Waking them up
Do you think the Lord has power to raise the body only and not the spirit/soul? Can he awaken flesh but not spirit? We are told the Lord has power to awaken the body as well as the spirit/soul.
The Bodies awoken from sleep.
John 11:
These things said he: and after that he saith unto them,
Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.
Matt 27:52
52And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, 53And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
The souls awoken from sleep.
Matt 17:
3And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.
Revelation 6:9
9
And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
10
And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
Daniel 12:2
2And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame
and everlasting contempt.
Putting them Back to sleep
Revelation 6:11
11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them,
that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
The Lord has already awoken men out of sleep in the spirit/soul and in the body and it is said that he will also put souls back to sleep, he has both awoken those in the grave/hell/hades/sheol and put them back to sleep as well. He has power to do both.
And biblical support for the Soul sleeping is written all throughout the bible.
Man is said to have a soul that remains and sleeps after death(Matt 10:28; Revelation 6:9; Daniel 12:2; Acts 2:27-31,1 Peter 3:18-19, 2 Peter 2:4 ,Psalm 16:10 ,Acts 2:27) his thoughts cease, and he has no more part in anything done under the sun. (Psalm 146:4, Ecclesiastes 9:5-6, Psalms 6:5). When a man dies his soul/spirit lives on and sleeps in the grave(Matt 9:24, Mark 5:39, Luke 8:52-53, 1 Kings 2:10, Acts 7:60, 1 Cor 15:6, John 5:28-29, Job 7:21, Job 14:10, Daniel 12:2, 1 Thessalonians 4:13). Our souls are an essence that is separate from the body and lives on after death, after the breath of life is given up(1 Sam 28:11-20, 1 Peter 3:18-20, Revelation 6:9-11) it lives on in a state of sleep in the grave/Sheol/hell/Hades.
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Which verse/chapter are you referring to brother? Is it one of these? 2 Cor 5 or Philippians 1? If so here is the answer. If not I look forward to hearing which passage/verse/ or chapter you are referring to.
With the breath of life we become a living soul(Genesis 2:7) clothed in the tabernacle of Flesh(2 Cor 5:1,4). When we die our mortality/earthly tabernacle is put off(2 Cor 5:4) swallowed up in death. So while we are at home in the flesh(alive bodily) we are absent from the Lord(2 Cor 5:5-6) but after death in the flesh we are spiritual beings/living souls without bodies of flesh( 1 Cor 15:44-46) awaiting resurrection and life with Christ(2 Cor 5:6,8,9; 2 Cor 5:10).
While we are alive we are not present with God(since we are in the flesh) but when we die and become free of the earthly tabernacle, then the day of resurrection is the only thing that awaits us. We will not be with the Lord(In heaven) while in the flesh(1 Cor 15:50; 2 Cor 5:5-6) but in the spirit(1 Cor 15:42-44; 2 Cor 5:6, 8). This is the meaning Paul was speaking to.
When we die the Lord is given back the breath of life and the earthly tabernacle(our bodies of Flesh) die. We each within ourselves have our own individual spirit(Romans 8:16,23) that is different from the Lord’s breath and the Lord’s spirit.
Paul doesn't say it is at the time of our death that we come to dwell with Christ but at the resurrection. Paul says that when we die we sleep in the grave awaiting the first or second resurrection. The soul/spirit which is contained within our earthly tabernacle(body of flesh) sleeps when the breath of life is given up as it is no longer contained in a living body of flesh(earthly tabernacle) only when it is awakened by the Lord do we regain our thoughts/memories and our ability to feel.
1. Yes Paul says that he desires to out the tabernacle of Flesh and dwell with the Lord, he knows flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven and that when he dies he will be a spirit and will be resurrected in that form. Not in the tabernacle of Flesh. He says as much here and in other chapters/books.
2. Philippians 1 speaks of Paul's desire to be with Christ after death since he knows that only in the resurrection at Christ’s coming can a person dwell with the Lord.
1 thess 4:16-17
16 For the Lord himself 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:
17 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.
Yes Paul speaks of dying and being with Christ but when paired with the rest of his writings we see he means in the Resurrection.
But looking at it the way you are it contradicts the rest of Paul's writings on the subject of Resurrection and when we come to dwell with Christ, it also contradicts peter, Christ, and the Apocalypse of John. So it is apparent when looking at the full picture that Paul is referring to either the Resurrection for the time he would be with Christ.
22 But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.
23 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
24 Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.
He desires to depart and die so that he can live again with Christ, when we pair this with what he said here
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.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
15 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.
16 For the Lord himself 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:
17 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.
We see that Paul knows/believes that a person does not dwell with the Lord until they are resurrected at Christ's coming
52
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.