Water Lines & Old Paths

Posted on May 4, 2012 by russellmckinney

You don’t have to be a nautical expert to know that boats must be as solid below the water line as they are above it. A boat that looks good above the water line but is rotten below it will eventually sink. Well, the same kind of thing holds true for Christians. Those who have a fellowship with Christ that looks good on a surface level, but who are rotting away spiritually on the inside, are in trouble. Eventually, they will sink into the murky depths of life.

So how can you, as a Christian, ensure that such a thing doesn’t happen to you? The answer is simple: You must do that which is necessary to keep your fellowship with Christ strong. And how do you accomplish this? You do it by way of such things as: daily prayer, daily Bible study, weekly church attendance, cheerful giving, frequent witnessing, and regular confession and repentance. I know, I know, these things have been promoted so much they have become virtual cliches of Christianity. But they’ve been promoted so much because they work!

In Jeremiah 6:16, the prophet Jeremiah says to the people of Judah:

Thus says the Lord: “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it. Then you will find rest for your souls…” (N.K.J.V.)

By encouraging the people to ask for the old paths, God was telling them, “The things I’ve had you do before will still work and keep you in right fellowship with Me.” To those Jews, that meant keeping the moral specifics of the Mosaic law, bringing their sacrifices to the temple as acts of worship, offering up their prayers to God, confessing their sins and repenting of them, and looking to God for their guidance and protection. Sadly, though, those people would have none of it. Jeremiah 6:16 ends with the mournful words:

“…But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.'” (N.K.J.V.)

Now, I do realize that the “old paths” for the Christian today aren’t the same as the ones the Old Testament Jews were to walk. However, the basic template is still the same: adherence to God’s word, worship, prayer, confession, repentance, and seeking God’s guidance and protection. The spiritual boat of the Christian whose life evidences these things will have no rot about it and will be very much worthy of sailing the seas of life. Even when those seas get stormy and dangerous, the Christian who is walking in God’s old paths won’t sink. How can he when he has the Lord Himself as his captain?

Posted in Adversity, Backsliding, Bible Study, Church Attendance, Commitment, Confession, Discipleship, Doing Good, Faithfulness, Giving, Obedience, Perseverance, Prayer, Priorities, Repentance, Righteousness, Sanctification, Scripture, Service, Sin, Stewardship, The Bible, Trusting In God, Witnessing, Worry, Worship | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Who Are You Riding With?

Posted on May 3, 2012 by russellmckinney

The Lone Ranger and Tonto were in the desert. When 10,000 Indians attacked them from the north, the duo fled south. When 10,000 more Indians attacked them from the south, they fled east. When 10,000 more attacked them from the east, they fled west. When 10,000 more attacked them from the west, they were trapped on all sides. The Lone Ranger looked at Tonto and said, “What are we going to do?” Tonto answered, “What do you mean we, white man?”

Many years ago, there was a hit country song entitled “You Find Out Who Your Friends Are.” It talked about instances such as you running your car into a ditch, needing a couch, or having your well go dry. That’s when you find out who your friends are. It reminds me of something I once read: A true friend is someone who will walk in your door when everybody else is walking out.

Along these same lines, one of the most valuable lessons that I’ve ever learned is this: The more you deal with people who like you for who you are, the happier you’ll be in life. This is a lesson that can be applied to so many circumstances. Allow me to name just three examples from a long, long list.

Example #1: If you are single, don’t waste your time and energy chasing someone you have to jump through hoops to impress. I don’t care how desirable the person is or how much you long for them. The hard cold truth is that no matter what you do, you will probably never impress them anyway. And even if you do, you’ll have to keep up that standard of achievement as long as you are with them. As the old saying goes, “What you win them with is what you have to keep them with.” Remember that the highest ideal for love is unconditional love. Hold out for someone who loves you unconditionally for who you are.

Example #2: If you are looking for a job, try to find one where your boss appreciates what you bring to the table. Of course, I realize that we don’t always have the luxury of being selective about where we work. Still, though, you get the idea. Holding down your job is hard enough without you feeling like you have to prove yourself or earn your stripes every day. It’s maddening to work for someone who always seems to be looking for a reason to fire you or demote you.

Example #3: If you have a child who is involved in some kind of team sports, do your best to keep that child on teams where the child is a good fit. What I mean is, sometimes the team with the best winning percentage or the most successful coach isn’t right for your child. Does the coach share your standards of integrity? Does he or she share your goals for team sports? Can your child get along with the other players on the team? Can you get along with the other parents? Is your child’s talent level on par with the other members of the team? Again, I realize that sometimes you have no vote in the team for which your child plays. All I’m saying is that whenever you do have some sway in this department, use it to get your child on a team where he or she will be truly appreciated and valued. That makes for such a better experience all the way around.

