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Look at verse 38 where the Bible read, Then certain of the scribes and Pharisees answered and saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of the prophet Jonas. For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the well's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Now, this is a very famous scripture where we have Jesus Christ comparing himself to the prophet Jonas. And just as Jonas was three days and three nights in the well's belly, the Bible says, and Jesus said out of his own mouth that he would be in the heart of the earth. And the title of my sermon this evening is Jesus went to hell. Jesus went to hell. Now you say, why would Jesus Christ go to hell? He went to hell for us. We deserve death and we deserve hell. Jesus Christ died on the cross for us and he took the punishment in hell for us so that we didn't have to die and we would not have to go to hell. Now, this doctrine that I'm teaching you tonight is something that a lot of people would shy away from or they get uncomfortable with, but I think it helps us appreciate the Lord Jesus Christ even more when we understand his sacrifice. Go to Jonah chapter one. Let's compare the book of Jonah because the Bible clearly said that Jesus Christ would be in the heart of the earth. Now, I'm gonna first explain what the Bible means by that and then I'm gonna address some of the things that people try to use to excuse how Jesus didn't really go to hell. He went somewhere else, but the Bible makes it abundantly clear that he went to the heart of the earth. Now, some people might say, well, that's just the grave. He just went to the grave. Well, first of all, he went into a tomb that was like, it wasn't even really in the earth. It was just like part of a rock face. But how could you say that a tomb is the heart of the, the heart is the center. The heart is the core of something. And we all know even from science class that the earth at the core at the center is what? It's fire. It's fire, it's magna, and we can't even get all the way down there. We try to drill down through the top layer. We can't even really get that far as a humankind, but we see through volcanoes. We see through other means that there is fire down below the surface of our land and it comes out and it cools, it turns into rock. But what comes out of a volcano, fire. It's interesting how the Bible already told us that there was fire below, didn't it? The Bible already warned about fire in the Old Testament and God uses that carnal truth of fire to warn about the spiritual death in hell that awaits those that will reject him. Jonah chapter one, look at verse 15, the Bible says, So they took up Jonah and cast him forth in the sea and the sea ceased from her raging. So in verse 15, this is a picture of Jonah being tossed in the sea. Basically, it's kind of a picture of him being killed in a sense, even though he doesn't die. And really that's a significant aspect of the fact that he pictures Jesus Christ. So this is a moment where all the people, they take Jonah and they toss him overboard. That's like the Jews gathering around the Lord Jesus Christ and taking him to be crucified or to be killed. And as we keep going in the story, it says in verse 17, Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. So just like we already read before, Jonah ended up getting swallowed up by this physical animal, this great fish. We know that it's a whale in Matthew, actually. It doesn't actually use the word whale in the story of Jonah. We get that from the New Testament explanation that he was in the whale's belly. Here it just says a great fish, okay? But this is gonna picture the gospel. Jonah pictures the gospel with his own life story. And you know, that's another good reason why you can understand when Jonah went to preach to Nineveh, yeah, the Bible records some of the stuff that he said, but his life story is the gospel. Obviously this guy's also going in and preaching people the gospel and preaching for people to get saved. You know, when they believe God, a lot of them got saved through his example of what he did. But we also have here in Jonah chapter two, look at verse number one. Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly and said, I cry by reason of my affliction unto the Lord. And he heard me out of the belly of hell, cried I, and now heard is my voice. Now what's really cool about the book of Jonah is basically since he's a prophet, half of the time he's speaking about himself, the other half of the time he's speaking about the Lord Jesus Christ. So in verse number one, it's himself. Verse number one, he's the one that's in the fish's belly, but in verse number two, he's talking about Jesus Christ being in the belly of hell. Verse number three, it's Jonah again. It says, for thou hadst cast me in the deep in the midst of the seas and the floods compass me about, all thy billows and the waves passed over me. So that's Jonah. Verse number four, then I said I am cast out of thy sight, yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. Now verse four, I would say it's actually both. What's interesting about this verse, it's more applicable to the Lord Jesus Christ because Jonah pretty much goes, Jonah, Jesus, Jonah, Jesus, as you go kind of back and forth in this passage. But you know what he's preaching here? He's preaching the resurrection because he's saying he was cast out of his sight because the Lord God could not look at Jesus Christ because he became sin. He actually had to turn away from his own son. His own son actually had to go into hell. But you know what? He said there's gonna be a time when I'm restored and I'm gonna be what? Looking again toward thy holy temple. He's not gonna be left out in hell. He's not gonna be cast away. He's gonna be restored, which pictures the resurrection aspect. And what gets him through the fact that he's going to hell? That he will be resurrected at some point. That hope that he's gonna get to see that holy temple again. Verse number five, it says the waters compass me about, even to the soul, specifically to the soul. That's what even means. He says the depth closed me roundabout. The weeds were wrapped about my head. So again, who had weeds literally wrapped around their head? Jonah did. Jesus didn't. So we've gone back to Jonah, but then look at verse six. