2 WHERE ARE THE DEAD?
problem and to catch a glimpse of the unknown beyond. None
have returned to answer us.
Where are the dead? Unanswered yet, we leave the grave,
and turn to ask the living, those learned men who claim to know.
But they do not agree. Some declare that the dead are still alive,
that death is but an opening door into a larger life; others say
they are asleep, unconscious, in their graves. Some affirm that
they know far more than when they were alive; while others
say they know not anything. Some say they are in bliss, around
the throne of God; others, that they are in purgatory, doing pen-
ance for their sins; while still others tell us they are resting in
their graves until the resurrection. But not all these conflicting
claims can be right. Whom shall we believe? What is the truth?
Only the Bible Has the Answer
Where are the dead? Unanswered still, we turn away from
man-made creeds to ask the word of God. Surely here we must
find an answer to our questions, or they must forever remain un-
. solved. God must tell us, or we can never know. His word alone
can draw aside the veil and tell what is beyond the grave. With-
out this Word, we are adrift. Nature is silent. Science has
proved itself a blank on this momentous question, and learned
men do not agree. With eagerness we turn to read the Sacred
‘Book. Its word to us will be the end of all controversy. Gladly
we will lay aside all preconceived ideas. To its decision we will.
yield.
Where are the dead? What answer does the Bible give? That
living Word makes this reply: “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, whither thou goest.”
Ecclesiastes 9: 10. Such language is easily understood. We go
~ to the grave. Neither to heaven, nor to hell, nor yet to purga-
tory, but to the grave, we go at death. And there we shall remain
until the resurrection day; for says the Word, “The hour is com-
ing, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice,
and shall come forth.” John 5:28, 29. The dead are in the
graves. These are the Master’s words; and He knows, for He
holds the key. He passed through the gates of death; and “the
graves were opened; and many ‘bodies of the saints which slept
arose, and came out of the graves after His resurrection, and
went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.” Matthew
27:52, 53. These saints who arose with Christ “came out of the
graves,” it will be noticed, and not down from heaven. They had
been in the graves. This surely is apparent to all.