And Psalm 16, I'm going to begin reading in verse number 8.
The title of my sermon tonight is Jesus Descended Into Hell.
Jesus Descended Into Hell.
Look at Psalm 16 verse 8, the Bible reads,
I have set the Lord always before me, because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoiceth.
My flesh also shall rest in hope, for thou wilt not leave my soul in hell.
Neither wilt thou suffer, thine holy one, to see corruption.
Thou wilt show me the path of life.
In thy presence is fullness of joy.
At thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore.
Turn if you would to Acts chapter number 2.
In Acts chapter number 2 in the New Testament, this Old Testament scripture is quoted from
the book of Psalms where this statement is made,
Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell.
Neither wilt thou suffer, thine holy one, to see corruption.
Now this doctrine today is something that less and less people believe in.
And now it's to the point where you go to a lot of independent fundamental Baptist churches.
They don't believe in this anymore.
They don't believe that Jesus actually was in hell for three days and three nights before
He rose again.
Now I grew up as a Baptist.
I grew up in a Christian home.
I was going to a Baptist church my whole life.
I was Baptist born, Baptist bred.
When I die I'll be Baptist dead.
And basically growing up reading the Bible, I always believed this.
To me that's what the Bible says.
And the only way that you believe something else is when you don't believe what the Bible
is plainly saying.
You think that there's some other hidden interpretation or that we have to go outside of the King
James and tweak it using the Greek or the Hebrew or something.
Because if you just read a King James Bible and just take it for what it says, you really
can't get around this teaching.
And a lot of people when they want to make some kind of a video attacking me, a lot of
times one of the first things they'll be, did you know that He teaches that Jesus went
to hell for three days and three nights?
You know, like that's just some really scary doctrine or some big heresy.
But you know what?
I don't care if the whole world quits believing in this.
I don't care if all the Baptists change this doctrine.
I'm not changing because I believe that the King James Bible is the Word of God.
And I don't need somebody to go back to the Greek and go back to the Hebrew in order to
tell me that hell isn't really hell.
I just believe that hell means hell.
And every time I look at the 54 mentions of hell in the Bible, it's always a place of
fire.
It's always a place of torment.
It's always a bad place that you don't want to go there.
You know, it's pretty clear what hell means when I study the Bible.
When the Bible teaches that Jesus was there for three days and three nights, I believe
it.
I mean, that's the end of story for me.
But let's look at the Scriptures tonight, and you can see the evidence for yourself.
And pretty much the only way to deny this is to say, well, when the King James says
hell, it's not really talking about hell there.
That's pretty much the argument that they come at you with.
Look at Acts chapter 2, verse 24.
It says, whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was
not possible that he should be holding of it.
For David speaketh concerning him.
And now we're quoting back to Psalm 16.
I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand that I should not
be moved.
Therefore did my heart rejoice and my tongue was glad.
Moreover, also my flesh shall rest in hope, because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell
neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption.
Look at verse 31.
This is talking about David who wrote that Psalm.
He seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell,
neither his flesh did see corruption.
This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
So the Bible here states that the resurrection of Christ was the fact, verse 31, that his
soul was not left in hell and that his flesh did not see corruption.
So there are two aspects to the resurrection of Jesus.
Number one, his soul was not left in hell.
His soul came out of hell.
And number two, his flesh did not see corruption.
You see, Jesus Christ's resurrection was a bodily resurrection.
It wasn't just a spiritual resurrection as the Jehovah's Witnesses would falsely teach.
No, Jesus bodily rose from the dead, but also there's another component to it that a lot
of people miss, that his soul was not left in hell.
Now when you talk about the gospel of Jesus Christ, it's defined in 1 Corinthians 15 as
the fact that Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried and
that he rose again.
Now let me just make it really clear, okay?
You don't have to believe that Jesus descended into hell for three days and three nights
in order to be saved.
There are lots of saved people who are mistaken on this doctrine.
They've had their heads spun by the Greek theologian or the Hebrew theologian that sold
them a bill of goods.
You don't have to believe in this to be saved because the thing that you have to believe
in to be saved is the death, burial, and resurrection.
And the burial is not talking about the soul of Jesus.
The burial is the what?
What do you bury?
You bury a body, right?
So when the Bible says you've got to believe in the death, burial, and resurrection, we're
talking about the body of Christ.
And that's why Jehovah's Witnesses are not saved.
Despite all of their other weird beliefs, if the Jehovah's Witnesses are going to say
that Jesus did not bodily raise from the dead, they're not saved because the Bible says that
if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shall believe in thine heart that
God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
And the Jehovah's Witnesses don't believe in that.
They say, well, his soul left his body.
That's not a resurrection.
The Bible says the body without the spirit is dead.
The resurrection is a bodily resurrection where Jesus Christ physically walked out of
the grave and he actually showed the disciples the holes in his hands and he said, put your
hand in the hole in my side and be not faithless but believing.
There's no doubt that Jesus was bodily raised.
That's why after he rose again, he ate and drank with them just to prove that he was
physically there.
He said a spirit hath not flesh and bone as you see me to have.
So I don't want anyone to misunderstand me that if you don't understand this doctrine
about where Jesus was for three days and three nights, where his soul was, that I'm saying
that they're not saved.
As long as you believe in the death, burial, and bodily resurrection of Jesus, that's all
it takes to be saved.
But still, we ought to have sound doctrine and believe the truth about where Jesus' soul
was for those three days and three nights.
According to Psalm 16 and according to Acts 2.31, his soul was in hell.
Now, these so-called fake language scholars will come along and say, well, hell doesn't
really mean hell there.
The modern versions will take out the word hell and put in something else in this verse.
And they'll say, well, when it says hell there, it's not really hell.
They'll say it's actually paradise.
