you
you you
you
you you
you
and
you
it's
you
then the Lord's gonna answer that prayer by what?
raising him again
from the dead and taking him
out of there
so what's interesting about Jonah 2
is I believe if you kinda study it
they kinda have this alternating pattern
where the first verse is like Jonah
and then the second verse is like Jesus
and then the third verse is like Jonah
and then the fourth verse is like Jesus
and of course they apply to both of them
at least metaphorically
but when we're
when we're getting more of a literal interpretation
it's kinda having this alternating pattern
cause then look at verse 3
for that has cast me into the deep
in the midst of the seas
and the floods compass me about
all thy billows and thy waves
pass over me. Now here's the thing, did Jesus
ever go down into the sea?
No. So who are we talking about?
We're talking about Jonah. Jonah
was in the depths of the sea
Jonah was cast out of his sight
and the waves
but metaphorically
that applies to Jesus, doesn't it?
in the sense that he was in the deep
meaning the heart of the earth
and he was cast out of his sight in a sense
and so a lot of this is metaphorically
applying to Jesus. Verse 4
Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight
yet I will look again toward
thy holy temple. Of course
it's both, but again it's more so
Jesus in the sense that Jesus is gonna rise from the dead
be ascended back into heaven
and he's gonna be in the holy temple
of God. Verse 5
The waters compass me about
even to the soul, meaning specifically
to the soul
the depth closed me round about
the weeds were wrapped about my head. So here's the thing
were weeds wrapped around Jesus
head at any point? No
we don't have any evidence of that. But who had
literal weeds wrapped around their head?
Jonah did while in the
belly of the whale.
Then it says in verse 6
I went down to the bottoms of the mountains
the earth with her bars was about me forever
yet hast thou brought up my life
from corruption, O Lord my God. Now for
Jonah, it says that it went
down to the bottom of the mountains
the earth with her bars was about me forever. The first
part is kind of maybe about both
a little bit in the sense that obviously
a lot of mountains
go down deep under the water
and so Jonah in a sense
is kind of there, but he's not really
under that and
think about this, the earth with her bars
was about me forever. That wasn't
that wasn't Jonah
because Jonah was still above the earth's
crust. Albeit he was in water
he wasn't surrounded by
the bars of the earth meaning the crust
and the earth of the earth because that was under him.
But who was actually encompassed
with the bars of the earth? Who was actually encompassed
with the crust of the earth? That was Jesus
who was in the heart of the earth
and so we kind of have all these different
metaphors and all these different
symbolism yet
in many cases it's literal for
Jesus and then it's literal for
Jonah here and we just kind of have to
unpack this. This is a great
great chapter because it's so easy for
us to recognize the distinctions
to learn that
everywhere in your Bible it's like this.
Everywhere in your Bible you're going to
have passages where they talk about
things and it's just going to flip
from person to person, literal to not
literal, back and forth and
what the mistake that many people do is
they'll try to apply like a whole chapter
just all literal or something or all
symbolic not realizing that
it's kind of going back and forth or
talking about different events. Like Matthew 24
is a great example. All
of that discourse, some people
want all of that to be 80-70
and then some people want it to
all be future, some people want
it to all be symbolic, some people
want it to all be, you know, there's all
only the Jews or like
there's all these different things where people just want to put
it in a single category but many
times it's actually multiple
categories all spliced together
in a beautiful mosaic just like
this particular passage and of course
God does this to conceal it
from the unsaved whereas us
having the Holy Spirit we can be guided
in all truth and we can understand all
these things and see all the different
elements that are woven together.
So don't
make the mistake of always saying well
this just has to be
one way through the whole passage. Like it's only
Jonah or it's only Jesus and
I've heard a lot of people
you know that don't like the doctrine
that Jesus went to hell. They'll just say this is
only Jonah.
Chapter 2 is only Jonah and it's just
like wait a minute, why would Jesus
reference it to himself if it just
has nothing to do with him?
Well it's just in the grave.
And it's like okay but who in the grave
has experienced like praying
and crying and
affliction? I mean I don't know
if there's a doctrine out there that says you're in
affliction while you're in soul sleep or something or
while you're in the grave but I've never heard that
and again that's that
doesn't really fit the narrative here
it doesn't fit the metaphor or the
simile. The Bible is really clear
that this picture is actually
foreshadowing what Jesus
would have to go through and not
only did he die but he
had this experience and not only
did he go through that though he was risen
again he didn't stay in that condition.
So that's a clear picture.
Now there's a lot of other pictures
I want to go to. This one was really easy. A lot of
people have heard this one. There's some other ones
I want to go to but before I go there
I want to prove a few
points about hell because
I think they really help us when we get to the pictures.
Okay. So let's go to Acts 2 for a
moment. Let's go to Acts 2 and
we're going to read a little bit
of places and we're just going to learn a little bit
about hell.
Now hell is a doctrine that's
under attack today and
hell is a doctrine that many people don't want to even
believe in and so it's not
surprising to me that then people also have
a problem with Jesus going to hell because hell
itself is just a doctrine that's under attack
and many people try to get
away from that.
But we need to teach on hell and learning
about hell motivates you
to preach the gospel.
You say I'm
already saved I'm not going to hell. Well great for
you but what about your neighbor? What
about your family member? What about your friend?
What about your children? What about the loss?
What about people in the Bahamas? What about
people in Mexico? What about people
in Dallas? Or what about
people in Fort Worth? Or what about people in
Watauga? Well they're already going. I'm just kidding.
You know what about people all over the area?
You know we should care about everyone.
We should want people to be
saved because when you realize
how bad hell is
you realize you wouldn't want anyone to go
there. And in fact God
doesn't want anyone to go there either.
God is not willing that any should perish
but that all should come under repentance.
The Bible says for God to love
the world that he gave his only begotten
son. The Bible makes it clear
that God loved every single person
and that he never wanted
a single person to go to hell.
The Bible says that hell was designed for the devil
and his angels according to the
Bible. So God doesn't want
us to go there. He doesn't have a desire
for people to go to hell. He would wish for
all to be saved but
unfortunately many
people will choose not to be saved
and they decide not to
believe in Jesus Christ. They decide
not to accept his free gift. They're too
prideful. They're too arrogant and
they want to work their way to heaven and God
says no. God will
reject every person that tries to work their way
to heaven. They will all burn in hell for
all of eternity. So yes, I make a big deal
about preaching it's work salvation
no matter how you package it.
Because the nice Christian
lady who believes in work
salvation is going to the same hell that the
rapist is going to.
And you know what? That doesn't sound fair to you
but I don't care what you think.
I care what's reality and I care
what's true and I care about
every person dying and going to hell.
Every single one.
And hell is so awful.
Now that's why people want
Jesus to have not gone there.
But you have to understand your sin is that
awful. And God is so
just. He can't just let people
get off the hook for their sin.
He had to have a real punishment for it
and let me tell you something, Jesus faced a
real punishment for our sin.
