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[0:00] You're listening to the sermon podcast of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, Tennessee. To learn more about us, visit our website at gracereformed.org.

[0:11] And now, today's sermon. Peter is writing to those who have been aware of the Jewish and Hebrew culture.

[0:24] And so we'll use phrases and words that he assumes we would know, but at times we don't, depending on how well taught we are in the Old Testament. And so we're going to spend some more time unpacking some of the phrases that Peter uses in 1 Peter 3 through 18, specifically about him descending into the prison of the spirits and ascending out of there into heaven.

[0:48] Why is that so significant that he went down into a prison of spirits and then ascended into heaven? So this morning, we will embark on a journey not into a realm of fantasy with dungeons and dragons, which I'm sure some of you would enjoy, but into the heart of the biblical truth to which Peter has.

[1:10] We have, at times, difficulty identifying the meanings of Peter's words and often of the New Testament story because we're not familiar with some of the doctrines of the Old Testament.

[1:28] And that's mostly because we weren't trained as children in how to understand our Bibles, which we are working and will continue to work with our children and teaching them the truth. So, we're really familiar with the biblical realms, two of them.

[1:43] In other words, we understand heaven as best we can. This is where God and the spirits live. And then the earth, those two we're pretty familiar with.

[1:54] But this concept of under the earth, or as it's often referred to as the underworld, there's much mystery here for us.

[2:05] So, when we read about Peter telling us that Jesus went there, that is strange. So, for weeks ago, I introduced to you the story of Genesis 6, which is also strange.

[2:15] And talking about angels and giants and the Noah and the flood. And trying to really grab all that Peter has for us. He's trying to encourage and comfort a church that's suffering.

[2:28] And I think that today, as we continue to walk through this concept of the underworld, that we will be encouraged. Because this is Peter's goal.

[2:39] And as we see Jesus descending into the underworld and proclaiming victory over these spirits, we will see how many prophecies that he fulfills. And how it's to comfort us and encourage us as we face death and as we face suffering.

[2:56] So, today, we're going to use our Bibles to travel into the part of the world that is very mysterious for us. But hopefully, at the end of it, it won't be. And it is fascinating. But we're going to gather some information.

[3:10] And as we do so, as you continue to read and study and hear your words from God, you'll understand the categories to which Peter is speaking to. So, this is going to be weird for me.

[3:21] It's going to be kind of like a lecture sermon. So, just bear with me on that. I might go in and out of preaching and teaching. So, at times, the text forces us to do this.

[3:33] We're going to cover a lot of verses this morning. Some of you may just want to sit and bring it all in and indulge with what you're hearing. And some of you want to take notes. I promise you I will post this outline and all the verses with more verses later this week.

[3:48] So, if you get, like, panicked because your pen is running out of ink, don't worry. I'll have you covered. But I do want to give you a little bit of a road map of where we're going to this underworld, how we're going to get there, and what we're going to find there.

[4:01] So, here's the five areas that we're going to be covering in the underworld. First of all, we're going to be talking about the ancient Hebrews' belief. How did they understand this concept of the underworld? Who ends up going there?

[4:12] That's the second part we're going to cover. Number three, there's actually an upper and lower level to the underworld. That's number three. Number four, we'll talk about why Jesus spent three days there in the underworld.

[4:24] And number five, how Peter uses this to encourage the church. And we'll go through those. So, we're going to start with our first stop, which is the ancient Hebrews' understanding, or the ancient readers' belief about the underworld.

[4:40] Some of you may have heard this before. As you read your Old Testament, it will use words interchangeably, but the most common word used in Hebrew in the Old Testament is the word sheol.

[4:52] In Greek, it's the word hades. So, depending on your translation, you might even just see the word hell there, which is confusing at times because we kind of encapsulate hell as like the place of the lake of fire and torment.

[5:04] And so, that translation can be confusing. Sheol is the place of the dead. We're going to talk about this. It's the place of the underworld. I'll give an example of this. This is Job 11, verse 7.

[5:16] Job 11, verse 7, it says this. Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty? It is higher than the heaven.

[5:28] What can you do? Deeper than Sheol. What can you know? So, he's creating a contrast between the highest and the lowest that you can go, right?

[5:39] Psalm 139, 7 and 8. Psalm 139, 7 and 8 says this. Where shall I go from your spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?

[5:49] If I ascend to heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. So, there's this constant comparison of high and low.