Now, that's kind of funny that you would mistake hell for paradise because those are really
different places.
In fact, I'd say they're opposite one from another.
And they say, well, he's in paradise for three days and three nights.
You know, Abraham's bosom, they'll say.
But here's what doesn't make any sense about that.
If hell here in Acts 2.31 is paradise, well, if it's such a good place, why is he so happy
to get out of there?
Because what's he, I mean, think about it.
He says the thing that's giving him hope is that he's not going to be left in hell.
I mean, that's his only hope is that he's not going to have to stay there because obviously
it's a bad place that he wants to get out of.
Does everybody see that?
I mean, if you just read the verse, it says in verse number 26 of Acts 2, therefore did
my heart rejoice and my tongue was glad.
Moreover, also my flesh so resonant because thou will not leave my soul in hell.
Thank God he wasn't left there up from the grave he arose and his soul came up from the
lower parts of the earth.
Go to Matthew chapter 12, Matthew chapter number 12, because this is not a doctrine
that's based on one Bible verse.
This is a doctrine that's based on literally hundreds of Bible verses.
I don't even have time tonight to go through all the hundreds of Bible verses that prove
that Jesus went to hell for three days and three nights, all the different supporting
material I could show from scripture.
I'm going to try to cover as much of the important scriptures as I can, the most hard hitting,
but to me, Acts 2 31 is a case closed for me.
Acts 2 31, it's like case closed, but there's a lot of other scripture that teaches the
same thing.
For example, Matthew chapter 12 verse 40 states, for as Jonas or Jonah was three days and three
nights in the whale's belly, so shall the son of man be three days and three nights
in the heart of the earth.
Now flip back if you would to the book of Jonah and the old Testament, Jonah chapter
two, three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
The word heart is referring to that which is in the center.
If we were talking about an artichoke and we talked about the artichoke heart, we're
talking about that which is on the inside, that which is at the center.
When we talk about a person's heart, when we use that metaphorically, we're referring
to the center of their being, who they are, what's on the inside.
When we think about the earth itself, the earth at its center has a place that's known
to science as the core and the word core comes from a Latin word which means heart.
Why?
Because the core of the artichoke is the heart of the artichoke, that which is on the inside.
Now if we were to peel off something off the outside of an artichoke and dip it in mayonnaise,
that's not artichoke heart.
Something from the outside is not at the heart of it.
If we wanted to get the heart of the matter, we're going deep, we're going to the inside.
So when the Bible says Jesus was in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights,
we're not talking about his body being buried.
Because his body being buried, say six feet under, probably less than that if he was in
a sepulcher, the fact that he's being buried on the surface of the earth, the earth is
approximately what, 8,000 miles in diameter or something like that?
I'm not a science expert, but to be at the heart, you've got to go a little further than
six feet.
If the Bible says that Jesus was at the heart of the earth, and we know that the earth is
a sphere, sorry flat earthers, but we know the earth is a sphere, being at the heart
of that, you're on the inside, you're in the middle in what we know as the core or what
the Bible teaches as hell, the bottomless pit, the lowest part of the earth.
So Jesus said that as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so
shall the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Now pay close attention.
David in Psalm 16 was speaking from his own perspective when he said, thou wilt not leave
my soul in hell.
So it sounds like David's talking about himself, right?
Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell.
But was David really talking about himself?
No.
David was actually talking about Jesus.
He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ.
And Peter is quick to point out in Acts chapter 2 that David did see corruption.
His sepulcher is with us unto this day.
He wasn't talking about himself.
It was prophetic of Jesus.
It's sort of like when the Ethiopian eunuch is in Acts chapter 8 and he's reading the
book of Isaiah and he asks Philip, is the prophet speaking about himself or is he speaking
about some other man in Isaiah 53?
And the answer of course was that Isaiah was not talking about himself.
He was talking about Jesus in Isaiah 53, the famous scripture about Jesus being wounded
for our transgressions.
We hear the prophet Jonah does the same thing.
Where he's not just talking about himself, he's talking about Jesus as Matthew 1240 points
us to.
Look at Jonah chapter 2 verse 1.
The Bible reads, then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly.
So Jonah is swallowed by the whale and from the belly of the whale, he prays this prayer.
Look at verse number 2.
And said I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord and he heard me.
Out of the belly of hell cried I and thou heardest my voice.
Now let me ask you this, was Jonah in hell?
No, he was in the whale's belly.
But here he's prophetically speaking of Christ who as Jonah was three days and three nights
in the whale's belly, would three days and three nights be in the heart of the earth
in hell?
So he says out of the belly of hell cried I and thou heardest my voice.
For thou has cast me into the deep.
Is that Jonah or Jesus?
That's Jonah.
Jonah is going deep in the ocean here in the whale's belly.
In the midst of the seas, that's Jonah.
The floods compass me about.
That's Jonah.
All thy billows and thy waves passed over me.
That's literal.
Jonah is in the belly of the whale.
He's in the sea.
He's under water.
Then I said I'm cast out of thy sight yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.
The waters compass me about even to the soul.
That's Jonah.
The depth closed me round about.
The weeds were wrapped about my head.
This all makes sense for Jonah where he says I'm in the fish's belly or what the Bible
calls the whale's belly.
It was a giant whale that God had specially prepared, the Bible says, to be able to swallow
a human being.
He's talking about the weeds being wrapped around his head.
Seaweed is wrapped around his head.
The billows and the waves are going over.
He's in the depths.
He's in the seas.
Remember, he mentioned at the beginning, he said, out of the belly of hell, cried I.
He wasn't literally in hell but he's figuratively in hell picturing figuratively when Jesus
would literally go to hell, symbolic.
With Jonah, it's symbolic.
Jesus literally went there.
Look at the next verse.
I went down to the bottoms of the mountains.