My point in all this is that life is hard enough without you adding unnecessary “hard” to the mix. I don’t know why the Lord led me to write on this topic, but I’m guessing that someone reading this needed it. Are you that someone? Have you been knocking your brains out trying to impress or please someone you stand no chance of ever impressing or pleasing? Then cut your losses and move on. Are you calling some people “friends” who wouldn’t lose one minute’s sleep if you vanished off the face of the earth tomorrow? Then find yourself some new friends, some honest-to-goodness ones. Are you trying to “keep up with the Joneses” even though you can’t stand the Joneses and everything they represent? Then ask yourself why you are doing that and stop it. As I said, the more you deal with people who like you for who you are, the happier you’ll be in life. It’s such a shame that so many of us spend our lives riding with Tontos who aren’t worthy of all the time, energy, effort, money, loyalty, etc. we pour into them.

Posted in Business, Children, Choices, Contentment, Decisions, Fatherhood, Friendship, God's Will, Marriage, Motherhood, Parenting, Personal, Sports, Work | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Humility Through Character-Building Experiences

Posted on May 1, 2012 by russellmckinney

The noted preacher and author Chuck Swindoll tells of a man who won a plaque for being the most humble man on earth. The man took the plaque home and placed it prominently on the mantle in his living room. As soon as he did that, however, the people who had awarded him the plaque came and took it from him.

Would you describe yourself as a humble person? More importantly, would others describe you as a humble person? I think it’s obvious that our society doesn’t value humility nearly enough. We’re too busy envying the aloof rich and worshiping self-absorbed celebrities. That’s why we need to be reminded every now and then that God places immeasurable value on humility.

The Bible is replete with passages that prove this. Here are just a few of them (all from the N.K.J.V.):

Psalm 10:17: Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear.

Psalm 138:6: Though the Lord is on high, yet He regards the lowly; but the proud He knows from afar.

Proverbs 11:2: When pride comes, then comes shame; but with the humble is wisdom.

Proverbs 16:19: Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.

Isaiah 57:15: For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I will dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

Romans 12:3: For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think…

Colossians 3:12: Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering…

James 4:6: But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

Of course, these verses stand alongside the fact that humility was one of the major themes of Christ’s ministry. For your homework, read: Matthew 5:3-5; 11:29; 18:1-4; 20:25-28; Luke 1:52; 18:9-14; 22:24-27; and John 13:12-17. Trust me, you won’t have any trouble picking up on the recurring teaching in those passages. But how could we expect anything less from a Creator God who evidenced His own humility by voluntarily leaving heaven, taking lowly human flesh upon Himself, living among the mess of the fallen human race, and dying a substitutionary death for the sins of that race?

I’ve known Julie (Mckinney) Phillips for years. For a while, she was the person who cleaned my teeth twice a year at our local dentist’s office. During one of those visits she said something that I’ve never forgotten. As we were talking about our lives and the various troubles we had endured, she said, “Yes, I think I’ve had about enough character-building experiences!” I couldn’t help but laugh because I understood exactly what she meant and felt the same way about myself. I don’t see Julie much anymore, but even now there are times when I’m praying about some circumstance and say, “Lord, I really don’t want another character-building experience right now.”

Nevertheless, despite these prayers, God keeps sending such experiences my way. Why? I’ve come to the conclusion that it is to keep me humble. Apparently, He knows that deep down inside me there is a streak that is prone to pride and arrogance and He doesn’t want that streak to get too wide. So, lest I get “too big for my britches,” I never go too long without having to endure some humbling ordeal or “character-building experience.” Understanding how God uses such experiences helps me cope with them. It doesn’t make them easier, mind you, but it does allow me to view them through His perspective and see the good He can bring out of them. And that good is very real, even if I don’t always enjoy or appreciate what it took for me to acquire it.

Posted in Adversity, Complaining, Disappointment, Faithfulness, God's Omniscience, Humility, Persecution, Perseverance, Personal, Personal Holiness, Pride, Problems, Sickness, Suffering, Trials, Trusting In God | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Preaching in a Prison

Posted on April 26, 2012 by russellmckinney

On a few occasions in my ministry, I’ve had the privilege of preaching the chapel service at Mountain View Correctional Institution, a prison in our area. I use the word “privilege” because that’s exactly what it always was. What follows now is my description of the most memorable service I was ever involved with at Mountain View.

Somewhere between 40 and 45 inmates crowded into the small room where the service was held. Attendance at chapel was voluntary. Before the service I asked Don Stafford, who was the chaplain at the time, how many of the attendees would be Christians. He answered, “Probably all of them.” That was good to hear because the sermon the Lord had given me for that hour was definitely geared toward Christians, not lost people. I don’t mind admitting that I had questioned the Lord about that.