[6:01] And we understand that Sheol is beneath us. And so, the Old Testament way of describing this underworld is primarily Sheol, but it'll use other synonyms. It'll use other words.

[6:12] We're not going to take time to look at all the verses, but I want you to take note of these words. Because mostly when you read the Psalms and some of the prophets like Isaiah, they use these words. And I want you to know what they are.

[6:23] Because as you go back and read, some of you may have been reading your Psalm this week and be like, what is this? What is this location? What does it mean? So, these are the words that are often used in replace of Sheol.

[6:34] Or the underworld. You'll see the pit. David talks about going down into the pit. The abyss. Or the lower parts of the earth. Is how all three of those are described.

[6:46] So, as you read your scriptures and you see one of those, you'll know that they are talking about this realm under the earth. This underworld. But when you think about beneath the earth, normally we think hell.

[7:00] That's all. Anything that goes down is bad. Anything that goes up is great. Right? Even the world kind of gets this. My kids were in a play yesterday and they were talking about someone that passed away and she was looking up.

[7:11] And then she looks down and goes, I'm not sure where he went. And we all kind of got the joke of like, he went up or down, but we didn't know it's where he went. But that's not actually how the Hebrews thought before Christ came. There wasn't the concept of going up or going down.

[7:24] And so, we're going to look at this. Who goes then? So, the first one is the way in which the Hebrews thought of it. It's one location. It's called Sheol. And actually, they didn't think that just sinners or the wicked went there.

[7:41] So, let's look at who actually goes there. Well, we do know that the wicked go there. Psalm 917 says, The wicked shall return to Sheol, all the nations that forgot God. That's not hard for us to believe.

[7:53] But in the Old Testament, it also says the righteous go to Sheol. I know this is hard to understand, but let me give you a couple of verses that give this idea, and then we'll really unpack it.

[8:06] This is Ecclesiastes 9.10. This is Ecclesiastes 9.10. It says this, Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol to which you are going.

[8:20] So, he's talking to the righteous, those who are following Yahweh, and as they do so, he's talking about do your work now, because when you go to Sheol, there is nothing there for you to do.

[8:32] This is Jacob on hearing of his son's death. Not really. His son hadn't died, but he thought he had died. He'd been lied to. And so, his grieving, and this is what he says in Genesis 37, verse 35, All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, and he refused to be comforted and said, No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son mourning.

[8:54] This his father wept for him. So, he understood he was going to the same place as Joseph, but until he got there, he was going to mourn his death, and he would not be comforted. So, this is, there are many, many more passages, but these are just two examples where the writers are giving us an indication that not only the wicked go there, but the righteous go there.

[9:13] So, how is it that both wicked and righteous can go to the same place? Well, that's because in the Old and New Testament, it describes it in caverns, or expanses, or levels, upper level and a lower level.

[9:29] So, this is the third part of our road map into the underworld. This is part number three, the upper and lower levels. So, we've seen the ancient Hebrews way of belief, who goes there, and now we're going to, look at that.

[9:40] For those of you taking notes, you're thinking, we're halfway through the outline. This is awesome. It's because the hard part's coming. All right. The upper and lower levels.

[9:53] Deuteronomy, you can write this down. Deuteronomy 32, 22. 32, 22. He describes it this way. For a fire is kindled by my anger, and it burns to the depths of Sheol.

[10:07] So, early on in the law, there's a description of, there's not only shuel or sheol, you have layers that is to it. In Hebrew, there's two other words that are often used.

[10:20] You'll see these in Job and in Psalm. One of these is abaddon, and the other one is called the pit. This is just, when these verses are used, they will be used describing the lower regions.

[10:32] I'll give you some verses here in a minute. In Greek, you will hear the abyss. This is often used in Revelation. And Tartarus. This is in 2 Peter. We'll look at this in a minute. But this is, if you turn to, or you want to write it down, Job 31, 12.

[10:48] Job is speaking about this place called Abaddon. And he is defending himself. They're accusing him of committing adultery.

[10:59] This is why God has allowed this calamity in his life. It's like, you've cheated on your wife. So Job responds with a pretty strong statement. He says this, Job 31, 12.

[11:10] For that would be a fire that consumes as far as Abaddon. So as far down as you can go, that's where the fire is that consumes you. He's saying, if I had committed this sin, that is what I would deserve.

