The Gospel of John: The King in His Death (2)

First Baptist Church Leominster

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He was concerned that they had been departing from the gospel, the gospel of justification by grace through faith alone, the doctrine that you're sanctified also by grace through faith.

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And they were embracing legalism, that they were saved by faith in Christ plus by works of the law, that somehow they would merit salvation.

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And so he's concerned about them. In fact, he was concerned about their salvation.

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If they went down that path, they'd prove they were never truly converted. And so he said he was as though he were in anguish of childbirth all over again until Christ was formed in them.

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We're not concerned about just gaining professions of faith. We want to see people transformed and give evidence of new life in Christ.

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And that is a lifelong change that takes place, it's not temporary. No promise of God for temporary faith, that's not saving faith, is not heavenly born faith.

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And then, of course, Paul declares that we are like Isaac, we're the promised children of Abraham through faith like Abraham had.

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And so God shall bless us with the promises of Abraham because we are in Christ, his seed, to whom

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God made these promises. Galatians 4. Galatians chapter 4.

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I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything.

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But he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way, we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world.

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When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons.

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And because you are sons, God has sent the spirit of his son into our hearts, crying

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Abba, Father. So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

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Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.

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But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to become, whose slaves you want to be once more?

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You observe days and months and seasons and years. I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.

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Brothers, I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong.

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You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first, and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus.

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What then has become of your blessedness? For I testify to you that if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me.

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Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth? They make much of you, but for no good purpose.

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They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them. It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and not only when

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I am present with you. My little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,

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I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.

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Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman.

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But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise.

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Now this may be interpreted allegorically. These women are two covenants.

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One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery. She is Hagar. Now Hagar is

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Mount Sinai in Arabia. She corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.

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But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. For it is written, rejoice,

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O barren one who does not bear. Break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor.

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For the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband.

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Now you brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. But just as that time, he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the spirit, so also it is now.

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But what does the scripture say? Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.

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So brothers, we are not children of the slave, but of the free woman. Let's pray.

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Our Heavenly Father, we do rejoice that we are called your children, and that we can call you

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Abba Father. We thank you that not only are you the glorious King of heaven and earth, but you are our

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Father. And we thank you for that relationship. And we pray,

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Lord, that we would understand what it means to be a child of God, that we would live as a child of God, that we would live performing your will.

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And Lord, help us not do this from a legalistic point of view, help us do it out of grateful gratefulness, help us to have an evangelical obedience to your will and to your commands.

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Lord, we thank you for this text of scripture, and we thank you for our study in the book of John, and we pray,

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Lord, that you would direct us to what it has to say. Help us to hear the word of God, help us to apply the word of God, and help us to live it out in our day -to -day lives.

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We pray, Lord, that we would be consistent with the calling to which we have been called. We thank you,

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Lord, in Jesus' name, amen. Well, let's turn to John 19 once again, please.

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By the way,

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Brenda, Bill says put on your mask. I did it,

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Bill. Now, we've given our attention to the death and burial of our

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Lord Jesus as recorded in John's Gospel, and so today I want to read the passage that we addressed last week in some detail.

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So here's John 19, 28 through 42. After this,

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Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, said,

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I thirst. And now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there, and they filled a sponge with sour wine and put it on his hip and put it to his mouth.

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So when Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, it is finished. And bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.

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Therefore, because it was the preparation day that the body should not remain on the cross on the

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Sabbath, for that Sabbath was a high day, the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, that they might be taken away.

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Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with him.

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But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.

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But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.

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And he who has seen has testified, his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth so that you may believe.

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That, of course, is John himself writing. He was an eyewitness. For these things were done that the scripture should be fulfilled.

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Not one of his bones shall be broken. And again, another scripture says, they shall look on him whom they pierced.

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After this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the

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Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate gave him permission.

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And so he came and took the body of Jesus. And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds.

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Then they took the body of Jesus, bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the

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Jews is to bury. And now in the place where he was crucified, there was a garden.

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And in the garden, a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So there they laid

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Jesus because of the Jews' preparation day, for the tomb was nearby.

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Now, when we read the next recorded event, of course, it begins with John 20, verse 1, and following.

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It's early on the first day of the week. And although it's certain that the body of the

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Lord Jesus lied in his tomb from his death when they took him off the cross until his bodily resurrection from the dead,

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John records nothing for us, nor do the other three Gospels, the synoptic

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Gospels, of the state or the place of the soul of Jesus during the time of his death from his crucifixion to his resurrection.

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We might ask ourselves, what was transpiring with the reasonable soul of Jesus as his body lay in the grave?

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But we may ask further, what is the state of all souls who have died through history and whose bodies became lifeless upon the separation and departure of their souls from their bodies, which, of course, took place at death?

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The state of the dead is not an easy subject to understand, yet alone address, but I thought it would be a fitting and suitable matter for us to consider this morning.

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And so, upon the death, the resurrection, chapter 20, but what happened in between?

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Although the body of Jesus was in the tomb, his reasonable soul, of course, was not in the tomb.

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Where was he? What was going on? What did he do during that time?

