那已经在耶稣里睡了的人，神也必将他与耶稣一同带来。（贴前4：14）

我们不要以为灵魂睡了以后是没有知觉的。基督对每一位临终的圣徒说：“今日你要同我在乐园里了。”他们“在耶稣里睡了”，但他们的灵魂却在神的宝座之前，在他的殿中时时赞美他，向那用宝血洗除他们罪的主唱哈利路亚。身体孤零零地睡在大地的床中，上面盖着青草的毯子，这是一种什么睡呢？这种睡的意思与“安息”有关，这是神的灵所启示我们的思想。白天操劳，晚间睡眠便得安息。

睡把灵魂的门关紧，使外来的一切烦扰暂时止步，好叫里面的生命进到夏日休憩的乐园。疲劳的信徒安静地入睡，正像困倦的孩子在母亲的怀中沉睡一样。在主里死了的人有福了，他们息了他们的劳苦，他们工作的果效也随着他们；他们必然安眠，直到神叫他们起来得赏赐的时候。在那承受荣耀的人睡了之后，有天使看守，有永远的奥秘掩蔽，直到完全被救赎的时候来到。

他们醒来是一种什么情形呢？他们被安放在安眠之处已经精疲力倦，但当他们起来的时候却不是这样了；他们满脸绉纹、枯槁憔悴地进入安息，但当他们醒来的时候却满了荣美；丑陋的种子从土里出来的时候，换了好看的样子，成了一棵美丽的花。坟墓的寒冬过去，救赎的春天、荣耀的夏天就接踵而至。在主里死了的人有福了，因为那是藉着神的能力，脱去我们工作的服装，给我们穿上永不朽坏的婚服。那“在耶稣里睡了的人”有福了。

Scripture: “Them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.”(1 Thessalonians 4:14)

by Charles H. Spurgeon, Revised and Edited by William C. Neff
“those who have fallen asleep.”
—1 Thessalonians 4:14

Do not imagine that after death the soul sleeps in a state of insensibility. Jesus told the thief on the cross, “Today you will be with me in Paradise,” and this is the whisper of Christ to every dying saint. They “sleep in Jesus,” but their souls are before the throne of God, praising Him day and night in His temple, singing hallelujahs to the One who washed them from their sins in His blood. The body sleeps in its lonely bed of earth, beneath a blanket of grass.

But why is it called sleep? It is rest! That’s what the Spirit of God means to convey to us. Sleep is a Sabbath for each day. Sleep shuts the door of the soul, and tells every intruder to wait while the life within is restored.

How happy are those who die in the Lord; they rest from their labors, and their works follow them. And their rest will not be broken until God wakes them up to give them their full reward. They are the beneficiaries of glory until the fullness of time brings the fullness of redemption. They were laid in their last resting place weary and worn, but they will wake up in beauty and glory! The shriveled seed will rise from the dirt like a beautiful flower. The winter of the grave gives way to the spring of redemption and the summer of glory. In this sense death is a blessing because its divine power strips away our working clothes and dresses us in garments of incorruption.

Blessed are those who “sleep in Jesus.”