[11:23] But I did not commit that sin. Isaiah the prophet, this is talking about the pit. Isaiah the prophet is dealing with the king of Babylon and he makes the statement that I'm going to be higher than God.

[11:35] My power and my reign will reach farther than God. Like the most high. And Isaiah tells him in Isaiah 14, 15, but you are brought down to Sheol to the far reaches of the pit.

[11:48] It's like, your place when you die is in the deepest parts of the under earth. So this is our understanding in the Old Testament.

[11:59] We also have in the New Testament, this is the abyss. Do you remember the story of the maniac of Kedera where the man had a legions of demons inside of him and then Jesus cast them into the pigs?

[12:10] This is what it says. This is Luke 8, 30. Pay attention to what they're afraid of. And Jesus then asked them, what is your name? Speaking to the demon.

[12:20] And he said, legion for many demons had entered into him. And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. Right?

[12:31] So you're seeing not only is it the evil, but this lower part, the abyss, the bottom part of the world is for those who are evil. Sorry, the underworld, all those who are evil.

[12:43] Last one is Tartarus. This is only mentioned once in Scripture. This is 2 Peter 2, verse 4. Aren't you excited we get to revisit this in just a couple months? Wow, that did not go over like I thought it would.

[13:02] Oh, we're going to learn so much more. Peter has more to say in the second book. For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell, that's the translation from Tartarus, and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until judgment.

[13:17] So same idea, same concept as the abyss where the demons are afraid of being sent. So that is really what's called the lower level. The Old Testament and New Testament both have this concept that there is, within the underworld, there's these caverns and there's a lower one.

[13:33] That's where the punishment of the evil go. And then we have this idea of the upper level. I'm going to say some words and eventually you'll be like, oh yeah, I've heard of this before. Have you ever heard of the word paradise or Abraham's bosom, right?

[13:45] Who introduces this to us? Jesus does. He's the one who really tells us about this. Both of these ideas. If you want to turn there, Matthew chapter 12 and verse 14.

[13:56] Eventually I'm going to have you turn to some passages because we're going to look at a lot of verses but we're like, we're just doing the overview real quick. So I apologize, I know I'm going fast. And kids, you're doing an amazing job keeping your parents quiet.

[14:08] Keep it up. Matthew chapter 12 and verse 40. Jesus has this famous statement. Now Jesus is trying to teach his disciples what is about to happen to them.

[14:19] They're thinking, victorious king, he's coming, Israel's going to win, let's do this. He's like, you are not listening. Let me tell you another story. So he tells them this one, Matthew 12, 40.

[14:30] For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

[14:41] Boy, the heart of the earth, what does that sound like? The underworld, right? Now it's important, remember, he says, I will spend three days there and then I will rise. So when he's on the cross and he's dying and there's the two thieves that are there and one of them repents and basically says, will you save me?

[14:59] What does Jesus say? This is Luke 23, 43. Jesus looks at the man and says to him, truly I say to you, today you will be with me, where?

[15:11] In paradise. What did he tell his disciples? Where am I going at my death for three days? Into the earth. What does he tell the man that is dying with him? You're going with me to what?

[15:23] Paradise. Well, where is that going to be? It has to be in the earth because that's where Jesus went. Right? So this is helping us understand that in the Old Testament, just so you know, when we die, we don't go to paradise anymore.

[15:37] We actually go with, when it says, to be absent from our body is to be present with the Lord. There's a reason why that happens now. We'll get to that. For those of you that are writing down, I need to ask John about this.

[15:47] Are we still going there? No, we're not. But the evil spirits are still there. All right, we'll get to all of that. All right, so Jesus tells them I'm going to be three days in the earth.

[16:01] He tells the thief on the cross, you're going to go with me to paradise. And so there seems to be this cavern, this divide. Now, this is where I need you to turn with me. Go to Luke chapter 16. Let's read this together.

[16:14] Jesus then ends up telling a story, helping them understand how death works. It's a powerful story.

[16:25] And we learn a lot about the story, not only about the finality of our death, but Jesus summarizes for us in a beautiful picture the theology of the Hebrews' understanding of death and this underworld.

[16:41] So this is Luke 16, 22. We're not going to look at the whole story, but we see this is the rich man and Lazarus, and they both died. And one believed by faith in Christ to the Messiah, one did not.