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains. The earth with their bars was about me forever. Yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption? Oh Lord my God. Now verse six, it's not Jonah because that well, it can't go all the way down to where the entire earth is surrounding the well. In fact, the earth is below the well because the earth is what's keeping the water in. Okay. You know, if you drain the earth of water, there would still be earth underneath the water, just FYI. But when you have the earth surrounding you completely, that's a picture of you being inside of the earth and the core of the earth. That's the Lord Jesus Christ. And notice it was about him forever. It wasn't just on the top of him. It wasn't this stupid flat earth nonsense, was it? He was in the core of the earth. He was in the center of the earth. It was compass about him forever, okay? Now we also see a picture of the fact that he mentions that he's not gonna see corruption or his life from corruption. That's a picture of the fact that he's gonna be resurrected as well because if he stayed there for very long, his body would rot, it would decay, and it would cease to exist, but it did not. What happens in verse 10? And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. So before Jonah died, the fish spit him out. Before Jesus Christ's body sees corruption, he returns out of hell gloriously. His soul returns to his physical body. He walks out of the tomb, the risen savior, and his body did not see that corruption. Now let's prove this again with Acts chapter two. Go to Acts chapter number two, and let's see it say all the same elements that we just saw in the book of Jonah. Now again, I don't know why people would attack this doctrine because frankly speaking, if you attack this doctrine that Jesus went to hell when he died, you're gonna be met with a lot of scripture you have no idea what to do with. What do you do with all this scripture that talk about Jonah being in the well's belly? What do you do with all this scripture saying that out of the belly of hell cried I? What are you gonna do here with Acts chapter number two? Look at verse 25. The Bible says, for David speaketh concerning him. Now again, that's helping you understand when prophets spoke many times, they're not speaking about themselves, they're speaking of someone else, and they're speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. To him give all the prophets witness that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. It's all to give the glory and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ. And so it says here that David was not speaking about himself concerning whom Jesus Christ. I first saw 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 will not leave my soul in hell neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Now this is important. Think about what he's talking about. He's saying, this is what I prophesied about the Lord Jesus Christ specifically. And notice that his flesh shall rest in hope. So there's a distinction between his flesh and his what? His soul. His flesh was sitting resting in hope, realizing that his soul was gonna return back to that physical flesh. And that's why he did not see corruption. What is corrupting? Corrupting is where something decays, it rots, it decomposes. And so your physical body, as soon as you die, it'll start that kind of process to some degree, but it'll still be intact. And usually what the funeral home will do is it'll try to embalm someone or to go through different various methods to preserve the body in order for the people to go to the funeral, whether it's an open casket or how long it's gonna take. But if it's gonna be much more than a few days, I mean, they have to put serious chemicals and serious ointments to preserve that body or it's gonna start to rot and decay. That's why even Lazarus himself, when he was in the tomb, they said it was four days he stinketh, saying it's been enough days, it's been enough time has passed, his body's gonna have started rotting and smelling horrible. I mean, a dead body is one of the worst smells you can ever imagine. In fact, that's how a lot of people find dead bodies, is from the smell specifically. They'll say, hey, this apartment reeks. It smells like something died in there and they'll go find a dead body. Dead animal, dead carcasses, they rot and they decompose and they smell bad. This never happened to the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it says, keep your finger here, because we said that David said this, let's find where David said this. Go to Psalm 16, Psalms chapter 16. We're gonna come back to Acts two in a moment. But in Psalms chapter number 16, this is where the Bible was quoting that passage. It says in Psalms chapter 16, look at verse number eight. I have set the Lord always before me because he's in 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 will not leave my soul in hell. Neither will thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption. So notice Jesus Christ, it's speaking of him in Psalms chapter 16, and it says that his soul would not be left in hell. Now, let me just ask this question. How could your soul not be left somewhere that it never went? It obviously went to hell, but it was not left there. Therefore, it returned, it came back to its physical body. And we have the scripture being quoted in Acts chapter two, go back to Acts chapter two. And let's keep reading this passage. It says in verse number 28, Thou is made known to me the ways of life. Thou should make me full of joy with thy countenance. Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne. 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 of God raised up, where we are all witnesses. So notice when it's talking about David, he wants to make a distinction between David himself and the Lord Jesus Christ, because when it says that his body's not gonna see corruption, he's saying, well, David did. David, he was a prophet. He was speaking of someone else, because we know he's dead, and he's buried, and we still got the body. We still got the sepulcher. Obviously, it's decomposed to probably just nothing at that point, but we still know where his remains are. It's in the sepulcher with us today. So therefore, he couldn't have been speaking about himself, because he's a prophet, because he was preaching God's word. Therefore, it had to be fulfilled, and if it wasn't fulfilled, David himself, who was it fulfilled by, the son of David, the Lord Jesus Christ, and that's the one who was not left in hell, that's the one whose body did not see corruption. Now, verse number 30, it also makes it very clear that there's a distinction between the flesh and the soul. Or verse 31, we have the flesh and we have the soul. Let's read a little bit more, and I wanna kinda keep thinking on that thought. It says in verse 33, Therefore, being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he has shed forth this which ye now see in here, for David has not ascended into the heavens, but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou in my right hand until I make thy foes thy footstool. So not only did Jesus Christ's body not see corruption, his body ascended up into heaven. Now, this is important based on what we already saw, because they're saying, David's body, it's here. Here's the sepulcher. Here's where his body is. But Jesus, there is no body. You say, where's the body? It ascended back up into heaven. So think about this. There is no, quote, unquote, physical remains to point to the life of Jesus Christ, except for the water and the blood that was spilled