When Don and I walked into the room the “band” was already warming up. There was a white inmate on electric guitar, a black inmate on keyboard, a black inmate on drums, and a few others that I can’t recall right now. Don said of the drummer, “Now, he is a real drummer. He gets so loud in here sometimes I have to calm him down.” The fact was, all of the musicians were great. I’ve never had a praise-and-worship band in the churches I’ve pastored, but I sure had one that day.

Before the service began a couple of the inmates brought bags and handed them to Don. The bags were filled with food items the men had purchased at the prison’s store using the meager money they had earned by working their prison jobs. Bringing those items to Don was a way of paying a “tithe.” Don’s job was to disperse the items to other inmates who needed them worse. I assure you that I’ve never seen more humble and heartfelt offerings. Don didn’t even ask for them or have a time of taking up an offering in the service. Again, it was all completely voluntary.

The inmate who first took the podium to lead in worship was a white guy who had once served on the staff of a large church. You could tell he was very comfortable being in front of a crowd. He led us in a rousing version of “He Set Me Free.” He said, “Even though we’re in prison, we’ve been set free.” After several hearty “Amens” to that statement, we were halfway through the first verse before I caught up to the fast-paced tempo of the song!

By the way, that song leader wasn’t the only inmate who had once served in the ministry. Don told me there were actually five such inmates in that service. I said to him, “That’s pretty scary. What does that say about me and you?” He just laughed. Seriously, though, it drove home the point that being in the ministry doesn’t make you immune from sin or scandal. One of those five ministers, a white guy who led in a beautiful version of a contemporary Christian song, had killed his wife. When you hear that, you’re reminded that you are preaching in a genuine prison.

All of the singing and playing was fantastic, but perhaps the highlight was when an elderly, short, black, former street preacher led in a song called “He’s An On-Time God.” It was all that drummer could do to restrain himself from cutting loose on that one. The street preacher did some preaching before and after the song. In between the preacher’s lines, the black guy on keyboard would accentuate the previous line by striking a few notes. Please don’t think I’m even hinting at racism when I say, “Black folks know how to have church!” I looked at Don and asked, “Is that keyboardist going to do that while I’m preaching?” He laughed and said, “No.” I was relieved to hear it because I didn’t have the preaching style to keep up that pace!

The sermon the Lord had laid on my heart was on the subject of forgiving others. I began by saying, “I realize that all of you have wronged others and sinned against them, but that’s another sermon for another time. What I want to talk about is you forgiving those who have wronged you and sinned against you.” My opening text was Matthew 6:12, where Jesus says, “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” I spent most of my time, however, in Matthew 18:21-35, where Jesus tells that incredible parable about the unforgiving servant. Toward the end of the sermon, I mentioned that Christ’s first words from the cross, right on the heels of Him having been betrayed, arrested, tried, mocked, beaten, whipped, and nailed to that cross, were, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34).

The main point of the sermon was this: One of the truest marks of an authentic salvation experience is your ability and willingness to forgive those who have wronged you. The fact is, you can pray, read your Bible, go to church, put money in an offering plate, pay your bills, live an honest life, etc., but if you patently refuse to forgive others, your supposed Christianity can rightfully be called into question.

As another part of the sermon, I said to those men, “I want each of you to do something for me right now. Say to yourself, ‘If I would be honest, I have never completely forgiven _______.'” Then I told them, “If some name popped into your mind, there is some business that you need to do with the Lord today.” When I was finished preaching, I called Don to the podium to close out the service. As he followed up with just a few words about my sermon, he said one thing that I thought was especially helpful to those inmates. He told them, “It could be that you need to forgive a prison guard who has wronged you.” That was another one of those moments when you realize that you are preaching in a real live prison.

And so, I’ll close out this post now by having you, the reader, do the same thing I asked those prisoners to do. Say to yourself, “If I would be honest, I have never completely forgiven _______.” Believe it or not, Christian, if a name pops into your mind, you are living in a type of prison yourself. But the difference between you and those men I preached to that day is: You hold the key to your cell door in your hands.

Posted in Attitude, Church, Extending Forgiveness, Forgiveness, Giving, God's Work, Ministry, Music, Personal, Preaching, Salvation, Stewardship, Tithing, Worship | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Hands of Jesus

Posted on April 23, 2012 by russellmckinney

“You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him.” (John 13:13-16, N.K.J.V.)

The story is told of a certain European town in which there was a beautiful statue of Jesus. The hands of the statue reached out, and the inscription read, “Come unto me.” The statue was a beautiful reminder of the fact that Christ’s arms are always outstretched to minister to those in need.

