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(Preaching
to the Spirits in Prison)
(I Pet
3:18-21)
Text:
18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust,
that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened
by the Spirit:
19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
20 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.
21 The like figure whereunto [even] baptism doth also now save us
(not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good
conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
Much has been said of these verses and many doctrines have been built with
verse 19 alone as their sure standing in the word of God. I agree
the Bible contains many things that are tough to understand, but I believe
these verses are very clear and their meaning very obvious. It is
my prayer that you will be like those noble men and women in Berea and
see if the things I say be so.
What is being talked about in context?
If you review Chapter 3 you will find the focus of the thought is God's
people suffering. We are to refrain our tongue from evil (verse 10),
we are to eschew evil and do that which is good (verse 11). Further
as God's children we are to seek peace, to pursue after it. For the
Lord is watching over us, He is listening to our prayers (verse 12).
If indeed we should find that we suffer for doing what is right and Godly,
then we should be happy, we should not fear nor be frightened. We
are to sanctify the Lord God in our hearts, being ready always to give
an answer for the hope that is within us (verse 15). God says clearly
in verse 17 that if it is His will we suffer even while doing good, this
is much better than suffering for doing wrong. So in context Christians
suffering is the theme, and it is within this theme that we learn about
"spirits in prison."
Notice verse 18, we were told it is better to suffer for good than for
evil, then God presents the pattern and the reason. Jesus!
The Holy One of God, the One who knew no sin, you see He suffered, and
in that suffering God used it for the glorious purpose of bringing His
sons to Himself. Christ suffering climaxed in the death on the cross,
or as Peter puts in Christ being "put to death in the flesh". But
how can Peter end on Christ dying in the flesh, for He was quickened, made
alive by the the Spirit of Holiness, that same Spirit by which He offered
Himself unto God, that same Spirit raised Christ Jesus our Lord from the
dead.
The Verses in Study
First the phrase "by the which" (verse 19) that links back to verse 18
and we find that it was by His Spirit that Christ went and preached to
these "spirits in prison". But verse 19 does not reveal when this
occurred or who these spirits that are in prison are. But look to
verse 20. We find these people are men and women who were once disobedient,
they once pushed the long-suffering of God to it's limits. Notice
when they did this, when Noah was preparing the ark, it was when that preacher
of righteousness (II Pet 2:5) was sharing God's message, that we find those
men and women of his day mocking him, those men and women rejecting his
message, during the days of the ark's construction. But go back to
God's thought, we Christians may ineed suffer, but we are to be patient,
eschew evil, and seek peace. If indeed it is God's will we suffer,
then we should rejoice, for Christ our Great High Priest suffered.
The One who knew no wrong died for us, but praise the Lord, He was raised
again from the dead by the Holy Spirit of God. God sent that very
same Spirit to preach to those men and women through his servant Noah,
a long long time ago, they rejected that truth, and thereby only eight
souls were saved. Thus it is right that Peter would refer to them
as "spirits in prison" for that is where the spirits of every man and every
women who rejected God's message from Noah are. Equally it is where
the spirits of all men and women who have rejected God and died are.
"For it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment".
These men and women having rejected God's message, spoken by God's servant,
empowered by God's Spirit are rightly now in prison, rightly now in hell
and will remain there until judgment.
May we clearly see that God has always been preaching His message, through
His men, and that rejection of that message, results in an eternity in
hell. What exactly Noah preached the Bible does not tell us, but
for sure it was to believe and obey God, of which none of the men and women
of Noah's day (outside his own family) obeyed.
Lord may it be that we weigh ourselves today, to be sure we are in the
faith. May it be we see the enormous consequences of rejecting God's
message of love. May it be Lord that you will give us a yearning
for those lost loved ones, and friends who are yet dead in trespasses and
sins. For Lord your word is clear, hell will indeed be their
home for eternity, should they reject your precious Son!
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