at the cross. And that's a significant point in 1 John 5, when it says there's three that bear witness in the earth, the spirit, the water, and the blood, because those are the only things on earth that testify of Jesus Christ's life from a physical carnal sense, because we don't have his body. His body ascended up into heaven. You say, that's the only body that's not here. All the other bodies, here. There's one body physically that never stayed here. It was the Lord Jesus Christ. It ascended up into heaven, and he's the only one that has ever ascended. Anything else that went to heaven was carried, okay? There's a difference between ascending and being carried. Jesus himself just went up. If we wanna get up there, someone has to carry us. Sorry, I'd like to fly, but that's a pipe dream, all right? Jesus Christ literally ascended up into heaven. Now, let's understand this point a little bit deeper. Let's go to Mark, chapter number nine in the Bible. Mark, chapter number nine. Because some people, they have a weird thought about the word body itself, and they would say, what does the word body mean? Well, I don't think that the word body and flesh are synonymous, and you can prove that from the scripture. And so, I don't want you to get confused about the word body and flesh, because your body can be a flesh, but you can also have a body that's not a flesh. The Bible says there's a fleshly body, and there's a spiritual body. There's a carnal body, there's a spiritual body, okay? So, a body is more of just that outward representation of something. A body of an animal is different than the body of a man, right, but they both have some kind of an outward covering. Now, when we talk about the body of a man, it has certain elements, eyes, skin, nose, hair, certain things like that. Well, really, when you study the Bible, spiritual bodies have a lot of the same components, but there is a difference, okay? Now, even those that get thrown into hell, you have to understand this, they still have a body. But here's the thing, they don't have a flesh that's down there in hell, okay? It's different, because flesh is gonna corrupt and die and perish and go away, but whatever goes into hell, that body that's in hell, it never goes away. Look at Mark 9, verse 43. And if I hand offend thee, cut it off, it is better for thee to enter into life maimed than having two hands to go into hell into the fire that never shall be quenched, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. The Bible says that whatever goes down into hell, it never dies. It's not gonna cease to exist. It's just gonna burn forever and ever and ever. It's just gonna constantly kindle in hell. It's gonna constantly kindle the wrath of the Lord, and its wrath is gonna constantly be poured out on those in hell, and their body is never gonna be destroyed in the sense that it's ceasing to exist. It'll be destroyed in the sense that it's being constantly tormented. It's constantly in flames. But notice the fire is never quenched. Why? Because the kindling never goes out. So whatever that body is that they have down there in hell, which would basically be their soul, or their spirit having some kind of a body, that's gonna be in hell for all of eternity burning. So when the Bible talks about your body and soul being destroyed in hell, don't think of that as like a carnal thing. That's just talking about that spiritual part of who you are, that spiritual body that you would have that's twice dead and would go down into hell. We don't have that. Our body's been quickened. But think about this. When my spirit was quickened, I already had the spirit, didn't I? But did it change any of my physical body? No, it changed that spiritual body. That spiritual body became alive. So my spiritual body that I have inside, if I never believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, it's gonna be destroyed in hell for all of eternity. My physical flesh, that's gonna be destroyed no matter who you are. It's all gonna be shed, every single person. First Corinthians, chapter number 15, clearly delineates the difference between a fleshly body and a spiritually body, or an earthly tabernacle versus that spiritual tabernacle that we're gonna put on at some point in the future. Now go if you went to John, chapter number 20. Go to John, chapter number 20. So we've learned several different components here. What have we learned? Well, we've learned that the Lord Jesus Christ is gonna go to hell, or he did go to, I'm sorry, he did go to hell, and that he was risen again. We've learned that there's a difference between the physical body and a spiritual body, and those that go to hell are gonna burn for all of eternity. In John, chapter number 20, let's look at verse number 16, something I already mentioned, but I wanna look at these verses with you. It says in verse number 16, "'Jesus saith unto her, Mary, she turneth herself, "'and saith unto him, Rabboni, which is as a master. "'Jesus saith unto her, touch me not, "'for I am not yet ascended to my Father, "'but go to my brethren and say unto them, "'I ascend unto my Father and your Father, "'and to my God and your God.'" Now I've always read this, and it was kinda confusing to me. It's kinda weird. I was like, why is he saying like, don't touch me, okay? What we have to understand about this is Jesus Christ has not completed all that's been asked of him as far as saving us from our sins, because you know what had to save us from our sins? His blood had to be literally sprinkled on the altar of God, but here's the thing. Where is that altar? That altar's not on this earth, so not only did he have to die, not only did he have to go to hell, not only did he resurrect, he then also had to ascend up into the heavens and take the blood that was shed on this earth and sprinkle his literal blood on the mercy seat to wash your sins. He literally had to take, and he's like, don't touch me yet. You know, I haven't gotten glorified yet, okay? But I have to ascend up into my Father, and I have to literally sprinkle my blood on the mercy seat, and that precious blood is what's gonna save us. It's a literal sacrifice. He is the literal lamb of God that was gonna be laid on the altar, and he had to have his literal blood shed in order to save us. He had to send his son down here to die and get his blood shed and bring that blood back up with him to heaven and lay it upon the real altar of God. That's what really saves us from our sins. You say, how else could we get to heaven? No other way. That was the only way, is for his blood that was shed. The precious, sinless blood of Jesus Christ were washed in the blood. You can't discount the blood of Jesus Christ. And you know what? Some of it was spilled on this earth, but he also had to take some of it, and he had to sprinkle it on the altar. Now go to Leviticus chapter four. Go to Leviticus chapter four. Let's see how every sacrifice had followed these patterns. Now, Leviticus is a book written to the priests of God. It's written