Christ's Descent and Our Deliverance, Part 2

I want you to see the descent of Christ. The descent of Christ. What did Jesus do? For the three days his body would lay in the tomb. What did he do? Where did he go? What did he say? And who did he say it to? We need to understand what took place. And Peter tells us: this is so rich. We're going to unravel the meaning of this verse by asking a series of questions. Question number one: where did Christ go?

Where did he go? It says, in which also, that is, in his spirit, because his body was dead. It says, he went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison. Where did he go? The Bible says in the book of Ephesians, the fourth chapter, sixth verse, says this, eighth verse.

Therefore it says, When he ascended on high, he led captive a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men. Now, this expression, he ascended, what does it mean except that he also had des into the l part? Of the earth. He who descended is himself also he who ascended far above all the heavens that he might fill all things. What are the lower part of the earth? You can read about them in Psalm 63, verse number 9. They 're called the depths of the earth. Matthew 12, verse number 40, it's called the heart of the earth.

Psalm 139, it's called She. Or the place of the dead, or the grave. The Lord's descent went beyond the earth. Beyond the grave into listen, the very p of where demons are held. He went into prison, the lower parts of the earth. If you read Revelation chapter 9, it talks about the bottomless pit. It's called the abyss. Seven times in the book of Revelation, it refers to the bottomless pit or the abyss. And every time it refers to the abyss, it refers to the demons that are incarcerated there. It's important to note that when you read this, you must read it with 2 Peter 2 and Jude verses 6 and 7 so you get the entire picture.

But we'll go back there. In a second, understand this. He went to a place where spirits are in prison, where spirits are held prisoners, they're held captive. Now, some of you are going to say, well, but did Christ actually go to he? Well, the Bible says in 2 Peter 2, verse number 4, these words.

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell, and committed them to pits of darkness reserved for judgment. So there were some demons that were cast into hell. The word used there is Tartarus. Christ would use a form of that word when he would use the word Gehenna, speaking of Hades, the place of the dead. Now note, remember Luke chapter 16? The rich man. He went into Hades. He went into the place of torment. But Lazarus went to Abraham's bosom. He went to paradise. And as you know the story, the rich man was able to communicate with Abraham, wanting to somehow touch the tip of his finger into water to cool his tongue.

But he couldn't do that because there was a great gulf between the two. So the rich man would say, Listen, this is all in Luke chapter 16. I want you to send someone back to tell my brothers, send them back from the grave because they need to know about this place. They need to know about the place of torment. They need to know about Hades. They need to know about She, the place of the grave, because they don't want to come here. Send someone back from the dead to tell them. And Abraham said, if they don't believe Moses and the prophets, they won't believe they'll one be raised from the dead.

The word of God tells you everything you need to know. If you don believe the word of God, no one's going to believe a miracle of somebody being raised from the dead who was here. The point being is this. When the Old Testament saints died, they went to what the Jewish people called Sheol, the place of the dead. Those who believed in God went to Abraham's bosom or paradise. And those who didn't believe in God went to the place of torment. There was a great gulf between the two. Now, listen.

On the cross, Jesus said to the thief who gave his life to Christ, Today you shall be with me where? In paradise. Now, how did Christ know that? Because he knew that he was going down into She. And he was going, as Ephesians says, lead captive a host of captives. He was going to descend to the lower parts of the earth. And at that time, he would take all those Old Testament saints with him. To heaven. How do we know that? Because Paul says in 2 Corinthians chapter 12, verses 1 to 4, that he was caught up into the third heaven.

And in verse 4, 2 Corinthians 12, the third heaven is called paradise. So you take Ephesians chapter 4, Luke chapter 16. 2 Corinthians chapter 12, verses 1 to 4. And you realize that when Christ descended into lower parts of the earth, he led those Old Testament saints with him into paradise, back up into his Father's home, into heaven. That's important. That's where he went. What did he say when he got there? I don't know. I wish I would have been there to hear it. Well, on second thought, maybe I'm glad I wasn't there to hear it.

You know, all I knew, no, is that what Peter tells us? It says. And he also went and made a proclamation. Quer. He made a public statement. He made a proclamation of victory. He made or declared an edict. This was a triumphant message. He didn't go into Hades to preach the gospel. That's a different Greek word. He didn't go there to give somebody a second chance, or another chance, or the thousandth chance.

To come to Christ? No. He went there to make a statement. He went there to make a public statement to those spirits who were in prison. To proclaim victory over the enemy, to prove he was the victor. They were the victims. He was the winner. They were the losers. What did he say? How did he say it? I don't know exactly what he said or how he said it. But boy, I tell you, it must have been one horrible day for those spirits in prison. Now, who are these spirits? Who did he address? That's our third question.