His life and death
and burial and resurrection
was a real sacrifice.
Look, just coming
down from heaven and just living on the earth
was a sacrifice.
In the sense that he had to humble himself.
In the sense that he had to let people
speak negatively about him
and not give him all the honor and respect
he deserved every moment of his life.
I mean it was all an experience
of lowering himself and humbling
himself and going through pains
and afflictions. The Bible says he was
a man of sorrows acquainted with grief.
His whole life was
an experience of
being touched with our infirmities
and going through
all kinds of negative experiences.
Seeing people die
and losing friends and people losing
faith in him and false accusations
and just, I mean there was just so much
that he had to deal with. But hell
was one of those.
Acts chapter 2 is very clear. Look what it
says in verse number
25. For David
speaketh concerning him. Here's another one of
those great times where the Bible just tells you exactly
that it was about Jesus.
So David in the Psalms talked about
Jesus. It said,
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 thy holy one, to
see corruption. So according to the
Bible, Jesus'
soul was in hell, but his
flesh didn't see corruption.
Meaning that he wasn't there long enough
for his body to rot, what
happened? Well he was risen again from the dead.
Now if you go back even
further, look at verse 23 now.
Him, being delivered by the determinate council
and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken
and by wicked hands have crucified and
slain, whom God hath
raised up, having loosed the
pains of death, because it was not possible
that he should be holden of it.
So notice, was it possible that
Jesus should stay dead? No.
It's not possible to allow
Jesus to stay dead, so he was raised
from the dead. But notice how it words
it in verse 24, having loosed
the pains of death.
Now here's the thing,
Jesus obviously experienced
pain on the cross. Jesus
experienced pain prior to that,
by being scourged.
Jesus felt pain before that, having
a crown of thorns shoved on his brow.
Jesus felt pain before that,
being smitten and struck
by the priests.
So there wasn't just one time
that Jesus experienced pain.
Jesus experienced pain when he got struck many
times. Jesus felt pain when he got
beaten with a cord of
whips. Jesus felt pain
when they shoved a crown of thorns
right down on his brow. Jesus
Christ felt pain as they put the
cross on top of him and were having
him drag it all the way up to Mount Calvary.
Jesus felt pain when other
people would spit upon him
and mock him and just hurt
him and harass him, and they gave him
gall to drink. That was painful.
It was so painful, he couldn't
even carry his own cross.
And someone else came and helped him
to carry the cross.
It was painful to be nailed.
It was painful to be lifted up
and have to go through the suffocating,
gruesome, painful experience.
You know, I worked out
this week, and when I just
walk up steps or down steps, it hurts.
But I can't imagine how bad
it would hurt for me to have been beaten
and have a nail in my feet
and then have to press on that
joint just to get a breath.
But you would do that
because you would just die. So that's one
of the worst things about the crucifixion is
basically every time you have to
lift up, you have to lift up
to get a breath, essentially,
and that lifting up hurts so bad because
you've been beaten and nailed and
everything, and eventually you just get to the point
where you just can't do it anymore.
I don't know if this is kind of like it,
but I think of drowning in the
sense that obviously you're going to hold your breath
for a period of time, but eventually you get to the point
where you just can't anymore, and then you start
drinking water. You start breathing
water in, and then you kind of
suffocate on that water, and it's a horrible experience, right?
That sounds terrible, but
crucifixion is worse. And a lot
of times they're even choking on their own blood.
They've got all kinds of issues.
I mean, this is a grueling experience,
and Jesus didn't even do it for a little bit.
He did it for a while.
You study the timeline, it's about 9 a.m.
to 3 p.m. that Jesus Christ
had to endure the cross
despising the shame. Not only this,
he's doing it without clothes on,
nailed up by a bunch of scumbags,
two scumbags,
two thieves that no one
likes. He has to just,
and everybody's walking back
wagging their head and railing
on him, and all his friends mostly
deserted him, and there's basically
no one there, and they're just all, you know,
watching this horrible... That was awful.
And you know what? I don't want to take away from any of that.
But as soon as he died,
according to the Bible, he descended
down into hell, too.
And that was part of the experience.
It was part of what he had to go through.
But what loosed him
from the pains of death?
It wasn't dying.
It was being risen from the dead.
Now here's the thing. When did he
rise from the dead? He didn't rise from the dead
on Thursday. He didn't rise from the dead
on Friday. He didn't rise from the
dead on Saturday. He rose
early on the first day of the week.
So here's the thing.
If the only painful
experience that Jesus Christ felt
ended when he
died on the cross, then that
means he was loosed from the pain
on Thursday afternoon.
But then
why didn't he be risen from the dead? To be loosed from
the pains of death. He didn't.
If he's in hell, then he
does need to be loosed from the pains of death. And when
does that happen? When he's risen from the dead.
Because what you have to understand about death
and hell is they're connected very closely.
There is distinction,
but they're very similar. And many
times they're used interchangeably.
And you have to
understand this concept. Death
is a state of being
and hell is its location.
Death is a state of being and hell
is its location. Now sometimes death
or being dead can mean different things.
But
many times what dead means is
that you're in hell. That's just what it
means specifically. Just why
Jesus Christ, when he's talking
with different people, he'll say that they're asleep.
Because a lot of times
when we're talking about saved people, they're not dead.
They're asleep. Their body is
apart from their soul and spirit,
but their soul and spirit is in heaven. So they're not dead.
They're alive in heaven.
That's why when you have eternal life, you're never
going to die. Meaning what? You're never going to go to hell.
Does that mean you're not going to be separated from your body?
No, you will.
That's why Jesus Christ said,
he that believeth me shall never die.
Believest thou this. What does he mean by
that? He means you're never going to go to hell.
He doesn't mean that you won't be separated from your physical body
because we will. You're not
even going to taste death, according to the
Bible, because Jesus Christ
tasted death for us, as
Hebrews makes it very clear. What's
taste? Very short, very small
amount of time. So Jesus only tasted
death for us, but he
was dead. And what
does that mean? That means he was
in hell. Now it says this even
further. Look at verse 31.
He's saying this before us, big of the resurrection of Christ,
that his soul is not left in hell,
neither
his flesh did seek corruption.
Now, again, what does neither
actually even mean?
In addition to, or
including, right?
So it's saying,
in a negative context, right? It's
saying, like, not only did this happen,
here's another thing that did not happen.
So what's the first thing that didn't happen?
His soul wasn't left in hell. What's another
thing that didn't happen? His flesh did
not seek corruption. So we see a distinction
between the flesh and the soul being described
in this verse as two different
things that didn't happen. What's one thing
that didn't happen? He didn't stay in hell. What's another
thing that didn't happen? His flesh didn't see corruption.
Why? Verse number 32,
this Jesus that God raised up.
So what solved both of those problems?
The soul and the spirit returning
out of hell into the physical body,
and he came back to life. He walked
out of the tomb victorious.
