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Please turn your hymnals to number 716. And the reason why I'm going to do that is the Apostles' Creed is found in the back of your hymnals, along with the Nicene Creed that I would affirm regularly when I was growing up in the Lutheran Church.
And tonight we want to ask the question, where did Jesus go when He died, specifically, when did Jesus descend into hell? I've been answering Bible questions for maybe 20 years now, 22 years, and this one regularly comes up.
Most people know the Apostles' Creed. How many people maybe couldn't recite it by memory, but are pretty familiar with the Apostles' Creed? Coming from a high church background, mainline background, maybe Protestant, maybe Roman Catholic, we know the Apostles' Creed.
And I'm just going to read it. They did change one word in our version here in the hymnal. This is the Hymnal 95 version, like the NAS 95. It must be the Apostles' Creed. I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell, or as this text reads, Hades.
He descended into Hades. The third day, He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead, the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Christian Church, literally the Apostles' Creed is Catholic Church with a small c, meaning universal, not Roman Catholic, but the universal church. We believe in more churches than just ours.
The communion of the saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting, the life everlasting. Amen. So here, this Apostles' Creed is the one we have in front of us. That's why I chose that one.
But two places that I see they changed it, the Holy Christian Church, because they didn't want to confuse you with Roman Catholic, and also, He descended into hell. What does that mean, and is it true?
That's what we're going to look at tonight. So now let's take our Bibles, please, and turn to 1 Peter 3. I'm going to read verses 18 through 22, and we're going to exposit these verses, or I will exposit them.
But first, I'm going to give you quite a bit of historical background. I wouldn't normally do this on a Sunday. It'd probably sound too much like I'm giving a lot of data without sticking close to the text.
In preaching classes, I tell the men, time to text. And I grade them every time on how fast they get actually into the text, because I want them to stand up here, give an introduction, secure interest, get your attention, and get to the text right away, because we're not focused on preaching ourselves.
2 Corinthians 4, verse 6 says, we don't proclaim ourselves. We're to present to you Christ Jesus as Lord. And if you don't talk about the Lord, you'll talk about something else. But tonight, I think it's helpful, because it'll be a little historical background, and what it doesn't mean, he descended to hell, and then we'll look at what it does mean.
And it's a very fascinating text. I think you'll be finding it of interest at least, and then we'll move on. If I can get to what the age of accountability is tonight, I will. I'm not so sure I can get there.
Just get me through the next meal. 1 Peter 3, verse 18, for Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons were brought safely through water.
Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.
That's going to be our passage tonight. But first, I'm going to give you some historical background, what descended into hell does it mean, and then what it does mean. And hold on, we'll end up getting back to the text.
But like I said, I want to give you some background. The clause in the Apostles' Creed, he descended into hell, in Latin, is called the Descendant Clause. Simple, because that sounds like what it is, he descended into hell.
And we know that the Apostles' Creed, well, maybe we don't know, true or false, the Apostles' Creed was written by the apostles. False. Probably 4th century creed, known as the Old Roman Creed. And some denominations will not say the words, and he descended into hell.
It's controversial. What does it mean he descended into hell? Wayne Grudem is an advocate of taking that clause out of the creed altogether. Wayne Grudem is a pretty balanced theologian. A 3rd century Syrian creed said Jesus, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate and departed in peace, in order to preach to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the saints concerning the end of the world and the resurrection of the dead.
And so he'd go someplace, that doesn't sound like hell, he'd go someplace, according to the Syriac creed, to preach to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Bishop Peacock, in the mid -15th century, said, this completely is anti-Christian.
He descended into hell. And on the flip side, the Heidelberg Catechism said, this is an undoubted part of the Christian faith. Now, if you're not careful, you'd think, well, you know what, there's balance is good.
But not necessarily. Vitsias, Hermann Vitsias, it looks like a witsias, but it's a vitsias. 1600 said Christ's descent was, quote, one of the most mysterious, essential, and useful doctrines of our holy religion.
