Where are the Dead?
Ezra Milligan, D.D., writes about the intermediate state as a scripture soloist, avoiding common Christian doctrines of the status of a departed soul. Printed in 1920.
“...the glorified Son of Man teaches first of all that the authority, power and control over Hades and death are absolutely in His hand. Such is the meaning of His having the keys. But further, it is also revealed, that the captivity of Hades and death was still continued; that the souls of many of His redeemed still remained in the prison house to which others, of like character, were yet to be brought; for if this were not true; if Hades and death were already abolished, then, it would matter little who had the keys, and there would be no significance whatever in the assurance Jesus gives when He said: “I have the keys of Hades and of death.”
“...the glorified Son of Man teaches first of all that the authority, power and control over Hades and death are absolutely in His hand. Such is the meaning of His having the keys. But further, it is also revealed, that the captivity of Hades and death was still continued; that the souls of many of His redeemed still remained in the prison house to which others, of like character, were yet to be brought; for if this were not true; if Hades and death were already abolished, then, it would matter little who had the keys, and there would be no significance whatever in the assurance Jesus gives when He said: “I have the keys of Hades and of death.”