He showed the disciples the holes in his hand,
the hole in his side, and
then he ascended up into
heaven, and, you know, of
course, he's alive and he's in heaven.
And Revelation 1, he
tells us, I have the keys
of death, of hell and of death.
So Jesus Christ conquered the grave.
Go to Romans 5.
I want to show you another verse here.
Some people would say,
well, no, he got the victory
on the cross.
That's just technically wrong
because the victory was the resurrection.
Okay?
And look what the Bible says.
I think I actually
wanted chapter 6. I'm sorry. You're close
though. Romans 6.
Look what it says
in verse 8. Now if we be
dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also
live with him, knowing
that Christ being raised from the dead
dieth no more.
Death hath
no more
dominion over him. Notice death
had dominion over him at some point
in order for that statement to even be true.
But wait a minute.
If dying on the cross was the
victory, then how did he have
someone have dominion over him?
He wouldn't have anything
over him. He would have already been the victor.
But wait a minute. Death did have
victory over him temporarily
while his body was in the grave
and his soul
was in hell, wasn't it?
So he had that
temporary status.
But what happened? He was
risen again from the dead
and it says in verse number 10,
for in that he died, he died in the sin
once, but in that he liveth,
he liveth unto God. So yeah,
he had that happen one time.
There was a short space. That's why he even says,
I am he that liveth
and was dead, and behold,
I am alive
forevermore. Meaning what?
Death can never have dominion over him again.
He can never go through that experience
again. And he now has the keys of hell and of
death. And according to the Bible,
you know, that's what makes it so
glorious is that he's risen from the dead
specifically. Okay.
Now, go if you would to Psalms
chapter 16. Go to Psalms chapter 16. We're going to
actually read
what it said in Acts
in the book of Psalms where David had brought
this up.
Now, people shy away from this and
honestly,
I think it's mostly just
coming from unsaved people
because when I preach the gospel,
I always include this
in my gospel presentation every
single time.
I've never not included it to my
memory. Maybe it's possible,
but 99 for sure
percent of the time, I always include this.
I feel like it's 100, but
I'm just out of abundance of caution.
And I've
never had someone get mad at me
about it. I've never had someone
get... And even if I had one person,
it wouldn't change my opinion. But I'm just saying
I can't remember a single time
anybody getting mad
or upset or disagreeing
or anything.
But there are some people out there that
get mad about this. And mostly,
it's pastors, teachers,
and the scholarly,
the learned. It's typically
never laymen that are that upset about
this. I'm not saying it doesn't exist.
I'm saying from my experience, that's
what I've noticed.
And a lot of times, they just
get mad about it. They're just like,
oh, that's so awful that you said that
Jesus went to hell. Well, it was
awful that he went there.
But isn't that what it's saying?
Here? It's like, no, that's not
what it's saying. What is it
saying? It's not what it's saying.
Okay, but what is
it saying? That's not what it's saying.
There's nowhere in the Bible that says that.
What about all these places? Well,
no. It's just like
getting mad doesn't prove anything.
Okay, folks? And
I'm King James only, so I actually
believe what the Bible says when it says it.
Whereas modern versions, they'll take a
lot of these verses that say hell and just change
them. Just grave or something
or whatever. And I even
hear people that are supposedly
King James only. They'll go to those places
I showed you in Acts chapter 2, and they'll
say, well, actually what hell means there is grave.
Go back into
the Greek. Oh,
okay. You King James only
you. Going back
to the Greek, huh?
And of course, the people that go back to the Greek
don't speak Greek.
Like, I know people
that can, quote, go back
to the Greek and actually speak Greek.
And what's so funny about it is
they never do that. Like,
they don't ever use that as their tactic
or their way to explain anything.
The people that are actually capable of doing it, they don't do
it. The people that are incapable
of doing it, they love doing it.
Okay, that's what's so funny about it.
Like, my friend, Pastor Stephen Anderson,
I mean, he's read the Greek New Testament
I think, like, a dozen times. Or if not,
he's pretty much right there.
That's more than most everybody in this room
in English.
Okay? I mean, the
guy, and the guy's preached the gospel to
people in Greek, like,
speaking it fluently and getting people saved in
Greek. So it's not like somebody that couldn't speak
Greek. It's someone that actually knows a lot of
Greek and is very well versed
in Greek. And you know when he uses
the Greek to prove the King James wrong?
Never. Never.
But then there's people that don't speak
Greek, and then they'll just tell you
how the Greek, well, actually it means grave.
So stupid.
It's so foolish.
Now look at Psalms chapter 16
verse 9.
It says,
So again, it's like the exact same thing that we read in Acts chapter number 2.
It was quoted here.
So this was a picture
of Jesus going down.
So they could have known Jesus was going to go to hell
in Psalms at the time
when David is writing this.
They didn't have to wait for that doctrine.
Now, think about this.
Oh, they didn't know about the gospel.
They didn't know about the death-bound resurrection in the Old Testament.
Well, how would you believe any of this?
This actually proves all of that,
doesn't it?
Because number one, it's proving that he's dying
because you can't go to hell without dying.
You can go alive into the pit,
but you died, like, in that experience.
Okay, folks.
All right.
You know, Korah and his clan, they died
on the way down.
They started alive,
but they ended dead, okay?
That journey didn't...
They're not still alive down there, okay?
And here's the thing.
The only way to get there is to die.
So there's the death, right?
And obviously, he's talking about
the flesh resting in hope.
There's your burial.
And then the fact that it won't see corruption,
there's your resurrection.
So if you think about it,
you have the death, burial, and resurrection
explained in Psalms chapter number 16,
verses 9 and 10,
and then later, the apostles...
You know what they're using to get people saved?
Psalms.
It wasn't like they're preaching some...
They didn't have
Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and John to use.
They didn't have the Romans road.
Romans had never been written.
Paul was still Saul.
Saul hadn't written Romans yet.
And you know what they were using?
They were using the Psalms road, okay?
And they were getting people saved.
They're using Joel.
They're using the Psalms Joel road or something.
Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved, right?
Amen.
It's like, oh, well, you know, Romans 10 doesn't mean that.
Well, hey, they were preaching that in Joel
before Romans was even written.
They were preaching the Romans road
before the Romans road, folks.
Okay?
Because if you understand Romans,
it's just a bunch of Old Testament quotes.
Everybody was preaching the Gospel, and Jesus,
you know, of course, according to the Scripture,
went to hell.
Look at chapter 18. We're right there.
Look at verse 4.
The sorrows of death compassed me,
and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.
The sorrows of hell compassed me about.
The snares of death prevented me.
You know, it doesn't say there was a good time.
It says the sorrows of hell, doesn't it?
And of course,
people just...
that don't want to believe this,
because nothing actually means what it actually says.
Now, of course, sometimes that's the case,
but I don't believe that, for this as being metaphor.
Go to 116. Go to Psalm 116.