Now that's not really true of Jonah.
Jonah did not go down to the bottoms of the mountains.
He didn't go that deep in the whale's belly.
And then look at the next phrase.
The earth with her bars was about me forever.
Now is that true of Jonah?
Did Jonah have the earth with her bars around him forever?
No.
What we're doing here in Jonah chapter 2, we're going back and forth between Jonah's
literal experience and the prophecy about one day Jesus experienced where he would be
in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.
So if Jesus, according to Matthew 1240, was in the heart of the earth for three days and
three nights, out of the belly of hell applies to him.
The earth with her bars was about me forever.
About means around.
So if you're in the center of the earth at hell, you could say, hey, the earth with her
bars.
And notice how he says it was about me forever.
You see, somehow Jesus Christ, when he was there for three days and three nights, it's
like he suffered the payment for our sin, which is an eternal punishment.
Because God is an eternal being, he could suffer that in three days and three nights
somehow.
We don't understand everything, obviously, as human beings.
But it says the earth with her bars was about me forever.
Yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God.
And that's a reference to the resurrection.
He did not see corruption.
So if you would go to Ephesians chapter number 4.
That's pretty interesting, isn't it?
When you look back to Jonah 2 and you compare it with Matthew 1240, it makes it even more
clear that Jesus was in hell for those three days and three nights.
In addition to what we saw comparing Psalm 16 with Acts chapter 2.
Look at Ephesians chapter 4 verse 8.
The Bible reads, Wherefore he saith, when he ascended, talking about Jesus, up on high,
he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men.
Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts
of the earth?
He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens that he might fill
all things.
So here in the Bible, it says that Jesus descended into the lower parts of the earth before he
ascended up to heaven.
Because if you remember, after Jesus rose from the dead, he said, touch me not, for
I'm not yet ascended to my Father.
But then eventually, of course, he did ascend to his Father.
Well here it says that before he ascended, he descended.
During those three days and three nights, he descended down to the lower parts of the
earth or what the Bible calls the heart of the earth.
Now a phrase in this passage that kind of throws people off sometimes, well, and maybe
a better way of putting it is not that it throws people off, but that it's a phrase
that people like to twist when they don't want to accept this clear teaching, is captivity
captive.
And I've heard people look at this and they say, well, in verse 8, when it says he led
captivity captive, they make up this weird story about what that means, how that means
Jesus went and he got all the souls out of paradise that were captive, the saved people,
and he brought them all to heaven.
Which doesn't really make any sense at all.
Why would they have been captive in the first place if they're saved and everything?
It doesn't make any sense.
But anyway, that's not what captivity captive means.
And we don't have to sit here and scratch our heads and wonder what captivity captive
means.
We can actually go back to Judges chapter 5 and that term is used and we can get a definition.
Go back to Judges 5.
Let's get a definition so that we don't have to just make things up.
Let's look it up in the Bible.
Let's compare scripture with scripture here.
And if we go back to Judges chapter 5, this is the story of Deborah and Barak, the two
biblical judges here.
And they were part of this cycle in the book of Judges where constantly the Israelites
are captive to another nation.
Whenever the Israelites would turn away from the Lord and worship other gods, they would
go into captivity or a foreign nation would come in and rule over them.
So a foreign invader would come in.
Let's say the Philistines or the Canaanites or one of the other surrounding nations.
And they would reign over them.
And then when they got right with God, God would raise up a judge who would be a warrior
who would defeat the invader and bring them freedom again.
Then eventually they would forget the Lord, another invader would come in, they would
be in captivity once again, and then they would have to expel the invader when they
got right with God and God would raise up a deliverer or a judge.
Well this is right after Deborah and Barak have led the people to victory and defeated
Jabin, they've defeated Sisera, they've defeated the enemies, and they're singing a song to
celebrate.
Look at verse 12.
Awake, awake Deborah, awake, awake, utter a song, arise Barak and lead thy captivity
captive thou son of Abinuam.
Then he made him that remaineth have dominion over the nobles among the people.
The Lord made me have dominion over the mighty.
So what does captivity captive mean in this story?
Here's what it means.
Barak and Deborah and the children of Israel were captive.
They were subservient to this foreign invader that had enslaved them.
They turned the tables on the captor.
They turned the tables on the invader.
They defeated the Canaanites and they led captivity captive.
And they ruled over, they had dominion over those who in the past had ruled over them
and had dominated them.
They led their captivity captive, meaning that they were captive.
Now they've turned the tables and made captive.
The one who had them captive, everybody understand?
They captured the captor.
That's what it means to lead captivity captive.
So thankfully God gave us this song in Judges five to help us understand when we would later
come across this in Ephesians four, we would know what it means.
Okay.
So if Jesus led captivity captive, and that's associated with him descending into the lower
parts of the earth, here's clearly what that means.
When Jesus was in hell for three days and three nights, he's captive.
But death was not able to hold him.
And so he was raised again from the dead, and now he said what?
I have the keys of hell and of death.
So Jesus Christ could not be held of death.
The Bible says it was not possible for him to be holding of it.
He led that captivity captive.
Hell had him captured for three days and three nights, but then he rose again and now he
has the keys of hell and of death.
That's what that means when it says that Jesus led captivity captive.
Go to Isaiah chapter 53.
Isaiah chapter 53, I mentioned this briefly when we talked about Philip and the Ethiopian
eunuch.
You know, Isaiah 53 is one of the most famous chapters of the Old Testament.
It's probably one of the top five most famous chapters.
It's a beautiful chapter about Jesus Christ dying for our sins and being an offering for
sin and, you know, that it's very prophetic of Jesus, very specific.
So it's a very popular passage.
In Isaiah 53, it talks about him being wounded for our transgressions.
He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes were healed.
Verse 6, all we like sheep have gone astray.