Then came World War II, during which the town was bombed and the statue left destroyed in the aftermath. Following the war, the townspeople hired the statue’s sculptor to replace it with one just like it. The man worked hard and the work went well, but when he came to the statue’s defining feature, its outstretched hands, he decided to do something different. Covertly, however, he kept his decision a secret until the day of the unveiling.

When that day came the townspeople, with great excitement, gathered around the covered statue. Their excitement was quickly replaced with shock, though, when the sculptor unveiled the new statue. What the people saw was a Jesus who had arms but no hands. Then, as the people stood there in stunned disbelief, the sculptor unveiled the inscription on the statue’s base. It read: “Who will be My hands today?”

Actually, that’s a question that Jesus could ask every day, isn’t it? So, Christian, will you be His hands today? The reality is that somebody out there needs for you to be “Jesus” to them, and you might just be the only “Jesus” that person encounters today.

Posted in Doing Good, God's Work, Ministry, Missions, Service, Spiritual Gifts, Talents, Witnessing | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

God Knows Best

Posted on April 19, 2012 by russellmckinney

A farm boy went off to college to get some big-city learning. By the time he returned home at the end of his first semester, he had some new ways of looking at things. No longer was he content to emulate his daddy’s simplistic trust in God. Much to the contrary, the son’s college courses had caused him to begin leaning toward atheist.

Even though the son’s confidence in his father’s beliefs was crumbling, he still loved his dad very much. So, one day he made his way out to the fields where his father was working and said, “Dad, let’s take a walk and do some talking.” The boy had in mind to ease the father into a conversation about the existence of God and in so doing broach the subject of his new-found interest in atheism.

As the two walked along through the fields, they came to a pumpkin patch that featured a large oak tree. There, the young man saw his opening. He said, “Dad, if I was God, I wouldn’t have put the pumpkins at the end of weak vines and the acorns on strong branches. I would have put the pumpkins on the oak branches and the acorns at the end of the pumpkin vines. Wouldn’t that make more sense?” Then the son smiled, sensing that his father would have to see the common sense of the observation. Before the father could answer, though, an acorn fell and hit the son in the top of the head. At that point, his father said, “Well, son, I guess you’re glad that wasn’t a pumpkin that just fell on you.”

What’s the lesson of this story? BELIEVE IN GOD AND TRUST IN HIS WISDOM. Even when His ways seem illogical, He always knows best and has a wise plan.

Posted in Atheism, Creation, Faith, God's Omniscience, God's Will, Humor, Trusting In God | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

How to Defeat Your Amalekites

Posted on April 17, 2012 by russellmckinney

In Exodus 17:8-16, we find the wonderful story of Israel’s defeat of the Amalekites, a nomadic tribe who were descendants of Esau. The trouble began when the Amalekites launched a sneak attack against the Israelites. 1 Samuel 15:2 calls it an ambush, and Deuteronomy 25:17-19 elaborates by saying the Amalekites attacked the stragglers at the rear of Israel’s ranks. Apparently, it was a get-in-and-get-out attack in which the Amalekites killed some of the stragglers at the end of Israel’s long processional line and then quickly retreated to safety.

That night, Moses, in order to create a defense against further attacks by the Amalekites, instructed Joshua to put together an army literally overnight. It’s the first time that Joshua is mentioned in the Bible. Exodus 17:8-9 says:

Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said to Joshua, “Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek…” (N.K.J.V.)

This battle was Israel’s first military endeavor following their exodus from Egypt. (No, I’m not giving them credit for defeating Pharaoh and the Egyptian army at the Red Sea because God handled that one Himself). Therefore, logically speaking, the Israelites shouldn’t have been able to defeat the Amalekites. The people of Israel had spent the last four centuries as slaves in Egypt, which meant that no living Israelite had ever had one second’s worth of military training. Even going all the way back to the beginning of Israel’s history, its patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) certainly hadn’t been great men of war who had built, trained, and maintained armies. Genesis 14:1-24 does record the story of how Abraham had once led a group of his servants in the defeat of an alliance army from the East, but that was just a singular story from Israel’s lengthy history.

Since Exodus 17:13 says that Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword, obviously the Israelites did have some swords. Where did they get them? Our best answer is, they were part of the plunder the Israelites took from the Egyptians on their way out of Egypt (Exodus 3:21-22; 11:2-3; 12:35-36). Nevertheless, even if the Israelites did have swords, it’s not like they were experts in using them. Again, we’re talking about people who had been menial servants all their lives.

