THE DEAD LIVE
Sakkie Parsons
Translated from Afrikaans: Die Ontslapenes lewe
Translator: Robin Barker
Someone wrote the following to me:
“In a previous email you explained in great detail that after our death we will go directly to be with our King and backed it up with Bible verses.
But what is the meaning of these phrases “sleep in death” and “those have fallen asleep”?
The following passages from the Word were then quoted by the person:
1THES 4:13-18
13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.
14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.
16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
18 Therefore encourage one another with these words
Firstly we need to remember, that our Lord will not announce something where He contradicts Himself, because God does not lie.
I want to begin with by saying this again, that if someone proclaims the Gospel and he/she cannot bring something, which appears to be total opposites, together in harmony with each other, the person, an evangelist, cannot proclaim to be an evangelist of Jesus Christ.
After you have finished reading this, you must decide which Gospel I proclaim.
In Thessalonica Paul established a congregation and part of his gospel which he proclaimed to them, consisted of, that Christ will come again and collect us to be with Him forever:
1COR 15:51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—
1COR 15:52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
Those new followers just like you and I expected Jesus to come at any moment but they did not have yours or my Christian upbringing. Before Paul came to them, they had never heard of the Gospel of Christ. They assumed:
Now Jesus had not yet come and some of their loved ones had already died.
Now what?
If Jesus came and collected those who currently are alive, their loved ones who had already died, those loved ones would remain in the grave.
With their gentile background and previous understanding, they believed that if a person died and was in the grave, they were forever lost to them, their love for the dearly departed, who lies in the grave as if asleep, is lost to them forever.
It is with this current concept in the mind of these new followers, with their anxieties about their departed loved ones, Paul writes to them, that their departed loved ones bodies who now lie peacefully in the grave are not lost, that is why they do not have to grieve like those who have not accepted Jesus as Redeemer and Saviour. They are going to see their departed loved ones, whose bodies lie peacefully in the grave, will certainly see them again.
The King James translation (KJV) reads as follows:
THES 4:13 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.
In closing I will name a few examples from the Word, to show that you and I – when we depart this life, will go straight to the place where we will spend eternity, where we will be in a total state of consciousness.
Those who gain entry through Christ, through their lovely perfect consciousness, one day to stand before the great white throne to be judged, but not condemned and those who have entered hell and how terrible, to die that terrible death forever and yet never to die and one day stand before the great white throne and be condemned and told that that is their lot for all eternity.
2COR 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
REV 20:11-15
11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.
13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done.
14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.
15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire
In closing here are some passages that back up the gospel that I proclaim, that for those of us who have truly accepted Jesus as our Redeemer and Saviour and who will follow Him into the hereafter, we will be in a perfect state of consciousness.
MATTHEW 17:1-4
1 After six days Jesus took with Him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.
2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.
3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
4 Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for You, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”
Note that these two people, namely Moses and Elijah, had lived on earth hundreds of years before this event occurred but they had also lived hundreds of years apart from each other – fully conscious of each other, alive and friends.
If you read the following section, you must also remember, that it is Jesus who is telling us of these events.
It is a passage which is full of truths and you can read it for yourself from LUKE 16:19 but I am going to point out to you some sections that are of relevance to this writing.
Again this is about two people.
Let us read:
LUKE 16:22 The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.
The beggar went to where Abraham was and if you read the passage, you will see, that Abraham and therefore also the beggar was fully conscious of everything around them.
Further we read, that the rich man also died and opened his eyes in hell:
LUKE 16:23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.
Do you see?
The rich man was fully conscious and in anguish.
He was also not in a sleeping state for any time, because he was concerned for his 5 brothers who were still alive on earth:
He then conversed with Abraham who was on the other side of a cliff where he was in conversation with the beggar and said the following:
LUKE 16:27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family,
LUKE 16:28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.”
Then there is also the murderer who hung on the cross next to Jesus.
We read and as I always say, I say again.
Jesus does not say anything for no apparent reason. When Jesus says something, you must immediately take notice of what He is saying.
In this instance, when Jesus says “still today,” you can certainly know that it will be “still today.”
LUKE 23:39-43
39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”
40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence?
41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
My last example is an extract from a writing by Paul. Paul was the man whom our Lord trusted to write the greatest portion of the New Testament. Paul who had an intimate relationship with our Lord that he was so filled with the Holy Spirit that it has been written about him:
ACTS 19:11 God did extraordinary miracles through Paul,
ACTS 19:12 so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them
This great apostle of all time wrote the following on occasion:
PHIL 1:23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far:
Greetings,
Sakkie