to the Levitical priesthood, and what they had to do in performing all these sacrifices of killing lambs and oxen. And they all pictured the Lord Jesus Christ and his sacrifice. Look at verse number three of chapter four. It says, if the priest that is anointed do sin according to the sin of the people, then let him bring for his sin, which he has sent a young bullock without blemish, unto the Lord for a sin offering. Now, the first point here is the fact that the offering had to be pure. It had to be without blemish, because that's picturing the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is without sin. There was nothing wrong with him, because if Jesus had died on the cross for his sin, he could not offer that blood on the altar for us. That wouldn't have cleansed us. That wouldn't have been something that God would have accepted. He had to offer a perfect, spotless, without blemish offering, which is what Jesus Christ did. It says in verse four, and he shall bring the bullock unto 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, that's a picture of the fact the Lord Jesus Christ was killed for us. He was crucified for us. Verse five, 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. So they had to all do all these different functions with the blood. They had to sprinkle it. So Jesus Christ is sprinkling the nations with his blood. He's putting on the horns of the altar. There's some at the basin. And picture the fact, look, his blood was shed here on this earth. He's also having to go up into heaven, and he has to literally sprinkle his blood in the mercy seat, and that's what saves us. God the Father looks at the blood of Jesus Christ, and that's why he decides to forgive you, not because you turned from your sins, not because you got so right, not because you stopped sinning less, because that's the best. The best case scenario, you just started sinning less, because there's no, oh, I stopped sinning completely, liar. You just sinned again, the thought of foolishness, right? Well, let's keep reading. It says in verse number eight, and he shall take off from it all the fat of the bullock for the sin offering, the fat that covered the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and the calve of the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away. Now, this is picturing sin, okay? And what I want you to understand is the fact that the word fat in the Bible, especially in reference to these offerings, is a picture of iniquity, it's a picture of sin, it's a picture of things that are wrong, and he has to take the fat away. They weren't allowed to eat the fat, they weren't allowed to have anything to do with the fat when it comes to these offerings, meaning what? He had to take all that iniquity away. Jesus Christ became sin for us, and he was doing what? He was taking away those sin from us, okay? And then it also takes the rest of this bullock, let's read a little bit more. He says in verse 10, and it was taken off in the bullock of the sacrifice of these offerings, and the priest shall, notice this, 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 is done. 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 burned. Now, nothing in the Bible is accidental, incidental, or coincidental. All of these aspects represent the things that Jesus Christ literally did for us, and we see all the offerings of the Bible were whole burnt offerings. They took the whole beast, and they would burn the whole thing. He even mentions multiple body parts, just to make sure you understood. Why? Because Jesus literally had to go to hell to take the punishment for our sins. Now, go to Hebrews, chapter nine. Hebrews, chapter nine, let's keep focusing on this fact that he had to put his blood on the altar, because we saw the blood of the animal sacrifice. We see that Jesus Christ was telling her, don't touch me, I gotta go up there, and perform a very special duty, okay? And in Hebrews, chapter nine, it gives us explicitly what the Lord Jesus Christ did. It tells us exactly what he did in Hebrews, chapter nine. Look at verse number six. It says, now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God, but in the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the errors of the people, holy ghost this signifying that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, whilst the first tabernacle was yet standing, which was a figure for the time then present in which we were offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not make him that did the service perfect as pertaining to conscience, which stood only in meats and drinks and divers washings and cardinal ordinances imposed on them until the time of information. But Christ being come and high priest of good things to come by greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of the building, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy place having obtained eternal redemption for us, for the blood of bulls and of goats and ashes of an heifer, sprinkling and unclean, sanctified to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your consciences from dead works to serve the living God. Now this is very significant. He's saying the Old Testament sacrifice, you could never go into that second veil without blood. He's saying you walk in there without blood, God's gonna smite you, God's gonna kill you, you're not allowed in there without blood, without some kind of offering, without some kind of a sacrifice. So notice the carnal picture, but the other picture is true too. The Lord Jesus Christ could not enter in to the presence of the Lord without the offering of blood. Now what was Jesus Christ? Could Jesus Christ have come down here and just killed a bunch of animals and then just taken that blood up to God? Nope, because the blood of bulls and goats was never gonna wash away sins. He had to take his own blood. But here's the thing, how is Jesus Christ gonna get blood? He had to be made flesh. Go to 1 John chapter number five, go to 1 John chapter, he had to become flesh in order to get that blood. Look at 1 John chapter number five and let's look at verse number five. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? This is he that came, notice this, by water and blood, even Jesus Christ, not by water only, but by water and blood. Notice how it's like, hey, I want you to understand, he didn't just show up with water, he showed up with blood, my friend. Now how is Jesus Christ gonna offer his blood on the altar? Is he gonna slit his own wrists? No, he would never, that's a sin. He would never hurt his own temple. He would never desecrate the temple and the body that God gave him. Someone else had to kill him, didn't they? Someone else had to offer that perfect spotless lamb on the cross and to shed his blood and then Jesus Christ took his own blood up into heaven and then offered that on the altar to sanctify us. You know what, before he got there, he went to hell. He performed all the sacrifices of God for us. This is a super important point. It says in verse seven, for there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one, and there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood, and these three agree in one. We have the Holy Ghost with us today who helps us preach the gospel. We have the water and the blood that was spilt at Calvary, which is mentioned in John when it talks about the Lord Jesus Christ being crucified. Let's just go there. Let's let no stone unturned, all right? John, I believe it's 18, we'll find it. Maybe it's 19. When you compare this with the other passage, it's incredible how it words it. John chapter 19, look at verse 33. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was dead already they break not his legs, but one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side and forthwith came there out, blood and water. And he that saw it bear record, and his record is true, and he knoweth that he sayeth true, notice this, that ye might believe. So who bears record? The Apostle John, by what? By the Spirit of God. Holy men spake as they are moved by the Holy Ghost, is what the Bible says. So you got the Spirit, you got the water, and you got the blood, and these three agree in one that what? Jesus Christ died on the cross for all of our sins. But he also went to hell, didn't he? Go to Revelation chapter one, go to Revelation chapter number one. Let's talk a little bit more, let's go back to the main emphasis of our sermon about the fact that he went to hell. But you have to understand this, he couldn't have just gone straight up into heaven without having been in hell, okay? That was gonna be the fulfillment of the scripture, you have to fulfill the Old Testament sacrifice of the whole burnt offering, and then he had to go up there with his blood. But in Revelation chapter number one, look what the Bible says in verse 17, it says, And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead, and he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not, I am the first and the last, I am he that liveth, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen, and have the keys of hell and of death. Now, this is why I say that Jesus Christ had to go to hell, is because he says, I was dead. Now that's an important phrase. We have to understand about the word dead, is it can mean a lot of different things. But in this context, what is death? Death is a state of being. But here's the reality, in order for you to be dead, you have to be in hell. Death is the state of being, hell is the location. If you're not in hell, you're not dead. And if you're dead, you're in hell. You can't have one without the other. They're universal. What does the Bible say? For the wage of sin is death. Now, let me explain this verse. This verse has multiple meanings and multiple layers. The first meaning, let's take the carnal application. When you sin, there's a physical punishment, it's called death. And every single one of us will physically die one day. And if you live a life of sin, which is the main context of Romans chapter number six, if even though you're saved, if you just keep living a life of sin, that'll bring you to an early death. An early grave, okay? But what's the converse? The converse is you have eternal life through the Lord Jesus Christ, right? Now, here's the thing. We all are gonna get a physical death where we shed our body, but we're not gonna truly experience death because we're never gonna go to hell. We're gonna go to heaven. So we're not really dead. In a sense, we've shed our physical body. And so if that's what you mean by the word dead, and you can find places in the scripture that'll define people who have shed their physical body but are in heaven is calling them dead, I can show you that in the Bible. But in this context, it's talking about those that went to hell. That's why when I preach the gospel to somebody, and I go to Romans 6 23, I just say, you know, this is just saying we're all gonna die one day, because that's one application of it. Another application is the fact that those that die in their sins, they will go to hell, okay? That's the first death. You say, what's the first death? Hell. The second death is a different one, right? If you go to Revelation chapter 20, let's look at the second death. So what's the state of being of death? It's being in hell physically. That's important, because if Jesus said he was dead, that means he had to be in hell. There's not another option. There's not a purgatory, sorry, Catholics. It's not mentioned in the Bible. There isn't in Hades, okay? Hades is a Greek word for hell, okay? It'd be like saying it's not Jesus Christ, it's Jesus Christo. It's like, what? It's the same person. You're just talking a different language. When they say Sheol or hell or Hades, those are just the underlying Greek words for the word hell. It's not a different place. You can't say, well, you can come to my house, or you can come to Mikasa, but you can't come to both. It's like, what? What are you trying to say? He's like, he was at my house, but he wasn't at Mikasa. It's like, what? What are you saying? Look, hell is Hades. Hades is hell, okay? So don't get confused. Some English versions that are wicked and corrupt, they'll try to replace the word hell with Hades, and then people teach a doctrine that they're different. They're not different, okay? Now, I don't like using the word Hades and Sheol because it's not as clear. Hell has a little bit more power. We find it in our King James Bible. Jesus Christ used the word hell constantly throughout the gospels. Now, Revelation chapter 20 doesn't talk about, it talks about another state of being. One state of being, dead. It also says there's a second death, though. Look what it says in Revelation chapter 20, verse 12. And I saw the dead stand, or 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 the works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them, and they were judged, every man according to their works. Let's understand this. When it says the sea, what is it talking about? It's just talking about their physical body, okay? Somehow, they get to stand before God. It's called the resurrection of the damned, okay? The resurrection of damnation, where somehow there's one temporary break from hell. They say this is the only time you can find someone that's dead that's not in hell. They're standing at the great white throne judgment, all right? And where did all the dead people come from? They came from hell, didn't they? Death and hell delivered up the dead, okay? Now they stand before God. They're judged according to their works. It says in verse 14, and death and hell were cast in 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 if you're dead, you're in hell. If you're second dead, you're in the lake of fire. That's the location. And guess where hell's there with you, all right? So you can still be in hell in the lake of fire. I don't even know how that's different. It sounds horrible. I don't wanna know about it, all right? If