45. The Glory of God in the Gospel Pt 2

Introduction: The first time I studied this passage it was not one I was looking forward to preaching. Why? Because it is difficult to understand and there are widely held views regarding its interpretation. Admittedly, beforehand, I had never invested the time and prayer needed to understand it, so to be honest I was a little intimidated by it. But the Word of God is not something we should be intimidated by. It is the Word of God to us, to instruct and to give us understanding and through the Holy Spirit God reveals in marvelous ways that which we could not otherwise know. It is rich and full of meaning and we can and should spend our whole lives in the plumbing of its depths and still never come to a full and complete understanding of our God. But this text is for us, for our encouragement, for our being built up in the faith, sanctified in the truth and set apart for the gospel ministry that has been entrusted to us whether as the pastor and preacher or as another who has been called to labor in the world to be a citadel of light in the darkness rather than be affected by it and to run after it. So, before we dive into this text I would remind you of Peter’s opening verses of this letter. 1Pe 1:1-3 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen (2) according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in fullest measure. (3) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

This text reminds us of the Triune God is at work in our salvation. It is in God’s foreknowledge or decree of salvation, Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection that secures our salvation and the working of the Holy Spirit that applies to us what God has decreed and Christ Jesus has secured. We have seen different themes drawn out of this letter; the theme of suffering and the theme of holy living in the midst of it. Yet another theme is the powerful working of God as seen in the verses we just read and re-enforced in the verses we are about to read.

In our Sunday School class we learned about inductive Bible Study and the importance of asking questions concerning the passage being studied. Those same principles were used in this text and it will be apparent to you as move ahead this morning.

1Pe 3:18-22 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; (19) in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, (20) who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept 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. (21) And corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, (22) who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.

Before we dive into the text there are some exegetical issues to clear up. Exegesis defined means a critical explanation of the text. Because there are several interpretations of this text it is important for us to come to a right conclusion. As I mentioned earlier, this text can be difficult to understand so we must settle on how this text should be interpreted in the light of Scripture. There are 3 Main Interpretations of this text.

That Jesus, while He was bodily in the grave, went and preached the gospel to those spirits now in prison to set the prisoners free. This is plausible in that Hebrew word Sheol and the Greek equivalent Hades was taught to be the holding place for the dead both the righteous and the unrighteous. In Luke 16 in the parable of the rich man a Lazarus; the rich man could see and hear Abraham who was comforting Lazarus but there was a gulf that was fixed and impassable. Luk 16:24-26 "And he cried out and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue; for I am in agony in this flame.' (25) "But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. (26) 'And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, in order that those who wish to come over from here to you may not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.' Further evidence that may support this view was the resurrection event at the crucifixion. Mat 27:50-53 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. (51) And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth shook; and the rocks were split, (52) and the tombs were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; (53) and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many.

Where this interpretation falls short is that ‘prison’ had to include more than those in the days of Noah. A question we need to ask later is why be so specific as to identify Noah and those in the days of Noah?

The second interpretation is that Jesus, while bodily in the grave, went and proclaimed His victory of the cross to those spirits now in prison. The spirits in this interpretation refer to the fallen angels as it is believed that Gen 6:1,2 ‘the Sons of God’ refer to angelic beings. While it is true that the term ‘sons of God’ can mean angelic beings. Job 1:6, Job 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. Job 2:1, 38:7 it is not exclusively so. Mat 5:9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Luk 20:36 for neither can they die anymore, for they are like angels, and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.

Gal 3:26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

Those that hold the interpretation of spirits referring to fallen angels and using the text Gen 6:1,2 fail to recognize the conflict between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent as seen in the larger context; Gen 3:15 that God, Himself stated would take place.

Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel."

You may ask what evidence I have to support this. In Genesis 4 We see Cain and Abel. Cain kills Abel and is driven from the face of God. Immediately Cain’s lineage is established, an ungodly lineage (the seed of the serpent). Eve has Seth and he in turn has a son and the text in Gen. 6:24 began to call upon the name of the Lord. The Hebrew word translated ‘upon’ upon can also be translated as ‘by’ meaning that they were identified as followers of God, sons of God. Gal 3:26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. The implication is that these took the promise of God in Gen 3:15 by faith. In the context of chapter 5 the godly lineage in laid out. Notice in Gen 5:1-4 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day when God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. (2) He created them male and female, and He blessed them and named them Man in the day when they were created. (3) When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth. (4) Then the days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were eight hundred years, and he had other sons and daughters. Cain is not mentioned. Why? Because he is of the seed of the serpent. But all of the godly line are. And we see the issue that the godly line in Gen 6 did not keep themselves separate but saw that the daughters of men were beautiful and took whoever they wanted. The ‘sons of God’ were no longer separate or set apart.