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And that's what we want to address. And so, we'll address our subject under the following headings today.

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First, we want to say a word about the human body and soul. Secondly, we'll speak about the person of Jesus Christ in his incarnation.

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Of course, he's unique as the God -man. Three, we'll mention just briefly some various views of the state of the soul upon death.

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Fourth, the biblical teaching regarding the state of the soul upon death.

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And then lastly, and we'll probably be rushed by the time we get to this point, what

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Jesus Christ had wrought while his body was in his grave.

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And so, let's work through these matters. First, we need to say a word about the human body and soul.

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Most Christians believe the Bible teaches that a human being is a trinity in his essence.

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That is, a man or woman is comprised of a soul and a spirit and a body.

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And so, these three together constitute a single living individual. But actually, that's a fairly recent assertion by evangelicals.

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It's only been around for 150 years or so, as far as being popular. Most Protestants did not hold this view.

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But rather, they viewed the Bible to teach that a man is a duality, not a trinity. Man is a body and soul.

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And frequently, the scriptures identify the soul to be the spirit. In other words, the soul and the spirit, according to the

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Bible, are one and the same. This better reflects the teaching of the

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Holy Scriptures, we would assert. The physical body is the means through which the soul experiences life and interacts with the world through the five physical senses of the body, sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell.

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The soul, or spirit, depending on the context in which you read, is what animates the body, makes it alive.

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The soul is the true self, which functions in the realm of mind, that is, thinking, and emotions, affections, feelings, and of course, will, the decision aspect of our personality.

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Many Christians fail in that they distinguish the human soul and the human spirit as two separate entities.

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And this is common belief, by the way. Commonly asserted, I hear it all the time. And it is claimed, or said, that the individual is born in sin, is spiritually dead, and what they mean by that is that the spirit is not present because it was extinguished by sin.

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And therefore, a person born into the world is only body and soul.

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But when that person experiences the new birth by the Holy Spirit, God then creates that spirit within the person, and then that person once again becomes a whole person, a triune person, as it were, comprised of body, soul, and spirit.

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The problem with this teaching of the distinction between soul and spirit as two separate parts of a person is that it's not biblical.

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For the Bible does not teach that a person is a trinity of body, soul, and spirit, a trichotomous view, but rather the

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Bible teaches that God has made us a living soul that animates a physical body. The dichotomous view, too.

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The scriptures teach that if a person is void of his spirit, he's dead. And therefore, the idea of a person is born with a body and soul but not a spirit, that is unbiblical itself.

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He's not just spiritually dead, he's physically dead. James 26 reads, For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

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You cannot have a living human being apart from the spirit. And there we would argue spirit and soul are one and the same.

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And so in the Bible, the soul of a person is sometimes referred to as his spirit, in fact, frequently.

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It's commonly found. Why then does God use two different terms, soul and spirit?

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Well, he does so to better describe what a human being is like. When God uses the term soul to describe a person, he is showing the distinctiveness of that man or woman as an individual person with an individual self -identity.

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You are a living soul. You are unique, separate from all others.

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But when God uses the word spirit to refer to a person, God is emphasizing the fact that each of us owe our life to God, that we're spiritual beings.

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God who gave us life and that each of us are dependent upon God who gave us life.

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And our true self is distinct from the body and the idea that you are a spiritual person.

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You are a spirit animating your body carries this idea of the fact you've been created by God and you're accountable to God and you're going to return to God one day.

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This is what the theological notes says in the Reformation Study Bible which we would recommend.

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Each human being in this world consists of a material body, physical body, animated or made alive by an immaterial personal self.

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Scripture calls this self a soul or spirit. Soul emphasizes the distinctness of a person's conscious selfhood.

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I'm a person. Spirit carries the nuances of the soul's derivation derived from God from God and distinctness from the body as such.

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And of course the general editor of the Reformation Study Bible was R .C. Sproul. And so this is a historic reformed understanding of what the scriptures teach.

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I didn't understand this for years. It wasn't until about probably a dozen years ago 15 years ago

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I read this and came to understand this indeed is what the Bible teaches because I had been taught this for years.

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And by the way, good people hold to that view. Charles Spurgeon held to that view. Nobody better than he.

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But in this matter we would say that he was errant. Now, after we consider the matter of the human body and soul, what of Jesus Christ in his incarnation?

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How do we understand that? And of course the person is man.

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And so let's first consider how Jesus Christ is of course eternal God. And the

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Bible in numerous ways and numerous places sets forth Jesus to be God incarnate.

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Jesus Christ of course is the eternal second person of the Holy Trinity the eternal

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Son of God. He didn't become Son of God when he was born in this world. He's eternal

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Son of God from eternity. He's the eternally begotten Son of God.

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There was never a time when he was actually non -begotten who became begotten.

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He's eternally begotten of the Father is what the scriptures teach. And as such, his essence is spirit.

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God has no physical body and is therefore not limited to space.

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Now in the scriptures God will sometimes manifest himself in a visible and physical way but that's just to condescend to us so we can comprehend him a little better.

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It's not a true representation of his entire self but simply an anthropomorphism a means of showing us as human beings what he is like because God is spirit.

