I want you to turn back in your
Bibles to 1 Peter chapter 3. You can set them on your laps
and then you can pull out your pastor's commentary and follow
me. We have four points that we want to deal with today briefly
before we enjoy celebrating with our sisters the ordinance of
baptism. And I would encourage our sisters
to move immediately, not like our men folk last week. I want to share with you four
things out of our text. In Peter's account, the illustration
of the doctrine of baptism in the context of Noah's Ark, in
that context, there's some language there that lends itself to some
misinterpretation. And therefore, it opens the door
for what we have seen long ago in the exposition of scripture
Certain pagan notions, certain myths and fables and tales are
what we would call lies in theology today around the way God has
worked in time past. In 1 Peter 3, verse 19, the question
is often raised, what does it mean when the text says, he went
and preached unto the spirits in prison? And I want to deal
with two myths today, two lies, two fables that have entered
into the church of Jesus Christ. And we buy into these things
because they are part of our own genetic makeup. And I hope
to dissolve some of these notions today. So we are still dealing
with the concept of baptism. And the title of my message today
is, He Led Captivity Captive. And he certainly did speak to
the spirits in prison. That's the title of our message.
Christ has led captivity captive, and he speaks to the spirits
in prison. But let us quickly dissolve the
myths around this notion that somehow the Lord Jesus Christ,
upon his death on Calvary's tree, as it were, traversed the depths
of hell, shaking some keys in the face of demons and letting
them know he runs the world. That goes to show you how much
we like television, doesn't it? So let's work with some things.
It's very important for you to understand point number one.
in our text is the myth of demon humans. The myth of demon humans. Now this comes out of Genesis
chapter 6 verse 4 where we were last week because the Genesis
6 account is Peter's pointer passage for developing the doctrine
of baptism in the context of Noah's Ark. And I received some
very good responses from you last week. Having never seen
the Ark of Noah as a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, And Noah
and his family are a type of every believer in Christ who
hid themselves in that ark while the ark went through the waters
of God's judgment. But we are told over in Genesis
6 verse 4 these words. Now there were giants in the
earth in those days. And also after that when the
sons of God came into the daughters of men and they bear children
unto them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of
renown." Now I know that if you have spent any time in Bible
study or in Bible college, or under a wide range of Bible teaching,
the vast majority of the teaching, particularly in Western Christianity,
and I would say that this derives itself from Eastern paganism,
you have been told that during the days of Noah, there were
these great big old giants walking the earth. 10, 12, 15, 20 feet
tall giants walking the earth, and these giants, were the product
of the relationship between fallen angels called the sons of God
and the daughters of men. Have you guys ever heard that
interpretation? These giants are supposed to
be these huge individuals that are a hybrid, a conflation of
humans and demons. Now what I want to do is immediately
tell you that is not only an impossibility, but it is contrary
to everything that the Bible teaches with regards to who the
true and the living God is. So I want you to understand with
several basic points to eliminate the notion from your thinking
that it is possible for demons to have sexual conjugation with
human beings and therefore produce an offspring that would be half
human half demon that is biologically physiologically impossible it
cannot occur you guys got that I know we know how to stretch
our imaginations But it cannot occur. It is not possible. Under
several rules, first and foremost, when God created the heavens
and the earth, as you know, He created the heavens and the earth
in six days. We believe six literal days.
If God wanted to, He could have done it in six hours. If our
God wanted to, He could have created the world in six nanoseconds. That's who God is. So we are
not arguing with the power of God to create, are we? What we
have come to learn, have we not, ladies and gentlemen, that the
Genesis narrative chapters 1 and 2 describes for us the will of
God, not the power of God. God's not asking you to ask the
question, how did he create the heavens and the earth in Genesis
1 and 2. He's asking you to raise the question, who did this? Who
created this earth with the order and the structure and the beauty
and the eloquence of the Genesis narrative? Who is this glorious
being who cared so much about us that he created this vast
universe with all of its intricacies and all of its complexities in
such an order of interdependence that it must be the product of
infinite wisdom? The who is the question in the
genesis account and the why that means we are to seek the will
of god in the context Not the power of god We know that god
has the capacity and power to do many things, but the text
will teach us That god is revealing himself to us in the genesis
narrative day One two three four five and six in terms of his
will and purpose for our life And here are one of the principles
that come out of genesis chapter 1 verse 11 Let every seed bearing
herb bring forth fruit its own kind. That's a law that God placed
in creation that his people are to follow all the way through.
