then there would be no question about the ability to know one another. This is not a matter of idle speculation. If death means the utter forgetfulness of God-giv en gifts as well as earthly friends in the Lord then how could this aching emptiness ever be satisfied? The undying memory of departed loved ones who have gone on be fore us will never be anything more than just a buried hope. But this is not what the Bible presents as fact. There is very definitely the doctrine of recognition in the future life for believers which Paul teaches in Philippians. There is a deep conviction in the spirit of man that the purpose of being created can never be com pletely fulfilled in this short-lived visit on earth. At best, life does not last very long. If a man is for tunate he may live beyond seven decades. The median age of men in the United States at death is 67.1 years. For women it is 74. Even the heathen of ancient days had a hope although they did not pos sess any fact such as we have on which to base it. Socrates, who was an unbeliever, declared that death takes us to those regions which are inhabited by the spirits of departed men. Such were the popular philosophies of the an cients. It was the concept of bar
barian tribes that they could send { declarations to departed friends by / whispering the message in the ear of one of their subjects. Then, im mediately cutting off his head, the fellow would go to the next world and give the report to the one who had died earlier. It is even re ported that in some jungles, when ever a beloved chief dies, hundreds of his subjects would willingly sub mit to death themselves in order that their king might be better served in the spirit world. So ini- tense are these inward feelings erf a need and understanding for life after death. This is something which is universal. It has prevailed among cultured philosophers and poets as well as among untaught pagans. Thank God we do have accurate proof from the Bible. The hymns we are so familiar with speak of this blessed recognition in heaven. " Friends will be there I have loved long ago, Joy like a river around me will flow, Yet just a smile from my Saviour I know, Will through the ages be glory for me."
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