I don't believe that hell,
being sorrowful, is a metaphor for something.
You know what the metaphor of being sorry in hell is?
For being sorry in hell.
The sorrows, the pain,
the affliction,
the turmoil.
I mean, there's nothing good about hell,
whereas some people have this stupid
Abraham's bosom doctrine,
or the good side of hell,
or they'll say that Jesus just, like, went to hell,
but he was having, like, a good old time.
Just, you know, just gloating or something.
Like, woo! Yeah!
I'm just having a good old time!
It's called the harrowing of hell doctrine.
Or sometimes they just have him going down there
and just checking it out.
I'm like, what's up in here?
You got some new chambers?
Oh, huh, okay.
You know, hey Hitler, what's up?
You know, it's like, well, he wasn't there yet, but you know.
I mean, Nebuchadnezzar, sorry, there you go.
Hey, what's up, man?
You know, hey Cain, how's it going?
Been here for a while, huh?
I mean, Cain knows what hell's like, right?
He's been there for a while.
Tubal Cain, you got all kinds of weirdos down there.
A lot of people from the flood.
They're like, oh, well, they had to preach to the people down in the flood.
No, Noah already did that and they rejected it, folks.
You know, they have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them.
You know, it's funny that they needed Jesus to come preach them the gospel
when Abraham tells the rich man that he didn't need Jesus to come preach them the gospel.
He said, hey, you have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them.
Why do they need to have Jesus then come down there and re-preach them the gospel?
They wouldn't. And guess what?
If he didn't believe Moses, he wouldn't believe Jesus.
Evidence, Jews.
They had both.
They had everything.
They had all the answers.
They had Jesus performing miracles before their eyes and they still couldn't believe.
What do they need?
They got to experience the gospel literally and they still didn't believe.
I mean, there's nothing, you know, don't get this weird, goofy idea, you know,
that, well, Jesus had to go re-preach them the gospel.
I was like, no, they already had the opportunity, folks.
Psalm 116, look at verse 3.
The sorrows of death compass me and the pains of hell get hold upon me.
I have found trouble and sorrow.
How do you interpret that verse?
The pains of hell get hold upon me.
Who, let's just say, well, that's David.
Okay, well, then why is David so afraid of the pains of hell?
He's saved.
How many of you are afraid of the pains of hell after being saved?
No, that's what motivated you to get saved.
Okay, now that we're saved, I'm not worried about the pains of hell for me.
Now, wait a minute.
What about Jesus?
Well, if he didn't go through that, then this verse applies to no one.
Spiritually, it applies to no one saved.
But wait a minute.
If Jesus actually had to go to hell and experience the pain and affliction of that,
then this verse would apply perfectly to him, wouldn't it?
So again, the Bible's really simple, and it's really easy to understand these verses
when you decide to just throw out the window what you personally believe
and just accept whatever the Bible says.
If the Bible just said he went to hell, it's just because he went to hell.
It's that simple.
It's that easy.
People just don't want to believe it,
and mostly it's because a lot of false teachers will make you feel awkward about it or something
or using a false Bible.
We go to Psalm 86 now,
and I just want to prove a few more things about hell specifically
and how it's like death.
Psalm 86, verse 13,
and I've preached a lot of sermons on this, honestly,
but I don't feel like you can preach enough on it,
and there's so much that I've never talked about,
and I want to talk about some things that I haven't really explored too much.
A lot of what I said already I've preached in other sermons,
but let's look at some more places in the Bible because there's so much on this topic.
There's not just the few verses we've already looked at already.
There's so much more.
Look at Psalm 86.
Look at verse 13.
The Bible says,
For great is thy mercy toward me.
Thou has delivered my soul from the lowest hell.
Do you really think we're talking about a grave here?
And notice that something that's always a common denominator with hell is low.
It's talking about low and going down.
That's a common theme.
Go to chapter 55.
So hell is a real doctrine,
and in order for you to look at the word hell in the New Testament
and say, well, actually, that means grave,
you know what you're doing?
You're saying all the King James translators were wrong.
Now, admittedly, sometimes the underlying Hebrew
or the underlying Greek word is translated as grave,
and sometimes it's translated as hell,
both in the New Testament and the Old Testament.
The Old Testament word is sheol.
Sometimes it's grave.
Sometimes it's hell,
and in the New Testament, the word Hades is sometimes hell
and sometimes it's grave,
but the King James translators chose what they chose
because they believe that's what it's saying, okay?
So you also have to understand this,
and we haven't gotten there yet,
but when we get to the translators or the reader,
they made it abundantly clear.
They would never alter a word or use a synonym
unless they believed it said the exact same thing.
It meant the exact same thing
and had the exact same sense of the word.
So for you to then suppose that the word hell
doesn't actually mean hell,
you're basically just saying y'all were wrong.
You're just saying all of them are wrong.
You translated this wrong.
You didn't even understand the Bible.
I'm going to be your guru.
And who is so arrogant and prideful to think
that they're smarter than the men
that gave us the King James Bible?
And then why don't you come out with your version then?
Since you're so brave and smart,
why don't you give us your version,
the John McPhail Bible?
Yeah, because John McPhail, he taught that in Acts 2,
when they say hell, it actually means grave,
not really what we think of as hell.
And John McPhail also said anybody that teaches this doctrine
is an unsaved false prophet,
which is so funny since he used to preach it.
So he used to be an unsaved false prophet.
But apparently he finally got right on this doctrine.
And they'll be like, well, I just feel uncomfortable
I used to preach this.
Well, I don't know why.
And again, these guys have said a lot of good things
about the gospel, and I want to believe
that they're genuine as far as wanting to get people saved.
But there's a lot of red flags with those individuals.
And this is just over the top to suggest
that someone who preaches this or teaches this
is an unsaved false prophet is just, it's bizarre.
Okay? Because honestly, you'd almost have to throw
all of the King James translators in L2
since they translated it to hell!
And consistently, in your Bible, hell is nothing good,
it's nothing wonderful.
Now, the reason why there's such a tight correlation
to grave and hell is because being dead and not saved,
you're in hell.
If your body's in the grave and you're not saved,
you are in hell.
So a lot of times that's why it's using a similar word.
But we have plenty of words in the English language
and other languages that can have dual meanings.
Well, how do you determine which one it is?
The context.
And of course, the King James translators were doing that.
So they gave us the Bible.
There's one time in the New Testament
where the word Hades is translated as grave.
It's in 1 Corinthians 15.
Oh, grave, where is thy victory?
Sure, fine. I agree with that.
And many times in the margin, it'll say hell
or vice versa and something like that.
But every other time, Hades is always hell.
And I'll prove this later,
but whenever you're looking in the New Testament,
plenty of times, Hades, it cannot be mistaken
as not being hell,
the place that we think of as literal fire, okay?
But here, the lowest hell.
Are we talking about the lowest grave
in the previous verse that we looked at?
No. Look at Psalm 55.
