Correspondence: Col.1:23; 2 Tim. 3:5; 2 Cor. 5:10

 •  3 min. read  •  grade level: 7
Question 165: What does the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard and which was preached to every creature under heaven, whereof I Paul am made a minister, mean? P. R.
So he preached to both Jew and Gentile – to every creature under heaven. It does not mean that every creature heard him, but that it was preached to every creature, not to Jews only.
2 Timothy 3:55Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. (2 Timothy 3:5). They have the form or outward profession, this may consist in being church members; they take the sacrament, as they call it. They may be teachers of class or Sunday School; attending to the outward forms of religion, and yet are not born of God. Such know not that they are lost by nature, and so have not come to Christ as their Savior. They! think they are all right and have as good a chance of heaven as anyone. They deny the reality or power of true godliness; they think there is nothing more in Christianity than the mere form they have. The word says, “From such turn away.” You may speak the gospel to them, and many such have been awakened out of their death sleep through the mercy of God, but it is not for us as true Christians to associate with them in spiritual things, as if they were really the Lord’s people. We should warn them of their danger and not help on their delusion.
But all will not appear at the same time, nor for the same purpose. The “resurrection of life,” (John 5:2929And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. (John 5:29)) or first resurrection (Rev. 20:55But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. (Revelation 20:5)) includes all the heavenly saints, who have been raised or changed, and are there in bodies of glory, like Christ’s body of glory (Phil. 3:2121Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. (Philippians 3:21)). These are manifested before the judgment-seat of Christ, to see what grace has done for them; and to receive tokens of Christ’s approval or disapproval of their ways.
When the unsaved dead at the resurrection of judgment, (John 5:2929And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. (John 5:29),) shall stand at the judgment-seat, it is called the Great White Throne. There they receive their sentences for their sins and are from thence cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20).
In Matthew 25:31-4631When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 33And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. 41Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 42For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 44Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 46And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. (Matthew 25:31‑46), we get some of the people of the nations living on the earth, who took part in helping or persecuting the godly Jews in the time of their tribulation. These are brought before the King who has come in His glory. He divides them; those on the left hand are sent into eternal punishment; those on the right go into eternal life in the Kingdom on earth. 2 Timothy 4:11I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; (2 Timothy 4:1), Christ is the Judge all the way through.