Do you know what that means ladies and gentlemen? It means that
God has already created within the fabric of the universe categories. Distinct categories with their
relationships inherent in that category for them to be able
to reproduce. That category also affirms boundaries,
limitations, by which then God is glorified when everything
operates in order and in its place. So when God says in Genesis
chapter 1, 11, 12, 13, 14, let it all bear fruit after its own
kind, you know what he's telling you and I? No high bridge. No
high bridge. You don't get to take God's creation,
even though He will give you the knowledge of science and
give you the backdrop to all of the physical laws by which
things are brought into existence, and you and I don't get to put
God's creation under a Petri dish and go, let's see if we
put this together with that, what will happen? See, you and
I are not called to be Dr. Frankenstein, but that's what
ungodly scientists are doing in our world today. Now, believers
are called upon to walk in order, walk in structure, walk with
parameters, walk with boundaries, and understand the limitations
of the things created. When you fail to operate out
of this principle, you know what you are aiding and abetting?
Chaos. Confusion. Calamity. And you and I know, according
to 1 Corinthians 14, God is not a God of chaos. He's a God of
order. Now the people that should affirm,
promote, and maintain the order of God is the church of the living
God. The people of God who say they
have a special relationship with God through his word by which
we say God authoritatively speaks to us. For us, God is revealed
in the scriptures. God who does what he does on
purpose and we don't get to mess up that order So when you read
your Bible carefully Genesis 1 tells us that every seed-bearing
herb bring forth fruit of its own kind Then you read your Bible
over in the book of Leviticus and we are told the same thing
You know what? It says in Leviticus don't mix diverse seeds together
in the same field. Oh We do a lot of that today,
don't we? That's because we're pagan. But God told his people,
Israel, don't mix the seed. I have a specific design for
every seed to bear fruit of its own kind. Don't be playing with
hybrids. That's Leviticus 19. And then
in Deuteronomy chapter 22, you know what God said? He says you
guys are a unique people above all the people of the earth.
You are my people. You represent me. You reflect
me. You walk in order as I am a God
of order. You are walking in structure
with disciplines and parameters by which the world might know
what it means to be blessed of God. Don't cross the lines. Don't
mix your oxes with your asses. They have two different strokes.
Some of us know what that's like, don't we? When you mix an ox
with an ass and you yoke them together, they will break the
yoke because they have two different strokes. If they don't break
the yoke, the yoke will break them because they have two different
strokes. And God carried that over into
the New Testament and demonstrated how marriage between an unbeliever
and a believer becomes exceedingly difficult because they don't
operate according to the same principles. Am I making some
sense, ladies and gentlemen? You are asking for trouble when
you are operating out of a different worldview than your spouse. He's
going this way, you're going that way. She's going that way,
you're going this way. And you trying to put a yoke
on and walk together, you're creating pain for yourself. And
then God says back in Deuteronomy 22 verse five, don't let a woman
put on clothing so that she looks like a man. and neither let men
put on female clothing. You know what God is saying?
Don't be confused about your sexuality. S-I-D, sexual identity
disorder, is a problem among men who don't know God. He created
the male and the female in the beginning, in the image of God,
created He them, and He stopped right there. Male and female. You guys got that? And so, for
you to buy into the notion of Demons being able to cohabit
with human beings and already we've done full developments
and exposition of this text years ago The context says the sons
of God married the daughters of men. It didn't just go into
them They went through the full celebration of marriage. That
means what did the demons do? Did they go meet the parents
of the daughter? Sit down, you know, don't let
me extrapolate the sons of God is an appellation for those who
call themselves true believers and Jehovah the daughters of
men are the common daughters by which marriage is Developed
or produced or affected between male and female you guys got
that now I'm helping you dissolve some of this stuff that you are
watching on TV every day while they are telling you that it's
possible to be human beings and you more and into werewolves,
or into lions, or into dogs. You know, you see this stuff
on TV, right? They're doing it every day. Do you know where
that comes from? Greek, and Roman, and Babylonian,
and Persian, and Middle Eastern paganism? You remember the man
standing up there with the upper human torso, looking like Atlas,
and the backside is a horse? You know what they call that
in the Greek, a cantor. Do we have that image of that?