you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you can escape both, all right? You won't touch that second death. You have no, death is lost at sting even, all right? Go if you would to Matthew 22. Go to Matthew 22 for a moment. So we were talking about the state of being. So when I'm explaining the gospel, obviously you can loosely say the lake of fire's hell and vice versa, and it's somewhat accurate. But from a technical perspective, there is a difference between hell and the lake of fire, because hell's gonna be literally thrown into the lake of fire, and people will be thrown in the lake of fire. That's the second death. But that's the ultimate resting place. That's why Revelation 28, 21, eight's a great verse to take people to, because ultimately that's your final destination. But if you die now, you go to hell, and then eventually get thrown in the lake of fire on top of that. So Matthew chapter number 22, let's look at another verse about this. It says in verse 28, Therefore in the resurrection, whose wife shall she be of the seven? For they all had her. Jesus answered and said to them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. For in the resurrection, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, 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. So notice, if you're living, that's a state of being. Where's that at? It's with God. It's up in heaven. So if you're dead, you're in hell. If you're alive, you're in heaven. You're with God. Notice God's not the God of the dead. He's the God of the living, meaning Abraham never went to hell. Abraham's not dead. Isaac's not dead. Jacob's not dead. That's why Abraham saw Jesus' day and rejoiced. He was looking down from heaven. Go to John chapter 11. That's how we understand this verse, which is a beautiful verse, talking about salvation, talking about eternal life. But we have to understand, if Jesus is dead, he's not in heaven then. Now, I'm gonna explain something in a moment too, about all the, you know, because sometimes people, they take all these verse, they try to create contradictions of the Bible, usually it's because they don't believe the Bible, all right? I believe the Bible today, and there is no contradiction, but sometimes people try to make up contradictions. But look what it says in John chapter 11, verse 25. Jesus said unto him, I have the resurrection and the life he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believeth now this. You say, I thought we were all gonna die, Pastor Shelley. Well, again, we have to define our terms. If you mean by death, shedding your physical body, we all will physically shed our body. Do you know what? You'll never have the state of being of death. You'll never have the state of being of dying, because as soon as you shed that physical body, you'll be with the Lord in heaven. And so you'll never die. You'll never touch hell. That's what that's saying. It's saying you'll never go to hell, not even for a second. Tyler Doka's gonna go there for all of eternity. He thinks he'll burn off your sins in hell or whatever. It's ridiculous. He's like basically a Catholic, you know, a flat earth Catholic. You know, as scary as the next doctrine they're gonna be into, I don't know. But go to John chapter three. Let me point out another verse here, because then people say, well, but Jesus looked at the thief on the cross and said, today thou shalt be with me in paradise, right? And they'll say, there's another place called paradise. And they make up this paradise doctrine based on that one verse. Ignore everything I already showed you. Okay, throw that all in the trash. There's a third place called paradise. Well, the word paradise is found in your Bible three times. And guess where paradise is? Heaven. It literally says that Paul was caught up to the third heaven, and then the next verse it says he was in paradise. Okay. How can you describe a place called paradise and it's not heaven? It's like one of the best English words to describe a place that's awesome, that's amazing. But they try to say paradise is this like extra place next to hell or something. It's like, doesn't it sound that great? You know, hey, I have the greatest house ever next to the ghetto. It's like, no, you know, your really nice house is not next to the ghetto. If it's paradise, my little house is a slice of paradise. It's like right in the middle of the ghetto. It's like, no, it's not. You know, you gotta be far from the ghetto for it to be in paradise, okay? It's gotta be in like South Lake or something, right? It's gotta be in like Las Calinas or something. You know, it's not gonna be in the, you know, in the inner city area or something, right? I don't know all the ghetto places here, wherever we went so many days. That wasn't paradise, okay? But what does it say in John chapter three? Let me explain that verse in this one too. It says in verse number 13, and no man has ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man, which is in heaven. Jesus Christ, he said, while he was talking to him, he's like, hey, the Son of Man's in heaven right now. You know what that means? Jesus Christ can be in more than one place at one time, okay? But we have to understand what he really means here and what the Bible talks about when it's describing the location of Jesus. When it's describing the location of Jesus, it's specifically referencing the fact that he was manifested in the flesh. It's talking about that physical body that was born of Mary. That's the location that all of the things that we're talking about. But outside of that, Jesus is still God, and Jesus Christ is still in heaven. He's still everywhere. There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. You know when that's not true? Never. It's always true. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Jesus Christ was with God, but he did come down. He did become a man, and you know what? That man was on earth. But at the same time, he was in heaven. Hey, and guess what? Jesus Christ, when we're with him for all of eternity, you know another place he's gonna be at all times? In hell. They're gonna be tormented from the presence of his holy angels and from the presence of the Lamb, is what the Bible says in the book of Revelation. He's there literally kindling their fire with them. You say, hey, I wanna escape Jesus. Good luck. Now, that's how you explain this verse. I've heard really bad explanations of this verse, but the fact that God can be omni present is how some people would describe it. Omni means all, present is where you're located. He's everywhere. You can't escape the Lord. Even if you dig down in hell, behold, I am there. How can you escape God? You can't escape God. You can't escape his presence. But what's significant is his physical body, he became a man, his physical body went in the tomb, his soul went into hell, he experienced that torment, it was resurrected, and then he went up into heaven with that physical body that he had, with that physical blood