In 1 Thessalonians 5 the word "sleep" is used in three different senses. In verse 6 it is moral sleep, in verse 7 physical sleep, and in verse 10 it is the sleep of death, yet they are all brought together in this chapter.
It is a very precious thing that God speaks to us of the believer who has entered into death, not as being dead, but sleeping. We are all going to be awakened; everyone that sleeps in Christ is going to hear the voice of the archangel, the shout and the trumpet. It will awaken them and bring them out of those graves. It does not make any difference whether they have been there a day, a year, or a thousand years. It is the Lord's archangelic voice. Men try to limit the power of God, but it cannot be limited. Suppose a child of God passes into death in the middle of the ocean and is buried right there. Will that body be raised again? It surely will; every sleeping saint will be raised; not one will be left out—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Paul and all the rest.
Scripture never uses the term "sleep" in connection with the death of the unsaved or ungodly. No, death is never spoken of as steep except of those who are asleep in Christ. It is asleep by, or through, Christ.
In connection with the state of one who is asleep in Christ, we might notice 2 Corinthians 5:11For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. (2 Corinthians 5:1), "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." That is the body which will be fashioned like the body of glory of Christ as spoken of in Philippians 3, but spoken of here in 2 Corinthians as a house.
"For in this we groan, earnestly desiring [that is our present position] to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life" (vss. 2-4). Why should the Apostle groan, being burdened? Because the mortal state of the physical body that we now dwell in hindered him from the complete and full enjoyment of the state which was still future. He desired not to be in the unclothed state, but to be with the body which is from heaven, or the house which is from heaven.
The spirits of those who are asleep in Christ consciously enjoy Him while their bodies are in the grave. When they hear the shout and are raised, instantaneously they (and we) will receive bodies of glory, bodies fashioned like the present body of Christ as a Man in glory. Then they will no longer be unclothed
In 1 Corinthians 15:5353For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. (1 Corinthians 15:53) it says, "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." It is as definite as language could make it. You cannot go wrong on the resurrection of the body unless you do it deliberately, shutting your eyes because you do not want to believe what God says. There is nothing that stumbles the natural heart as much as resurrection. This transformation will be the immediate effect of the shout—yes, and without any difficulty.
Three little words in Philippians 3:2121Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. (Philippians 3:21) answer all our difficulties: "He is able." That is all we need. When the shout comes, the bodies of those who have passed away will immediately be changed. It is not a question of where they remain: in the grave, the sea or the air; that does not enter into it at all. All is "according to the working whereby He is able." He will take care of it without any difficulty. The difficulty is all within ourselves; it is not with Him. In the meantime the spirits are with the Lord-absent from the body, present with the Lord.
The saints who pass away now are in the passive enjoyment of Christ. At His coming they will enter into the active enjoyment of His presence.
It is important to see that when the graves are opened and the bodies of the saints arise, they are already changed: they are not raised for glory, but in glory. So the other attributes connected with the resurrection day are already accomplished when they arise from the grave. The company that arises will be no scanty company.
Our present body is sustained by blood. The changed body will be sustained by spirit, and is therefore spoken of as a spiritual body. It is not a spiritual spirit, but a spiritual body—that is, a body adapted to the spirit. It is like the Lord says, "A spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have." We could never be in the glory except there was a Man there in the glory before us. Christ became a Man at infinite cost and in wondrous love in order to meet us in our need. He is ascended in resurrection life, the risen Man seated in glory at God's right hand. He was here a Man for us, and He is there a Man for us, and because He is there as the Son of Man, or the glorified Man, we will be there with Him and like Him.
Our hearts are warmed when we think what a dear brother once said regarding the shout. When asked what the shout was for, he answered, "Because He is so happy.”