We’re glad to bring to you the review of today’s sermon, the preacher shed more light on one of our previous topics titled, “The True Church“. Hitherto, the topic “Who are those under the Earth” was relatively examined. God bless you as you read through. Amen.
Text: Revelation 5:13, Philippians 2:10, Isaiah 49:24, 1Samuel 28:7, Psalm 16:10, Revelation 6:8
According to scriptures, the world is divided into three dimensions: the heavens, the earth and under the earth. But our major emphasis today are the ones under the earth.
Under the earth is the abode of the departed soul. Whoever died under the law in the old testament went under the earth, because the covenant at work then could only cover their sins and not blot it out. And because the wages of sin is death, no one has the power to deliver himself. Thus, when they died, they went to Sheol, where the devil still had the legal right over their souls. When you read the story of Lazarus and the rich man, you see that the place is demarcated into two; Abraham’s bosom where the old testament saints were kept and the prison (hell) for the unbelievers.
These saints were held captive because there was no one to deliver them from the power of death since the blood of Jesus had not been shed, so the devil still had authority over them and this was the reason why the devil was able to contend with the body of Moses. The woman with the familiar spirit at En-dor was also able to communicate with the spirit of Samuel because his soul was still held captive under the earth where the devil had his territory (1 Samuel 28:8)
Three things were important in God’s dealing with the children of Israel:
- A king
- A prophet (to guide the king)
- A priest
And though God was always blessing them with these three things, at a time in the reign of King Saul, he rejected the voice of God through Samuel, and despised the prophet until God took Prophet Samuel away and he no longer heard the voice of God again. Also, he lost the leadership of God, and even the Urim and Thummin stopped working, that was when he began to look for a familiar spirit inorder to hear the voice of God.
Nonetheless, the familiar spirit Saul resorted to was still able to call out the spirit of Samuel because all souls were under the earth (hades). This means that the best of those who worked with God under the law could not help but go to this territory of Satan who was a lawful captive. At the announcement of who was worthy in the book of Revelation, no one was worthy in heaven, on earth and underneath the earth except Jesus Christ our Lord who laid down his life for the sins of man.
If you don’t want God to be silent over your life, you must not despise the voice of God, you must treasure whatever He says with topmost priority, because God should not be taken for granted. Don’t let it be too late before you realise the importance of God’s voice in your life.
What Happened At the Death and Resurrection of Jesus
Text: Hebrew 2:14, Revelation 6:8, Revelation 1:18, John 20:15-17, Matthew 27:50-52, Ephesians 4:9-10, Ephesians 4:8
When Jesus died, His Spirit went to hell in order to deliver those who were held captive i.e. all the Old Testament saints who believed in God; the redemption of their soul which was of great price was paid by Jesus Christ. And though the wages of sin is death, the gift of God which is eternal life gave them access to this life, thus, the debt was settled by the blood and the devil lost the legal right to keep holding them captive. Hallelujah!!
After this, Jesus went to those in prison who refused the word of God and he revealed himself to them as evidence against their doubt and unbelief. Brother, your unbelief cannot change or stop the program of God, if he promised rapture, it will come to pass.
Death and hell work together; when death kills the body, hell will captivate the soul. They are enemies of man and that is why every man is afraid of death, Nevertheless, no believer should be afraid of death because Jesus Christ, our groom, overcame both death and hell and swallowed them up in victory. So the way to overcome death is to be in the One(Jesus Christ) who conquered the power of death.
The Firstborn from the dead
The moment the blood of Jesus touched the earth, the graves of the Old Testament saints opened and the bodies of the dead saints came up above the grave. But they could not resurrect because Jesus had not yet resurrected and he had to resurrect before them–Jesus Christ is the Firstborn among the dead (Colossians 1:18). So, Jesus had to go to hell to accomplish his purpose and resurrect before they also could.
Also, when these old saints resurrected, they did not ascend to heaven immediately, because Jesus must go first to present his blood to God as the new covenant atonement on the mercy seat. However, when they resurrected, they appeared to the living saints in Jerusalem according to Matthew 27:53.That was why Jesus told Mary in John 20:17 not to touch her because he had not yet ascended. So he had to ascend first so that the old saints could ascend too. But after he had ascended, he descended again. That was when he told Thomas to touch his hands and eat with him. After forty days, Jesus then resurrected with the saints of old.
So, brethren, the Paradise of the dead saints now is not underneath the earth but in the third heaven, and thus, no familiar spirit can call their spirit up. Those underneath the earth now are those who failed to believe.
What more then do we have to do today than to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ and continue to cleanse ourselves by the word of God in humility and submission. We should also wait patiently for that glorious morning when our groom shall appear in the sky.
God bless you.
You can please click here to follow up with the video sermon.