Look at verse 15.
Let death seize upon them
and let them go down quick into hell.
For wickedness is in their dwellings and among them.
Are we talking about two different things here?
Or why would it say go down quick into hell?
Like, we better get these bodies buried fast.
Why do they care so much
about the bodies being buried so fast?
No, they're like, we want these people in hell fast.
Now, who's ever thought that about protesters?
Okay, all right, I see that hand.
A lot of saved people in this room, all right?
Hey, you're not like,
I'm not rushing to get their body buried.
I'm rushing to get their soul in hell.
I'm rushing to get their soul in hell, folks, okay?
And that's what this guy's talking about.
Go to Deuteronomy 32.
Go all the way back to Deuteronomy.
Look, hell means hell.
Don't get confused.
Don't let someone whisper in your ear
and start thinking that hell means something else.
Because let me explain this.
They'll say, well, yeah, but there's Gehenna,
and then there's Hades in the New Testament.
And they're like, Gehenna's always like
what we think of as real hell,
but Hades isn't.
Okay, well, guess what?
The King James translators said
they would never, ever, ever, ever, ever use a word
that didn't mean the exact same thing.
So to them, you know what the King James translators
think Gehenna as? Hell.
And you know what the King James translators think Hades? Hell.
So guess what?
They think it's the exact same place.
Otherwise, they would have never even translated it
that way in the first place.
So it's so stupid for you to then get up and be like,
well, actually, if you go back to the Greek,
you get more understanding.
No, you don't.
You become an idiot, because you don't even speak Greek,
and so you'll look like an idiot
for even trying to go back to the Greek.
But trust what they translated over your own translation,
because you're not smarter than them.
Fact.
Read the translators of the reader, and you'll be like,
I didn't understand any of it, because they're smarter than you.
Fact.
They speak multiple languages that you don't.
Fact.
Okay?
They had much more wisdom about that topic.
Now, do you know things that they don't?
Yes.
Are you smarter than them in other ways?
Yes.
If you handed them an iPhone, would they know how to use it?
No.
A four-year-old in here would be better using an iPhone
than many of y'all and the King James translators.
But you know what?
If you hand them Greek and Hebrew,
they're going to be way better than you.
Okay?
So let's not enter into their arena
and pretend like we're better than them.
There used to be this TV show called like Pros versus Joes.
Who knows what I'm talking about?
All right, some people.
And it would be these arrogant ex-college players
or high school guys.
They think, oh, I would be in the NFL.
I could really compete, or I could show them in the NBA.
And so they'll just get a random guy that's arrogant
to go play against like an actual professional,
and it was just so funny,
because they would just get so dominated
and they couldn't even score.
It would be like women's sports or something, you know?
And it was just so unathletic.
And it's like that's these people trying to go into the arena
with the King James translators
and tell us what the Bible really means.
It's like you're just going to get schooled, buddy.
You're going to get dunked on.
You know, you're going to get injured
because you can't handle that.
So don't even try.
Don't even pretend to try.
Just stop.
And stop telling me that you're King James only
when you think that Acts chapter 2
should not be hell, it should be grave.
It says in Deuteronomy 32, look at verse 21.
They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God.
They have provoked me to anger with their vanities,
and I will move them to jealousy with those things
which are not a people.
I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation,
for a fire is kindled in mine anger
and shall burn under the lowest hell
and shall consume the earth with their increase
and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.
So notice again, the lowest hell,
it's burning, it's on fire.
You're going to see this everywhere.
Let's go to a lot of places quickly.
Go to Job 11.
Go to Job 11,
and I want to just give you a quick just rundown
of some verses here.
Job chapter 11, and let's look at verse number 8.
Let's learn a few things about hell itself.
It is as high as heaven, what canst thou do?
Deeper than hell, what canst thou know?
You'll find this comparison in the Bible often.
High as heaven, lowest as hell.
Why?
Because hell is considered the lowest place
that you can go to, okay?
Look at chapter 26.
Chapter 26, now that wasn't even Job speaking,
and even the weirdo friend got it right, okay?
But he got it right.
Look at Job 26 and look at verse 6.
Hell is naked before him,
and destruction hath no covering.
What is it describing?
Hell has a covering, but to God it doesn't.
God can just see into hell, but we have the covering.
It's called the crust of the earth.
Go over to Psalm 139.
Go to Psalm 139,
and let's look at another thing about hell,
but what you're going to see is the common theme
is that hell is the lowest place.
It's covered.
You know, there's a great gulf fixed between us
so that one could not pass under the other.
We have in Psalm 139, look at verse 7.
Whither shall I go from thy spirit,
or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
If I send up into heaven, how art there?
If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
So again, what's that contrast?
As high as heaven, as low as hell.
There's no escaping from God.
Go to Proverbs chapter number 5.
Just flip the page a little bit more to the right.
Proverbs chapter 5.
This is going to give you some really cool comparisons
to death itself and hell.
Proverbs chapter 5, look at verse 5.
Her feet, talking about this whorish, strange woman,
her feet go down to death.
Her steps take hold on hell.
Notice that death is the gateway into what?
Hell.
That's going to take you down into hell, okay?
Look at what it says in chapter 7.
Just flip the page, verse 27.
Her house is the way to hell.
Notice this.
Going down to the chambers of death.
So what is hell described as?
The chamber of death.
Who went into the chamber of death?
Jesus.
But he didn't stay in there.
He was loosed.
It hath no more dominion over him.
He was loosed from death.
Which means what?
Hell.
Because they're used interchangeably in the Bible, folks.
They're meaning the same thing here.
Look at chapter 9 and look at verse 18.
It's a chamber.
There's chains, according to the Bible.
Jesus Christ talked...
I'm sorry, the devil's talking to Jesus.
In fact, actually, you're right.
In 2 Peter and Jude, it talks about how certain angels
are chained.
And where are they chained at?
They're in hell.
Not every devil and demon is in hell.
Some are.
And it says in Proverbs chapter 9, verse 18,
But he knoweth not that the dead are there,
and that her guests are in the depths of what?
Hell.
So when it talks about someone in hell, who are they?
The dead.
The dead are in hell.
The alive are in heaven.
When someone's body is separated from their spirit and soul,
they're either dead or alive.
If you're dead, you're in hell.
If you're alive, you're in heaven.
This is just fact.
Fact.
If you're dead, you're in hell.
If you're alive, you're in heaven.
Jesus was raised from what?
The dead.
Jesus wasn't raised from the living.
Jesus was raised from the dead, meaning he was in hell.
Now, of course, in a sense, you could talk about people
like Lazarus was raised from the dead.
But we understand that he was sleeping.
That's why Jesus made it clear, like, hey, he's sleeping.
So his raising from the dead was actually coming back
Saul, when he talks to the familiar spirit
and they bring up Samuel, obviously, we understand
that Samuel was in heaven and the saints were in heaven.
