v22 of Hebrews 12 clearly says the spirits of just men are in the heavenly city of God, and that we are one with them, it says we have come. So they are awake and not sleeping this great cloud of witnesses.
When Jesus talks about dead people sleeping, He means THEIR BODIES SLEEP, such as the little girl whom He raised from the dead,
And it says her spirit returned. Returned from some other place where it went when she died, such as in the OC, Paradise, or Abraham's Bosum.
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Luke 8
49 While He was still speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue’s
house, saying to him, “Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the [
r]Teacher.”
50 But when Jesus heard
it, He answered him, saying, “Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well.” 51 When He came into the house, He permitted no one to go [
s]in except [
t]Peter, James, and John, and the father and mother of the girl. 52 Now all wept and mourned for her; but He said, “Do not weep; she is not dead, but sleeping.” 53 And they ridiculed Him, knowing that she was dead.
54 But He [
u]put them all outside, took her by the hand and called, saying, “Little girl, arise.” 55
Then her spirit returned, and she arose immediately. And He commanded that she be given something to eat. 56 And her parents were astonished, but He charged them to tell no one what had happened.
Hebrews 12
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares
us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the [
a]author and [
b]finisher of
our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
The Discipline of God
3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. 4 You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. 5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:
“My son, do not despise the [
c]chastening of the Lord,
Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
6 For whom the Lord loves He chastens,
And scourges every son whom He receives.”
7 If[
d] you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected
us, and we paid
them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened
us as seemed
best to them, but He for
our profit, that
we may be partakers of His holiness. 11 Now no [
e]chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Renew Your Spiritual Vitality
12 Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.
14 Pursue peace with all
people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: 15 looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; 16 lest there
be any fornicator or [
f]profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. 17 For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.
The Glorious Company
18 For you have not come [
g]to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and [
h]darkness and tempest, 19 and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard
it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. 20 (For they could not endure what was commanded: “And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned [
i]or shot with an arrow.” 21 And so terrifying was the sight
that Moses said, “I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.”)
22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, 23 to the [j]general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.
Hear the Heavenly Voice
25 See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more
shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who
speaks from heaven, 26 whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I [
k]shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” 27 Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.
28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we [
l]may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29 For our God
is a consuming fire.