Who did he address when he went down there? If you go back to 2 Peter chapter 2, it says, We read it earlier: for if God did not spare angels when they sinned, But cast them into hell, and committed them to pits of darkness reserved for judgment, and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon. The world of the ungodly, and if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly there.

Well, there were some angels that sinned. What did they do? Turn over to the book of Jude, sixth and seventh verse. It says this, and angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode. He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day, just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them since they in the same way. as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.

So, when did all this happen? Way back in Genesis chapter 6, if you were with us many, many years ago when we were going through the book of Genesis. It talks about the sons of God cohabitating with the daughters of men. The sons of God are fallen angels. They're demons. How do we know that? Because the phrase sons of God, when used in the Old Testament, always without exception refers to angels. You can read about it in Job 1, Job 2, Job 38, Psalm 29, and Psalm 89. The sons of God always refer to angels.

Well, in Genesis chapter 6, these angels are fallen angels, they are demons who inhabited men to Produce an offspring with the daughters of men to produce a demon-hybrid race. And the Bible says in Genesis chapter 6 that this grieved our God.

It grieved him tremendously. Why? Because when God was going to send his son, he wasn't going to send his son to save demon man, he was going to send his son to save man. So, what did God do? He destroyed the earth with a flood. And it's those demons that he's incarcerated in prison in the lower parts of the earth. They went after strange flesh, like those in Sodom and Gomorrah did. So we know it was some kind of sexual sin. And we know that demons can inhabit people's bodies. All you got to do is read the Gospels, you understand that.

And so, what happened is that these spirits who are incarcerated in prison are down there. And Christ went to them. And made a proclamation and said, Listen, I am the victor. You lo, I win. Now, fourth question. Why did he preach? You know why he preached? Because Satan has always believed he can win. He belie he can win. All you got to do is read Revelation chapter 12. All you got to do is read about the history of the coming of the Messiah. And Satan thought that he could win if he could just kill the Messiah.

So, in Matthew chapter 2, what did he do? He had Herod kill all the babies two years and younger. Because if he can kill and slaughter the Messiah, he can't go to Calvary's tree and die for the sins of man. That didn't work, did it? So in Matthew chapter 4, what did Satan try to do? Satan tried to tempt Christ to get him to fall into sin to corrupt the Messiah because a corrupt Messiah could not be a spotless, sinless sacrifice. But that couldn't happen because of the impeccability of Christ. He would incite the religious leaders to rally the mob, to crucify Christ, and thinking that if he could just kill the Christ, he could win.

So Christ went down to make this proclamation. It says You can't win. I win because I'm God. Revelation 1:18, I am the living one. I was dead. I am alive forevermore. He says, and I hold the keys. To death in Hades. He says, I'm in charge. I rule. I win. You lose. I'm right here to show you that the grave can't hold me. Sin can't keep me. Satan can't defeat me. I can raise myself from the dead because I laid my life down. I win, you lose. Case over. Done. And all God's people said, Amen. I glad you're with me this evening.

That's good. That is the descent of Christ. Now, the deliverance of Christ or the deliverance through Christ. And this gets kind of interest. Because now he says, verse 20, who once were disobedient when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah. Oh, by the way, that's how we know it's Genesis chapter 6. Tied into Jude 6 and 7, 2 Peter 2, verse number 4, along with 1 Peter 3, verse number 18. Peter gives us the time frame. It was during the days of Noah this happened. When the patients of God ran out and God destroyed them.

So Peter gives us the framework. Jude tells us the exact sin they did. Peter tells us the time frame in which it happened. And in 2 Peter 2, verse number 4, he tells us exactly where they went. And where they are. They're incarcerated in hell. You with me so far? Okay. Now, the deliverance. Through Christ. Peter says, waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through. The water. The deliverance that we receive through Christ.

Two things I want you to see. Number one, it's depicted by an ark. And number three is described. Number two is described by an analogy.

It's depicted by an ark, and it's described by an analogy. And let me explain that to you. Because once you understand this, you begin to realize it's not that difficult to grasp. He says, during the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, Eight persons were brought safely through the water. The water was what? God's judgment upon man and a sin. And God judged the world. God killed everybody except how many people? Eight souls. Noah, his wife, his three boys. And they're three wives. That's eight people on the ark.

They were spared. They were saved. And know what Peter's saying? Peter is saying. That here was this preacher of righteousness. Remember, in 2 Peter 2, he calls Noah the preacher of righteousness. Noah preached for 120 years. And just like these people in Peter's day, in 1 Peter chapter 3, were being ridiculed because of their faith, they were being persecuted because of their faith, he says, remember Noah? For 120 years, he was a preacher of righteousness. He preached the truth. He constructed an ark.