But when we talk about Jesus, it's overabundantly clear
that he was dead.
He wasn't alive in heaven.
And that's why he even said, I was alive,
and then I was dead, and then I'm alive forevermore.
You and I will never go through that.
I never have to go through that temporary state of dead.
Jesus did for me, okay?
Now, let's go to Proverbs 15, since we're here.
It's raining.
You don't have anywhere to go, so we got a few more verses.
Proverbs 15, verse 24.
The way of life is above to the wise
that he may depart from hell beneath.
Notice that hell is beneath.
Chapter 23, look at verse 14.
There's a lot of verses on hell, isn't there?
You know, in the NIV, it'll like strip it down
to like two mentions of hell in the Old Testament
or something like that.
Sad.
Proverbs 23, verse 14.
That's why people that read the NIV
aren't scared about dying and going to hell.
Verse 14, thou shalt beat him with the rod
and shalt deliver his soul from hell.
Now, think about this.
Is physically disciplining your children
going to prevent them from physically dying?
Does it have any impact, really?
Not directly.
It could indirectly in the sense that they learn
to be a good child and follow God's commandments
and decide not to go join a gang and die early.
But directly, it's not from the actual physical discipline.
That can't deliver you.
So when we talk about the soul,
are we talking about physical delivery?
No, we're talking about spiritual delivery,
and that spiritual delivery is from a place
called hell, which is a place of burning,
that children that are disciplined by loving parents
end up deciding, you know what?
I don't like punishment.
And so whenever they hear about hell,
they say, I don't like punishment,
and they believe on Jesus.
They make that correlation.
Whereas children that have never been punished,
they end up going into politics and going to BLM rallies
and going around, and they complain on TikTok.
And they say, I'm so tired of fixing the gables.
You don't even know what a gable is, chick.
You weren't spanked as a child.
I can tell.
You know how I know you're going to hell?
Because you weren't spanked as a child.
Go to Isaiah chapter 5.
Hey, if you want to send your kids to hell,
don't discipline them.
That's one of the best ways to do it.
The most loving thing a parent can do
is discipline his children.
And we also appreciate that.
Thank you.
Isaiah chapter 5, look at verse 14.
The Bible says, therefore hell hath enlarged herself
and opened her mouth without measure
and their glory and the multitude of their pomp,
and he that rejoices shall descend into...
Notice that there's a dissension into hell.
Look at chapter 14, Isaiah chapter 14,
and look at verse number 9.
Hell from beneath is moved for thee
to meet thee at thy coming.
It stirreth up...
Notice this, dead for thee.
Even all the chief ones of the earth,
it hath raised up from their thrones
all the kings of the nations.
Now, who is it talking about?
It's saying the king of Babylon is going to go to hell.
And, of course, that's Nebuchadnezzar,
but a lot of people don't believe that.
I don't know why.
Look at verse 15.
It says, yet thou shalt be brought down to hell
to the sides of the pit.
Notice that hell is described as the pit
that you go down into.
Verse 19.
But thou art cast out of thy grave
like an abominable branch,
and as the raiment of those that are slain,
thrust through with a sword,
that go down to the stones of the pit
as a carcass trodden under feet.
So it's contrasting someone being in the grave
with someone going into the pit.
Why?
Because they're two different things.
Your body goes to the grave,
but you're thrown into the pit of hell, okay?
Go to chapter 28.
And, of course, Nebuchadnezzar is super wicked,
and he went to hell.
Isaiah 28, look at verse 15.
Because ye have said,
We have made a covenant with death,
and with hell are we at agreement
when the overflowing scourge shall pass through.
So, you know, I have a lot more here.
Let's go to one more.
Go to Amos chapter 9.
In Revelation, you see death is followed by something.
Hell.
Why?
Because there's that correlation to them.
It's basically the doorway into hell is death itself.
And that's why death is defeated eventually.
You know, death is an enemy, according to the Bible,
and death will eventually be defeated, meaning what?
No one can ever go to hell again.
Because that's the portal way into hell,
and, you know, the wages of sin is death.
There will be no more sin.
So you see this domino effect.
Sin leads to death.
Death leads to hell.
And Jesus Christ is going to remedy all of that,
and all of that is the works of the devil,
according to, you know, 1 John and other places in Scripture.
Amos chapter 9.
Look at verse number 2.
The Bible says,
Though they dig into hell,
thence shall mine hand take them.
Though they climb up to heaven,
thence will I bring them down.
So you see the contrast between hell and those other places.
Go, if you would, to Leviticus chapter number 4 for a moment.
Go to Leviticus chapter 4.
Say, how long are you going to preach?
I don't know yet, so just buckle up.
I'm still deciding.
Leviticus chapter number 4.
Now, this is talking about the sin offering,
and I have to be true to my sermon,
so let's get some pictures of Jesus in hell, all right?
We've learned some things, though.
What, it's down, it's descending, it's the sides of the pit.
Here's a picture that's interesting.
Leviticus chapter 4, talking about the sin offering,
says in verse number 4,
and he shall bring the bullock under the door of the tabernacle
of the congregation before the Lord,
and shall lay his hand upon the bullock's head
and kill the bullock before the Lord.
Now, of course, this bullock was without blemish in verse 3.
So they kill it.
Wouldn't that represent Jesus dying?
Yes, it does, absolutely.
But then notice in verse 5,
and the priest that is anointed shall take of the bullock's blood
and bring it to the tabernacle of the congregation,
and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood
and sprinkle of the blood seven times before the Lord
before the veil of the sanctuary.
And the priest shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar
of sweet incense before the Lord,
which is in the tabernacle of the congregation,
and shall pour all the blood of the bullock at the bottom of the altar
of the burnt offering,
which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
And he shall take off from it all the fat of the bullock
for the sin offering,
the fat that covereth the inwards,
and all the fat that is upon the inwards.
Now, think about what's happening.
And again, in this example,
and many of the burnt offering examples in the Old Testament,
it's not always a perfect chronology.
So you can't necessarily use the chronology aspect of this,
but just think about the elements.
Number one, he died.
He was slain, and he was without blemish.
So there's no reason to kill it.
He was killed for no reason.
Whereas an animal that had blemish, you could kill it,
and it would just be because of its blemish.
Jesus is that spotless lamb.
He wasn't killed for his blemish.
He was killed for our sin.
Then his blood is sprinkled on the altar in heaven,
just like this blood is sprinkled on the altar here.
It's because Jesus' blood was sprinkled on the altar,
and that's what's going to give us that blood atonement we always talk about.
Okay, how did the blood get up there?
Well, he died, was buried, rose again,
and ascended into heaven and put his blood on the mercy seat.
That's how it works.
Okay, here's another aspect, though.
They would take all the fat, the inwards of the animal,
and they would take it out,
and I think fat can mean multiple things,
but it also means sin.
Notice what it's kind of saying.
