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Perverts of
the Scripture
Part
1
SOUL
SLEEP
WHAT IS SOUL
SLEEP?
The doctrine
which is sometimes called Soul Sleep is the idea that
the soul and spirit both become unconscious at the moment of
death. Thus, they lie dormant inside the dead body waiting
for a call from God which will "awaken" them again at the
Resurrection.
It is even
taught that centuries of time may have elapsed between death
and resurrection, but they will seem to have been only
moments.
This idea,
which is taught by Seventh-Day Adventists, Jehovah's
Witnesses (and maybe other cults), means that nobody dies
and goes directly to Heaven (or Hell). Their soul simply
"sleeps" in the graveyard for a very long nap waiting for
God's heavenly alarm clock to sound.
BUT WHY?
Because the
Holy Bible uses the word "sleep" to describe the
appearance of the body (the eyes are closed, the
body lies motionless, etc), Biblical delinquents like these
groups have applied it to the condition of the
soul and the spirit.
Consider John
11:11-14,
"Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go that I might awake
him out of sleep ... Then said Jesus unto them plainly,
Lazarus is dead ... "
Any fool ought
to see that the word "sleep" is a metaphor!
WHICH BIBLE
VERSES TEACH IT?
Actually, none.
However, a couple of texts are used to try to prove
this idea.
Job 14:10-12,
"But man dieth, and wasteth
away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? As the
waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth
up: So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be
no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their
sleep."
This text says
they "sleep,"
but only in
connection with "dieth," "wasteth
away," "decayeth,"
and
"drieth up."
The very same
text of the Bible says that upon death
"man giveth up the ghost."
Clearly, the
only thing "sleeping," as it were, is the decaying corpse
that is left behind in the graveyard.
Another
scriptural "proof' these groups use for their position is
found at Ecclesiastes 9:5,
"For the living know that they
shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have
they any more a reward; for the memory of them is
forgotten."
Believe it or
not, from the simple words, "the
dead know not anything"
the notion that
the soul has now become unconscious is derived.
However, if
this verse of the Bible applies to the condition of
the soul our cultist friends have set themselves up for a
fall, because the verse states, "neither
have they any more a reward." Yet,
you and I both
know that every Adventist and J.W. we've ever met is hoping
to be rewarded at the resurrection for their devotion to the
"restored gospel," the "divine name," or the "true Sabbath,"
etc. and live forever in paradise, aren't they?
But if their
doctrine is right, they're not going anywhere but back to
the dirt ... forever. They can forget about any eternal
rewards for their actions since that is how they will remain
for eternity;
UNCONSCIOUS!
WHAT
DOES
THE BIBLE
EXACTLY SAY?
The simple
doctrine of the word of God is that at the moment of death
the soul and spirit both come out of the body. Notice
the plain language of the Bible that no Adventist or
"witness" wants to accept:
Genesis 35:18,
"And
it came to pass, as her soul was in depal1ing, (for she
died) that she called his name Benoni ... "
I Kings 17:
17-22,
"0
Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into
him again ... and the soul of the child came into him again,
and he revived."
Luke 23:46,
"And
when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father,
into thy hands
I
commend my spirit: and having said this, he gave up the
ghost."
Acts 5:5,
Ananias
"fell down and
gave up the ghost."
Acts 5:10,
Sapphira, "yielded up the ghost."
Acts 7:59,
"And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying,
Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."
The Apostle
Paul wrote in Philippians 1:23-24,
"having a desire to depart (Genesis 35:18), and to
be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless, to abide
in the flesh is more needful for you."
This certainly
wasn't the belief of someone looking forward to laying in a
cemetery for several centuries until some hopeful trumpet
blast. The greatest Christian who ever lived in the entire
Bible knew that upon his death, his soul and spirit would
leave his body to be with Christ.
If you agree
with him, you know more than the last ten Jehovah's
Witnesses who rang your doorbell while you were in the
shower!
But the final
nail in the coffin of this childish
Soul Sleep
idea is First
Thessalonians 4:14,
"For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even
so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him."
God Almighty
cannot bring back the souls of anyone "sleeping" in Jesus if
their souls are NOT WITH HIM TO START WITH!
In conclusion,
the cults are only guilty of three things;
-Misinterpreting the verses they like,
-Avoiding the
verses they don't like,
-and being
unable to read plain English.
Otherwise, we
wish them well!
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