QUES. What is the thought of Scripture as to the state of the soul of the believer after death, before the Lord comes? Do those who "sleep in Jesus" actually see Him, or do they not do so until body and soul are united?
ANS. "To die is gain" says the Apostle. (Phil. 1:21.) So an advantage is had by the believer in the death of the body. If the separate state were a mere sleep of the soul, how could such language be used? Surely it would have been preferred if he were to remain and labor for his Lord in the body, than to lie in sleep while awaiting His return.
Again in the same chapter, "to be with Christ" is the condition of the one whose body sleeps in the dust. This is "far better." The words "sleep in Jesus" do not give the force of 1 Thess. 4:14. There it is, "sleep [through the person of] Jesus.”
Death itself is ours, because Jesus has annulled it for us. We have died already in His person. When, therefore, the body dies, we are only said to be put to sleep through Him. We pass out of the earthly tabernacle and the result is "present with the Lord." We might freely render this verse—"We are confident, I say, and well pleased, rather to be abroad from the body, and to be at home with the Lord." Surely such a word or thought as this is incompatible with mere sleep. To be "at home" with the Lord is indeed gain. The believer, as already dead and risen, has death as his friend now.
As to seeing Jesus when we are out of the body, we read in the record of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16) that he saw "Abraham afar off," etc., and this language is used by the Lord in speaking of the separate state. Paul says, "Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord?" Why then should his passage out of the body hinder his seeing Him? The Lord had to open the eyes of His disciples in order to know Jesus after He rose. Though our body could hinder our looking on a risen Jesus, would it need even a changed body in order that we should see Him now? Still the Lord has not thought fit to answer the question further. Rather, then, let us seek to have Himself and His coming before our souls, as our hope and joy.
F.G. Patterson