We have a cantor. Now, I know some of you wish
you had the backside of a horse so you can run faster. Sorry, all God gave you was human
legs. Now, I know, I know, I know,
I know. Some of us look like that. But
I promise you, I promise you, that ain't no hybrid. That's
just the way it is. Children, that is not the truth.
It will never be the truth. And if it should ever occur that
you see something like that, it's what you ate, or what somebody
dropped into your drink, or it was a demon deceiving you. You
got that? You saw the other one too, the
Medusa, the woman with the snakes running around all in her hair.
Now I admit, we actually got some sisters whose hair look like that. I
admit that. I mean, it's true, isn't it?
Isn't it amazing how we can actually morph into this stuff? And you
know, you look to see if it's snakes on the end of it, but
it's not possible. I know we got snake-like characteristics,
sneaky hissing type sisters. I know that, but I promise you,
Promise you it's not the hybrid effect of demons and humans Creating
this species and then we got the the individual who has the
bull head. Remember the bull head Human
body boy here human now watch again. I know We got folks look
like that. I know that But there's no reality
to it That that's not possible. You guys got that it's not possible
You and I need to understand that what we are being dealt
with every day are lies. Lies designed to diminish God's
glory and to cause you to be deceived by buying into a God
who does not correspond with biblical truth. It's important
for you to know that these are lies. And the Bible tells us
that particularly, you can drop that picture now, particularly
in the the present generation where
we live, a strong delusion would be draping the whole world and
including the church by which people would be deceived into
believing lies. Deceived into believing lies
because they are not rooted and grounded in biblical truth. It
absolutely amazes me how people will buy into notions that have
no relationship or correlation to biblical truth. What is the
remedy then to these kinds of false notions that are opposed
and poised upon and foisted upon the people of God? The remedy
is you and I knowing what the Bible teaches accurately. Being
legitimate students of biblical truth so that we can rightly
divide the word of God so that we can keep from the effects
and the poison of these deceptions. Are you guys following what I'm
saying? All right, the second thing that I want to call your
attention to in our outline is the fact that there are those
who would assert that Jesus Christ went down into hell and taunted
demons. He went, he actually went down
to what is called the place of Hades. That's point number two
in your outline, the myth of Christ preaching to demons in
the pit of hell. This primarily emerges out of
a lot of your Pentecostal churches where they have extrapolated
upon and used a lot of exaggeration around the atonement of Jesus
Christ that when Christ died, he literally went into hell.