We've turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord had laid on him the iniquity of us
all.
But look at verse 10.
It says, yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him.
He hath put him to grief.
When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong
his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
So I want to point out that phrase, when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin.
So Jesus Christ's soul was made to be an offering for sin.
Turn to Mark chapter 9, Mark chapter 9, and I want you to also turn to Exodus chapter
12.
Exodus chapter 12 and Mark chapter 9.
While you're turning there, quick review.
Point number 1, Psalm 16 and Acts chapter 2, point blank, tell us that Jesus Christ's
soul was in hell and that when he resurrected, his soul was not left in hell.
So if you just want to show somebody this doctrine real quick, Acts 2.31.
There it is.
Case closed.
But there's more.
We then looked at Matthew 12.40 and Jonah chapter 2, which again taught the same thing,
that Jesus was three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
He cried unto the Lord out of the belly of hell.
Then we looked at Ephesians chapter 4.
Same thing.
He descended into the lower parts of the earth and he led captivity captive.
We confirmed that with the book of Judges.
Then we went to Isaiah 53 and saw that Jesus Christ's soul was an offering for sin.
Well here's the thing about offerings.
All throughout the Old Testament we have offerings.
Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of scriptures about the various offerings.
We're talking about animal sacrifices.
And look, we don't have the hours that it would take to look up all those offerings.
But if we were to look up all those offerings, what you would find is that all of those offerings
were a burnt offering.
They're a burnt offering unto the Lord.
Constantly it's being burned on the altar.
If you just look up the word burned or burnt in a concordance, read it all yourself.
Verse after verse after verse after verse.
I mean Leviticus, you'd just be looking at burnt, burnt, burnt, burnt, burnt, burnt,
burnt, burnt, burnt.
I mean just over and over again.
Now obviously there's a reason there.
All of those offerings, all of those sacrifices picture Jesus Christ.
They were all pointing to Jesus.
Whether it was the offering of the lamb, whether it was the offering of the bullock, whether
it's the ram, whether it's the pigeons, whatever the animal that God commanded an offering,
it all pictured Jesus.
They just pictured different aspects of Jesus Christ's death, burial and resurrection.
Different angles, different symbolism, but it all went back to Jesus.
All of it pointed to that.
The blood of bulls and of goats can't take away sins.
It was all just pointing to Jesus.
And that's why when Jesus Christ died on the cross, all of those offerings were over.
It all ceased.
It was done.
Now let me ask you this.
Why were all of those offerings a burnt offering?
Why did they all include fire and burning if Jesus didn't go to hell for three days
and three nights, as the Bible clearly said that he did in the verses that I showed you?
Look at Exodus 12, 8, your fingers in Mark 9.
It says, and they shall eat, this is the Passover.
And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire and unleavened bread and with
bitter herbs they shall eat it.
Notice how important this is, verse 9.
Eat not of it raw, nor sodden it all with water, that means boiled.
Don't boil it, don't eat it raw, but roast with fire his head with his legs and with
the pertinence thereof.
And ye shall let none of it remain until the morning, and that which remaineth of it until
the morning, ye shall burn with fire.
Look at Mark 9.
Verse 47 says, And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out.
It's better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes,
to be cast into hell fire, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
For everyone shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.
So right there, every sacrifice is salted with salt, and even the salt represented fire,
according to this verse, symbolic.
Salted with fire, salted with salt, I mean every offering, every sacrifice it says.
And if you study the Old Testament you'll see that every sacrifice that's offered on
the altar is a burnt offering unto the Lord.
Here's more evidence.
Go to Revelation chapter 1, Revelation chapter number 1, a lot of Bible on this.
This isn't an obscure doctrine, this isn't something that's based on one verse.
Even if Acts 2.31 were the only verse, I'd still believe in it.
But there's plenty more evidence, I mean it's based on a lot of scripture.
Plus it just makes sense, it actually makes more sense.
If Jesus died on the cross, and he had the sins of the whole world placed upon him, to
the point where actually there's darkness over the whole face of the earth while Jesus
is on the cross, and what did Jesus cry out?
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Why would God the Father forsake the Son?
It's because of all that sin.
God is a purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity.
So there was that separation that took place, you know, even between the Father and the
Son.
We all believe that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, because we believe in the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Ghost, these three are one.
But even at that moment of the crucifixion, Jesus, speaking to the Father, said, my God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Why?
Because he had the whole sin of the whole world on him.
The Bible says he who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him.
That's why it said in John chapter 3, verse 14, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him
shall not perish but have eternal life.
See, that serpent upon the pole in the book of Numbers represented Jesus being lifted
up.
Why?
What does a serpent represent?
Serpent is something that the devil is associated with, but Jesus became sin.
He who knew no sin.
He was tempted in all points like as we are.
That without sin, but he himself bare our sins in his own body on the tree.
And he who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him.
And when he took all those sins upon him and he died, his soul, with all that sin, all
that garbage, went to hell to pay for our sins, to pay that punishment.
And then three days later, he arose victorious over hell and death.
He conquered hell and death and arose from the grave.
That makes sense.
You know what doesn't make sense?
That Jesus physically died on the cross and his soul went to paradise or heaven or Abraham's
bosom or whatever.
And he's just sort of hanging out, enjoying himself for three days and three nights.
Oh man, the only thing I'm rejoicing is that I'm getting out of here.
And he's just enjoying himself and then just three days up, times up.
No, no, no.
He's doing something for those three days and three nights.
Otherwise, what's the point?
You know what he's doing?
He's paying the price for our sin.
See, the price for our sin is to go to hell.
I mean, look, if an unsaved person doesn't have Jesus, what price are they going to pay?
They're going to hell.
So how could Jesus pay for that with just a physical beating and just a physical death?