that was shed, and he put his physical blood on that altar to sacrifice our sins. Right, Jesus. Now, go over to Titus chapter three. I just wanna explain a few last moments here. I feel like we've killed this doctrine. We've not killed it, but we've expounded it, and anybody that had any questions should have been eliminated. But I'm gonna bring up a few, because some people would say, if you think Jesus went to hell, you're a heretic. Someone like James White or someone like that. Just mentioning the fact that Jesus went to hell is so offensive to people. But if you can show them all the verses that I just did, and they still are saying that, look at Titus chapter three, verse 10. A man that is an heretic after the first and second admonition, reject, knowing that he that is such is subverted and sinneth being condemned of himself. Now, you know what's funny about this? Is I literally experienced that today. In the most literal sense, me and brother Ryan, we went to the first door we knocked, I think. Maybe it was the second door. It's like the first person that talked to us. He's from Victory Temple Outreach or whatever. These people are always unsaved. They always believe in work salvation. Now, it's funny because Ryan's kind of the one talking to him at first. And he asked him about, what do you have to do to be saved? He's like, well, it's all what Jesus did. It has nothing to do with what you did. It's not of works. It's just totally faith. And Ryan's like, I just wanna clarify. So you're saying it's just by believing? Oh, well, it's faith and you have to be obedient. So after he just said it's not of works for like 20 seconds, he's just like, wow, and you gotta be obedient. And then he just started denying once saved, always saved, hardcore. He was trying to overtake the conversation. He had this King James Bible, supposedly from Jimmy Swaggart, okay? And this book, it was literally, it was filled with commentary in a way I've never seen, where it would just have like a few words of a verse and then like a whole parentheses of like explanation for every phrase. I mean, it was like more commentary than the actual text itself. And he's like trying to sit here and read us verses. And he's like, I only trust what this book says. And I only believe what this book says. And so I took his Bible and was trying to go through the gospel with him. Well, I got to Jesus went to hell, right? And he's just like, I just say, well, Jesus went to hell. And he's just like, what? And I'm like, just read the verse. You said you only believe what this book says. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. He went to Abraham's bosom. You don't understand. Go to Luke chapter number 16. Luke chapter number 16. He's like, he went to Hades. And he's like, he went to Abraham's bosom. It's a separate compartment that's next to hell. And that's where he went. And he preached this special message to all these captives. And he delivered the captives. Look, there wasn't any captives deliver in Hades, okay? First of all, Hades is not found in your scripture because we have a King James Bible says hell. Second of all, Abraham's bosom is not really much of a location, okay? I'll explain that in a moment. But he was like so particular about every verse and me showing him every verse and every line. As soon as we get to this subject, no verses that matter anymore. He just wants to give me his explanation about all this. And I tried to go to Luke 16. Oh, you're talking about Luke 16. Let me show you what the Bible actually says in Luke chapter 16. Let me disprove what you just told me. From the scripture that you just referenced. Because he's saying it's a compartment right next to hell. Okay, let's just prove it wrong with Luke chapter 16, the story that he told us. Verse 22, and it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels in Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. Let me say this. You don't need to be carried to hell. You fall into hell. You go down into the pit. No one needs to carry you. If you're being carried, it's because you're going up. You know, Elijah was carried up into heaven. You know, all the people of God are carried up when Jesus Christ sends his angels. And Matthew 24, which is the rapture, it says immediately after the tribulation in those days. So after that great tribulation, the Bible says Jesus Christ is gonna send forth his angels and they're gonna come and gather us. And guess what they're gonna do? They're gonna carry you up into heaven, okay? Now, if he's up and the other guy's down, which is what the Bible teaches, not beside, what do you think the next verse would say when this guy's trying to look for him? Well, let's keep reading. Let's look at verse 23. And in hell he lift up his eyes. He didn't look beside, he looked up. You know why you look up? Because something's above you. He looked up in hell and he saw what? Abraham, he seeeth Abraham afar off. It's this, this is what they say. Abraham's in this really small compartment next to hell. Nope. It's paradise, it's up and it's a far off. It's not close, otherwise it wouldn't be paradise. You know, hell is not a cool place to be next to. I don't wanna be next to it, it sounds really hot. You know, it's like being in Phoenix or something or July here. So we already see that this is completely, you know, makes no sense. But let me tell you what Abraham's bosom is here. It's his chest. So if I had a buddy up here and I put my arm around him, like, hey buddy, he's in my bosom. Okay, it's just saying Abraham put his arm around Lazarus. He's like, hey man, it's great to see you. Glad you're here. I'm glad you're not being tormented anymore. The angels carried him straight to Abraham's bosom and just put him in his lap or put him right next to him and he just gets a lean on him. Just like John would lean on Jesus' breast, right? They're buddies, they hang out, they're just kinda hanging on one another. Like you see this all the time. Especially gang members, they love to hang all over each other, right? They're hanging on their brother, they're hanging on their pal, they're hanging on their homie or whatever. You know, he's just hanging out with Abraham, they're close buddies, they like to give each other, you know, they like to put their arm around one another. You know, if you have a close friend, you take a picture with them, a lot of times guys will put another, they'll put their arm around the other guy because it's just his buddy, it's just his pal, it's his friend and he wants to show their relationship. It's not this special place of like, you know, there's this special compartment called Abraham's bosom. Look, it is special in the sense that you're friends with Abraham, but it's not its own dedicated place, you know? Like we have a sign like Abraham's bosom right here, you know, come on buddy, you know? No, and it's certainly, certainly not next to hell. The Bible says this is a great goal fix, you know what that is? It's called the earth and it's called the