Actually and physically and down there in hell he informed The
demon world that he had actually taken the keys of Hades and death
Have you ever heard that like somehow the demons in hell need
to be informed what Christ accomplished? There are several things I want
you to know with this first and foremost the depiction of the
Son of God who is himself divine Who created the worlds and every
demon in it? I? does not need to go down to
hell to affirm his authority with anyone. It would be beneath
the Son of God to travel to Hades to taunt demons. He didn't taunt
them while he was here. He's a dignified king in absolute
authority, ruling over all things, and he does not need to be secure
in his position as God. to go down to the demons of hell
and shake keys in their face. We do that dumb stuff, but not
God. Listen, when the demons discovered
they were shut up in Tartarus and in hell, that was enough
to know they were in trouble. The work of Christ in terms of
the accomplishment of our redemption, for those of us who are true
believers, was a work that primarily was between him and his father
justifying his people at the bar of holiness because of our
sin. It wasn't so much as him wrestling
with the forces of darkness and him toiling with the devil. Remember
while he was even walking the earth, he plainly said, I see
Satan falling like lightning from heaven. He was already doomed
when the son of God assumed the human nature. He was doomed by
decree of God before the world began. He was doomed because
God had doomed him in the prophetic word Jesus Christ did not have
to as it were physically wrestle with the devil. He did destroy
the works of the devil He did destroy the power of the devil
He did destroy the the objective of the devil, which is to damn
the whole world by his death on Calvary Street But be sure
of this that our Savior did not travel to Hades now when we look
at the text it says that verse 19 again by which also he went
and preached unto the spirits in prison the question is who
is the he verse 18 tells us it's Christ for Christ have also once
suffered for sins we're talking about the atonement aren't we
ladies and gentlemen the suffering is the passion of our Savior
as a substitute for sinners on Calvary's tree on Golgotha outside
of Jerusalem walls He's he hung there as a propitiation for the
sins of all that would believe on him. The objective was to
bring us to God, his father being put to death where in the flesh
and quicken by what the spirit of God. Now, the spirit of God
is the direct antecedent to the next statement by which got it
by which the spirit of God is the means by which Christ spoke. to the spirit in prison. It wasn't
Christ himself in the second person or the first person. It
was Christ through the spirit. You and I have learned long ago
that all of God's prophets from the beginning of time to the
end of time preach under the anointing of the spirit of whom?
Christ. 1st Peter chapter 1 verse 10
tells us all the prophets spake by the Spirit of Christ Every
one of them the prophet in Noah's day spake by the Spirit of Christ
pastor who were those prophets? I'll tell you one big one Enoch
Enoch was Noah's great-great-grandfather And you know what he preached
Christ is coming again, and he's going to judge the world, and
everyone that's gainsaying and rebelling against God's counsel,
is he going to be put down? Jude tells us this in the book
of Jude. And Enoch, the seventh from Adam,
prophesied concerning the coming of our Savior and the demolishing
of every argument that was raised up in that generation where they
were saying, we don't believe that Jesus is Lord, we don't
believe that Christ is Messiah, we don't believe that he's coming,
but Enoch, prophesied their doom and Enoch's son prophesied their
doom Methuselah and Enoch's and Methuselah's son prophesied their
doom Lamech and Lamech prophesied the doom of the world in his
son Noah Noah's name means comfort And he said Noah is going to
comfort this generation in the preaching of the gospel as he
builds this ark. Two football fields long to the
chagrin of the whole world, telling the whole world, except you enter
into this ark, you're going to perish under the wrath of God.
Do you know the Bible calls Noah a preacher of righteousness?
That's first Peter, chapter two, verse five, second Peter, chapter
two, verse five. Rather, he's called a preacher
of righteousness. What did Noah preach? He preached
Christ. How did he preach? He preached
by the Spirit of Christ. You cannot be a faithful preacher
of the gospel unless you have the Spirit of Christ. And you
are not preaching a faithful message unless the message you
are preaching is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The Bible
very plainly tells us that the testimony of Jesus Christ, Revelation
19.10, is the spirit of prophecy. When you come to church, therefore,
ask the question, who is he preaching? What is he preaching? And if
you get the answer that he's not preaching Christ, he's not
a faithful preacher. What is he preaching? If he's
not preaching Christ and Him crucified, dead, buried, risen,
reigning, ruling over all things to the glory of His God and His
Father, he's not preaching the gospel. If he's preaching about
you and preaching about me and preaching about us and preaching
about money and preaching about success, he's not a gospel preacher. You guys got that? The Bible
is about Christ. Lo, I come in the volume of the
book. It is written of me to do thy
will, O God. You're searching the Scriptures
and in them you think you have eternal life, but they are they
which testify of Me. I am the Alpha and the Omega,
the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, the Essence of the
Revelation of God. I am the Word made flesh dwelling
among them. I am the Voice of God. I am the
Message of God. I am the Logos of God. If men
are going to know God, they must know His Word and the Word made
flesh. The revelation of the invisible
God and when you and I fail to understand that we must hear
from Christ about Christ concerning Christ You and I are failing
to hear the gospel They pastor. Why do I need to hear the gospel
because the text tells me he suffered the just for the unjust
that he might bring us to God. How are you going to get to God?