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He's not limited to space. God is spirit exists everywhere and God exists everywhere in his fullness.

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He's not part in heaven part here. He's as full right here in this sanctuary right now as he is in heaven because God is spirit.

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He is everywhere in his fullness. There's no place where God is not present and there is no place where God is not present in fullness.

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The wonderful Westminster Shorter Catechism of 1647 states the matter well.

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God is a spirit being wisdom power holiness justice goodness and truth and what is suggested by the truth of that statement that God is spirit it suggests to us that God is personal is a living conscious thinking acting being that God is spirit also declares that God is not physical in his being and so here are the words of Robert Raymond.

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He has a wonderful systematic theology which I found to be very readable and I would encourage it to be read if you're interested in something like that and he wrote about God as spirit the second thing

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God's spiritual nature means is that he is non -corporeal. He doesn't have a body. This may be demonstrated from Luke 24 36 to 43 where in response to the disciples assessment that he

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Jesus is a spirit that's what they thought he's a spirit he's a ghost Jesus said look at my hands and my feet it is

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I myself touch me and see for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see me have.

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Spirit doesn't have a body what does it mean for God to be non -corporeal it means that no property of matter may be ascribed to him he has no extension in space no weight no mass no form no taste no smell he is invisible

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Paul wrote to Timothy and being one in essence without parts is indivisible and this last term denotes what some theologians refer to his simplicity

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Jesus Christ of course is eternal God secondly of course

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Jesus Christ is truly man Jesus Christ is also truly human he was born by Mary deriving his human nature from her he was as every other human person in history that is once the

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Holy Spirit had miraculously enabled Mary to become an expectant mother though she had known no man

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Jesus derived from his mother Mary his human nature and when we speak of human nature we're speaking about the physical body but also the soul the mind the intellect emotions affections feelings and his will

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Jesus Christ is therefore a divine person who joined himself to himself his human nature who remained

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God but also became truly man he wasn't God then became man then went back to being

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God he's God who took upon himself a human nature and today he remains of course truly

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God and truly man more specifically what this means is that Jesus Christ is one person with two natures now that's a simple statement but it took a number of centuries before the

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Christian churches were able to make that statement with certainty and conviction Jesus Christ is one person the eternal second person of the

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Holy Trinity but upon his incarnation that is when he took upon himself human nature he has had two natures since then divine nature and human nature this means he has two separate but conjoined capacities of thought thinks like a man thinks as God emotions and will one is eternal is divine nature the other is temporal it's finite on either end but it was temporal in its beginning he took upon himself human nature and of course exists for eternity it had a beginning but has no end well in the first few centuries of the

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Christian era there were notable persons who stood forth and made errant assertions regarding the identity and the nature of Jesus Christ as God and man and the result was much confusion and error and there are all kinds of proposals made but in time

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God brought together sound churches and their leaders to work through these matters they would have councils and with the

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Holy Scriptures as their guide they refuted corrected error and they crystallized through biblical statements of the person of Christ and so here is the very commonly acknowledged definition and they pronounce it

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Chalcedon and there are several councils of Chalcedon but this is 8451 here it is in agreement then with the holy

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Nicene fathers there was a Nicene council long before we all unanimously teach to confess one and the same son our

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Lord Jesus Christ the same perfect in deity the same perfect in madness truly

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God truly man the same perfect in deity the same of a rational soul and body consubstantial with the father according to the deity and the same consubstantial with us according to the madness like us according to all things except sin begotten of the father before the ages according to the deity and in the last days the same for us and for our salvation born of Mary the

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Virgin the God bearer according to the one and the same

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Christ son Lord only begotten being made known in two natures without confusion without change without division without separation the distinction of the nature is being by no means removed because of the union but rather the property of each nature being preserved and concerning in one person not two persons one person and one subsistence one entity not parted or divided into two persons but one and the same son and only begotten

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God word the Lord Jesus Christ as the prophets of old declared concerning him and the

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Lord Jesus Christ himself has taught us and the niacin creed of our fathers should be plural as our fathers handed down and this is the classic accepted view of Christendom of the person of Jesus Christ Protestants Roman Catholics Greek Orthodox would agree to this statement on the person of Jesus Christ well this declaration of the biblical person of Jesus Christ helps us to better interpret and understand the holy scriptures for example when we declare the truth of Colossians 119 for please the father that in him that is

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Jesus Christ all the folders should dwell we should understand what we're saying and what we're not saying we are declaring yes joined with the divine nature of the second person of the

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Holy Trinity was the human nature of Jesus Christ Jesus Christ is fully

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God this is biblical teaching but let's also understand what we're not saying that the divine nature of Christ was limited or restricted only to the physical body of Jesus Christ.