He built an ark, and people laughed at him, they mocked him, they ridiculed him, they made fun of him, they made fun of his kids. But he kept building the ark because God said, build an ark. So he did. He was obedient to his God. He's in the Hebrew Hall of Faith in Hebrews chapter 11. Because he believed in what God said. God said, build an ark, he built an ark. People came by, they laughed at him, they mocked at him, they made fun of him. They did everything they could to ridicule the man. He just kept hammering those nails, he just kept putting that thing together.

He had never seen a boat before. He was in the middle of the desert. He had to go and chop down trees and bring them to where he was going to build the boat. Took him 120 years. Peter says, None of you have been ridiculed for 120 years. Maybe 120 days, maybe a couple of weeks, but none of you have been ridiculed for 120 years. While the man constructed the ark, you know what God did? God brought him safe through the judgment upon mankind. And God is going to bring you safely through the judgment of mankind as well because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Our Lord, you'll be delivered. You'll be delivered through Christ just like Noah and his family was delivered through the ark. Because that ark became a place of safety. It became the place of security for those people because they believed in their God. And they were delivered from the judgment of God upon rebellious mankind. Which then leads us to the second aspect.

And that is this. God's deliverance is described through an analogy, or by an analogy, or by as what the text calls an ent. He says, Peter verse 21, and corresponding to that, or As a copy, or as a counterpart, or as a figure that points to something. The Greek word ent t is a word where we get our English word ent And an ant is a symbol for something. It's an analogy of a spiritual truth. It is an earthly expression of a heavenly real. Peter says, and corresponding to that ark situation, there is an analogy here you need to understand.

You need to grasp. Here it is. Are you ready? Baptism now saves you. Whoa. Man, how does baptism save me? He says, not the removal of the dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good cons. Baptism, bapt, simply means to immerse. So when you see the word baptized, you can translate it immerse. Corresponding to the ark thing as an analogy imm Now saves you. Immersion? Saves me? Immersion into what? It doesn't mean you have to be immersed into water. Baptizo just means immersion into something.

And so, what you have is that Peter understood, listen. The preservation of the believer in the ark to be symbolic of salvation in Christ. Let me explain it to you this way.

The antity, the analogy, the spiritual truth is the whole experience of Noah and his family. The preservation of believers in an ark while the earth was immersed in the judgment of God. That would make Noah and his family a true antity salvation in Christ. Which ultimately is the preservation from the judgment of God. Listen, Peter made it very clear that the baptism he's speaking of is not a baptism of water. Tonight, we're going to baptize some people who are going to follow the Lord in obedience.

We're going to immerse them into the water. Okay? But listen, Peter makes it. Une clear that it's not talking about water when he says this: im now saves you, not the removal of dirt from the flesh. Not a bath, not a physical water exper. But, he says, but he says An app to God for a good conscience. Now, the word appeal Is a technical term specifically dealing with the making of contract. There is an appeal that is made. It's an appeal made to God based on a clear conscience, a good conscience. When a man appeals to God, he has to meet the divine standards.

And the divine standards for entrance into the kingdom of God is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Alone that comes through repentance from my sin and believing in Christ's finished work at Calvary. So the immersion Is not a physical immersion of the body in the water. It is the Spirit of Christ baptizing us into the body of Christ. Immers us into the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord, as it's said over in Romans chapter 6, verse number 4. Verse number 3, or do you not know that all of us have been immersed or baptized into Christ Jesus, have been immersed into his death?

Therefore, we have been buried with him through immersion into death. In order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. Listen, the repentant person. Has his conscience stirred and he appeals to God, with the result being his con. And just like Noah and his family were spared the judgment of God because of their belief in God, so you too are spared from the judgment of God upon the world because of your commitment to follow him in obedience.

That's all Peter's saying. He's saying, listen, no one's ridiculed. People made fun of him. He was a preacher of righteousness. You know what God did? God spared him. God protected him. God preserved him. And God brought him safely through. Just like God's going to do to you, he says. God will bring you safely through. And we know that because we have a Christ. Who gave his life for us? And not only did he give his life for us, he went down and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison down in Se and claimed the victory over sin, death, and Satan.

He took those with him in paradise to his home in heaven with his father. And our God will do the same for you. So, no matter what happens to you on the outside, our God is faithful to protect his own all the way to the very end. That's Peter's point. No matter how unjust the suffering, no matter how great the turmoil, you have this iron assurance that you're God. Will preserve you and protect you. You will not be judged. You will not be condemned. Why? Because of who He is and what He did for you.

It would be the Apostle Paul who said, Thanks be to God, who always leads us to triumph in Christ. And man through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. So if you go back to verse number 13, where the paragraph began, and Peter says, Who is there to harm you? Can anybody really truly harm you? They might be able to kill your body physically, but they can't kill your soul, your spirit, your person, your true self. Who you are on the inside, because you've given your life to Christ.

You've appealed to Him. You've appealed to God out of a clear conscience. And He saved you.