Only through Christ. How are you going to get to Christ?
By the preaching of the gospel. How are you going to hear the
gospel? Somebody must preach Christ to your soul. That's the
way the spirit of God works. And he only works through the
preaching of the gospel. That's his job. He will take
the things of mine. and He will show them unto you.
He will not speak of Himself. He will not boast of Himself.
He will not step out of His calling and order and call attention
to Himself. The Holy Ghost only glorifies
the Son, as the Son only glorified the Father, for all three are
unified in their will and objective to glorify the other. Am I making
some sense? The text is clear then that our
Lord Jesus Christ in his divine nature has always worked by the
Spirit of God in the calling of sinners to himself through
the gospel. Inference would tell us then
that do you know that the folks that were saved way back in the
days of Noah were saved the same way you and I are saved today?
There's always been one message. There's always been one method.
There's always been one Savior. There's always been one gospel.
Because all of us are one thing, sinners under the wrath of God. And our real remedy is a God
who loved us enough to give his son that we might be redeemed
from all iniquity. Does that make some sense, ladies
and gentlemen? Let me get to my next point so we can wrap
this on up then. He led captivity captive. Now
the point for which I want to call your attention to this statement
is because the people to whom Christ spoke in Noah's day, as
he did in Noah's children's day, as he did in Abraham's day, as
he did in the days of the children of Israel, in the days of Moses,
David, as he did in the first century, as he's doing today,
the people to whom Christ spoke by the Spirit in the preaching
of the gospel are called spirits in prison. Do you see that? Verse
19, by which he also went and preached unto the spirits in
prison. Now you might think that that is an unusual case scenario
for the spirits, but the reality is every one of us are a spirit.
We all have bodies, we all are souls, but we are certainly spirits. Now prior to a work of grace,
wherein God comes by the power of the gospel, to liberate your
soul from the bondage of sin and the curse of the law and
the wrath of God and the darkness of error and the ignorance of
paganism. You and I are slaves of sin. Are you hearing me? We're prisoners.
We're prisoners of ignorance. We're prisoners of sin. We're
prisoners of darkness. We are slaves prisoners in bondage,
ignorant of Christ, ignorant of light, ignorant of liberty,
and only the great emancipator himself can bring your soul out
of hell. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
Only the great emancipator himself. And ladies and gentlemen, let
me park it right here to make sure you understand something
about the ministry of the gospel. with all of the things that you
and I can do for the cause of Christ in the context of ministry.
Please understand that the greatest privilege that you and I could
ever have is to be a means by which a soul is liberated from
sin. The chief objective of the gospel
is to liberate souls The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me. He hath anointed me to preach
good tidings unto the meek, to let the captives go free, to
set free the prisoners, opening the eyes of the blind, healing
the souls of men and women. What is the primary work of Christ?
Liberating souls. You are my disciples indeed,
if you continue in my word. And you shall know the truth,
and the truth shall set you free. The one that is living an ongoing
practicing life of sin is a slave of sin. Verily, verily, I say
unto you, Whomsoever the Son shall set free is free indeed. Some of us know what it was like
to be in that bondage and we couldn't help ourselves. We could
not extricate ourselves. We could not deliver ourselves.
We had no power to break the cords of sin. We were trapped
and held down in hell's prison. And we were a slave to forces
that ruled us and governed us and led us. And we knew we were
headed to hell. And the mercy of God one day
reached down in the preaching of the gospel and decreed, let
them go. Let them go. Turn with me in your Bible to
Zechariah chapter 9. Zechariah chapter 9. Zechariah
chapter 9. It's so important for you and
I to know that this matter of salvation is a very serious matter
and it is pervasive and it is thorough and it is penetrating.
