Page:The Last Judgement and Second Coming of the Lord Illustrated.djvu/118

 real character in the grave of a profession; their grave, when they die, they take with them into the world of spirits; and it is in this grave that they hear the voice of the Judge, and learn their sentence. The word that He speaketh, the same will judge them in the last day.

The external character, which does not agree with a man's internal life, is spoken of in the Scripture as a grave. Not only is this the case with those who simulate a virtue which they do not possess, but also with those who are beset with unfavourable surroundings and yet have within them nobler sentiments and a purer love. Thus when David was delivered from some affliction which distressed him, he exclaimed, "O Lord, Thou hast brought up my soul from the grave;" and here it is important to notice that it is the rescue of the soul, and not the body which is spoken of. When the Israelites were enduring captivity in Babylon, that also is spoken of as a grave; for the Lord, in promising deliverance, said, "Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, and shall put my Spirit in you, and ye shall live." Hence it is quite plain, that there are other graves besides those of pits in the earth, or holes in the rocks, in which dead bodies are interred.

This fact will aid us in understanding a very remarkable case, which is related to have occurred at the time of the Lord's resurrection. It is written, "that the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many."