Introduction: We are presently on a journey, the journey of life. This journey began at birth, and will end at death. This journey begins and ends in such a way because it is tied to this mortal, physical, temporal, body. Our bodies are the vehicles through which we experience this life on earth. Through the medium of our bodies, we see, touch, hear, smell and taste. The older we get, the duller, and less responsive our senses become and thereby our ability to enjoy life. In Ecclesiastes 12, the preacher describes the growing disability of old age upon the body. He says, "Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;" All of this is kind of depressing if we didn't know about eternity with God our Creator. Paul said in I Corinthians 15:19, "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable." When these bodies fail, our earthly journey comes to an end, and we begin OUR FINAL JOURNEY.

But what about this FINAL JOURNEY? What about the journey just ahead of each of us, the journey into eternity? How will we make that journey? Obviously we will be bodiless, that is without these physical bodies, so what will be the vehicle for that journey?

We know the Lord has promised a future resurrection and redemption of our bodies. The Lord has saved our soul, but He has also provided redemption for these physical bodies. Romans 8:22-23 says, "For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body." One day at either the rapture or resurrection, we will trade in this temporal, mortal body for an eternal, immortal one.

Paul says in Philippians 3:21, "Who 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 a ll things unto Himself." Praise God, one day we shall have a glorified body, mean while what about those who have been on their FINAL JOURNEY for some time? What about our existence BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION?

We know that we bear God's image. One manifestation of God's image in man is his threefold being. Man is tricotimus, body, soul, and spirit. Paul writes in I Thessalonians 5:23, "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." We know that death is separation. At death, our bodies die and are laid to rest returning to dust, however we do not cease to exist! The soul spirit continues to live, and as we studied earlier, goes out to meet God. So, for a period of time at least, BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION, we will be bodiless, that is without an earthly body! What kind of existence can we expect if we die before the rapture and resurrection?

There are some who believe that our existence BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION, is an unconscious state. This is called soul sleep. The resurrection has to do with these earthly bodies, so without bodies, these believe our existence will be more like non existence! As they would have it, death sends us into a spiritual hibernation until we receive a body of some sort.

Those who believe such things of course refer to the Scriptures as a basis for their ideas. One such passage is Psalm 115:17. The psalmist says, "The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence." Another passage is Isaiah 38:18-19. Here King Hezekiah says, "For the grave cannot praise Thee, death can not celebrate Thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for Thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise Thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known Thy truth." Then in the New Testament, they argue that the word "sleep" is often used to speak of the departed dead. In John 11, Jesus told His disciples that Lazarus was sleeping when truly the man was dead. In Acts 7, Stephen was stoned to death, and in verse 60 we read, "And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep."

Throughout the New Testament those who are "dead in Christ" are referred to as "asleep," leading those of this view to conclude that they are soul sleeping until the wake up call of the resurrection. If this is so, we can look forward to a good long nap, which at times doesn't sound too bad. Some of us could use the rest! Certainly the Old Testament saints who have died long ago, have enjoyed a long rest!

Of course all of this is foolish. There is no such thing as soul sleep. Those passages in the Old Testament are speaking from an earthly, physical perspective. In this limited sense, death does represent the end or caseation of our opportunity to worship and serve the Lord. Jesus Himself spoke of the limitations of time placed upon Him by His physical body when He said, "I must work the works of Him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

The use of the word "sleep" in the New Testament simply recognizes the victory over death wrought by the resurrection of our Savior. Jesus through His glorious resurrection, has removed the "sting of death!" To the born again believer, death is no more death, but sleep.

The truth however is that after death, we remain very much alive. In Matthew 22, Jesus is facing the Sadducees who did not believe in life after death. Notice His words to them in verses 29-32. "Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." By these words, Jesus is telling us that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were very much alive, alert, and well! These men errored in that they were thinking of Heaven and terms of the earth. God cannot be the God of dead men and of moldering corpses. The living God must be the God of living men.

Here is where we also fail. We often try to project our limited, earth bound ideas on God and Heaven. It is difficult for us to imagine an existence, minus a physical body, but the evidence in the Scriptures is overwhelming that the dead enter a soulish existence that is very much alive and alert. As a pastor, ever so often people ask me what I believe about the departed dead. One frequent question asked is, "Are they aware of what is going on down here?" The answer to that question may or may not be clear, but one thing is clear, BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION, God has provided the dead a soulish existence that functions perfectly until they receive either a body fit for eternal damnation, or a body fit for eternal glorification! What about this soul man existence?