The one thing that bothers my soul in the whole of ministry
that goes on everywhere is when we have the tendency to fall
prey to missing the point for which God has called us to himself. Ladies and gentlemen, being saved
and knowing the grace of God and becoming a child of the king
is not about you and I now living our best life now and getting
God on our side so we can have a wonderful time down here. We
have utterly missed the point. him liberating you from the jailhouse
of sin while you and I can live in this world and see all kind
of other prisoners still stuck in the pit and have no concern
for their soul you have as it were experienced the emancipation
of your soul and now you walking around free asking God to bless
you on your journey when he didn't bless you by delivering you out
of hell and he promises a place in glory with himself. He promises
a place in glory with himself of which eye has not seen, ear
has not heard, neither has it entered into the mind of those
that believe. The untold riches and joy and
pleasures of those who will but for a time mimic the master who
came down here, assumed our nature, and the job he undertook was
to be a carpenter, and a preacher of the word of God. And you and
I are called to be witnesses, witnesses of his glory and for
God to work through you and me to liberate the souls of men
and women that are trapped. I listen, I understand it's too
big for you. I understand when we think it
through, come on now, let's be a little real like we do on Thursdays
and Fridays. Let's get a little real today. We, I know we in
church, we want to play church. Well, can we be a little real
today? The idea that God would use you and I to reach down in
hell and save a soul. Isn't that amazing? The idea
that he would use you to touch a hell bound soul. Huge, huge. But can I tell you something?
He only works with sinners who've been there, done that, bought
the T-shirt. That's all he works with. Hell yeah. So you know
what he does? He delivers us out of the pit,
cleans us up, informs us, and turns us around and say, go back
in the pit. I've got some other people to
get out. I've done my work. It's your turn to work for me.
See, that's what it means to be an ambassador for Christ.
scares me to death, scares me to death. This Pollyanna Christianity,
this Disneyland Christianity, this careless, heartless Christianity
that I see going on today, where we don't care about the souls
of men, scares me to death, scares me to death. I am afraid that
we are deceived, that we've been distracted, that we've been deluded,
that we've been distorted, that we have been deceived. I think
we're on our way to destruction. How can you live a year two,
three, four, five, and not play some kind of role in the deliverance
of hell bound sinners. Somebody tell me how you do that.
When God has wrought so great a salvation for your own soul,
how do you do it? How do you do it? Let me share
something with you though. He led captivity captive and
when he did it, he didn't lead you out solo either. I know you
think he did. We live in this atomized, autonomous
age where it's all about us individually and God. But when we understand
the text correctly in Ephesians chapter four, verse eight, and
then also in Psalm 68, and then also in Judges five, for the
same language is used in all three texts, he led captivity
captive. The picture is him actually delivering
us all at the same time. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
See, we love to make this a solo thing. So I love the Lord all
by myself with me. He's my personal Lord and savior. Like you can tuck him away in
your pocket. Don't nobody know secret love between me and Jesus. I'm actually afraid that that
kind of terminology means that you don't have a public testimony. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
See, because when you understand the picture vividly, in Ephesians
4, 8, he led captivity captive. You know what that was? A public
display of triumph and power over his foes. Christ does not
mind parading his elect through the world, letting everybody
know, these are mine. These are mine! I delivered them
out of hell. I delivered them out of bondage
and captivity. And guess what? We are still
slaves, but we're slaves of righteousness. Slaves of grace, slaves of Christ. And you know what we're doing
while we're walking around with the chains? Waving at everybody, letting
them know. He did it. He delivered me. He set me free. Christ delivered me out of the
pit. And here's how he did it. He
came in the lowliness and the humility of a human nature and
in the weakness of sinful flesh. and he rode on an ass and the
foal of an ass. We're describing him heading
into Jerusalem, correct? And we're describing Passover
day where our Lord would become a Passover for us, correct? We're
describing the day when the whole of Israel and the Roman centurions
took our master and rejected his claims as the son of God,
are we not? We describe the day when God
himself, as it were, turned his back and allowed his son to be
a sacrifice for sin. That's what we're describing.