So it's controversial, but it's useful. John Calvin said, this much is certain, that it reflected the common belief of all the godly, for there is no one of the fathers who does not mention in his writings, Christ's descent into hell.
So there's different opinions, it's important, and the church fathers wrote about Christ's ascending into hell. Calvin goes on to say, though their interpretations vary. If it is left out, much of the benefit of Christ's death will be lost.
He descended into hell. Now, I'm going to stop, because some of you look kind of just, you know, dizzy almost. What does it mean? Did Christ descend into hell? And if so, what did he do there? Anyone?
Okay, well, at least you're paying attention more now. So that's good. The Roman Catholic Church, their catechism, I just the other day went to a place, and they were giving out free books, and I looked over, and there was a brand new Roman Catholic catechism, in which it says, Jesus descended into the lower parts of the earth.
He who descended is he who also ascended far above the heavens. The Apostles' Creed confesses in the same article, Christ's descent into hell, and his resurrection from the dead on the third day. Raised from the dead, the Roman Catholics teach in Catechism 632, it presupposes that the crucified one sojourned into the realm of the dead prior to his resurrection.
So here's what's happening. Jesus dies on the cross. While his body is still on the cross, his spirit goes someplace. Where did it go, and what did he do? If he went to hell, what happened? If he went to Sheol, what happened?
It's a fascinating topic. Joyce Myers has a view of this in her booklet, The Most Important Decision You Will Ever Make. It says that Jesus had to suffer in hell to atone for our sins and to be born again.
Now, if you're a sinner, you need to be born again. Jesus never sinned, but that's never stopped Joyce Myers from saying blasphemous things. During that time, Joyce Myers says, page 35 and 36 of her book, The Most Important Decision You Will Ever Make, during that time, Jesus entered hell where you and I deserve to go legally because of our sin.
He paid the price there. No plan was too extreme. Jesus paid on the cross and in hell. God rose up from his throne and said to the demon powers tormenting the sinless Son of God, let him go. Then the resurrection power of Almighty God went through hell and filled Jesus.
He was resurrected from the dead, the first born again man. Is that true? Jesus didn't go to hell to be born again because he didn't need to be born again. He was sinless. Joyce says, Jesus said it is finished.
He meant the old covenant. The job he had to do was just getting started. First of all, just between us girls, don't get any of your theology from people on TV. If there's a preacher on TV, you should just put up some kind of wall of invisible, like, you know, just protection.
Of course, now with cable TV, it's different because you could probably get some good preaching. I think probably even John MacArthur's on TV. But I'm talking about the Trinity Broadcasting Network and those kind of places.
When Jesus said it is finished, friends, it was finished. I know that because the Father then raised him from the dead. Joyce Meyer, again with the wrong view of what it means to go to hell, said, believe that Jesus did what the Bible says.
Believe he is indeed the Son of God. He took man's sin himself. He entered hell where you and I deserve to go because of our sins. This is exactly the kind of thing that Kenneth Copeland teaches. The wrong view.
When you say Jesus has to go to hell to do something regarding atonement, that means what he did on the cross is not enough. And I don't like it when people say what Jesus did on the cross didn't do the work that God sent him to do.
I want to be kinder. I think I'm probably nicer than I used to be. For those of you that just met me, you're like, well, I don't know how that could be. But I get mad when people say what Jesus did on the cross wasn't enough.
You should contend for the faith. You say, well, you know what? I'm a lover, not a fighter. Well, Kenneth Copeland said when Jesus cried, it is finished, he was not speaking of the plan of redemption.
There were still three days and nights to go through before he went to the throne. Jesus' death on the cross was only the beginning of the complete work of redemption. Copeland, all the host of hell, he writes wrongly here, but I'll just quote him, was upon him.
Upon him. They got him. They got him down on the floor, and they got him, and they were laughing and mocking. Sunday morning, here comes the sun. Sunday morning, God gets himself together. Hoo-hoo! Justice has been met.