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I think about this and I would venture to say perhaps few have the divine nature is in fullness in Jesus Christ just as his divine nature is in fullness everywhere for his divine nature is spirit even when the fullness of God was in the body of Jesus as the man

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Jesus lived and died on earth the fullness of his deity is the second person of the

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Holy Trinity continued to exist everywhere in his fullness the divine nature of Christ was not restricted or limited to the body of Jesus it was full within the body of Jesus but not limited to because God is spirit he fills all that is in all and so just as we had declared earlier of God so we say of the divine nature of the son of God God is spirit exists everywhere and does so in his fullness there is no place where God is not present and there is no place where God is not present in his fullness and so even when our

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Savior walked about on this earth his divine nature existed in fullness in all creation even in the entire cosmos and our

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Lord himself revealed this truth in the words of John 3 13 now this is a debated text among you know many manuscripts and whatnot but listen to the matter that's being declared

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Jesus declared these words no one has ascended to heaven but he who came down from heaven that is the son of man this is

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Jesus talking on earth the son of man who is in heaven his divine nature is in heaven even as he was teaching this the divine nature was not restricted or limited to the physical body of Jesus amazing so here

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Jesus is talking but he declared that his divine nature was even then in heaven that is with his father even as his divine nature was also in fullness in his human body as Colossians 119 declare now let's consider thirdly

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Jesus Christ in his death how does this work out well when

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Jesus declared it is finished as recorded in John 1930 when he was on the cross he then bowed his head and he gave up his spirit his body died even as his spirit which we should understand as his divine and and human natures separated from his body he did not cease to be a man upon his death with his incarnation he had become the

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God man forever his human nature continued even upon the death of his body upon the cross his conscious self his soul separated and departed from his body

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God man they can never be separated the divine nature and human nature joined together distinct but never to be separated from one another we should understand that this time of his death was a manifestation of his humility as our

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Savior our Lord lived out his life and ended his life in a state of humility he was always meek and modest and never desired or seeking recognition or notoriety he came to be a servant and he lived as a servant to God his father and to everyone that he ever encountered and he died in a state of humility of course upon the cross but our

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Lord's humility did not end on his cross his body going into his tomb was a further manifestation of his humility earlier we referenced the

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Westminster shorter catechism which states the matter in this way in question 27 where in did

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Christ humiliation consist in contrast to his glorification answer Christ humiliation consisted in his being born certainly was a humbling experience of the eternal

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Son of God and that in a low condition he was born as in a poor condition of course made under the law he's the one who gave the law now he's under the law undergoing the miseries of this life which he certainly endured and the wrath of God which he certainly encountered on the cross and the curse death of the cross and then it continues in being buried his humiliation continues even in being buried continuing under the power death for a time that being three days of course even as his body was put in the tomb that was an aspect of his humiliation as the

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Son of God now in asserting this statement the Westminster divines reference 1st

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Corinthians 15 3 and 4 which reads for I delivered on to you first of all that which

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I also received how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and he was buried see they're linked together died and buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures now we are familiar with the human body that's depicted in the scriptures as a tent in which the soul dwells of course it's a house while here on earth but the scriptures also set forth the physical body as the clothing for one soul and this is what

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Paul declared regarding his longing to be clothed in his resurrection body in 2nd

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Corinthians 5 1 through 5 and actually let me just point out here you have a mixture of these two metaphors his body is like a house his body is like clothing for we know that if our earthly house this tabernacle referring to his physical body were dissolved we have a building of God and house not made with hands eternal in the heavens for in this we grown earnestly desired to be clothed upon with our house which is from above if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked here being naked is having it being a soul but without a body for we that are in the tabernacle do groan that is in this earthly tabernacle do groan being burden not for that which we would be unclothed that's not what we desire just to go to be with the

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Lord and escaping out of this world in our body but to be clothed upon in other words our focus and desire and attention should be on the resurrection when our bodies are glorified salvation is not redemption from the body redemption from the body is more of a far eastern philosophical religious idea

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Christianity is the redemption of the body we're glorified on the last day and Paul here says

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I don't want to be a soul without a body I don't want to be unclothed but rather clothed upon that mortality that is death might be swallowed up by life now he that hath wrought for us for the self same thing as God who also has given unto us the earnest of the spirit in other words we're confident that this is going to come to pass and so Paul used two metaphors in the verses for the human body the physical body is like a house in which our soul dwells but it's also like clothing which our soul wears being without clothing would be a cause of shame or humiliation to be naked at least it should be shouldn't it in our culture

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Paul did not want to be a soul apart from a body to be unclothed the state of death prior to the resurrection of the dead when we're clothed with our glorified bodies was a state of humiliation and so Jesus body in the tomb

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Christ was humble in the manner that he died on the cross and in the time that his body lie in the grave and his soul was apart from his body but he was then glorified in his resurrection when his soul had re -entered his body so that it lived again he was then clothed as it were with his resurrection body but we may ask this question where did his soul go during the time of his death

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Luke recorded for clearly the destination to which the soul of Jesus Christ departed when

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Jesus was hanging upon his cross of course between two thieves one thief continued to rail upon him they both began to rail upon him but one came to repentance and faith and requested of Jesus Lord remember me when you come into your kingdom and Jesus responded to him assured

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I say to you today you will be with me in paradise when

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Jesus died on the cross his body went into the tomb his soul went into paradise clearly where the thief who had been saved through faith alone joined him and so where is and what is paradise well our