He had to die physically, but he ought to also face a spiritual death.
He had to face both.
Physical death, spiritual death.
He paid everything.
That makes sense.
He rose again from the dead.
But let me prove it to you further.
Revelation chapter 1 verse 18, Jesus said, I am he that liveth and was dead.
Now when was he dead?
For those three days.
And behold, I'm alive forevermore, amen, and have the keys of hell and of death.
Look at chapter 2 verse 8.
And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write, these things saith the first and the
last, which was dead and is alive.
So the Bible is real clear, Jesus didn't just die physically, Jesus was dead.
There was a time when Jesus was dead.
But now he's alive and he lives forever to die no more.
But he was dead for three days and three nights.
That's important.
Okay, with that in mind, go to Matthew 22 verse 32.
Now there are three verses that say the exact same thing.
One of them is in Matthew, one of them is in Mark, one of them is in Luke.
We're just going to look at Matthew because they all three say the identical thing.
We could look at all three, but there's no reason.
We'll just look at Matthew 22, 32, the other two say the identical thing.
Matthew 22, 32, the Bible says this, I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and
the God of Jacob.
God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
Now why is Jesus saying this?
Well because of the fact that there were people known as the Sadducees who believed that when
you died, that was it.
They thought that when you died, there's no afterlife, there's no resurrection, there's
no heaven and hell.
The Sadducees believed that when you die, it's over.
So Jesus is rebuking them and he says, well then why do you believe that God's the God
of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob?
God's not the God of the dead, but the living.
Not only that, but Jesus said before Abraham was, I am, right?
That's a famous quote.
Well if you back up a few verses, he said, Abraham rejoiced to see my day and was glad.
And they said, thou art not 50 years old and hast thou seen Abraham?
And he said, verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am.
And they took up stones to stone him because he's making himself equal with God.
But notice what Jesus said, Abraham rejoiced to see my day and was glad.
Why?
Because Abraham was not dead, Abraham's alive.
When Jesus walked the earth, Abraham's not considered dead, Abraham's considered alive.
He said, I'm the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, God's not the
God of the dead, but of the living.
Meaning what?
Abraham's living.
Isaac's living.
Jacob's living.
The body's dead, but they're still alive because the soul's alive, right?
Now people can debate in the, you know, well in the Old Testament, they didn't go to heaven,
they went to paradise or Abraham's bosom.
I don't believe in that.
I believe they went to heaven.
Of course, I believe that paradise and heaven are the same place and that Abraham's bosom
is a body part, not a place.
Okay.
But here's the thing.
It's a bosom.
It's a chest.
When it says he's in Abraham's bosom, it means he's leaned against Abraham's chest.
I don't understand how anybody can think that Abraham's bosom is a location that you go.
That's just a misunderstanding of plain English.
A bosom is, you know, I mean, look, John leaned on Jesus' bosom at the Last Supper.
Look, if I were to come out here, Dominique, okay, look, if I were to put my arm around
Dominique here, notice this is my bosom.
Notice he's in my bosom.
Everybody see that?
He's against my chest.
This is how John and Jesus were at the Last Supper.
This is how Lazarus and Abraham were in Luke 16.
Abraham is like this, Lazarus is in his bosom, all right?
He's not like inside like Abraham, like this gigantic Abraham with a gigantic chest cavity
and everybody's inside.
But people say, hey, they go to Abraham's bosom.
That's a big bosom if everybody goes there, you know?
It's quite a bosom.
But here's the thing about that.
Even if you believe in that Abraham's bosom thing, which I don't, but wherever you want
to put this mythical center of the earth, paradiso, Abraham's bosom place, okay, let's
say that that were true, right?
Well, let me ask you this.
Wouldn't Abraham be in Abraham's bosom?
He's there for sure.
It's named after him.
Okay, so let me ask you this.
When Jesus walked on this earth, was Abraham alive or dead according to Jesus?
Okay, so are the people in Abraham's bosom, even according to that doctrine, are they
alive or dead?
Is Isaac alive or dead?
He's alive.
Is Jacob alive or dead?
He's alive.
Okay, so let me ask you this.
If Jesus, when he died on the cross, supposedly, oh, he didn't go to hell, like Acts 2 31 said,
oh, he just went to another, he went to Abraham's bosom, he went to paradise, well, here's the
thing about that then.
Then would he be alive or dead?
He'd be alive, because if Abraham's there and he's alive, Isaac's there, he's considered
alive, Jacob's there, he's considered alive.
Look, if Jesus goes where Abraham is, then he's alive too.
But Jesus said, no, I was dead.
Now here's the thing, death, listen, this is key.
Hell is also referred to as death.
Okay, now, go if you would to Revelation 20 14, here's the thing, death is a place.
There's a place called death.
And I'll tell you where that place is, it's in the center of the earth, it's called hell.
In the Bible, it'll use the words death and hell synonymously about that place.
That's why, a place you can read up on this, and I really wanted to cover it in this sermon,
but it would just take so long.
I wanted to go verse by verse through the whole chapters of Ezekiel 31 and 32 and show
you this, how death and hell and it's the lower parts of the earth and everything.
But it's a big, long, complicated passage, really interesting.
I need to just give it its own sermon sometime where I just teach through Ezekiel 31 and
32.
But in those chapters, God calls hell death.
Now death is a place and here's the proof that death is a place.
First of all, in Revelation 20 14 at the great white throne, it says in verse 13 actually,
when the sea gave up the dead which were in it, which referring to bodies, watch this,
and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them and they were judged every man
according to their works.
So there are dead people that are in hell, right?
Dead people who are in a place called death because it says death and hell delivered up
the dead which were in them.
And then it says in verse 14 and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.
This is the second death and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was
cast into the lake of fire.
So this place where unsaved souls are is known as death and hell.
