1 Thessalonians 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow not… It seems a strange opinion, entertained by some, that the souls of the faithful during the interval between death and the resurrection are in a profound sleep and devoid of all power of perception. This opinion appears to be grounded upon such expressions as "to fall asleep in Jesus," a phrase which probably represents nothing more than the well-known resemblance between the appearances of death and of its cousin sleep — the eyelids closed in darkness, the face in calm repose, the voice hushed in silence. How could St. Paul (Philippians 1:23) think it better for him — yea, far better — to depart from the body than to remain in it, if on his departure from the body he should sink into the lethargy of an unconscious sleep? Is it not better to have the use of our reasoning faculty than to he deprived of it? Is it not better to praise God in the land of the living than to be in a state in which we can have no knowledge of God at all, nor any capacity of praising Him? Besides, the apostle does not express a desire to die, merely that he may be at rest and freed from persecutions and the anxieties of his apostolic office, but chiefly or solely with this object — that he may be with Christ. Now, surely we are more with Christ while we abide in the flesh than when we depart from it, if, when we have departed this life, we have no perception of Christ at all. In 2 Corinthians 12:2-4 St. Paul speaks of visions and revelations of the Lord, which he had seen and heard in the third heaven and in Paradise; whether he was then in the body or out of the body, he professes ignorance: he could not tell: God knew. But the inference is obvious, that of the two alternatives he thought one quite as likely as the other; that neither of them was impossible or unreasonable, and therefore that the soul when it is out of the body is as capable of seeing and of hearing as when it is in the body. From what the same apostle says in 2 Corinthians 5:8, we may argue that as absence implies separation, so presence implies conjunction. But surely there is no need of this argument; the very phrase "to be present with the Lord" intimates a consciousness of that presence. In addition, is there not much weight in the consideration that in the state of separation from the body our souls have the same condition that the soul of Christ then had, because He took upon Him all our nature; and it is certain that His soul, during its separation, neither slumbered nor slept, but visited the souls of the fathers and preached the gospel to the prisoners of hope (1 Peter 3:18-20). These several considerations all tend to one conclusion — that the death of the body is by no means the sleep of the soul. How, indeed, the spirits of departed saints are employed is not recorded. We are told that they "rest from their labours"; but the rest here specified means a refreshment, a delightful repose from earthly trials and troubles; it does not exclude a blissful activity in a new and heavenly sphere. St. Paul speaks of visions and revelations and angelic utterances transcending all human utterance. That departed saints in their new home are in the saving Presence seems certain; that they are therefore blessed is equally certain. But in what their blessedness consists is known to God and it is known to themselves. (Canon T. S. Evans, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. |
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