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Lord was speaking of a restoration of his people to paradise of course which mankind had lost in the beginning with the first entrance of sin paradise is a reference to a beautiful and expansive garden in fact that the word paradise is actually from a

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Persian word that carries the idea of a garden a beautifully cultivated garden or even orchard it's a restored garden of Eden which is paradise greatly enhanced and expanded of course and it's filled with every pleasant and beautiful thing now

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Lord Jesus declared in another place to a church he who has an ear let him hear what the spirit says to the churches to him overcomes

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I will give to eat from the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God the earthly garden of Eden was simply a representation of a greater garden that's in our destiny and of course the last two chapters of the

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Bible in the book of Revelation speak of paradise as a beautiful new world with a new Jerusalem there is a river of life that flows from the throne of God that gives life to trees on either side it's a depiction of a beautiful well cultivated garden filled with fruit buried trees that seem to bring spiritual benefit as well as culinary pleasure to the inhabitants and so paradise is set forth as an amazing wondrous place filled with beauty that will astonish the eye delight the soul it's a land of beauty and wonder it is in its fullness a land of blessed

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Sabbath rest but upon the third day the conscious soul of our

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Lord re -entered his physical body even as it was transformed into a glorious body he lived again in the sense that his divine person with his divine and human soul reanimated his physical body and he came forth from the grave his body entered the tomb a temporal physical body but his body came forth from the grave transformed having become a glorified body he was no longer subject to death he was no longer in a state of humiliation for he was now glorified see that was the transition from humiliation to glorification when he came forth in his glorified body and received authority from his father

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Jesus Christ ascended into heaven was coronated as king of heaven in his human glorified resurrected body and was seated on the throne of God and from there he rules even now over all mankind through history bringing this world to its appointed end to the glory of his father now we might just take a few moments to identify a few various views of the state of the soul upon death and you hear him all the time and understanding of our

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Lord Jesus in his death and resurrection will enable us to understand the powers of those religions and philosophies that teach about death and other ways we believe the

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Bible is the word of God we have truth set before us here and of course secularists who deny the existence of the soul consciousness is nothing more than the state of a physical body while it's living well when death occurs all existence ceases there is no life after death no consciousness after death it life is extinguished we believe that actually not a great percentage of people however there is a common understanding or belief in the afterlife there are others like the

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Hindus who believe of course in reincarnation they teach that the soul or that the non -physical essence of a living being will begin a new life in some different physical form after death perhaps an animal a bug whatever and perhaps this will be a higher life form or lower depending on how well you understand your religious principles in this life it's also the teaching of Buddhism by the way who taught that karma influences rebirth and that cycles of repeated births and deaths are endless and how frequently do you hear the word karma in these days it wasn't like a generation ago hear it all the time and of course we repudiate this as nonsense

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Christ life death resurrection make no allowance for a doctrine of reincarnation.

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And we shouldn't talk in those terms I hope we never do but there are some who claim to be

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Christian who deny a conscious existence upon death. The doctrine of soul sleep is held and promoted by Seventh Day Adventists and I won't consign them to all of them as not being

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Christian I've met some who truly understand the doctrine of justification by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone and they believe in a biblical doctrine of Jesus Christ they are not legalists and that they don't believe that keeping the law saves them there are those among them you got to sort them out because some of them really are legalists we had a couple here

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I believe they go to the Princeton Church Heritage Bible who were here and I was talking to him he was raised both of them raised

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Seventh Day Adventists and he I asked him I said did you ever hear the gospel growing up never once did you hear it being preached by your good works but not all

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Seventh Day Adventists teach that but they all believe in soul sleep in other words once a person dies their soul their body as well as their soul goes into a state just like you're sleeping at night and you don't wake up until the day of the resurrection some call this the doctrine of conditional immortality.

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Seventh Day Adventists teach when a person dies his soul goes to sleep but one day will be awake and in the meantime the soul is kept in the memory of God is what they believe.

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Jehovah's Witnesses also teach soul sleep but actually their teaching is more like soul annihilation that takes place at death but the faithful Jehovah's Witness will be somewhat recreated at a future end time event and of course that is error too even though they claim to believe the

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Bible. Mormons have a very bizarre belief in the afterlife they're not

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Christian they're truly another cult just like Jehovah's Witnesses. Those who are saved through being baptized in the

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Mormon church will live forever in their families and they'll continue to have children who will have children and these sons and daughters will become gods and goddesses just like Jesus Christ was born at some time in the past and became a

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God so Mormons will also become gods and goddesses and have their own little universes one day.

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Terrible heresy that Joseph Smith brought into the Mormon religion it is not

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Christian it is blasphemous grossly corrupt cannot be found in the

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Bible and yet Mormonism has been able to present an image as though they're very family centered and you know and wholesome it's just all on the surface you cannot have true godliness apart from Christ and studies have proved that by the way.

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Well let's now consider the biblical teaching regarding the state of the soul upon death.