By the way, that's written in the text there. Hoo-hoo. I didn't do that. Somehow, the thing's been taken care of, and oh, God gets his voice together, and he hollers out three words, and they go roaring through the universe and entering the gates of hell.
He said, it's enough, it's enough. That's enough of Copeland, as far as I'm concerned. If you want to teach heresy and you can't back it up biblically, then you say, like Joyce Meyer does, angels told her to say it.
Now, spirits don't have bodies, so we can't see them. Okay, there probably is. I believe there is. And I certainly hope there are several angels up here this morning that are preaching with me. I believe that right before I speak some anointed statement to you, that one of them bends over and says in my ear what I'm supposed to say to you.
This view, friends, of Jesus descending into hell to further pay for things because what he did on the cross wasn't enough is called the punishment view. It's the wrong view. There's another view. It's called the second chance view.
Jesus goes down into hell, or Hades, to give a second chance to people who have died without Christ. He goes down there to preach the gospel to them and says, you didn't believe on earth, but if you believe now, you get to go to heaven.
What's wrong with that view? Well, everything's wrong with it. It violates the justice of God. Hebrews 9, verse 27, it's appointed for man twice to die and then the single judgment. Once to die, but after that comes judgment.
John 3 .18, see, aren't you glad you come Sunday nights? When I was at Grace Church, I loved the Sunday nights. They're just more casual. He who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
No second chances. There's a third option. This is a very common option, by the way, that when the Apostles' Creed, we're going to get to the text, don't worry, says that Jesus descended into hell, it's just a synonym for him to be buried.
When you say he descended into hell, it's equal to saying he went into the grave. Zwingli said that if he had not died and been buried, who would believe that he is very man? For the very same reason the apostolic fathers added to the creeds the word, he descended into hell.
They are used to signify the reality of his death. So when you say Jesus descended into hell, he was buried. And by the way, do we believe he was buried? Obviously. This is 1 Corinthians 15, verse 3. The Westminster Catechism, larger catechism, question 50, wherein consists Christ's humiliation after his death?
In being buried, which has otherwise been expressed in the words, he descended into hell. So this isn't really a kooky view. Lots of people believe this. There's another view, it's called the symbolic view.
The symbolic view. This view explains this clause as Jesus suffering the agonies of hell during the entire state of his humiliation, but especially on the cross. There's another wrong view called Jesus goes to Abraham's bosom view, that's what I call it, and lets out the Old Testament saints.
How many people were taught this? I was taught it, Abraham's bosom. And they would teach it to me, and I would look at the text, and I'm just like, I just have no idea how you get this, and now maybe I know why.
The saints that died before Christ's work went to a special place. It wasn't purgatory. It wasn't hell. It was called Abraham's bosom. Catholics teach this. Anglicans teach this. The saints await full salvation because Jesus had to do his work.
And they were in a little kind of paradise place, and over here is punishment and Gehenna. But it wasn't total heaven yet. I don't think that's true. My particular view, I'm the only one that ever believes this view though, so this is my own particular view.
By the way, when your pastor does that, I probably wouldn't believe him. It's a hermeneutical rule, and here's the rule. It's the rule of checking. Why do you check yourself against other theologians?
If I come up with something that no one else has ever taught, could I possibly be right? I possibly could, but knowing me like you know me, the answer is I wouldn't be right. So what you do is you check with other theologians, and then you think, okay, by the way, that's why you quote people when you speak, if you ever teach the Bible.
Why do you quote people? One, because they say it better than you do, and two, or two, because you want to lend authority. You want to say, well, this guy believed it. So my view is the pronouncement of triumph view, the pronouncement of triumph.
What Jesus did, he pronounced a great triumph. Let's find out if that's in fact true from 1 Peter 3, 18 and following. Time to text tonight? Pretty long. It's okay. Now, when we come to a book like 1 Peter, before we just zoom into verse 18 of chapter 3, wouldn't it be wise for us to figure out what Peter is about, 1 Peter?