The fat for the sin offering, it's kind of a picture of sin,
and the two kidneys and the fat that is upon them,
which is by the flanks and the call above the liver with the kidneys,
it shall he take away,
and it was taken off from the bullock of the sacrifice of peace offerings,
and the priest shall burn them upon the altar of the burnt offering.
So in all this, they take all the inwards,
they take the inside parts of the animal,
and they burn them on the altar right there.
What is that picturing?
Well, it's obviously picturing the fact that his soul went into hell.
Now, think about it.
Why did it even go there in the first place?
Because he became sin for us.
And where does sin take you?
To hell.
How could you say that Jesus literally became sin
and then didn't go to hell?
How did that work?
No, he became sin for us and then took that sin with him,
and the inwards is picturing that burnt offering.
Now, notice, though, this is where it's interesting,
and this is important because some of the naysayers,
but notice what it says in verse 10.
And as it was taken off from the bullock of the sacrifice of peace offerings,
and the priest shall burn them upon the altar of the burnt offering,
and the skin of the bullock,
and all his flesh with his head and with his legs,
and his inwards and his dung,
even the whole bullock shall he carry forth without the camp
unto a clean place, where the ashes are poured out,
and burn him on the wood with fire,
where the ashes are poured out, shall he be burnt.
So we have two burnt offerings.
We have the inwards being burnt on the altar presently,
then we have the outward part.
Notice the outward part is the animal.
The skin, the dung, all the outward fleshly elements,
his flesh, they're taken without,
put on wood, and burned outside the camp.
What do you think that represents?
The cross, because his body went through that agony.
So you actually see two different burnt offerings, okay?
And this is what people will accuse me,
oh, you believe in multiple atonements.
Well, okay, what do we read?
They have to kill it, they have to sprinkle the blood,
then they have to burn the inwards,
and then they have to burn the outwards.
Is that four atonements?
No, this is one atonement in the whole process.
Just like Jesus dying, being buried and risen again,
it's not multiple atonements,
it's one atonement, and it's still the blood atonement,
which again is not a phrase found in the New Testament,
albeit the word atonement is found one time
in the New Testament in Romans, chapter number five,
and it's in reference to his resurrection, okay?
Look it up.
People get all mad about this,
but notice that the picture of Jesus here
was of a burnt offering on the altar of the inwards,
just like we would have him in hell,
and you have the two different burnt offerings.
People go to Hebrews, let's just go there,
let's go to Hebrews for a second,
and they'll try to throw everything in the Old Testament
of burnt offerings away and claim
they had nothing to do with Jesus going to hell.
I'll submit to you they all had everything to do
with Jesus going to hell virtually,
but some elements of that did also picture the cross,
like the second burnt offering
that was taken without the camp.
That's mentioned in Hebrews, chapter 13.
Now, it says in verse 11,
for the bodies of those beasts
whose blood is brought into the sanctuary
by the high priest for sin are burned without the camp,
wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people
with his own blood, suffered without the gate.
Notice that it didn't mention
the first burnt offering of the inwards, did it?
And notice it's also saying this,
for the bodies of those beasts,
did it say the soul or the spirit?
It didn't even talk, it's talking about the physical part.
So this doesn't negate the fact that every burnt offering
is also symbolic of Jesus burning in hell
and having to have gone to hell.
Go, if you would, to Lamentations,
chapter three for a moment.
Go to Lamentations, chapter number three.
Now, this arrogant prick named John McPhail
also said that this is a made-up doctrine
that's only of recent times.
No one else believed this.
No one of antiquity has ever believed
what I'm telling you right now.
How would you even know, number one?
But number two, it's a proven fact that you're a liar.
You know why?
Because John Calvin taught exactly what I'm saying.
Now, look, do I like John Calvin?
Not really, okay?
Am I a Calvinist?
Not at all.
But here's just a fact, fact.
John Calvin taught that Jesus Christ went to hell to suffer.
Okay?
So if you want to say that Kenneth Copeland
made up this doctrine, you're a liar.
If you want to say that Pastor Anderson
made up this doctrine, you're a liar.
If you want to say that Pastor Shelley made up this doctrine,
you're a liar.
You know who made up this doctrine?
God, because it's in the Bible.
You know, David was talking about it
before I even thought about being born, okay?
And there's plenty of people
that have believed this doctrine of antiquity,
and why I point to him is because
he has so many writings about it.
To say that it's a made-up doctrine of today
is just arrogance and stupidity
and just, again, showing your lack of scholarship
because the guy is just a bold-faced liar.
Look at Lamentations chapter 3, verse 53.
And he claims he went to all the places
that prove that Jesus went to hell,
and he went to three.
How many have we gone to so far?
Lamentations chapter 3, look at verse 53.
They have cut off my life in the dungeon
and cast a stone upon me.
Waters flowed over mine head.
Then I said, I am cut off.
I called upon thy name, O Lord,
out of the low dungeon.
Now, who do you think Jeremiah is picturing here
when he's talking about being cast into that low dungeon
and notice what gives him salvation,
calling on the name of the Lord?
Because you know what calling on the name of the Lord does?
It gives you physical salvation and spiritual salvation.
And, of course, it's the same picture of him being,
you know, it's a dungeon, a chamber of death.
We have all the same elements.
And just like Jeremiah was thrown in the dungeon,
he was also.
Look at verse 56.
Thou hast heard my voice.
Hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry.
Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee.
Thou saidest, Fear not, O Lord.
Thou has pleaded the causes of my soul.
Thou hast redeemed my life.
Isn't that interesting phrasing?
But doesn't it make a lot of sense when we talk about Jesus?
He redeemed his life.
Look at Jeremiah 37.
Go backwards to Jeremiah 37.
Let's relive that experience just a moment.
You know, I'm not going to go there for the sake of time,
but Joseph is also thrown in a pit where there is no water.
Why does it say that?
Because, in fact, if there was water,
it would probably have been more uncomfortable because it's muddy.
It would have been, like, more frustrating.
The whole point why they're talking about there's no water
is because it's a foreshadowing of Jesus being thrown into a pit
where there is no water.
That destroys Manly Perry's moist doctrine.
He said that hell was very moist
when he also said that no one burns in hell.
But that's not what he meant, okay, folks?
You know, I don't know what you mean.
Still doesn't make sense to me.
Jeremiah 37, verse 15.
Wherefore the princes were wroth with Jeremiah and smote him,
and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan, that scribe,
for they had made that the prison.
When Jeremiah was entered into the dungeon and into the cabins,
and Jeremiah had remained there many days.
So Jeremiah was thrown into a dungeon.
Look at chapter 38, verse 4.
Therefore the princes said unto the king,
We beseech thee, let this man be put to death,
for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city,
and the hands of all the people in speaking such words unto them.
For this man seeketh not the welfare of this people but the hurt.
Then Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand,
for the king is not he that can do anything against you.
So, you know, what's kind of interesting to me
is how they speak to Zedekiah
and they convince him to allow them to throw him into this pit, into this dungeon.
