The problem with 'soul sleepers' is that there are several passages in the bible that flatly contradicts the idea that at death, all consciousness is extinguished. And while they have no trouble whatsoever in claiming that the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus is only figurative, they do not apply this same logic to the scriptures that refer to death as "sleep". From a physical point of view, yes, someone who has died looks like they're asleep, but according to other passages in both the OT and the NT, I would assert that these are referring to the physical body, not the spiritual body.
Genesis tells us that at creation that God infused the physical body with the 'breath of life'. It was only at this point that Adam became a live, physical human being. Then there is the example of Elijah raising the widow's son from the dead.
"And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again. And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived" (1 Kings 17:21-22). This passage specifically says that the child's soul "came into him again."
Then there is the conversation between King Saul and Samuel. We all know the story: King Saul goes undercover to the witch of Endor and asks her to summon up Samuel for him so he can find out what's going to happen to him. Sure enough, the witch was able to bring up Samuel (much to her own surprise. Perhaps her name was Oda Mae Brown?). Witnesses claim that it was really Satan that Saul was conversing with (and they even put quotations around the name "Samuel" in the NWT to try and show that it wasn't really Samuel), but if that were the case, why does the scripture not say that it was a demon? It doesn't and I think the logical conclusion is because it was really Samuel that Saul was talking to.
Soul Sleep promoters will inevitably use Psalm 6:5, which says, “For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks” and Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10, “For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. . . . Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, where you are going”.
In his book Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, Vol. 2, R.L. Harris says:
If this interpretation of sheol is correct [that it means “grave” where the body is placed], its usage does not give us a picture of the state of the dead in gloom, darkness, chaos, or silence, unremembered, unable to praise God, knowing nothing. Such a view verges on unscriptural soul sleep. Rather, this view gives us a picture of a typical Palestinian tomb, dark, dusty, with mingled bones and where "this poor lisping stammering tongue lies silent in the grave." All the souls of men do not go to one place. But all people go to the grave. As to the destiny of the souls of men in the intermediate state, the OT says little. Actually the NT says little too, but what it says is decisive..."(Chicago: The Moody Bible Institute, 1980, 893.)
Reniabator said: What was Jesus's view of the dead?
Indeed. What was Jesus' view of the dead? If he truly believed that at death, all consciousness was extinguished, there should be absolutely no indication from either Jesus or his disciples of anything else. Yet there are several scriptures that indicate that Jesus believed that something survived the physical death. What was the last thing he said before he died?
"Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!" and then "he yielded up his spirit" or as some say "he gave up the ghost" (Luke 23:46; Mt 27:50).
Now soul-sleepers will then say "But Jesus didn't go to heaven the day he died as the bible says he was in the grave for 3 days." Yes, his body was in the grave for 3 days, but not his spirit. As he was dying, he told the thief next to him:
"Verily I say unto you today you will be with me in Paradise." Once again, soul-sleepers will assert that the punctuation should go after the word "today", which is absurd and based on nothing but their own preconceived idea that nothing survives physical death. In no other case when Jesus used the phrase "Verily I say unto you" did he include the word "today" in the phrase as it would be pointless. Would he say "Truly I tell you tomorrow" or "Truly I tell you yesterday"? The point Jesus was making is that he was promising the man that he would be with him in Paradise that very day. If Jesus were referring to a future Paradise on earth (where the man would not even be with Jesus), then how was this man's fate any different than that of the other evildoer who did not show any faith? As far as I know, the WTS does not teach that the other man would not get a resurrection, so if that's the case, this entire conversation between Jesus and the evildoer would be utterly pointless.
There are other scriptures too that indicate Jesus' followers believed in a life after death as well. When Stephen was dying, Acts 7:59-60 tells us:
"And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." And when he had said this, he fell asleep."
This passage correlates with Ecclesiastes 12:7 which also describes that the physical body indeed dies, while the spirit goes on: "and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it."
The Apostle Paul also clearly shows that he fully expected to be with Jesus after he died:
"We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord" (2 Co 5:6-8). "I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account" (Philippians 1:23-24).
If Paul had believed in soul-sleep, then I truly doubt he would have ever made these statements.
Another excellent example is the appearance of Moses and Elijah during the Transfiguration. Both Moses and Elijah had shuffled off this mortal coil centuries before yet this passage shows them appearing and conversing with Jesus:
Luke 9:29-31: And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem."
Wow. Either it was really Moses and Elijah that appeared or gee, maybe it was Satan again masquerading as the living again eh? 
All in all, there are countless scriptures that teach that something survives the physical death. Now whether this actually happens or not is another story. My point in posting this is to show that from a biblical point of view, the soul or spirit indeed goes on.