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When we come to the Bible to understand the state of existence after death it's important that we do not build a full understanding based on the

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Old Testament. Some do. Seventh -day Adventists do that they go to the book of Ecclesiastes and they build the doctrine of the resurrection on that.

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Of course the Old Testament speaks of death frequently it describes souls in the state of death but God's full revelation to his people regarding the afterlife was not revealed until his son

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Jesus Christ came and revealed what had been formerly not known and the scriptures speak to this.

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Paul wrote of his gospel ministry to Timothy therefore don't be ashamed of the testimony of our

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Lord nor me as prisoner but share with me in the sufferings of the gospel according to the power of God who has saved us called us with a holy calling not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began but has now been revealed by the appearance of our

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Savior Jesus Christ listen who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light.

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In other words he's brought understanding now there's instruction and clarity to the gospel of Jesus Christ that about life and immortality and death that wasn't known before and Paul declared it was to this that he it was appointed a preacher and teacher and so the gospel of Jesus Christ brought to light that is revealed spiritual truth to his people regarding life, death, and immortality and of course the

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New Testament has the full revelation regarding these matters although the Old Testament scriptures address the state of the dead in some ways and so let's consider first the state of the dead in the

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Old Testament. The Old Testament word that you use frequently with respect to the state of the dead is

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Sheol that's the Hebrew word Sheol. It's found in 18 verses in the

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New King James Version of the Old Testament. Sheol is rather a broad term that carries different meanings in different contexts.

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Sometimes it's a word used for the physical grave of the bodies physical bodies who died and they're placed within Sheol the grave the actual physical grave.

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In other contexts it describes the abiding place of conscious souls whose physical bodies have died

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Sheol. Sheol was regarded as a rather shadowy existence by the

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Hebrews in which souls were conscious but they weren't really technically living and this is because the

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Hebrews understood that true life could only be experienced through the five senses of the physical body and the soul is outside of that body so how could you really be living?

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If the body was dead in the grave then life could not be fully experienced true life would be enjoyed upon the future resurrection of the dead.

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Here's Daniel 12 1 through 3 at that time

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Michael he's the Archangel stand up the great prince which stands for the children of thy people and there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time and at that time my people will be delivered everyone shall be found written in the book and here's verse 2 many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth that would be the bodies shall awake some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt and they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament in other words they'll be they'll have glory shining as brightly as the sky of the day and they that turn many to righteousness that is turn many others to embrace to come to the faith and embrace

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God and be have salvation they'll shine they'll have the glory of the stars forever and ever different degrees of glorification among the people of God depending on how we serve him in this life but notice that all awake which speaks of their bodies not their souls but all humanity are included here in this general resurrection at the end of history and it's important to understand that in the

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Old Testament the souls of all people who died whether saved or lost went to Sheol. King David declared respecting his own soul in his prayer to God you will not leave my soul in Sheol nor will you allow your

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Holy One to see corruption that is his body undergo decay. Of course this verse was quoted by Peter on the day of Pentecost and applied it prophetically to Jesus Christ in his resurrection and he argued

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David couldn't have been talking about himself because he's his body's right over there in the grave he is referring to his greater son

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Jesus and so Peter declared for David says concerning Jesus I foresaw the

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Lord always before my face he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken therefore my heart rejoiced and my tongue was glad moreover my flesh also will rest in hope for you will not leave my soul in Hades.

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Where was the soul of Jesus Christ when he died upon the cross before the resurrection his soul was in Hades Sheol nor will you allow your

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Holy One to see corruption his body would not decay in other words it would be temporary be resurrected you have made known to me the ways of life you will make me full of joy in your presence.

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So here the New King James Version translates the Hebrew Sheol using the Greek word

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Hades they mean the same. Sheol in the Old Testament is

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Hades in the New Testament it was the abode of where all souls who died went.

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Now one of the problems with the early English translations of the Bible including the

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King James Version is that it translated the Hebrew Sheol Old Testament Hebrew and Hades New Testament Greek with the

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English word hell and so this is how the King James Version reads of that passage we just read.

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David speak of concerning him Jesus I foresaw the Lord always before my face for he's on my right hand

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I shall not should not be moved therefore did my heart rejoice my tongue was glad moreover also my flesh will rest in hope because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell.

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Jesus in hell neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption thou hast made known to me the ways of life thou shall make make me full of joy with thy countenance.

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Now when the English translators translate that word as hell they weren't just speaking about a place of torment they were thinking of Sheol where all people go and Jesus was there too in Sheol just like David was in Sheol not a place of punishment but a place where the souls were upon death.

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But of course in our English understanding hell is a place where only the souls of the unsaved go upon death in order to suffer for their sins.

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Hell is a place of punishment and this faulty translation of the English word hell for the

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Hebrew word Sheol or Hades has contributed to the confusion and errant teaching that Jesus after he died upon the cross went for three days into the fires of hell in order to be punished for our sins.

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This is error and it's popular to Joyce Meyer teaches that she's wrong.

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When Jesus cried out from his cross it is finished he did not mean it's almost finished and will be finished after I go to hell for three days.

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No Jesus's death on the cross brought an end to his suffering secured a full payment for our sins.