This is the context in which Zechariah is speaking himself
in chapter 9, verse 9. Listen to it. Rejoice greatly,
O daughter of Zion. Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, thy king cometh. Who are we talking about? He
comes unto thee. He is just and having salvation,
lowly and riding upon an ass, upon the foal of an ass. Have
you ever wondered how Christ could ride them both at the same
time? That's because he's God. You got that? That's because
he's God. Verse 9 describes his willingness to be brought low
in order that he might be raised up, in order that he might deliver
us. And as God is speaking through Zechariah in chapter 9, verse
9, the Father now speaks to the Son over in verse 11. Notice
what the Father says to the Son. As a consequence of the Son humbling
himself, Becoming obedient even unto death even the death of
the cross watch what the father says ask for thee my son Also
by the blood of thy what by the blood of thy covenant Watch it
ladies and gentlemen. Have I sent forth your prisoners
out of the pit? Wherein is no water Do you see
it? Do you see where you were in
a pit? I? there was no life there. There was no water there. There
was no righteousness there. There was no spirit there. There
was no truth there. We were in hell. Hallelujah. But before the world began, you
know what God did? He chose me to be his hell-bound
prisoner in a pit wherein was no water. Do you notice the word
thy? Do you notice the word thy? Your
prisoners. Do you know before I fell into
hell, God had already said I got a security for him. I got a shepherd
for him. I got a go between for him. I've
got a savior for him. I'm in the pit, but I'm God's
prisoner. He's got to come get me, don't
he? He's got to come get me, don't he? Now, can I tell you
how he got me? He got me by the blood. by the
blood of the Lamb, which blood affected the new covenant. It
is the covenant of grace and redemption by which God liberates
souls from hell. We call it the gospel. Do you
see that? Christ came to set the captives
free. I know something about that.
Happened to me when I was 18 years old, sitting in a literal
jail cell. Too big and too small, overalls
way too big. Brother didn't know what he was
up to, but God had sowed the incorruptible seed in my heart
through a girl who didn't know any better, who I married two
years later. Been married now 30-something
odd years. Today, hallelujah, hallelujah,
by the grace of God. She had no business dealing with
me. But God had turned her heart.
Go tell that knucklehead I'm his savior. He gonna run for
a minute but he can't hide. I'm gonna lock him down and shut
him up and cause him to agree with me. Now watch it now. Here's what the text said. As
for you also son by the blood of your covenant have I sent
forth the prisoners out of the pit. Wherein is no water now,
will you mark verse 12? This is what distinguishes god's
elect from the non-elect This statement in verse 12 is to you
who are in the pit right now to you To the stronghold turn
you to the stronghold you prisoners of hope Do you see that? See
that's what we're saying when we preach the gospel Because
we still know a whole bunch of prisoners Now, stay with me for
a moment. I'm just about done. We know
they're prisoners because they love their sin. They love their
rebellion. They love this life. And they
have never yet, as of yet, met the Savior. But it might be that
they are His prisoners. And they might also be prisoners
of what? Hope! And therefore, as we preach
the gospel, you know what we tell them? Turn! Repent! Turn to The stronghold! Who is the stronghold? Christ! Turn to the stronghold, you prisoners,
if you have any hope for salvation. If you have any hope for redemption. If you have any hope for glory.
You who are in the pit right now, wherein is no water. You've been trying to do it this
way, that way, and the other way, and it has not been working.
Your soul is dried up. You are at your wit's end. You
are tired, but you can't get out. Here is our suggestion to
you. Turn to the Lord Jesus Christ
and look to Christ. who is the hope of glory. He
is the resurrection and the life. He is the great liberator. He'll
bring your soul out of the pit like he did so many of us who
are sons of freedom right now. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and he'll save you He'll save you. Call on the name of the
Lord right now and he'll deliver you out of the pit. I promise
you he'll deliver you for whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved, shall be delivered, shall be brought out. God can't lie. God can't change. God won't fail. He's gonna have
a people for himself, isn't he? He's gonna have a people for
himself. Watch this. It might as well be you. You ought to be tired now. You've
been coming to church and going to church and playing church
and doing church, but you haven't come to Christ. You haven't been
delivered in your soul. You haven't tasted the water
of life, the power of his grace, the emancipating power and efficacy
of the spirit of God whispering to your soul. You can go now.
You can get up from your sin and walk away from your old nature
and you can cleave to Jesus Christ who is the foundation and hope
for every believer, everyone who will trust. You can go today.