atmosphere and it's called the first heaven and the second heaven and then you got the third heaven and there's this huge expanse that keeps everything away from hell, it's called the earth. Why it's so hard to dig down there, we can't even get there. Even if you wanted to, is what the Bible says. Go if you would to Romans chapter number 10, go to Romans chapter number 10 for a moment. So what have we talked about? Well, we're talking about Jesus went to hell, we've kind of dispelled a few of the bad ideas and thoughts when it comes to this doctrine. The Bible's crystal clear. Now, here's a question that may sometimes arise when we talk about this. Is it necessary for someone to believe that Jesus went to hell to be saved? Now let's read Romans chapter 10 verse nine. The Bible says that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Did that mention hell? No. I believe many people are saved today and do not understand the doctrine that I just teach because it does not say you have to understand this doctrine to be saved. In fact, a lot of people are confused on this doctrine or don't fully understand this doctrine. It's not necessary to get someone saved, but I believe that is a good tool to use when preaching the gospel. And let me explain why for two reasons. The first reason is that I think it's actually a pretty easy doctrine to prove. Someone that's not already like puffed up or arrogant or whatever. When you just show them Acts 2 31, it says clearly a soul is not left in hell. It's hard to argue with the Bible at that point. I mean, you have to have a lot of false teaching to try and discourage you away from that. But then secondly is I think it helps humble people a little bit and prepare their heart to accept the gospel. Because most people, when you ask them if they're saved, they say yes. And so you're gonna try and show them something different. Since most people don't know this doctrine, I think, and it's an easy one to prove, it kind of gets them thinking, oh, if I'm wrong on that, maybe I'm wrong on something else. That's why it's literally the thing I show right before I show them Acts 16 30 and 31. I show them, hey, the Bible says he went to hell. And they're like, I didn't know that. And it helps them appreciate the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ even more. And then I show them, well, this is what the Bible says about how to be saved. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. And they go together very well. I use it every single time I preach the gospel and I have had virtually no problem except with this victory temple outreach guy. And guess what? He wasn't gonna get saved either way, all right? He wasn't interested in the gospel. He was just trying to argue with me and over talk me. And I had to do this, bye. I had to say, you know what? I showed him Acts 16, that's the only verse I showed after I was kind of continuing with him on this. And I just said, look, you're not saved. You're believing in work salvation. You're wrong about the hell doctrine. And you need to watch that video, we're leaving. And then he's actually like, hey, you can't just go. You can't, it's just like, bye. And look, some people when you preach the gospel to, you need to literally walk away. And you say, politely, sometimes you just have to walk away. They will waste so much of your life and time. They're what they call energy vampires, okay? He wanted to waste my efforts. And you know, me and brother Ryan, we ended up getting four more people saved today. I'm glad, I wish we had left sooner. Although I got this story, all right, so it worked out. All right, go if you would to Revelation 14. It's the last place I'll have you turn this evening. But let's wrap up with this conclusion. What's the conclusion? Well, first of all, I want you to better understand this doctrine. I think that's the main, you know, one of the main aspects of teaching a sermon like this. It's kind of doctrinal sermon. And I know a lot of people already believe this, if not everyone. But I want to strengthen your faith in this teaching and show you even more verses that you could use to prove it. But I think the most important thing is to truly appreciate the sacrifice of our savior, what he did for us, and the suffering that goes on in hell. It says in Revelation 14, verse 10, "'The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, "'which is poured out without mixture "'into the cup of his indignation. "'And he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone "'in the presence of the holy angels "'and in the presence of the Lamb. "'And the smoke of their torment "'accenteth up forever and ever, "'and they have no rest, day nor night, "'who worship the beast in his image, "'and whosoever receiveth a mark of his name.'" Hell is a horrible place. Outer darkness, weeping and gnashing of teeth, no rest, day nor night, no water, no hope. Now, the only person that ever had hope in hell was Jesus, because he knew he was not going to be left there. Everyone else, I mean, they're essentially going to be left there. Obviously, they'll be pulled out for a quick judgment and then tossed in the lake of fire for all of eternity, but that's not hope. They're awaiting even more shame and even more destruction in the future. But Jesus literally came here and died for you and went to hell for you and then came back up with his own blood. That was the only way you could get to heaven. He looked down, he said, "'Hey, I want you to go to heaven. "'There's only one way. "'Jesus, you have to go down there "'and you have to shed your blood "'and you have to taste death "'and you have to go to hell "'and you have to get the keys of hell and of death "'and you have to bring up your blood "'and sprinkle it on the altar, "'and that's how we can go to heaven.'" The death, burial, and resurrection, the greatest thing, the greatest news that's ever been taught, that's ever been preached, and we need to go through and thunder that forth in this city. Go out and preach that Jesus Christ, he died on the cross, his soul went to hell, he was resurrected, and if we put our faith in him, we will be saved. Jesus went to hell, so you don't have to. Closing prayer. Thank you, Father, so much for your word. Thank you for sending your son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come to this earth for his blood to be shed. We thank you for his atonement. We thank you that he went to hell for us, that he tasted death for us so that we would not have to experience that torment, that pain, that anguish that we so much deserve. And we thank you for him offering his own blood on the altar so that we can be justified and sanctified in your sight, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but by his mercy that he saved us. I pray that we truly appreciate that in our hearts, that we'd understand the sacrifice he made so that we could sacrifice our lives on this earth to be a testimony and witness of him. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.