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Salvation was accomplished on his cross it is finished. The soul of Jesus went to paradise not to hell but his soul did go to Sheol the abode of all the dead.

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Those in Sheol are as shades kind of shadowy nebulous that is there without a lively personality and there without strength

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Sheol was understood to be a place of darkness. Job described his approaching death in this way before I go to the place from which

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I shall not return to the land of darkness the shadow of death a land as dark as darkness itself is a shadow of death without any order where even the light is like darkness.

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He could have been referring somewhat to his grave but it seems more like an awareness of darkness about him.

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Sheol was a place of stillness or silence again life was not fully experienced we read in Psalm 94 17 unless the

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Lord had been my help my soul would have soon have settled in silence. Sheol was understood to be far from God distant from heaven in a place below but not beyond God's control.

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Here's the pronouncement of God's judgment to Amos the prophet Amos that God would search them out even in the lowest

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Sheol or the highest heaven highest mountain he would search them out to judge them. Amos declared

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I saw the Lord standing beside the altar and he said smite the capitals so that the thresholds will shake capitals of the pillars and break them on the heads of them all then

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I will slay the rest of them with the sword they will not have a fugitive who will flee or a refuge refugee who will escape though they dig into Sheol that's the deepness and there should there shall my hand take them and though they ascend to heaven from there will bring them down and though they hide on the summit of Carmel I will search them out and take them from there and though they conceal themselves from my sight on the floor of the sea from there

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I will command the serpent and it will bite them. Sheol was a long distance it would seem at least it set forth in that way in the spiritual realm from heaven.

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Now as biblical history unfolded the idea Sheol began to develop in other ways after the

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Babylonian captivity in the 6th century BC it was common in Jewish writings to describe

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Sheol as the abiding place of departed soul both the righteous and the wicked but in separate compartments separated from one another the place of rest and peace joy fellowship the place of punishment and torment for sin and of course this is reflected in our

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Lord's teachings according to the Gospel of Luke and so what about the state of the dead according to Jesus and the clearest account of the souls of those who have died and their bodies are in the grave was taught by Christ himself as found in Luke 16 one of the most fearful passages in the

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Bible in my mind there was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen feared sumptuously every day but there was a certain beggar named

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Lazarus full of sores who was laid at his gate desiring to be fed with crumbs which fell from the rich man's table more where the dogs came and licked his sores so it was that the beggar died was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom the rich man also died and was buried and being in torments in Hades their

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Sheol he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom and he cried and said father

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Abraham have mercy on me send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I am tormented in this flame but Abraham said son remember that in your lifetime you received your good things likewise

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Lazarus evil things but now he is comforted and you are tormented great reversal took place and besides all this between us and you there is a great gulf fix a canyon so to speak so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot nor can those from there pass to us then he the rich man said

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I beg you therefore father that you would send him to my father's house for I have five brothers that he may testify to them lest they also come to this place of torment and Abraham said to him they have

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Moses and the prophets they have the scriptures let them hear them he said no father

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Abraham but if one goes to them from the dead they'll repent but he said to him if they do not hear

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Moses and the prophets neither will they be persuaded the one rise from the dead you and I could be raised in the physical dead to life and that won't make a

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Christian God uses the scriptures to convert people people don't need to see miracles that doesn't convert people only the power of the

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Holy Spirit through the Word of God they have Moses and the prophets there are those that attempt to dismiss his account as a fanciful illustration by which

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Jesus was making a point but it's not true to fact sometimes they'll call it a parable in an effort to not interpret it literally that will not work however for this cannot be regarded as a parable in no other parable recorded of our

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Lord Jesus did he give a personal name of an individual within the account as he did here

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Lazarus and besides that argument fails to understand the true nature of a parable a parable is never a fictional story that's invented to illustrate a teaching you can't find one parables are always true to life events that are called upon to illustrate spiritual truth a farmer went out to sow seed in the field that's what farmers do a fisherman cast a net into the sea that's what fishermen do and so when they argue this account of Luke 16 is not historical or true to fact but they're actually saying it's a fable not a parable they cannot say it's a parable but of course they'd be wrong on that charge also

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Jesus gave a true account of two men who lived different kinds of lives who both died their bodies were buried and the soul of the one went to a place of peace and rest the other went to a terrible place of pain and punishment but it was in the same arena

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Sheol in which they could communicate with one another redeemed Abraham spoke with the condemned rich man but we see also that although the righteous and the dam were in the same place they were separated from one another their fates were sealed there was no bridge crossing over from one where the other the

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Bible makes no allowance for purgatory there is no second chance after death as well

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Abraham's bosom was a term used to describe the place that departed souls who were redeemed from sin and who were enjoying paradise and here the rich man is said to be in Hades or Sheol in other words in this context we see that Sheol or Hades is set forth as the place of punishment one further question may be addressed what did

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Jesus Christ do while his body was in the grave well he went to paradise which we would say was what he described in Luke 16 as Abraham's bosom some would say that the soul of Jesus immediately went to heaven upon his death but it's likely that until his death upon the cross in which he provided an atonement for sin the abiding place of the redeemed souls was in Sheol and this is where the soul of Jesus went while his body was in the tomb and by the way to support this consider the resurrection day account when he met