If you're in my IBS class, I would say to you, I want every book of the Bible to be in your grasp mentally. In other words, if I told you why was Ephesians written, you should be able to tell me, and that will help you interpret Ephesians.
And if you ask yourself the question, why was Peter written, you would say what? Why is 1 Peter written? The answer will help us. This is a very, very difficult question. One man said, notoriously difficult.
This is the kind of passage that reminds me of Peter's statement about Paul's writing. Remember in 2 Peter 3, 16? Also, in all his letters, speaking of them, of these things in which are some things hard to understand.
That's what Peter writes of some of Paul's things. If only Paul now could write back and say, Peter, it works for you as well because 1 Peter 3, 18 -22 is tough. This book teaches scattered Christians how to suffer like Jesus suffers.
Jesus suffers, Christians suffer. Submit to the suffering that God has given to you because Jesus also suffered. That's the context. And the immediate context, look at verse 14 of chapter 3. Even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed.
Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. Yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience so that when you're slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ might be put to shame.
For it's better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than doing evil. Peter is writing and he's saying, Jesus suffered, you suffer as well. Jesus suffered and was then eventually exalted.
There's the cross and then there's a crown. There's the cross, then there's the glory. Christians, you're getting persecuted, you're getting killed. Nero is taking some Christians we know, putting tar on them, jamming them on a spike, lighting them on fire so that they would be lighting up his parties.
They've uncovered some of Nero's palace in Rome. Has anybody ever been there? And when I walked around the ruins, it's near the Colosseum, I just kept thinking of gross, Christ-hating, Christian-killing Nero.
And he would have these kind of goblets jammed full of flamingo tongues. Why? Because he could. How many flamingos do you have to kill to have a big goblet full of flamingo tongues? And so if you're suffering, you say, you know what?
I want relief, but I need to do something differently, and that is if I look to Jesus, He suffered and then God exalted Him, there's going to be exaltation eventually take courage. That is why when you look at verse 18 of chapter 3, for Christ also suffered, or some translations, died.
That's the tie-in. The for brings us back to verses 13 through 17. It's God's will for Christians to suffer. How do you suffer well? And when you look at the suffering Jesus went through, is there any comparison?
It reminds me of Hebrews 12. You haven't resisted to the point of shedding blood and you're striving against sin. So Peter paints the example of Jesus' suffering before the people. So suffer well like Jesus.
You're suffering, yes, but Jesus also suffered. And that's exactly what the text says. Verse 18, for Christ also suffered. That's the tie-in to the last verse, or died. It means the same thing, sacrificial, substitutionary atonement.
For sins once. Suffered once for sins. With reference to sins, He suffered once. Once and for all, not having to be repeated. And the language of substitution goes on. The righteous, who's the righteous one?
Jesus, or the just, for the unjust. The just one for the unjust ones. Substitutionary atonement. For what purpose? With what in mind? The text goes on, that He might bring us to God. God had a personal relationship with every person before they were saved.
And it was one of judge, jury, executioner. It was a very personal relationship because they personally, I personally, you personally, sinned against God. And that created a barrier. Sin creates a barrier.
And now, because of what Jesus did, we have a friendly relationship with Him. What the text says, that He might bring us to God. This is language that if you walk into the king's palace, and they say, oh please come with us and I'll just escort you into the king's presence.
That's this language here. This is also the language of spooky, mystery cults, where they try to initiate you behind the scenes so you can meet the goddess. Access to God because of Christ's substitutionary death.
Now, here's where we come to our passage tonight. Being put to death in the flesh, was Jesus' body dead hanging on the cross? His body was in the state of hanging on the cross. That's where His body was and everybody knew that.
Centurion knew that. But, made alive in the state of being alive in the Spirit. Did Jesus' body cease to have air going through it via His lungs? Yes, but did Jesus' Spirit cease? The answer is no. The human nature of Jesus is dead, but Jesus still is alive.
