People will recognize each other in heaven, says Pastor Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie, senior pastor at Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California, said that people will be able to recognize each other when they meet in heaven.

Laurie said in a Facebook video that many have asked him whether people will recognize one another in heaven. The pastor suggested that people will know each other in heaven because they will retain the knowledge that they gained on Earth.

"Why would you think you would know less in heaven than you know on earth? Maybe I should ask the question 'Do you recognize one another on Earth?' Well, of course you do," he said.

"When you get to heaven, you'll know more, not less. The Bible even says that 'we will know as we are known.' It seems to me when we get to heaven our knowledge will even grow over time." Laurie went on to explain.

"Yes, you will recognize your loved ones, those who have gone before you and have died in faith, you'll be reunited with them; you'll recognize them, and you'll pick up where you last left off," the pastor concluded.

Laurie has spoken numerous times on the subject of the afterlife. Last September, he preached a sermon emphasizing that heaven is reserved not for good people, but for those who have been forgiven.

He said that he hopes to see his son, who died in a freeway accident in 2008, when he gets to heaven.

In another sermon, he noted that the Great White Throne Judgment is reserved only for non-believers. He explained that it is different from the judgment seat of Christ, where Christians will stand.

The pastor warned that non-believers will go to Hades when they die and that the suffering in the afterlife is real. He emphasized that the only reliable account of the afterlife is the Bible, not those who have recounted their out-of-body experiences in various books.

Over 476,000 have made decisions to follow Christ after attending Laurie's Harvest Crusades since 1990. In the crusade held in Georgia last September, more than 24,000 people heard the Gospel and over 1,000 people accepted Christ.