And so how do we account for Israel defeating the Amalekites in this battle? Well, the passage itself couldn’t be clearer. Even more than what Joshua and his fellow soldiers were doing down on the battlefield, the key to the victory was what Moses was doing up on the hill. He was standing up there with “the rod of God” in his hand. As long as Moses kept that rod held up, Israel prevailed in the battle. But whenever his hand became heavy and he was forced to lower the rod for a while, Amalek prevailed. As we read in Exodus 17:10-11:

…And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. (N.K.J.V.)

Finally, things got to a point where Moses was so physically exhausted that measures had to be taken to help him. Aaron and Hur placed a large stone under him, which allowed him to sit down. Then, as he sat there on that rock, they literally held his hand up for him. They did this until the sun set that evening and the battle was over.

For good reason, this story serves to symbolize the power of intercessory prayer. Just as Moses was on the hill interceding with God for Joshua and his soldiers, Aaron and Hur were up there interceding for Moses. Both parts of the equation are beautiful. The story also teaches us the importance of going into battle with God as opposed to going into battle without him. As David wrote in Psalm 20:7:

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the Lord our God. (N.K.J.V.)

Still, the thing I really want to point out about the story is the physical toll that Moses’ ministering took upon him. Putting it bluntly, the man got tired, even to the point of exhaustion. Sure, he was eighty years old at the time, but that doesn’t fully explain why he got tired. After all, he would live another forty years before dying. No, there was another element at work here, one that Charles Spurgeon described in this way:

The more spiritual an exercise, the more difficult it is for flesh and blood to maintain it.

Tell me, Christian, have you ever sat down to have a really good time of prayer only to have your mind start wandering just a few minutes into the prayer? Or, have you ever felt a wave of fatigue come over you shortly after you began a work for the Lord? I know that I have certainly had what I’ll call my “Moses moments.”

All this reminds me of the night of Christ’s arrest. As He entered into the garden of Gethsemane for a time of intense prayer, He left eight of the remaining eleven disciples (after Judas’ betrayal) at the garden’s entrance. Then He took Peter, James, and John further on into the garden with Him. Just before He left them at a certain point and went even further into the garden to pray, He gave them the instructions, “Stay here and watch.” But what did He find when He returned to them after a while? All three had fallen asleep. That’s when He said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:40-41, emphasis mine).

You see, Jesus knew that the intentions of Peter, James, and John were good, but He also knew how weak and frail the human body can be. And so my advice to you, Christian, is to enlist the aid of your fellow Christians to help you in your spiritual endeavors and battles. Every Joshua needs a Moses and every Moses needs an Aaron and Hur. You say you aren’t seeing the Amalekites defeated in your life? Well, maybe it’s time for a new battle plan. Perhaps the key to your victory lies not in yourself but in the aid and intercession that others can give you.

Posted in Adversity, Depression, Disappointment, Encouragement, Friendship, God's Work, Intercessory Prayer, Loneliness, Ministry, Needs, Perseverance, Problems, Service, Spiritual Warfare, Trials, War | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Where Did Christ’s Soul Go After His Death? (part 5)

Posted on April 14, 2012 by russellmckinney

There are many instances where the time-honored King James translation uses the word “hell.” There is only one instance, however, where “hell” involves the Greek word tartaroo. That one instance is 2 Peter 2:4, which reads in the K.J.V.:

God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment.

In this verse, “cast…down to hell” translates the Greek verb tartaroo. It is from the noun version of tartaroo that we get the word Tartarus. Okay, so why am I mentioning all this? I’m doing it because the Bible teaches that Jesus visited Tartarus sometime after His death. In previous posts, I’ve said a lot about how His soul went to the Paradise side of Hades after His death. Now let me say some things about Him also visiting Tartarus.

For starters, you need to understand that Tartarus goes by two other names in the Bible. First, it is called “the bottomless pit.” This term occurs seven times in the K.J.V.: Revelation 9:1; 9:2; 9:11; 11:7; 17:8; 20:1; and 20:3. In these verses, the original Greek uses the word abussos, from which we get our English word “abyss.” Second, in two places (Luke 8:31 and Romans 10:7) the K.J.V. translates abussos as “the deep.” And so we see that Tartarus, the bottomless pit, and the deep all refer to the same place.

Now, here’s the all-important thing about Tartarus: It is a place exclusively for the imprisonment of fallen angels. At no time does Tartarus ever hold the souls of any human beings. By the way, the K.J.V. refers to fallen angels as “demons,” “devils,” “unclean spirits,” or “spirits.” And mark it down, fallen angels know of Tartarus and fear the place (Luke 8:31).