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Mary Magdalene after his raised from the dead she thought he was at first was the gardener we'll deal with this in John 20 the next couple weeks but then she learned it was her

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Savior and so she and apparently grabbed his legs or feet she was so filled with joy what did Jesus say he said we'll drop down to verse 17 do not cling to me for I have not yet ascended to my father those who say when he died on the cross and he went to paradise he went to his father he said here after his resurrection

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I've not yet ascended to my father he'd gone to Sheol where Abraham was and all the redeemed of the

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Old Testament this is the third day after his crucify he'd not yet ascended to his father but where has his soul been while his body was in the grave he had been in paradise that place he described in Luke 16 but it was upon his resurrection and ascension into heaven that he emptied

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Sheol of the redeemed and brought them with him when he came before his father to be coordinated as king as kings he came to the ancient of days

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Daniel 7 13 and 14 with the clouds and I'm thinking maybe these clouds were all the souls of the redeemed that he brings with him now into the very presence of God because that's where Christ is and wherever Christ is that's where his people are now that they their sins have been atoned for justice have been rendered

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God's holiness has been been fully dealt with and satisfied and now they're redeemed and they're in the very presence of God with their

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Savior even witnessing him being coronated and the scriptures teach this

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I think also for example in Ephesians 4 8 8 he led captivity captive just as a

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Roman general after he defeated and captivated his enemies he would he would parade them through Rome to demonstrate to the cities of Rome what he had accomplished the

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Lord Jesus going into heaven shows the ones that he was able to secure through his battle as it were on earth and on the cross they're with him but again the question may be asked what did

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Jesus Christ do while this body was in the grave and his soul was in paradise the abiding place of the redeemed and we'll close with this the answer may be and this is speculation here in 2nd

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Peter 3 18 through 22 Christ also suffered once for sins the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the

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Spirit by whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who formerly were disobedient when once the divine long -suffering waited in the days of Noah while the ark was being prepared in which a few that is eight souls were saved through water this is also an antitype which now saves us baptism not the removal of the of the filth of the flesh not sin but the answer of a good conscience toward God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ who has gone into heaven is at the right hand of God angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to him this is a very difficult passage to interpret and there are several quite varied interpretations by good people

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Peter was closing with some admonitions to Christians probably in view of their about to be baptized frankly and he gave reasons why his admonition should be obeyed first because of the nature of suffering itself he says it's pleasing to God when you suffer for doing right and because Jesus died on their behalf verse 18 he suffered you ought to suffer too like him he gave an example he died suffered died once for sinners there's a sufficiency and finality of his sacrifice but then it declares that he preached by the

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Holy Spirit to the imprisoned spirits of Noah's time what does this mean well there are four common explanations

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I'll just mention them first some argue well this speaks of the pre -incarnate Christ who was preaching when

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Noah preached when Noah was preaching the pre -incarnate Christ was preaching through him to that generation before the flood others say no this speaks of Christ proclaiming to fallen angels the certainty of their judgment having done so between his death and resurrection he went to the bottomless pit as it well and declared you're all damned and you know my death on the cross and my resurrection will solidify of authority to condemn you third there are those who say this speaks of Christ proclaiming to angels after his resurrection the fact that they had been deposed this is what happened of course and Peter declares that in chapter 3 he went into heaven and angels and principalities and powers were deposed and made subject to him as Lord or the fourth and here it may have application and I put a question mark here it speaks of Christ ascending into shale after he died on the cross during the three days before the resurrection he preached to the condemned spirits of those who had died in the flood his preaching was a declaration of their certain final judgment and perhaps declaring to his own people that he had secured their salvation he's in paradise there's a sense of celebration and declaration the fact is

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Lord Jesus came to save sinners he died upon the cross was buried but then he was gloriously raised and exalted to heaven and wherever he is his people are with him he's on his throne in heaven ruling and the souls of those he redeemed are with him even now paradise is in heaven with with God with Christ but there are awaiting the day of the resurrection when there they will be fully clothed even the revelation how long

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Oh Lord will it be before all these things are finalized we ought to have our hope and our desire actually at the future bodily resurrection of the dead when we'll experience our full glorification on the day of the resurrection amen let's close father admittedly we're dealing with some difficult matters as we sort through these things but we want to know our

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God understand the person and work of our Lord Jesus more clearly and fully help us our

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God we pray give us understanding so we might better know how to instruct and correct others that may be errant in their thinking but also our

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God that we might better appreciate and celebrate who you are and what you secured for us in Christ we're thankful our

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God for the glorious destiny we have in Christ that one day our

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God though the grave will receive our bodies and they'll be they'll undergo corruption there will be a day of the resurrection will come forth likened on to our

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Lord Jesus who came forth and will be glorified in your presence we look forward to that day even as we are very burdened concerned for the lost who ignore

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Jesus who do not believe that he is truly Lord he doesn't govern their lives but they order their lives day by day as though he does not exist they have a terrible destiny may you