Spiritual Nuggets For

08-10-2008

91. Where is the location of hell? The following Scripture answers that indirectly:

For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (Mat 12:40)

If we add to that the truth of where Jesus went after his death and before his resurrection we can come closer to a final answer. That place was hades:

Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. (Acts 2:31)

The Greek word translated grave by the NIV is haides. In other words, after Jesus’ death he went to hades. Hades had two compartments separated by an impassable gulf. One side was for the righteous dead and one for the wicked dead. See Luke 16:19-31. (Since the Lord’s resurrection the pure in heart now go directly into the presence of God after death.)

Jesus also preached to the wicked dead of Noah’s day when he was in hades:

For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, (1 Pet 3:18-20)

Because Jesus could preach to people, and they could understand his message, we know that soul sleep is false. Soul sleep is taught by the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists and others. To assume that because Jesus preached to the wicked dead in Noah’s day implies a second chance after death can not be supported from Scripture. That same Greek word rendered preached in 1 Pet. 3:19 is also found in this verse:

And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” (Rev 5:2)

Notice what is under the banner of preaching there—a question asking, Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?

From all of that we know: (1) Hades, including the fiery side, is in the center of the earth and (2) There is no soul sleep as some teach.

The natural fact that the center of the earth is so hot is corroborating evidence for the fiery hell the Bible speaks of.

92. The Bible says in 1 Peter 2:24:

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.

Peter quotes Isaiah:

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. (Isa 53:5)

Is the healing mentioned in these verses forgiveness of sins or physical healing? The word translated wounds is stripes. The payment for healing occurred before the cross when Jesus was beaten. Afterwards, Col. 1:19,20 says what the blood shed on the cross did:

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

93. While some people think it is impossible to both love and fear God at the same time, the truth is they are both very closely related. Regarding the fear of the Lord we read:

Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for; through the fear of the LORD a man avoids evil. (Prov 16:6)

Fearing God is related with avoiding evil. That in turn is just like loving God:

Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.” (John 14:23,24)

Loving God and fearing God are as closely related as obeying God and avoiding evil. Some might say they are synonyms.

94. If a person has never had a radical change in his life he has never been saved. How can such a seemingly extreme statement be made? Ponder these eternal truths. When one gets saved: (1) he becomes a new creation, (2) he passes from darkness to light, (3) he becomes indwelt by God’s Holy Spirit, (4) he passes from death to life, (5) he is turned from the power of Satan to the power of God, (6) he is set free from the bondage and slavery of sin, and (7) he is given a heart of love for others. See 2 Cor. 5:17; Acts 26:17,18; Rom. 8:17; John 5:24; 8:32-36; Rom. 6:18, 22; 1 John 3:14; etc. It is, therefore, impossible to experience these and not be radically changed, even to the point where others can notice outward evidence of this new creation:

When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. (Acts 11:23)

This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother. (1 John 3:10)

95. After a person gets set free from sin’s slavery and addictions, which only occurs at the point of salvation, he can afterwards become ensnared and entangled once again:

If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.” (2 Pet 2:20-22)

As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. (1 Pet 1:14)

After Simon believed (Acts 8:13), we read this:

Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.” (Acts 8:17-23)

Simon had been saved earlier but quickly became captive to sin again. Hence, he was no longer saved at that point.

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