But here’s a good question to ask: What angels have been cast down to Tartarus? Satan and the other now unholy angels continue to have access to this earth, don’t they? I mean, the pages of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts are filled with instances of demon possession. Furthermore, Ephesians 6:12 says that we humans are always wrestling against fallen angels. And then there are those passages that tell us Satan is walking to and fro upon the earth (Job 1:7; 2:2; 1 Peter 5:8). So, what’s this business about angels being cast down to Tartarus?

The answer is: The imprisoned angels are the “sons of God” who are mentioned in Genesis 6:1-4. That passage gives us the story of a certain group of fallen angels called “the sons of God.” In the Old Testament, this term refers to angels (Job 1:6; Job 2:1). These particular fallen angels married human wives, had sexual relations with those wives, and produced children by those wives. It has been wrongly taught that these children became giants, but actually the passage says they became “the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.” (Think about it, there were giants such as Goliath on the earth long after the great flood.) It has also been wrongly taught that other interpretations, ones not involving fallen angels, might also fit the passage. However, if the Genesis 6:1-4 passage doesn’t involve fallen angels there is nowhere in the Bible that explains how some fallen angels ended up in Tartarus while others still get to roam the earth freely.

On the subject of those fallen angels producing children through those earthly women, the Bible doesn’t specify how a sexual union between a fallen angel and a human woman could take place. Neither does it elaborate on how such a sexual union could produce a child. Perhaps the best way to understand the passage is to think of these fallen angels as demon-possessing the bodies of human men. This would give them the male “seed” to impregnate a woman.

Jude verse 6 is a verse that also speaks of these “sons of God.” In the K.J.V., Jude 6 says they “kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation.” The New American Standard translation gives a more literal rendering of the verse’s original Greek. It says they “did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode.” For this sin, God judged those angels once more by casting them down to Tartarus and delivering them into chains under darkness. In other words, we might say that this group of angels “fell” twice.

Okay, now it’s time to bring Jesus into all this. The passage is Romans 10:6-7. These verses read:

But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?'” (that is, to bring Christ down from above) or, “‘Who will descend into the abyss?'” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).

The word translated here in the New King James translation as “the abyss” is abussos. And so what we have here is a passage that associates Jesus with Tartarus. This really helps us as we try to understand another passage, 1 Peter 3:18-20, which says:

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. (N.K.J.V.)

Now, the correct interpretation of these verses depends upon the correct answering of two questions. First, “Where did Jesus do this preaching?” Second, “Who were these spirits in prison to whom He preached?”

One possible interpretation is that the place was Hades and the spirits in prison were the souls in Hades. As we’ve learned in this series, Christ’s soul did go to Hades at the moment of His physical death (Acts 2:27). Is Hades then the prison he went to and were the spirits He preached to the souls in Hades?

The answer is, no, on both accounts. First, the interpretation doesn’t explain the Romans 10:6-7 passage, which associates Jesus with Tartarus. Second, even though the souls in the torment section of Hades could accurately be described as being in “prison” the same can’t be said of the souls in the bliss section. Third, it is very awkward to describe human souls as “spirits.”

A second possible interpretation is that the prison was Gehenna and the spirits were fallen angels in Gehenna. This interpretation is easily dismissed. First, the Bible at no time puts Jesus in Gehenna. Second, at the time of Christ’s death Gehenna had no occupants to listen to preaching. Even now, Gehenna has no occupants.

A third possible interpretation is that these “spirits” in prison were actually the souls in the torment section of Hades, and Jesus had done His preaching to these people while they were alive on earth in the days of Noah. Under this interpretation, Jesus would have preached to them through Noah as Noah spoke in the power of the Holy Spirit.

But this interpretation also has problems. First, it doesn’t account for Romans 10:7 using the specific Greek word abussos (Tartarus, the deep, the bottomless pit) in reference to Jesus. Second, the whole line of interpretation just doesn’t fit the way the passage reads. Again, it’s very awkward to refer to people as “spirits.” The idea of Jesus doing His preaching through Noah also seems pretty strained.

A fourth interpretation seems to be the one that best covers all aspects of the situation. For this one, the prison Jesus went to was Tartarus. This accounts perfectly for Romans 10:6-7. The “spirits” He preached to were the “sons of God” imprisoned in Tartarus. This fits perfectly with the fact that the most common New Testament use of the word “spirits” involves angels (Matthew 8:16; 12:45; Luke 10:20; 11:26).

Therefore, putting the entire line of thought together, at Christ’s death His spirit went to God the Father (Luke 23:46; Ecclesiastes 3:21; 12:7; James 2:26), His body went to the grave, and His soul went to Hades (Acts 2:27). Then, at some point after that, Jesus, in soul, went to Tartarus. He went there for the purpose of preaching to “the sons of God” imprisoned there.