The inner life of Jesus, His own Spirit. MacArthur says the phrase made alive in the Spirit refers to the life of Jesus' Spirit, not to the Holy Spirit. Some think made alive in the Spirit refers to Jesus' resurrection, but that would necessitate a statement like He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the flesh.
He did experience spiritual death, not cessation of existence, but separation from God. Jesus died on the cross. And His Spirit was separated as well? If you mean separation, yes, but not cessation. What happens?
His Spirit's alive, and what did He do? Verse 19, here it is. Here is the passage that Martin Luther said. There's no more obscure passage, perhaps, than any other in all the Bible, and so I have no idea what this means, Martin Luther.
If Luther doesn't know, here's what you're thinking. If Luther doesn't know, you know. In which He, body's dead, Spirit's alive, in which His Spirit goes and proclaims to the spirits in prison. Now that part's true, but what does it mean?
That's the question. A few different options. So His Spirit's alive and He goes and proclaims to the spirits in prison. That Jesus goes, and He goes down to the netherworld, and He preaches to the people that died in the days of Noah's flood.
You say, how do you get that? Well, there is talk in verse 20, isn't there, about Noah and God's patience waiting in the days of Noah? So you die in the flood, you're trying to crawl your way up into the ark.
By the way, a side note with the new movie, Noah. I don't know if I'll see it or not, but one thing it has made me do as I've watched the previews, you just think about the people once that door is shut by God and the people trying to claw their way in, and the moms and the babies and the grandpas.
He goes to the spirits who died during the time of the flood to preach to them. I don't think that can work. Another interpretation is, Jesus' spirit, that is the Holy Spirit, is using Noah as a mouthpiece, and Noah is preaching to the people, repent and believe, judgment's coming, so it's the Holy Spirit, Christ's Spirit, preaching through Noah.
I don't think that really works either. Jesus goes to Abraham's bosom, that's an idea. But what about these spirits in prison? Doesn't it tell us to whom he goes? And he proclaimed to the spirits in prison.
Who were those spirits? How'd they get there? Let me try to make this difficult thing as simple as I can by answering three basic questions. When did he preach? What did he preach? To whom did he preach?
So let's answer those three questions tonight, and if we have that, there'll be victory. When did he preach? This is a simple one. Between his death and resurrection. He went. Doesn't the text say that?
He went. It's a word that means he personally went someplace. It doesn't say Christ preached through Noah to the people of his day. Jesus went. What did he preach? He proclaimed. Now, there's two words.
Well, there's lots of words for proclaim and preach. One word proclaim means hear ye, hear ye, hear ye, hear ye. Listen up. Pay more taxes. I've got an announcement. There's another message that says I have good news of salvation.
If you'll lay down your arms and repent and believe and believe in the Gospel, you'll have your sins forgiven. Evangelion. What's that sound like to you? Evangelism. There's a word that means to evangelize.
Here's good news. Sins forgiven. Clemency for sinners. And there's another word that just says here's a proclamation. I'm going to declare to you some facts. Which word do you think is used here? Preaching general news could be news of destruction, could be news of victory, could be news of angelic proclamation, or I have good news that if you just believe you're going to go to heaven.
Which one? It's proclamation. This is not the word for preaching the Gospel. It is kerusto. It is not to preach the Gospel. What did he do? Okay, Jesus himself went, and what did he do? He went and proclaimed something.
What do you think he proclaimed? I need to be born again now in hell. What do you think he proclaimed? Somebody's given me an answer at least. Victory. We're going to see that in just a minute. One scholar said, Christ went to preach a triumphant sermon before his resurrection Sunday morning.
The verb translated, make proclamation, kerusto, refers to making a triumphal announcement. In ancient times, a herald would precede generals and kings in celebration of military victories, announcing to all the victories won in battle.
He didn't go there to evangelize people. He went to say, I won. I'm alive. Victory. Ray Pritchard writes, I personally believe that Jesus preached to these demonic spirits and proclaimed his victory over them.
