Do Our Souls Sleep Until Christ's Return?

This month, I'd like to move on to the subject of the resurrection. It's the most important factor in our lives and our eternal destination. But I first want to clear up the matter of what happens before we believers rise from the dead.

I read a blog post recently which claimed that Christians don't go to heaven when they die. This sounds like the doctrine of soul sleep to me.

One scripture passage which the post claimed to prove soul sleep is 1 Thessalonians 4:16 and 17 (KJV). "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."

It's obvious from the passage that this is speaking of resurrection at the last day. Even so, some people think that the word "sleep" in the previous verses means that the souls of Christians remain in the ground.

But what about John 11:11 to 14? The King James Version renders the words of Christ this way. "These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, 'Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.' Then said his disciples, 'Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.' Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, 'Lazarus is dead.'"

And what of Revelation 6:9 to 11? The Bible in Basic English reads, "And when the fifth stamp was undone, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been put to death for the word of God, and for the witness which they kept. And they gave a great cry, saying, 'How long will it be, O Ruler, holy and true, before you take your place as judge and give punishment for our blood to those on the earth?' And there was given to every one a white robe, and they were ordered to take their rest for a little time, till the number was complete of the other servants, their brothers, who would be put to death, even as they had been."

Any clear-thinking person can understand from the contexts of those verses that sleep is a euphemism for death. It's also obvious that the souls of departed believers are in the presence of God. As Paul pointed out in 2 Corinthians 5:8 (KJV), "We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." He never said he or we would rest in the ground.

Because I was grossly misled by wicked phoneys, claiming to be advanced teachers of spiritual revelation, I wrote How I Was Razed. This glorious testimony shows how the Lord led me out of a toxic church and into his awesome truth.

How many Resurrections Are There?

We who place our faith in Christ know that he was the prototype of resurrection. The problem is that some Christians think there will be two separate resurrections, one for the righteous and one for the wicket. The difference being that these folks think they happen at different times.

From what Jesus himself said, it sounds to me like both happen at once.  In John 5:28 and 29, the Bible in Basic English says, "Do not be surprised at this: for the time is coming when his voice will come to all who are in the place of the dead, And they will come out; those who have done good, into the new life; and those who have done evil, to be judged."

In this passage, Christ is showing the difference between the fate of the righteous and the wicked. Where people go astray on this matter is when they assume that John Nelson Darby's view of eschatology is the only correct biblical view. For millennia, Christians believed in only one great resurrection at the end of the age.

When Jesus returns, it won't be to snatch people away for seven years as some believe. Instead, he'll come as a conquering king returning to his subjects. In ancient times, the people of a kingdom would come out of the capitol city to greet their victorious sovereign and his army. Then they would proceed into the city to celebrate.

This is what the Apostle Paul had in mind when he wrote in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 (KJV), "Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."

But some will argue that Revelation 20:6 (KJV) says, "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years."

People assume that the thousand years are literal, not figurative of a long time. The "first resurrection" is really us being made spiritually alive in Christ through his death and rising again, thus guaranteeing our resurrection to life eternal. The second resurrection happens at the same time but is different in the fate of those wicked souls. The "second death" is eternal damnation for those who refuse Christ's magnanimous gift of salvation.

There was a time when I didn't know how to read the Bible in context. Thanks to gifted Bible scholars, I do now. My book, How I Was Razed, shows how I was once fooled by a charismatic preacher and liberated by proper exegesis. Read more about my journey to freedom at Amazon.