Of course, someone might ask, “But what purpose could Jesus have had for wanting to preach to a group of twice-fallen angels?” Well, this preaching was not the preaching of the gospel. It was, instead, Christ’s proclamation of victory over those fallen angels. It was preaching along the lines of what is described in Colossians 2:15, which says:

Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. (N.K.J.V.)

Alright, now let me finish up this post and this series by sharing with you a few more facts about this place called Tartarus (the bottomless pit, the deep, the abyss):

Fact #1: The “sons of God” will one day be temporarily freed from Tartarus. Revelation 9:1-12 describes certain days that will occur in the coming tribulation period. The passage says that during these days Tartarus (the bottomless pit) will be opened. This will free the fallen angels (called “locusts” in the passage) that are imprisoned in there. These angels will then go out and torment the people of the earth for five months.

Fact #2: I mentioned in my previous post that Satan will be chained up in Tartarus for the 1,000 years of Christ’s millennial reign upon this earth (Revelation 20:1-6). Now let me add to that by saying that Satan will have the company of all the other fallen angels in Tartarus for those 1,000 years. In Matthew 8:28-29 and Luke 8:26-31, a group of demons wonder if Jesus has come to torment them before “the time” (the coming time of their incarceration in Tartarus), and they beg Him not to cast them into Tartarus right then and there. The Old Testament also teaches that all the fallen angels will spend the years of Christ’s millennial reign imprisoned with Satan. The passage is Isaiah 24:21-22.

Fact #3: The Bible does finish out the thought concerning what will happen to all the fallen angels, including the “sons of God,” after their imprisonment with Satan in Tartarus during the 1,000 years of Christ’s reign. At the end of that reign, Satan and all the other fallen angels will be released from Tartarus, engage in one final revolt against God (Revelation 20:7-10), and then all be cast into Gehenna (the lake of fire). There they will spend all eternity (Matthew 25:41).

Fact #4: Just as Hades has gates and keys to the gates (Matthew 16:18; Revelation 1:18 where “hell” translates Hades), Tartarus has a key to it. The proof text is Revelation 9:1. Some Greek scholars say that Revelation 9:1 conveys the idea of a shaft which leads down to Tartarus. This shaft isn’t Tartarus, but it does serve as the only way in and out of Tartarus.

Fact #5: Like Hades, Tartarus is located somewhere in the heart of planet earth. Revelation 9:1-3 makes this clear. It is believed that Tartarus is even lower down in the heart of the earth than Hades. Of course, it should be noted that the eternal prison for Satan and the other fallen angels, as well as all of history’s lost humans, will be Gehenna, and the Bible does not indicate that Gehenna is located in the heart of the earth.

Posted in Angels, Christ's Death, Demons, Prophecy, Satan, Series: "Where Did Christ's Soul Go After His Death?", Spiritual Warfare, The Devil | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Where Did Christ’s Soul Go After His Death? (part 4)

Posted on April 13, 2012 by russellmckinney

Over the past few posts, we’ve established that Christ’s soul went to a place called Hades when He died. The proof text is Acts 2:27, a Messianic passage that says of Christ:

For You will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. (N.K.J.V.)

But what we’ve learned is that Hades is a fascinating place, one that actually has two sections. One section is a bliss section designed to hold the souls of the saved, and the other one is a torment section designed to hold the souls of the lost.

However, we’ve also learned that after Christ’s resurrection and ascension He emptied all the souls out of the bliss section and transported them up to heaven. The text on this is Ephesians 4:8-10. Therefore, when a saved person dies nowadays, his or her soul goes straight up to heaven. As 2 Corinthians 5:8 says of Christians:

We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. (N.K.J.V.)

Posted in Angels, Christ's Second Coming, Christ's Resurrection, Death, Demons, Heaven, Hell, Prophecy, Satan, Series: "Where Did Christ's Soul Go After His Death?", The Devil | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Where Did Christ’s Soul Go After His Death? (part 3)

Posted on April 12, 2012 by russellmckinney

For centuries, the dominant translation of the Bible was the King James Version. And to answer the question, “Where did Christ’s soul go after His death?” Acts 2:27 of the K.J.V. reads:

Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

Not surprisingly, people seized upon this verse to create a whole line of erroneous doctrinal thinking. It goes like this: “Christ’s soul went to hell when he died because He had to suffer our punishment in hell as a part of Him paying the penalty for our sins.” Have you heard that preached before?

But think about it, if Jesus really did have to endure the required amount of torment and suffering in hell to pay our sin debt, wouldn’t it have been eternal suffering? I mean, isn’t that the rule? When a sinner dies without Christ, his or her soul has to suffer a lot longer than three days worth of punishment in hell, right? Also, the whole idea of Christ’s soul suffering the torment of hell flatly goes against what He told the thief on the cross: “…today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43).

