In this sermon, the speaker addresses the question of whether we will see our loved ones again after death. He acknowledges that we cannot ask angels, demons, or men who have returned from the grave for an answer. The speaker emphasizes that those who choose to be lost and reject the gospel will face punishment from God. He explains that upon death, unsaved individuals will open their eyes in hell and remain there until the judgment at the great white throne. Ultimately, those whose names are not written in the book of life will be cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death. The speaker urges listeners to choose their eternal destiny by accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

Among the many unpleasant things that we are compelled to do at some time or another is the occasion of committing the cold, lifeless form of a loved one to the earth. Our loved ones slip away as that cruel monster death makes his claim. On such occasions, it is quite natural that we should raise the question, will I see that loved one again? Or was Ingersoll, the so-called freethinker, right when he said, The dead lie forever in the dreamless dust. To whom can we turn for a good answer? We can't ask angels, for they have never experienced death. We can't ask demons, for they would only deceive us. We can't ask men, for they don't return from the grave to tell us. There's only one whom we can ask and get the correct answer. He is the one who has passed through death. Christ said, I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and have the keys, that is the symbol of authority, of hell and of death. The word of one who passed through death is worth more than all the guesses and opinions of those who have never been there. As I turn to John's gospel, chapter 5 and verse 28, I hear the Lord Jesus saying, Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth. They that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation. There is no suggestion here that death ends all. It is true that their bodies are in the grave, but Christ says that when he summons them, all will come out of the grave. In 2 Corinthians 4.16, we read about the outward man which may perish, but the inward man is renewed day by day. The outward man speaks of the body and is subject to decay, but I am not my body. Man is distinctly said to be spirit and soul and body. Since the body is the outward man, the spirit and the soul together constitute the inward man. The spirit is the seat of intellectual being. The soul is the seat of man's emotional nature. These two, spirit and soul, are never separated. All men as created by God consist of spirit, soul and body, but the child of God has that which the natural man does not possess. Being born again, he has received a new nature which is also called spirit. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That's the natural, unsaved man. That which is born of the spirit, that's the saved person, is spirit. He has received divine life by trusting in Christ and his finished work on the behalf of guilty sinners. When a Christian dies, does the inward man go to sleep in the body, or does the inward man leave the body and ascend to another place? The Bible gives to us some clear statements to answer this question. In 2 Corinthians 5, we read, For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened, not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. In verse 6 he continues, Therefore we are always confident, knowing that whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. We are confident, I say, and willing, rather, to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. From this portion we learn that the body is but the tabernacle in which the inward man dwells. When the tabernacle is broken down, the inward man moves out, and in the case of a true believer, goes to be with the Lord. The Bible knows nothing of an intermediate state or soul sleep. At death the spirit and soul does not go out to wander in space. It is absent from the body and immediately present with the Lord. At the resurrection of the just, the inward man will inhabit a new body, a body suited for heaven, a body that is not subject to infirmities. If you have loved ones who were saved and have left the body, you need not mourn for them, for they are at home with the Lord. They are not in an unconscious condition. They are awaiting the day when the dust of the old earthy body will be raised and changed and made suitable for service above. Because of these divine certainties, the saved person need not dread death, for the sting of death has been removed. When Paul was facing the prospect of imminent death at the hands of Nero, he did not shrink from death. He actually looked forward to it. He speaks of having a desire to depart just like a ship setting sail on a voyage. But where is Paul going? He answers, to be with Christ, which is far, far better. The things that I have just mentioned are true of the saved person only. I turn now to tell you the sad story of what happens when an unsaved person dies. In the verses that I read in John chapter 5, we learn that those who are raised come forth in two distinct orders, some unto the resurrection of life and some unto the resurrection of judgment. The Bible recognizes only two classes, there are those who die in their sins and there are those who die in the Lord. Those who die in their sins take their sins with them to face them at the resurrection of judgment. Those who die in the Lord are those who have acknowledged their sinnership and have taken refuge in the precious shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. No question of nationality or church connection or personal mirth is an issue at all. It is entirely a matter of each man's personal attitude toward the Lord Jesus Christ. To those who die in their sins, Christ said, Whither I go, ye cannot come. If they are not with Christ, then where have they gone? The Bible answers this question. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. And the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it. And death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them. And they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. These verses bring before us a very sobering picture of the destiny of all who remain unsaved. It may be hard for some of you to understand why God will punish some people and banish them from His presence. But if you will read your Bible carefully, you will find that all who will be punished are those who refuse to be saved. God would rather save than punish, and that's why He pleads with men and women to be saved. When men deliberately choose to be lost, God must put them away as rebels. If you, my unsaved listener, have heard the gospel and refused to let the Lord Jesus Christ save you, you are asking for punishment, and God will see to it that you will get exactly what you are asking. It will give you no relief to say that you don't believe in punishment, for that will not change what God has spoken. When you die, you will open your eyes in hell, and you will remain there until the judgment of the great white throne. At that judgment seat, only unsaved people will appear, and they will appear to determine the degree of their punishment. And after the books have been examined and the proper just sentence has been pronounced, everyone will be sent to the lake of fire. No one who appears at the judgment of the great white throne will ever be in heaven. They have sealed their doom on earth by turning down God's offer of salvation. I'm glad that God has given to us the choice of our eternal destiny. I'm so glad that no one needs to be lost. God has provided a Savior who can save every man who is listening to this program. But if you as an individual will not receive him as Lord and Savior, he will leave you in your sins, and you will have to suffer and be lost for all eternity. What happens to our loved ones who leave us? Those who are saved leave the body and are immediately in heaven, beyond the reach of pain and sorrow. Those who are not saved leave the body and immediately open their eyes in hell. In the light of these scriptures, I trust God will sober you and make you to realize that you ought to choose your eternal destiny right now. Jesus loves you. He died for you. He will receive you if in simple faith you will accept him as your Lord and Savior. God help you to do it this very hour.