I made it through my first day back at work after my vacation. Thank you for your prayers on my behalf. I am glad to be able to post the Weekend Sermon this morning. This is something I really love to do.
They are still calling for some very bad storms with heavy rain in my area this weekend. Please continue to pray that these bad storms will not materialize. Once again, I thank you for your prayers. I want you all to know that you are in my prayers daily.
In prayer this week, let us continue to pray for the situation in Nepal. Let us pray that that nation will recover. My cousin was a missionary in Nepal for a short-time before she was married and joined her husband on the mission field in the Congo. There are very few Christians in Nepal. Let us pray for the love of Jesus to reach this land.
There is something we can be very thankful to the Lord for. This morning, I heard a report on NPR that Liberia is now completely free of the Ebola virus. The report said that there are only a handful of cases in Guinea and Sierra Leone. Thank you Lord for the good news in Liberia. Let us continue to pray for Guinea and Sierra Leone.
Last week, we continued our series of messages in I Peter. Today, we will finish up with chapter 3.
We saw last time that Jesus suffered and died for us on the cross. He who knew no sin became sin for us. As Peter states it, Jesus died, "the just for the unjust." Although Jesus died, He was quickened by the Spirit, and Jesus rose bodily from the grave. He is alive forevermore the victor over sin, death and hell.
Now, in verse 19-20, we move into what is a very controversial passage of Scripture. It states, "By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is eight souls were saved by water."
These two verses are used as the basis for a number of doctrines. Let's try to figure out what this all means. First of all, these two verses are used as Scriptural support for the statement in the Apostle's Creed that Jesus descended to Hell. I believe that we are on safe ground in using these verses for this belief for two reasons. First of all, it says that Jesus by the Spirit went and preached to the spirits in prison. I believe that this clearly refers to hell. Also, the Apostle's Creed is a very ancient creed expressing the beliefs of the early church.
Now, let me say this. There is a belief that says that Jesus went and suffered in hell. There is no Biblical warrant for this especially using this passage. Jesus proclaimed His victory over the forces of hell; He did not suffer in hell.
Who are these spirits in prison. There are a few different views concerning this. Some believe that these are angels who had relations with women in Genesis 6 causing God to destroy the earth through the flood. I find this view incorrect because I think that Genesis 6 is clear that the sons of God are those who followed the Lord and the sons of men were those who did not.
Another view holds that these spirits in prison were the souls of the people who lived in Noah's time. This view holds that Jesus went and preached to these people and gave them a second chance to repent and believe in Him. This view needs some more exploration.
In the Christian faith, there is a great deal of debate about what happens to those who have never had a chance to hear the Gospel. Some believe that those who have never heard, will be given a second chance after death. This passage is used as a justification for that belief.
While I think that it might be possible that those who have never heard the message of Jesus will be given a second chance, there is no clear statement of this in the Bible. The Bible says that today is the day of salvation and after death comes the judgment.
I do not know what the Lord will do in regard to those who have never had an opportunity to hear about Jesus. I do know this, those who have had a chance to hear and have rejected Jesus will face the judgment. I also know that Jesus is the judge, and He will do what is right concerning all things. He is gracious and merciful, and He will do only what is good.
One other view about Jesus preaching to these spirits in prison is that this is a reference to the spirit of Jesus speaking through Noah before the flood.
My own personal view of this passage is that after the crucifixion, just before He rose on the third day, Jesus appeared in hell to demonstrate His triumph over all of the forces of evil. The forces of evil had tried to keep Him in the grave. Jesus was demonstrating that He was the victor.
Peter then goes on to speak about how that in the days of Noah, as the spirit preached through Noah, eight people were saved in the ark through water. This picture of the ark and water is a representation of baptism in the church.
Here we find ourselves in another controversial passage. Some use this passage to state that baptism is essential for salvation, or that the act of baptism bestows salvation. I don't think that this is what this passage is teaching at all. I think that what Peter is saying is that just as Noah and the ark are a picture of the salvation provided by the Lord, baptism is a picture of salvation for us.
Baptism is a picture of being buried with Christ in His death, and being born again to newness of life through Christ's resurrection. When a person is immersed in the water, it signifies death to sin. The water represents cleansing from sin. When the person comes up out of the water, it signifies the washing away of sin and newness of life in the Lord Jesus.
When a person is baptized, it is an outward sign of an inward work. It is the first act of obedience in the Christian life. It is a public profession to the world that one is leaving the old way of sin and pledging one's allegiance to Jesus Christ.
Now, let me say this. Baptism does not save a person, but I don't believe that there are unbaptized Christians. Let me explain. If a person says that they have trusted in Christ for salvation, yet they are not willing to follow the Lord in baptism, this act of disobedience demonstrates a lack of a meaningful profession of faith. In a sense, this is just what James was speaking about when he said, "Faith without works is dead."
If a person has true faith in the risen Lord, that person will want to follow the Lord's commandments, and they will follow the Lord in baptism.
Verse 22 states that Jesus has, "gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject to Him."
Jesus is our High Priest and Advocate with the Father right now. Jesus is ruling in Heaven. One day, He will come again, and He will rule and reign in righteousness upon the earth. He will be King of Kings and Lord of Lords of the universe.
The salvation offered by the Lord Jesus is available to all who will believe right now. Jesus invites you to turn to Him in repentance and faith and accept Him as the Lord of your life. Today is the day of salvation. Do not wait to make Jesus the Lord of your life.
Next week, I will post the verses on Monday, and I will have a review of a dog book on Wednesday. Next week, we will take a one week break from our series in I Peter, and I will post a message on a different subject. May God bless you, Amen.
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