As I noted in my last post, whenever you read the word “hell” in the old King James translation you’ve got to dig a little deeper and find out which Greek word is being used in the original language. Concerning the Old Testament, in 100% of the instances where the K.J.V. reads “hell” the Hebrew word is Sheol. Interestingly, however, the Old Testament teaches that the souls of both the saved and the lost went to Sheol. For example, Psalm 9:17 puts the lost souls of the wicked there, but 2 Samuel 22:6 puts the soul of David right on the brink of being there.

This certainly hints at the fact that Sheol has two sections to it. It has a bliss section for the souls of the saved, and it has a torment section for the souls of the lost. Really, the Hebrew word Sheol is simply an umbrella word that refers to the general afterlife realm of the dead. That afterlife could be spent in the bliss section or the torment section, depending upon one’s salvation or lack of it. As a matter of fact, just as the K.J.V. Old Testament translates Sheol as “hell” in thirty-one instances, it translates it as “the grave” in another thirty-one instances.

As for the New Testament, the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew Sheol is Hades. And Luke 16:19-31, where the K.J.V. translates Hades as “hell,” leaves no doubt as to the place having two very different sections. The saved soul of the beggar Lazarus goes to the bliss section, while the lost soul of the rich man goes to the torment section.

And so, Christ’s soul went to the bliss section of Hades when He died, the same place where the souls of the Old Testament believers went. You see, even though Lazarus the beggar, the thief on the cross, and Jesus lived in the days of the New Testament, they still lived and died in what we might call the Old Testament dispensation. What I mean is, the really big changes concerning afterlife abodes wouldn’t take place until Christ’s resurrection and ascension.

Here now is where we bring things into our current era. So, please take special note of what you’re about to read: When Jesus ascended back to heaven forty days after His resurrection, He emptied the bliss section of Hades and took those saved souls formally into heaven with Him. The passage on this is Ephesians 4:8-10, which reads in the New King James translation:

Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.” (Now this, “He ascended – what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)

What Paul is doing in this passage is playing off the scene of a Roman general leading a procession through the streets of Rome after a victorious military campaign. The general would be at the front of the parade in such a procession. Behind him would be the “trophies” he had “won” through his military victories. Some of those “trophies” would be people who had been captured as prisoners of war by the general’s army.

By using this earthly illustration, Paul describes how Jesus “won” the souls out of the bliss section of Hades. First, Jesus descended into the lower parts of the earth. (Remember that in the previous post I explained that Hades is located somewhere deep in the heart of the earth.) Second, He ascended to heaven with those souls. Third, He marched victoriously into heaven with those souls behind Him. The N.I.V. translation does the best job of conveying Paul’s imagery. It renders Ephesians 4:8 as, “…he led captives in his train…”

You ask, “But why did all those saved souls have to wait until Christ’s resurrection before they could formally enter heaven?” It was because Jesus had to officially shed His blood in time and history before their sins could be eternally cleansed. Keep in mind that Hebrews 10:4 says that it wasn’t possible for the blood of the Old Testament sacrifices to take away sin. The best such blood could do was cover sin and stay the wrath of God. It is only Christ’s literal blood that can eternally cleanse sin. As I once heard a Bible teacher say, “Really, the Old Testament believers were saved on credit by looking ahead to Christ’s death on the cross just as we look back to it.”

Okay, then, what does all this mean for the Christian today? It means the Christian’s soul goes straight up to heaven at the moment of bodily death. There is now no longer a need for the bliss section of Hades. Surely that section still exists, but it’s empty.

The same Paul who wrote about how the resurrected, ascended Jesus entered into heaven with those saved souls from Hades also taught in 2 Corinthians 5:1-8 that deceased Christians are now absent from the body and present with the Lord. Paul also said in Philippians 1:23 that he desired to depart this earth and be with Christ, which is far better. In saying that, he knew full well that Jesus is now seated at the right hand of God the Father in heaven. For that matter, just before Steven died his martyr’s death he saw Jesus in heaven standing to immediately receive his soul (Acts 7:54-60).

And right there is where I’ll stop for now. With my next post, I’ll finish up the teaching on Hades by explaining what is going to eventually happen to the lost souls that are currently abiding in its torment section. You see, when all the dust has settled and everything is said and done before the dawn of eternity, there won’t be one soul left in either section of Hades. With this post I’ve explained how the bliss side got emptied, and I hope you’ll stay tuned for the explanation of how the torment side will eventually get emptied as well.

Posted in Christ's Death, Christ's Resurrection, Heaven, Hell, Series: "Where Did Christ's Soul Go After His Death?" | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments