Does My Soul Sleep After Death?

00:00:00.000 | [Music]

00:00:06.000 | Gabriel, a listener from the Philippines, asks a very common question and a much debated

00:00:10.800 | question.

00:00:11.800 | Pastor John, when we die, does our consciousness continue somewhere or do we just sleep awaiting

00:00:17.720 | the second coming and the judgment?

00:00:20.280 | And why is sleep so often used to describe death, even by Jesus?

00:00:24.440 | And where in the Bible can I be more confident of what happens to me or to someone I love

00:00:28.520 | when they die?

00:00:29.980 | Should I imagine them sleeping, awaiting Christ's return?

00:00:33.560 | Or are they already in heaven or even in hell?

00:00:36.800 | Pastor John, what would you say to Gabriel?

00:00:40.080 | So I hear two questions.

00:00:43.020 | Why is sleep, the word sleep or the image of sleep, used to describe death, even by

00:00:49.720 | Jesus?

00:00:50.720 | And number two, what is the experience of people between death and bodily resurrection?

00:00:59.280 | So maybe we should start by not taking for granted the biblical teaching that God's purpose

00:01:07.440 | is not just to have someday lots of spirits in heaven, but bodies on the new earth.

00:01:16.480 | The resurrection of the body was a scandal to many Greeks who loved the idea of the immortality

00:01:23.740 | of the soul, but disliked the idea of the resurrection of this body.

00:01:31.400 | Christianity is not Greek in this regard.

00:01:34.780 | The body will be raised from the dead, and the bodily resurrection of Jesus in a form

00:01:41.140 | that could be recognized and that could be touched and that could eat fish was the prototype

00:01:47.940 | of our resurrection body.

00:01:50.580 | So Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15 20, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits

00:01:57.820 | of those who have fallen asleep.

00:02:01.620 | And when people scoff in this chapter and say, "What kind of body do they come with?"

00:02:06.780 | He answers in verse 42, "So is it with the resurrection of the dead.

00:02:12.500 | What is sown is perishable.

00:02:14.820 | What is raised is imperishable.

00:02:16.800 | What is sown in dishonor is raised in glory.

00:02:21.140 | It is sown in weakness.

00:02:23.100 | It is raised in power.

00:02:24.620 | It is sown a natural body.

00:02:26.700 | It is raised a spiritual body."

00:02:30.840 | So the resurrection of the body, absolutely essential to Christian doctrine.

00:02:35.900 | Now the question is, what about the time between death and the resurrection of the body?

00:02:46.700 | Why is it sometimes called sleep?

00:02:49.580 | And we were talking earlier, Tony, as we began this, that this is really fresh for me because

00:02:55.580 | at eight o'clock this morning, a very good friend of mine went into this state.

00:03:01.780 | So where is she?

00:03:03.980 | What's happening to her?

00:03:04.980 | I mean, this is right now, it is three hours and 16 minutes.

00:03:11.500 | Picture it.

00:03:12.500 | He is three hours and 16 minutes into what we're talking about right now.

00:03:19.940 | That's awesome.

00:03:20.940 | That is awesome to think about.

00:03:24.140 | So here's what the Bible says about sleep.

00:03:29.280 | This is why he raises the question.

00:03:31.340 | Since we believe that Jesus died, this is 1 Thessalonians 4, since we believe that Jesus

00:03:36.020 | died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen

00:03:42.100 | asleep.

00:03:43.100 | All right?

00:03:44.100 | That's a reference to Christians who have died.

00:03:46.900 | Now why does he say it that way?

00:03:49.380 | Or 1 Corinthians 15, 17, "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, you're

00:03:54.540 | still in your sins, then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished."

00:04:01.860 | So another reference to falling asleep as a picture of dying.

00:04:08.020 | And then there's Jesus, where he raised the little girl.

00:04:10.660 | We named our daughter after this experience where he says, "Talathakum," and he raises

00:04:15.700 | this little girl from the dead.

00:04:17.540 | And we know that she's dead because in Mark, I think, 535, they say, "Your daughter has

00:04:25.640 | died."

00:04:27.260 | And when Jesus arrives to deal with this, he says, "Why are you making such a commotion

00:04:32.940 | and weeping?

00:04:33.940 | The child is not dead but sleeping."

00:04:35.380 | Well, she was dead, and he calls it sleeping.

00:04:39.940 | Why?

00:04:41.500 | My answer is that this is the way the body looks and acts.

00:04:49.700 | It is simply a description of death by a softer picture of what it actually looks like.

00:04:58.820 | If you've ever looked at a person who's just died, have they died or are they just sleeping?

00:05:05.980 | Because they look like they're just there, like they've always looked and they're just

00:05:12.060 | asleep.

00:05:13.060 | So I think it's a picture, it's a pictorial description in a softer way of the actual

00:05:20.980 | reality that they've died.

00:05:23.260 | Now, why do I say that?

00:05:25.220 | Why do I jump to that idea of meaning instead of just saying, "Well, no, no, they are not

00:05:33.940 | conscious on the other side of death.

00:05:36.940 | They really are undergoing something like soul sleep.

00:05:40.820 | They will have no consciousness until the resurrection."

00:05:43.140 | Why don't I say that?

00:05:45.420 | And the reason I don't is because Jesus and Paul teach otherwise.

00:05:50.620 | So for example, the two key passages in Paul are Philippians 121, "To me to live is Christ

00:05:57.140 | and to die is gain.

00:06:00.240 | If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me, yet which I shall choose I cannot

00:06:04.960 | tell.

00:06:05.960 | I am hard-pressed between the two.

00:06:08.000 | My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better."

00:06:19.120 | So when Paul contemplates his own dying, he calls it gain, not because he's going to go

00:06:24.900 | unconscious and have zero experience for another thousand years, but because he goes into the

00:06:32.180 | presence of Christ, with Christ, in a deeper, more intimate way, and it is, he says, "vastly

00:06:39.280 | better than anything he's known here."

00:06:41.560 | And then he says the same thing in 2 Corinthians 5, 6, "We're always of good courage.

00:06:48.180 | We know that while we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord, for we walk by

00:06:54.040 | faith and not by sight.

00:06:55.640 | Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with

00:07:04.240 | the Lord.

00:07:05.680 | So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him."

00:07:11.840 | So dying in the body means going to be at home with the Lord.

00:07:20.360 | Notice Jesus.

00:07:21.800 | He tells this story about the rich man and Lazarus, and he doesn't say that it's a parable.

00:07:29.120 | Now I don't know for sure, frankly, whether it was a parable or not, but he doesn't say

00:07:33.960 | it was a parable.

00:07:35.540 | He just describes it like it really happened, and if it did happen or if it is a parable,

00:07:41.580 | it seems to be making the point that after death, there's not oblivion or sleep, unconsciousness.

00:07:50.860 | There is life in torment or in bliss.

00:07:55.800 | So it goes like this.

00:07:56.800 | "There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously

00:08:02.820 | every day.

00:08:03.820 | And at his gate was laid a poor man, Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed

00:08:08.980 | with what fell from the master's table.

00:08:10.860 | Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.

00:08:13.460 | The poor man died and was carried by angels to Abraham's side.

00:08:21.100 | The rich man also died and was buried.

00:08:24.540 | And in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus

00:08:33.700 | at his side."

00:08:35.180 | So the picture Jesus paints, parable or something that really happened, is one of a conscious

00:08:43.820 | life in torment or in happiness beyond death.

00:08:49.300 | So my conclusion is that Christians have a double encouragement for those who are dying

00:08:58.180 | or have died.

00:09:00.320 | For the believer who trusts in Jesus Christ, Christ's blood and righteousness have removed

00:09:10.740 | the condemnation for every believer and secured for us both final resurrection of the body

00:09:19.880 | in a new heaven and a new earth and now, after death, an intimate, sweet experience of being

00:09:29.460 | in Christ's presence between death and resurrection.

00:09:33.080 | It is a blessed hope in both ways.

00:09:38.120 | We're safe.

00:09:39.120 | We're safe in him now.

00:09:41.040 | We'll be safe in his presence at the moment of death, and we will be supremely happy in

00:09:47.080 | a new and healthy body forever and ever in the new heavens and the new earth.

00:09:53.160 | What a glorious hope we have in Christ.

00:09:54.480 | Thank you, Pastor John, and thank you for sharing these thoughts in the midst of your

00:09:58.080 | recent loss.

00:09:59.080 | We really appreciate it.

00:10:00.080 | Well, we're going to end the week by talking about a subject that rarely, if ever, gets

00:10:04.760 | addressed, and it's the topic of self-hatred.

00:10:08.800 | What hope does the gospel offer those who struggle with self-condemnation and self-hatred

00:10:14.080 | in any of its many various manifestations?

00:10:17.360 | I've asked our friend and respected Bible counselor, David Powlison, to join us to explain,

00:10:23.120 | and he has agreed to appear with us tomorrow.

00:10:25.320 | I'm your host, Tony Reinke, and I'll see you then.

00:10:27.280 | Bye.

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Does My Soul Sleep After Death?

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