It reminds me of the Jews convincing Pilate to give him into their hands
so they can throw Jesus into the pit of hell.
Isn't that an interesting parallel?
And Zedekiah is this weak guy that can't figure out what he's, you know,
he's just tossed to and fro just like Pilate can't really figure out what he wants to do,
but ultimately just succumbs to the will of the people,
just like Pilate is there and he's just kind of like, you know, whatever.
He can't figure it out. It's kind of the same element.
Look at verse 6.
Then took they Jeremiah and cast them into the dungeon of Melchiah the son of Hamalek
that was in the court of the prison and they let down Jeremiah with cords
and in the dungeon there was no water.
You think that's a coincidence?
It is a coincidence every time that they're thrown into a pit.
It's always just like wink, wink, nah, nah, there's no water in there either.
Why? Because it's a picture, it's a foreshadowing of hell.
But mire, so Jeremiah sunk in the mire.
What a terrible fate.
Look at verse 12.
And Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah,
Put now these old cast clouds and rotten rags under thine armholes,
under the cords, and Jeremiah did so,
and they drew up Jeremiah with cords and took him up out of the dungeon
and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.
So they, I like this word, they drew up Jeremiah.
Just like Jesus Christ is raised again, drawn up from the dead.
And so we have all that element again of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ
and we have that element of hell.
Just like we had with Jonah.
Just like we have with Jeremiah.
Just like we have with Joseph.
Just like we have all kinds, just all the burnt offerings in the Bible.
Oh well, you know, the Bible doesn't talk about Jesus going to hell.
Are you crazy?
Have you ever read the Bible?
It talks about it a lot, folks.
There's tons and tons of pictures of Jesus having gone to hell.
Now, just for one more point that I want to make before we finish.
Let's go to Luke chapter 16.
Okay, Luke chapter 16.
And I want to revisit one point that I previously made and we'll finish.
John McPhail and others like him make this stupid argument
that Hades somehow just means grave or can be interpreted as grave.
The word Hades, first of all, which is so funny to me
because I'm like, if you were just to talk to English speakers
and you were to say, okay, there's two, there's two good words,
Gehenna or Hades, which one sounds more like hell?
Probably most people would think Hades, at least I do.
Maybe you think differently.
But I never think of Hades as being like something other than hell.
Even in Hollywood and Disney films, they make it look like hell.
Okay, they're not confused either.
In Greek mythology, it's a place of the underworld and all that.
I don't care about any of that.
But at the end of the day, the word Hades is found in the New Testament 11 times.
One time was grave that I already mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15.
But did they translate the word hell in all the other places?
Yes.
So that means to me, and if you read the translation of the readers,
they thought it's the exact same thing every single time.
So when they said hell in Acts chapter 2 twice,
it also has to mean exactly what they translated it here in Luke chapter 16.
Let's read in Luke chapter 16 verse 23.
And in hell, he lift up his eyes, being in torments,
and seeing Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom.
And he cried, saying, Father Abraham, have mercy on me,
and said Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water
and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame.
So what do they think hell means?
Being in a place where there's torment, where there's flames,
and notice where the guy had to look.
Up.
Because he's down low.
You know, there's no side compartment.
He didn't look to the side and see Abraham.
He looked up.
Hey, Abraham.
And of course, he's tormented in flames.
So think about the elements of where we started with Jonah.
What did Jonah do?
He was in there, and he was crying, and he was in affliction.
He was in torment.
Look, just let the Bible tell you what it means.
Hell means hell.
That was hard, wasn't it?
Hell's hot.
Hell's fire.
Hell's down.
Hell's in the center of the earth.
I don't want to go to hell.
I don't want anybody to go to hell.
Jesus already did it for you.
Just believe what the Bible says.
And you know, I think it's a great tool without soul winning.
I've heard some people even say, don't say this without soul winning.
Why?
If it's true.
I'm not afraid of anything that's true.
Well, it's not expedient.
It always works for me.
It always works for everybody else I know that uses it.
And in fact, I love this point because most people don't already believe it
or know about it.
And when you show it to them, it humbles them because they realize,
hey, you just showed me something I don't know.
Because most everything else, they already know.
The Word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart,
the word of faith which we preach.
They pretty much already know the death, throne, and resurrection.
He died on the cross.
He paid for sin.
They just haven't connected all of it.
But the hell is like, oh, wow, that's a little different.
And they're like, oh, yeah, believe.
It just says believe, doesn't it?
Just like believe really means believe, hell really means hell.
Let's just believe the words of the Bible.
And, you know, let's appreciate what Jesus did for us.
Let's not take away from all the burnt offerings and all the pictures
and the foreshadowing and the being loosed from hell.
I mean, let's just believe it.
All right, let's close in prayer.
Thank you, Heavenly Father, for giving us this great truth in the Bible.
Thank you for sending your son to go through all the grueling pain
and suffering that he went through on this earth
and his death on the cross, his soul descending into hell.
Thank you for giving him the resurrection
so that we, too, could have hope and have the resurrection.
Thank you for allowing him to sprinkle his blood on the mercy seat
so that we could have the blood atonement
and that we could be seen righteous by his blood.
Thank you for his blood that we could be washed in it.
Thank you for every element of your atonement
through your son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
I pray that we believe everything in the Bible.
I pray that we wouldn't be carried away with just crazy, weird nonsense,
that we wouldn't be led astray
with mystical understandings of foreign languages,
but rather we'd believe the kingdom's Bible we have in our hand,
that we'd study it,
and that we would prove all the things we believe from it.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Okay, in closing, let's go to song number 75.
Song number 75.
On Jordan's Stormy Banks.
Song number 75.
On Jordan's Stormy Banks.
Everybody sing it out real loud on the first.
On Jordan's Stormy Banks
I stand and cast a wishful eye
to Canaan's fair and happy land
where my possessions lie.
I am bound for the promised land.
Oh, who will come and go with me?
I am bound for the promised land.
All o'er those white extended plains
shines one eternal day.
There God the Son forever reigns
and scatters night away.
I am bound for the promised land.
Oh, who will come and go with me?
I am bound for the promised land.
No chilling winds nor poisonous breath
can reach that healthful shore.
Sickness and sorrow, pain and death
are felt and feared no more.
I am bound for the promised land.
Oh, who will come and go with me?
I am bound for the promised land.
When shall I reach that happy place
and be forever blessed?
When shall I see my Father's face
and in His bosom rest?
I am bound for the promised land.
Oh, who will come and go with me?
I am bound for the promised land.
Great job.
Just one quick announcement.
If you just want to form a line over here
and get shirts, we'll try to get them for you.
Brother Oz and some of the others are going to help.
Please help me.
If you're going to come tonight,
which should be all of you,
but if you're going to come tonight,
please let the people that are not
go and get a line first
because we'll be able to hand them out to you later as well
just so that way they don't have to wait as long.
Thank you so much.