Those are two different aspects of it.
And that's why it's used synonymously in Ezekiel 31 and 32.
They're delivered unto death.
They're delivered under the pit.
They're delivered under the lower parts of the earth.
They're delivered unto hell.
It keeps repeating that.
We don't have time.
Now go to Revelation 21 8.
It says but the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers
and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth
with fire and brimstone which is the second death.
So the lake of fire is the second death.
The first death is the current hell that's in the center of the earth.
See there's the current location of hell.
Right now it's in the lower parts of the earth but eventually when people are in their final
doom as unsaved people, they're going to be in the lake of fire and what's the lake of
fire known as?
The second death.
The lake itself is known as the second death.
So the reason I point all this out is that people, pay attention, people, I know I'm
going a little deep here, literally deep into the earth, right?
People who are in hell, this is the whole point why I just explained that for the last
several minutes, people who are in hell are dead.
They're dead.
Now they're conscious, they're feeling pain, they have memories but they are classified
as dead.
Does everybody understand that?
People who are in heaven are alive.
Even if you believe in this doctrine that I don't believe in of paradise in the center
of the earth or Abraham's bosom, which both of those are ridiculous doctrines, I don't
believe in them.
But even if you do believe in them, the people who are in those places were called alive.
Everybody got that?
People who are in hell are dead people.
People who are in heaven or paradise are alive.
Look if you would at verse 12 of Revelation 20.
Look at Revelation 20, 12 and see that I'm telling you the truth here.
I saw the dead.
Are these people alive or dead?
They're dead.
I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God and the books were opened and another
book was opened which is the book of life and the dead were judged out of those things
which were written in the books according to their works.
These are not saved people.
These are dead people who have been brought up out of hell, they've been brought up and
placed before that great white throne of judgment to be damned eternally.
They are the dead.
These are not the people who were already resurrected in the first resurrection.
These are dead people.
They came from a place called death.
They're going to the second death.
So here's the point.
If Jesus was dead for three days and three nights, then that means he was in hell, not
in paradise.
Because if he were in paradise, that would mean he was alive for three days and three
nights.
But no, he was dead.
And now he's alive forevermore and that's why he says in the next breath, I have the
keys of hell and of death.
Why?
Because that's where he came from.
He went there, he conquered death and hell which, you know, why does he say death and
hell when we're talking about one place?
You know, we don't really necessarily understand all the mysteries of that place hell.
Thankfully, I don't really want to be an expert on it.
I'd rather just stay away from it and just go straight to heaven and be an expert on
that.
Thankfully, I'm never going to have to go there and experience what it means to be in
a place known as death and hell, you know, or his name that sat on him was death and
hell followed with him.
You know, the Bible's clear, though, that if you're in that place, you're dead.
And if you're in heaven or paradise, you're alive.
Jesus was dead for three days and three nights, he was in hell for three days and three nights.
And then his soul was not left in hell, he arose.
Now let me just, in my last moments here, cover some of the objections that people would
bring up to this.
Go if you would to John chapter 19, the objections that people would come at this.
First of all, what they'll usually do is create this straw man, and it just shows how
little they know the Bible when they say this.
They say, well, Pastor Anderson teaches that the blood of Jesus is not enough to save you.
Pastor Anderson teaches that Jesus Christ's death on the cross is not enough to save you.
Well, you know what?
Let me just go on the record right now.
Jesus Christ's death is not enough to save you because you also need the resurrection.
I mean, hello, is anybody home?
Last time I checked, the gospel's the death, the burial, and the resurrection.
But then these people come, well, Pastor Anderson says that Jesus Christ's death on the cross
is not enough.
Well, you know what?
You're just making yourself look like an idiot by saying that because anybody who's read
the Bible at all knows that the death isn't enough.
You got to have the resurrection.
It's not enough that he just died on the cross.
He had to rise again.
Now what's the most important part of the gospel?
The resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Is the resurrection a key or what?
It's everything.
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shall believe in thine
heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Look, we're saved by his life, the Bible says.
We're saved by his life that he rose.
And if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus
will God bring with him.
Jesus died on the cross.
So to sit there and say, well, you're saying that the blood of Jesus wasn't enough.
Look, here's what it took to save us.
Not just his death.
It also took his birth.
It also took his sinless life.
It also took his preaching and his word.
It also took his blood, his death.
It also took the burial.
And it also took the resurrection of Christ.
That's what saves us.
So this is a dumb argument to say, well, you're saying that the blood of Jesus isn't enough.
Of course the blood of Jesus is enough.
As long as we understand there's a death, burial and resurrection to go with the blood.
Right?
I mean, look, why, why, why do we have to piecemeal it?
It's a package deal folks.
You can't just say, well, which part is unnecessary?
It's all, you know, it's all part of the God's perfect, Oh, the love that drew salvation's
plan.
It's, it's all important.
We need all of it.
So that's a really silly argument to say, well, you're saying the death's not enough.
Yeah.
You, you better know I am.
If the death's enough, then I guess the Jehovah's witnesses are going to heaven.
Cause no, they're not going to heaven cause you need the resurrection.
Okay.
So here's what they'll point to.
This is how they'll debunk this.
They'll say, well, John, 1930, when Jesus therefore received the vinegary said, it is
finished.
And he bowed his head and gave up the ghost.
So what they'll say is, well, when Jesus said it is finished, that means he'd done everything
that it takes for us to get to heaven.
Have you ever heard that before?
When he said it is finished, that proves that he didn't have to do anything else.
Well, that makes no sense because he had to rise again.
Not only did he have to rise again, he also had to enter the Holy of Holies in heaven
as the high priest and sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat seven times.
Had he done that yet?
So the question is what was finished?
What was finished?
If Jesus said it is finished and then they say, well, here's what that means.
And then they make something up.