The third interpretation is that the Holy Spirit, through Noah, preached the message of the gospel to the those in the days of Noah. The first thing we must ask is whether spirit in verse 18 refers to the spirit of a man or the Holy Spirit. If we translate this a man’s spirit the wording sounds like at His death on the cross, he was dead physically and spiritually. There is no other conclusion we can arrive at. But if we mean Spirit as in the Holy Spirit then we have a confirmation in the Scripture. Rom 8:11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you. It begins to make more sense when the Greek word translated ‘which’ can also be translated whom. The NKJV and the KJV translates this correctly. So, verse 19 would read in Whom (the Spirit) also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison. The same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is the Holy Spirit that attended the preaching of Noah. Now you may say, ‘I don’t see in this text or the narrative in Genesis where Noah preached. If Noah did not preach how then could the Holy Spirit attend the preaching? I would interject here that it is always imperative that as we study the Bible, to look at the context. The verse in light of the paragraph, the paragraph in light of the chapter, chapter book and book in light of the Bible.

2Pe 2:5 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;

Noah not only built the ark but he also preached the message of the gospel, the word of truth. 1Pe 1:10-11 As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful search and inquiry, (11) seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.

How do we address the phrase ‘spirits now in prison’? These merely indicates the present condition of those spirits not necessarily their condition when the message was preached, For example, I could say I knew the man who is now president Trump when I was in college. The statement is still appropriate even though he was not president when I was in college.

Let us summarize.

Jesus was made alive in the Spirit, the Holy Spirit

In whom He preached to the unbelievers in the days before the flood through His messenger Noah.

Those unbelievers, rejecting the gospel message, perished in the flood are the spirits now in prison awaiting the final judgement.

The thrust of this passage is a re-enforcement of the first three verses of chapter 1. We see working in this text God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Throughout the ages God has been and is working out His purpose and will in redemptive history. The ministry of the Holy Spirit, active in the days of Noah, active in the prophetic word in the OT, in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, and active in the ministry of the members of the churches Peter was writing to, and active in the people of God at Hillcrest Baptist Church. This is the immediate thrust of this text. The Holy Spirit is presently active in you the children of God just as He was presently active in the churches Peter wrote this letter to around 64 AD. Remember the context. In the previous verses he wrote that we should sanctify the Lord Jesus Christ in our hearts and be ready to give an account of the hope that is within you.

Peter is saying, Christian, do not fear. The same Spirit that attended the preaching of Noah in the days before the flood, is that same Spirit that raised Christ Jesus from the dead, is the same Spirit that will be your help as you give an account of the hope that is in you. Mar 13:11 But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak. But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.

Application: First, my question to you is. What has changed in the Holy Spirit’s work? Nothing has changed so in this we should be greatly encouraged, because it is not our ability to be great orators, or apologists, or debaters that turns a soul but it is in the ministry and power of the Holy Spirit that takes our weakness and inability and uses us, broken vessels that we are, in the midst of our trials and sufferings that brings the gospel to bear for the glory of God. It means that when we feed the hungry in the name of Christ, when we give someone a drink in the name of Christ, when we visit the sick or those in prison, when we clothe the naked and care for those in need it is not merely a simple act of kindness but has eternal value. We must always remember that accompanying the works of kindness should be the gospel. Rom 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

Secondly, do we understand the times in which we are living? You may be thinking whoa brother, where did that come from? Why did Peter through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit use the example of Noah? Because specifically the preaching of Noah preceded judgement. God was patient for 120 years in the days of Noah. God now is now being patient and we have been entrusted with the message of the gospel, but God will not be patient forever. The faithful testimony of the Scripture is judgement again is coming and His wrath will be poured out to its fullest extent. Are we like Noah, preachers of righteousness, proclaiming the gospel and warning of the judgement to come? If we are not, will we now be like Noah?

Thirdly, rejoice and be glad because the Spirit who was present in the preaching of Noah, in the earthly ministry of Christ, the Apostles and the early church is also present and working in you. He is our very present help in our suffering, our very present help in all our labors for the gospel’s sake. He takes these broken cisterns and uses them for the glory of God. Looking back at the previous verse we are told to be ready to give an account of the hope that is in us. No matter what station of life we are in or what vocation we are to be those who have the gospel ready on our lips. It is the Spirit of God at work in you in sharing the gospel. You don’t need to be an orator or a trained apologist but you do need to know what the gospel is. Paul summarizes the gospel in 1Co 15:1-4 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, (2) by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. (3) For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, (4) and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

Can you give your personal testimony of God’s salvation of you to others? Write every detail on paper. Then write a summary. Sometimes we will have an extended time of conversation with others that we can share in detail how God, in Christ, saved us. Sometimes we will have a couple of minutes. In either situation we need to be prepared to be used by the Holy Spirit for His good work. You are moms and dads, grand-parents, husbands and wives, students, the employed and the employers, friends, neighbors there are many people that you are in contact with day by day. Are you prepared to give an account of the hope that is in you.

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