A.08 THE DEATH-SLEEP: WHAT IS IT?

THE DEATH-SLEEP: WHAT IS IT?
Among the many strange doctrines industriously spread abroad in our day is the unconsciousness of the soul after death. In support of this theory every Scripture passage which speaks of men falling asleep is pressed into service. When Scripture is freely quoted, the unreflecting are apt to be carried off their feet, in forgetfulness of the fact that Satan is as capable of using the sacred writings upon them as upon our Lord Himself in the wilderness (Matthew 4:6). Even the appeal to Scripture has therefore to be tested, in order to ascertain whether it is just and reasonable.
To our subject. Let us glance at the Saviour's case first. In John 20:17 we hear Him saying: "I am not yet ascended unto My Father." This was after His resurrection, and yet on the day of His death He entered into Paradise, taking with Him the repentant thief according to His gracious promise (Luke 23:43). How are these things to be reconciled? Simply by recognising the distinction between soul and body. In the disembodied condition both the Saviour and His saved one passed into Paradise at the moment of death; while in body the Saviour did not reach heaven's glory until six weeks later, when He ascended from Olivet in view of His disciples. In Psalms 16:9-10 so also, where the Lord Jesus speaks prophetically, the distinction between "My flesh" and "My soul" is clearly indicated.
Take the case of Stephen next. After his martyrdom, devout men carried him to his burial, and made great lamentation over him, yet a little before we hear him saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" (Acts 7:59; Acts 8:2). Obviously it was his body that men buried, but while men wept over it below his spirit was already in the blessedness of his Master's presence above.
If the Scriptures be read without prejudice it will be perceived that the term "sleep" is always used in connection with the body, never in connection with the soul. Thus after our Lord's resurrection "many BODIES of the saints which SLEPT arose" (Matthew 27:52). The expressions so frequently used in the Old Testament that such and such a person "slept with his fathers" and "was buried with his fathers" have reference to the body only; and follow each other in natural sequence. The SLEEPING body was BURIED. The expression "gathered to his people" may possibly have a larger meaning, perhaps indicating that the departed one had joined his forefathers in the unseen world.
What had Paul in view when he said; "to depart and to be with Christ is far better," and "to die is gain"? (Php_1:21-23). Surely he was not yearning for two thousand years of senselessness? How could this be "far better" than the enjoyment of the love of Christ in the midst of labour here? But he himself tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:8 that to be "absent from the body" is to be "present (or, at home) with the Lord." This should suffice to put Paul's blissful experience at this hour beyond all dispute.
Naturally the story of the rich man and Lazarus is hotly assailed by those who insist upon the sleep of the soul (Luke 16:19-31). It is regarded as the citadel of the position against which they revolt, and therefore it must be reduced by any means possible. But the waves of unbelief may lash themselves against it ever so furiously; it stands nevertheless. Call the story a parable if you please (though the Saviour does not), there you have men in the world of spirits the reverse of unconscious — fully alive to the sensations of bliss and woe. Moreover, this is not the only Scripture passage which represents men in conversation in the spirit world; Isaiah 14:9-11; Ezekiel 32:21 are as explicit, if not as graphic, as Luke 16:19-31. The rich man "died and was buried"; that is, his body. Next we are told: "In hell (Hades) he lifted up his eyes, being in torments"; that is, his soul. The body was in the tomb; but his soul was in Hades. Let us not seek to evade the plain force of this; it is wiser far to take home to our souls the lesson divinely intended. The conclusion of the matter is this, that when the border-line is crossed, the disembodied soul passes forthwith into conscious bliss or woe; though it is admitted that neither saved nor lost reach their final consummation until the resurrection day is over. Let us not fail to remember that that which marks the line of demarcation between saved and lost is faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and in His precious atoning blood.