Well, that means he'd done everything to get you to heaven.
Not true.
Cause he hadn't yet risen from the dead and he hadn't yet sprinkled the blood on the mercy
seat.
Those are all key things.
Look, he ever liveth to make intercession for us.
He's still up there making intercession for us.
You know, the blood is still on the mercy seat.
It still speaks better things than that of Abel.
Okay.
Let's get the context.
What's interesting is that this quote, it is finished, happens to be in the book of
John.
And what's interesting is that three times in the book of John, Jesus uses this term
finish.
Let's see what he's talking about.
Go to John four, John chapter four.
Let's let the Bible tell us what it is finished means instead of just assuming, oh, well,
that means that he didn't have to do anything else.
Well, yes, he had a lot more to do.
He had to go to hell for three days and three nights.
Then he had to rise again from the dead.
Then he had to sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat seven times.
Then he had to tell the apostles to go preach the gospel to every creature.
Then he had to ascend up into heaven.
Then he had to ever live to make intercession for us.
Then he had to return and gather us together with them in the club.
Well, first he had to go prepare a place for us.
Then he had to come in the clouds and sounded trumpet and gather us unto him.
Then he has to return and set up on this kingdom, on this earth and rule for a thousand
years.
Then he has to deliver up the kingdom to the father at the end of the, there's a lot more
to do.
No, no.
Jesus said it is finished.
Don't don't teach that he did anything after that.
Well, it means he paid everything he said, no, you're making that up.
Let's see what the Bible said.
John chapter four, verse 34.
And these are, these are the three times in John that he uses the word finish.
John four 34, Jesus said to them, my meat is to do the will of him that sent me and
to finish his work.
So what's he finishing?
He's finishing the work that God gave him.
Look at John chapter five, verse 36, but I have greater witness than that of John for
the works, the works, which the father had given me to finish the same works that I do
bear witness of me that the father has sent me.
So in chapter four and in chapter five, what's he finishing?
Got to finish the work, finish the works.
Okay.
Go to chapter 17 of John.
This is at the very end of his ministry.
John chapter 17, verse four, Jesus says this, I have glorified thee on the earth.
John 17, verse four, I have finished the work, which thou gave us me to do.
Now is that pretty consistent?
Three out of three, John chapter four, I got to finish the father's work.
John chapter five.
I want to finish those works.
John chapter 17, I finished the work.
John 19.
It is finished.
Well, I wonder what he's talking about.
No clue the work that he was supposed to do.
What's finished.
He had finished his earthly mission of being born and living a certain life that he had
to live and doing all these certain works.
And when he was done with it, he said, you know what?
It's finished.
Now he's moving into the next phase and there's going to be another phase after that.
And then there's going to be a second coming.
There's going to be a millennium.
I mean, there's still more ahead.
Okay.
Another objection that people will give.
I'm kind of running out of time here, but can somebody give me another water, please?
Another objection that people will give is they'll say, well, Luke chapter 16.
And if you would go to Luke chapter 16, we'll finish up here.
They'll say, well, you know, hell.
They'll say, when the Bible says Jesus went to hell, he actually went to paradise.
And of course we've kind of debunked that a few times in this sermon and talked about
how silly that is and how ridiculous that is.
But they'll point to Luke 16 and say, well, Luke 16 proves, you know, that paradise is
down there and it's the same place or whatever.
Let's look at Luke 16 together and see if that's really true.
It says in verse number 19, there was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and
fine linen and ferret sumptuously every day.
And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate full of sores and
desiring to be fed with the crumbs, which fell from the rich man's table.
Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores and it came to pass that the beggar died and
was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom.
Again, not physically into his chest cavity, but into his bosom.
The rich man also died and was buried and in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments
and see if Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom, which again, that he's not seeing
like this gigantic Abraham with Lazarus in his bosom.
And it says he sees Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom and he cried and said, father
Abraham have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may tip the tip of his dip to tip
his finger in water and cool my tongue for I'm tormented in this flame.
So notice a few verses up it said and in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torment.
So the rich man's in hell, he's tormented and he sees Abraham afar off and he's begging
him for water, right?
Let's keep reading.
But Abraham said, son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receiveth thy good things
and likewise Lazarus evil things, but now he's comforted and now are tormented.
And beside all this between us and you, there's a great gold fix so that they which would
pass from hence to you cannot, neither can they pass to us that would come from thence.
And he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that that would have sent him into my father's
house for I have five brethren that he may testify to them, lest they also come into
this place of torment.
Abraham saith unto him, they have Moses on the prophets.
Let them hear them.
And he said, nay, father Abraham.
But if one went out of them from the dead, they will repent.
And he said it to him, if they not hear, if they don't hear Moses and the prophets, neither
will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead, of course, Jesus rose from the dead
and some of those people still were not persuaded, right?
So let me point out a few things about this.
People will say, well, if they're having this conversation, they're obviously right
next to each other is what they'll say.
So that proves that paradise is down in the center of the earth or whatever, even though
it's so hot and it's thousands of degrees hot and the core and the mantle.
Even though the Bible says, even in the Old Testament, that the spirit of man goes upward
and returns to the God who gave it.
But they'll say, well, right there, but let me point out a few things about this.
Let me just give you four thoughts about this passion.
Number one, is heaven a great way off from hell?
So if he sees Abraham a great way off, he could still be in heaven.
Heaven is a great way off from hell.
Number two, is there a great gulf between heaven and hell?
In fact, you're sitting in it.
You're in that great gulf between heaven and hell.
There's a great distance.
Okay.
Number three, under normal circumstances, can anyone see anything in hell if it's a
place of total darkness?
You know, the Bible teaches that people in hell are in darkness.
So if you're in total darkness, you don't see anything under normal circumstances.
