WE WHICH ARE ALIVE SHALL NOT PREVENT THEM WHICH ARE ASLEEP.
By T. E. Bowen
THE thought which used to trouble the people of God concerning those of them who died, or fell asleep, was that they might never live again. This was true of the church at Thessalonica. The apostle Paul had so vividly presented the coming of Christ that they entertained the hope that they should live to see Him come in His power. So when some of their beloved number fell asleep in Jesus, they were troubled. Word reached the servant of the Lord, and he wrote them, saying: "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. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him." 1 Thess. 4:13, 14. All this is turned around now. Instead of the fear that the living would reach heaven first, or enter upon the glorious reward first, leaving the sleeping ones behind, the belief is prevalent that those who die enter upon their reward first, leaving the living behind to struggle with temptation and sin. But neither of these views is correct. God forgets none of His saints. He does not love them more after they die than before. His plan is a just one, which provides for all whose names are found in the Lamb's book of life when probation ends, to enter upon their eternal joys together. "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself [Jesus of Nazareth] 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." Verses 15-17. We shall ever be together with the Lord from that moment on throughout all eternity. Death can never have any more power over that celestial company; for they have conquered death and the grave, having by faith conquered sin, which is the sting that brings death. But let us not forget that the sleeping ones have not gone on before. They are not called down from the skies to join the living company at Christ's coming. When Christ was asleep, He was in Joseph's new tomb. He was not sleeping in the heavens, but was locked up in Satan's prison-house—the tomb. Those who sleep in Jesus, likewise sleep in the tomb. When the mighty voice of Jesus calls them, He calls for them to arise from the dust. "Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth [not heaven] shall cast out the dead." Isa. 26:19. Job, in regretting his birth, expressed the thought of rest, had he been laid in the grave. "For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept; then had I been at rest." "There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest. There the prisoners [of the grave] rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor." He is speaking of the grave for this rest, for He continues, "Which rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave." They are not alive and active in heaven, but their ears and hearts are silent in the grave. Blessed morning when again every ear shall hear! The Lifegiver comes at two different times, and gives life to all. All shall again hear His voice, but some awake to enter upon everlasting life, and some only awake to hear the doom of their own life-work of wickedness pronounced upon them. "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." Dan. 12:2. Dear reader, it is yours to decide now in which class you will be in that solemn day. In one or the other we all must stand. If you hear Christ's voice calling you to repentance to-day, harden not your heart, but turn to your loving Saviour and Redeemer, who is waiting to receive you and seal you as His. "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest," is His sweet invitation to you. T. E. BOWEN.