The word preach means to make a public announcement. So who went Jesus? What did he say? Victory. But, most difficultly, who are the spirits in prison? Verse 19. He proclaimed to the spirits in prison.
Verse 20 helps us. Because they, these spirits, formerly didn't obey. Disobedient spirits. When God's patience waited in the days of Noah while the ark was being prepared. Who are these disobedient spirits that Jesus preaches victory to?
Friends, these are fallen angels. They're not good angels because they would be what kind of angels? What kind of spirits? Obedient. These are disobedient spirits. Jesus descended into hell, to use the language of the creed, and proclaimed victory over demonic spirits.
Now, you know what? I'll just tell you right off the bat. This is weird. It's hard to believe, in a sense. But I just have to take the Bible at face value. And I want you to see a couple of verses that will help you.
2 Peter 2, verse 4, please. Turn there. Let's find out about these fallen angels, these demon spirits in prison. Some demon spirits are around now. Some did something so bad during Noah's time, they had to go down and be incarcerated.
Jesus goes to those special demons and proclaims, I'm alive. 2 Peter 2, verses 4 and 5. For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell or Tartarus, putting them into gloomy dungeons, or pits of darkness, to be held for judgment, if He did not spare the ancient world when He brought the flood of its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others.
Turn with me, if you would, to the book of Jude. Jude is a good cross-reference for this very passage. Jude, verse 6. The angels, who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, He has kept in eternal chains under a gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day.
Jesus' body is dead. His spirit is alive. He goes down to this compartment, call it hell, call it Tartarus, and says, I'm alive. Victory. Yeah, but what about these demons? What did they do? Want to make it more complicated?
That's why people ask this question, is because it stumped the pastor time. These were the demons that cohabitated with women in Noah's day. Okay, why don't we just close in prayer right now? Ruth is so much easier, isn't it?
So much easier. Now, I should probably reserve that for a question on its own. But with Jude 6 and 2 Peter, let me take you to one other passage. Genesis, chapter 6, please. Remember, the language of 1 Peter 3 is stuff that goes on around Noah's day.
What happened around Noah's day? Angels didn't keep their proper domain, Jude 6, 2 Peter 2. They did something that they're not supposed to. These angels were cast into hell because they did something so bad.
Not all the demons were cast into this hell or this Tartarus, this holding tank. But these were. What is so bad that you get cast into some kind of pre-hell hell? What did these do that was so bad that Jesus, in between the death and resurrection, goes to them and say, your plan is foiled.
I'm alive. Genesis 6, verse 1, Now it came about when men began to multiply in the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they took wives for themselves.
You say, that's the sons of Seth. Are you sure? Sons of God always refers to angels in the Old Testament. Job 1, Job 2, Job 38, Daniel 3. The word fallen ones or Nephilim isn't the word for a large, giant man.
Rapha. Goliath wasn't named this. Goliath was a Rapha. He wasn't a Nephilim. The church always believed this. Jews like Josephus believed it. Verse 4 of Genesis 6, The Nephilim were on earth in those days.
And afterwards, when the sons of God came into the daughters of men, and they bore children of them, those were the mighty men who were of old men of renown. Now here's what's happening, if this view is correct, and I wouldn't stake my life on this view, but I think I'm right.
Satan and his hordes are trying to confuse the human race, so the Messiah, who has to be a representative, a blood relative, a kinsman redeemer, so everything's all messed up. The seed for the promised Messiah, or the seed of the promised Messiah, back in Genesis 3, three chapters earlier, is going to be destroyed.
And you say, no, no, no, no. For in the resurrection, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. Friends, just to be nice about it, that verse doesn't have anything to do with this context.
Because angels often show up as men, and men think Genesis 18 and 19. I want to take you to one other passage. Go to Colossians chapter 2, please. We can argue about this some other time. I don't think it's a matter of you're a Christian or not, depending on your view of the Nephilim and these demons who have kind of this weird, satanically engineered sex with women so that the Messiah won't work.