And number three, under normal circumstances, could a person in hell be heard and understood
a great way off above the sound of all the millions of people weeping and wailing and
screaming?
Do you actually have a conversation with somebody who's a great way off with a great gulf fix
and you're just able to talk to them?
I mean, think about it.
Do you really think that Abraham and Lazarus are just hanging out in a place that's that
close to hell and that's just like, would you guys stop asking for water?
I mean, do you think that this is just an ongoing conversation?
Do you really think that just every day it's like, man, I wish these people would shut
up?
You know, here I am.
I'm saved.
I'm in paradise.
And I just have to listen to people screaming and wailing all day and begging for water
and I can't give them any.
It's like people just haven't really thought this through.
This is obviously a special miracle, a special situation where God miraculously allows this
conversation to take place like a one time thing.
Maybe just because this guy just got to hell and maybe it's just kind of being explained
to him, look buddy, this is why you're here.
Look buddy, you're not getting out.
I mean, just a basic conversation there.
This isn't just a, well yeah, they're right next to each other.
So then people draw all these pictures of like the center of the earth, here's paradise,
here's hell and here's the great gulf and it's not really that great of a gulf because
they can talk over it.
I mean, look, I would say the grand canyon's a great gulf.
Okay, let's put somebody on the other side of the grand canyon and let's have a conversation
with them.
You think that's happening?
Without any of the screaming and weeping and wailing, you're not having a conversation
across the grand canyon.
In fact, if we were to just stand even just, you know, a thousand yards apart, I mean,
this is a great gulf.
How are they talking?
It's a miracle.
It's a supernatural thing where they're having this conversation.
It's not like they just are that close, just, they just, you know, so what are you doing
today?
Oh, I'm just watching people in hell, just listening to them beg for water all day.
No, see, here's the thing, Abraham and Lazarus are in heaven where the Bible always teaches
that paradise is upward into paradise.
They're up in heaven with the Lord.
This guy's a great gulf because he's in hell and they're miraculously supernaturally having
this conversation.
So, therefore, I'm not going to take this story of Luke 16 and just turn everything
in the Bible on its head and move heaven down into the center of the earth just for this
story because this story is clearly a special case where they're having this miraculous
conversation where they can see Abraham and they can have this conversation.
It's a miracle, folks.
It's not that hard to see that.
So again, the Bible's crystal clear on this.
You can study it, Genesis to Revelation, and you'll see over and over again both symbolically
and just flat out where it's stated that Jesus Christ went to hell for three days and three
nights, which makes perfect sense that he didn't just die a physical death.
I mean, look, if he's sweating great drops of blood, lichen to blood, and he's that stressed
about it, it wasn't just because he was going to die on the cross.
It was because he knew everything he was going through.
He knew he would be made sin for us.
He knew that he would take upon him the sins of the whole world and that he would spend
three days and three nights dead in hell, conscious but dead, and then arise three days
later.
It really gives a greater appreciation for the Gospel and it gives a greater appreciation
for Jesus Christ and what he did for us.
It's actually a more powerful testimony and it actually makes more sense and it jives
with scripture more than this weird doctrine of, well, he's just hanging out in paradise
for three days and three nights.
Not biblical.
He was dead for three days and three nights.
He was in hell.
Now another last objection that people bring up is they'll say, well, but he told the thief
on the cross, today I'll be with you in paradise, except here's the thing, Jesus is God and
the thief was up in heaven with the Lord.
And Jesus even said in John chapter 3, 13, he said, no man hath ascended up to heaven,
but he that came down from heaven, even the son of man, which is in heaven.
So even in John chapter 3, while Jesus is talking to Nicodemus, he said the son of man's
in heaven.
Why?
Because God's omnipresent.
God can be both in heaven and hell at the same time.
The Bible says if I make my bed in hell, you're there.
If I ascend into heaven, you're there.
So there are verses that people would use to try to make this case that Jesus did not
go to hell for three days and three nights, but the clear scripture in Acts 2 31, Matthew
12 40, Ephesians chapter 4 and all these burnt offerings and Mark chapter 9, Isaiah 53, Exodus
12, everything we looked at, it's pretty clear that Jesus was in hell for three days and
three nights.
And so I'm going to stand on that scripture and that's what we believe.
And I make no apology about believing that.
I don't shy away from that because that's the truth.
These other people need to catch up on their Bible reading and catch up on getting their
doctrine straight, you know, put them on the defensive.
What, you don't believe Jesus went to hell for three days and three nights?
That's funny because it says that in Acts 2 31.
But it's funny because the way they talk about it, they act like it's some dirty secret.
Did you know that Pastor Anderson teaches that?
Did you know that?
Oh, and what's funny is that these bunch of these, some of these bunch of Protestants
who attack us for believing that they chant that apostles creed.
It says that the apostles created to send it into hell.
And I don't chant that vain repetition, but these Protestants like James White chant that
thing in their type of churches and then he has the gall to act like I'm crazy for believing
in that.
Well, you, why are you chanting it?
Why are the Catholics chanting it?
You know what, where, where'd they get that?
Well, that's what the Bible says.
And I don't believe in their chance and their creeds, but it's just kind of funny that they'll
actually chant that and then turn around and say, Whoa, what are you doing?
Believe in that.
It's like, well, sorry, let's buy rides and have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for, uh, the, the clear scriptures that we saw tonight.
And we thank you so much for the gift of eternal life and that you paid the wages of sin, which
is death.
Lord, you paid that for us and you conquered death.
You conquered hell, you led captivity captive, and you have the keys of Helen of death.
And we give all glory and praise to you tonight for the glorious gift of eternal life purchased
by the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.
And we're thankful for every aspect of, of the salvation plan, including the fact that
Jesus' soul was not left in hell.
And we pray these things, Lord, in Jesus' name, Amen.