I'm not talking about coming up here. I'm talking about sitting
right there where you are in your soul. Come to Christ right
now. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Say, Lord, save me. Shortest prayer any sinner can
pray. Peter will tell you it works. words Lord save me reach
right down and get your soul out of hell yes he will because
he is just and having salvation he is just and having salvation
and our final thought go back with me to first Peter chapter
3 I want to just wrap this up as we now get ready for our baptism
our final thought the resurrection is the proof of our freedom now
that requires you to think a little bit now The resurrection is the
proof of our freedom. What do we mean by that? Now
I have been just explaining to you that you and I by nature
are our prisoners and we certainly were and there's nothing like
the liberation that comes to the soul when God saves you.
Is that true? Now we got issues. Is that right? And sometimes
we still feel like slaves. Isn't that right? But even our
brothers and sisters that were emancipated long, long ago took
them a long time to actually walk in their liberty. Because
you're so used to being a slave, inhibited, trapped by these notions,
you've got to be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
You've got to learn how to think God's thoughts after Him. You've
got to be able to walk in the light and walk by the Spirit.
You've got to take God's hand, let Him take your hand and lead
you into those places of liberty that you might go in and out
and find passion. That's a process, am I telling the truth? It's
a process for God to strip us of the old grave clothes of sin.
He has to do it every day. So it's a process for us who
are believers and we're calling you who are lost to that process
Simply call on them. Here's what god says when christ
died his death as it were paid for our sins And when christ
rose again from the dead romans chapter 4 verse 25 his resurrection
was proof proof positive That all of our sins have been put
away. The resurrection is the evidence his death Was the price
the resurrection was the evidence, you know what that means christ
was a prisoner just like you and me That's isaiah chapter
53 verse 8 isaiah 53 8 tells us and he was taken from prison
and from judgment And who was going to declare his generation?
You know what that means when he left glory he came down to
the prison where I was Took my place Under the wrath of god,
and then he went back to glory And the text tells me in Ephesians
4, 8, are you ready? Having ascended the same also,
having descended the same also, ascended high above all things. And from his ascended state,
he leads captivity captive. from his place on his throne
in glory, by the power of his spirit, he brings sinners out
of the pit. Are you hearing me? In other
words, he ain't in the pit pulling people out. He's on his throne
pulling people out as Lord of Lords and King of Kings. He's
in his place of accomplished redemption, calling sinners out
by the Spirit of God through the gospel, which we continue
incessantly to preach. And we are so thankful, aren't
we great saints? We're so thankful to see men
and women come to Christ. God uses the same message, the
same method, the same means all the time, because the problem
is the same. So why then does Peter say the
light figure whereunto baptism doth also now save us is because
the ark in Noah's day represented who? And the rains that came
down and the floods and the torrents that assaulted that ark represented
the judgment of God. And Noah and his family were
the only ones God instructed to get in the ark and God shut
the door, didn't he? Verse 21 the light figure where
unto even now back to them death now save now watch this not the
putting way of the filth of the flesh Ladies when y'all climb
in the water here in a few minutes and we promise is warm this time We had to wake our brothers up
last week we promise is warm You're not putting away one sin
By your getting in this water Are you hearing what I'm saying?
You are only symbolizing your unity with Jesus Christ, who
is God's effectual means by which your sins were put away. For
when you get into the water, as baptism is signified by death,
you go down into death with Christ, and you come up out of death
with Christ to walk in newness of life. Are you hearing what
I'm saying? That's what baptism teaches.
And the reason you are doing it is because the gospel has
been preached so clearly to your soul and your mind. You have
such a vivid understanding and clarity of who Jesus is and what
he did and who he did it for and why he did it. that your
soul is saying yes to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Yes, Christ
died for me. Yes, Christ was buried for me.
Yes, Christ put away my sins. Yes, Christ rose to justify me.
Yes, Christ is in glory. And yes, I'm in glory right now
with Jesus Christ according to the Word of God, and I'm ready
to tell the world in the waters of baptism that where He is,
I am in Him, and one day I will be with Him when He comes back
again. Do you believe that? Amen. Amen. Amen.