But we know whatever these people did, or these angels did, God wiped them out in a flood. It was that bad. Colossians chapter 2, verse 15, is kind of our ending here for this discussion about what Jesus did.
And I think Paul helps us in Colossians 2, verse 15, when it says in the verse, when he had disarmed the rulers and authorities, Jesus made a public display of them. You know what this word means? To shame someone publicly.
It means to embarrass someone. Expose to public shame. And I think this verse is describing what Jesus did between His death and His resurrection. To make an exhibit of them having triumphed over them through Him.
You thought I was crushed and vanquished, and I am alive. When did this happen? How did it happen? When He disarmed the rulers at the cross, stripping the enemies of all their power. It is finished. He makes a public display and then He's triumphed over them through a victory triumph.
He didn't drive down in a chariot and tell them He won, but that's the kind of language it would be. Victory procession. Public display. What did you used to do if you got some people captive in a Roman conquest, in a triumph?
You would just strip them down and you'd march them in front of everybody, kind of naked, and make an embarrassing shame out of them. That's the idea. So, when the Bible says that Jesus descended in verse 18 of 1 Peter 3, it doesn't say He descended into hell, but I buy it.
I'd buy it if they mean the Apostles' Creed, descended into hell means He really died and was buried. Okay. Westminster Confession, fine. But I think He descended into hell to go make a public proclamation to the demon spirits who had cohabitated with women in Genesis chapter 6 to destroy the seed of the Messiah, to make the race unredeemable.
And these wicked spirits were so disobedient and so egregious in their sin that God puts them in a holding tank called Tartarus, called a hell in the Creed. And now Jesus, after He dies and makes atonement and makes it efficient and makes it proper, then He goes down to this place and then embarrasses them publicly.
Now, that's a mouthful. That's why you get asked that question all the time. And when I ever get asked that question, I think, it's going to take me 45 minutes to explain it. Do yourself a favor. Read some study Bibles on Genesis 6 and you'll see the different views.
MacArthur's got some different views there. ESV study Bible, NIV study Bible, and you'll quickly see I'm not trying to make up some kind of weird thing and fly to California for counseling. I'm not doing that.
We do know Jesus was alive and He did something. And then you say, well, yeah, what about the thief on the cross? What about Him? Today, I'll be with you in paradise. Or you'll be with me in paradise.
His body's on the cross. We know that. His Spirit is alive. On the third day, they're reunited and He's raised from the dead. Literally, we know that. So what did He do in between? Lots of things we probably don't know.
But He made a proclamation to the spirits who were in prison because of the days of Noah and in the days of Noah. We do know that much. It says in verse 21 of 1 Peter 3, I guess we can go back there and just finish it up because I know you're going to ask me questions about this too.
As Peter tries to compare salvation in Noah's ark and baptism, I just want you to realize this has nothing to do with washing water. You don't get saved by baptism water. That doesn't save. It says here, 1 Peter 3 .21, Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you.
ESV Study Bible says believers are saved through the waters of judgment since baptism portrays salvation through judgment. But baptism itself does not save. As an appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God with the good angels, authorities, powers having been subjected to him.
Okay. Well, we don't have time for the age of accountability, but there's plenty to talk about next time. Let's pray. Father in heaven, thank you for our time tonight as we think about what your son has done.
And one thing we know for sure that he died once for our sins and we are very thankful that we would all admit, I'm sure we'd all admit that we were unrighteous and we would admit and confess gladly that Jesus was the righteous one.
We're thankful that his victory was complete and we are just glad we're not on the receiving end of such a proclamation. Father, bless Bethlehem Bible Church. Bless the speakers at the Shepherd's Conference, I pray, Father.
And even this week as I've interacted with certain pastors who are really struggling, I pray that you would come alongside of them and encourage them like you've encouraged me at this church. I pray this in Jesus' name.