[16:53] And this is Luke 16, 22. It says, the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. And in Hades, so remember, this is the same as in the Old Testament, as Sheol, Hades in the New, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus at his side.

[17:18] Now, it's interesting how he says he sees who? Abraham. Now, for those of us who are not thinking as Hebrews, that doesn't mean anything to us.

[17:29] But Abraham is what? The father of who? The nation of Israel. It says that those of us who die in faith in Christ, we go what?

[17:40] With Abraham. We are part of his lineage. We're a part of being a part of Abraham's family. So he says he dies and he lifts up his eyes and he sees, now this is important, he lifted up his eyes.

[17:53] So this makes sense. In the Old Testament, it's talking about the lower regions, the depths, the deep, the pit. This man finds himself there as rejecting the Messiah. And as he looks up, he can see Abraham and he can see Lazarus.

[18:10] Now, if you want to write this down in your notes or in the margins of your Bible, I guess I don't know how you do that. Tap and make a note on your phone. Anyways, Genesis 25, 8. Abraham is about to die and it's fascinating how it's described that they go to a certain land where his wife is, where the nation is and it's describing his death and pay attention to what it says.

[18:34] This is Genesis 25, 8. Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age. An old man and full of years and was gathered to his people.

[18:49] So, we already know what the Old Testament teaches us. When the body dies, it goes into the ground and the soul goes into the underworld and it says that he was gathered with his people.

[18:59] Okay, you guys tracking with me? The rich men and Lazarus die and they go to paradise, also known as Abraham's bosom. Okay, let's keep reading because that is the very phrase that is used.

[19:14] Look at Luke 16, 24. And he called out, Father Abraham, have mercy on me. Send me Lazarus to dip the end of his, I'm sorry, yes, to dip the end of his finger and to cool my tongue for I am in anguish in this flame.

[19:33] Well, this sounds very similar to what was being described not only in the Old Testament but what we're going to learn in Revelation as well. And so you are seeing that there's these caverns but Jesus go ahead and just helps us make the jump.

[19:47] Look at verse 25. But Abraham said, children, or child, remember that in your life, lifetime, you received your good things and Lazarus in like manner, bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in anguish.

[20:04] And besides all this between us and you is a great chasm has been fixed and in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able and none may cross from there to us.

[20:19] So there's this big chasm, this big gulf, this big gap between them. And somehow, in some way, they can see each other but one cannot cross from one side to the other.

[20:33] So as we're starting to, this is all going to play into Peter here in just for a moment. What we have to believe is that there is an actual underworld. This isn't fantasy. Because if it was, then when Peter says Jesus descended into this prison spirit or he descended into Hades, into hell, then he was lying or all of it, all of it's fake.

[20:56] None of it's real. So it's safe to say that in our world, the way in which the writers are writing, that there is, within our world, there is an underworld and there are spirits being held there.

[21:09] So, so far we've seen the way that the Hebrews think. Who goes there? Both the righteous and the unrighteous. There's an upper and a lower level that the righteous are in Abraham's bosom.

[21:20] They are in paradise. But they're not yet with the Father. This is important. They're not with Him. The Father's spirit is not there. This is not glory. And then you have the lower regions which is where torment is taking place temporarily waiting for the day of judgment.

[21:38] This leads us to really catching up to our passage in Peter. We're going to talk now about Jesus' three-day visit to Sheol or through, or Sheol or to Hades.

[21:50] Okay. I'm going to try and stay calm because this gets really cool really fast. All right? So here we go. I almost wish the timing of this was near Easter but this is where we're at.

[22:04] Okay. So this is Zechariah 9, chapter 9 and verse 9. Listen carefully to this prophecy from Zechariah. So this is Old Testament.

[22:16] Jesus has not come yet. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your King is coming to you. Righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the full of a donkey.

[22:33] Pause. How did Jesus enter Jerusalem? How did he enter the city? So they're over here going, hey, he's here. Yeah, they're excited but they didn't keep reading.

[22:45] They forgot part of the prophecy. This is verse 11. As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant means Jesus has to die. Because of the blood of my covenant, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.

[23:04] What was the prophecy? When he comes on a colt and you see him coming to the city, that means he's there to set those in paradise free from Sheol, from Hades.

[23:16] This is an amazing prophecy. Right? And Jesus fulfills it. Now, turn with me to Acts chapter 2. This is a very long sermon from Peter, one of the longer ones but we're going to read it because Peter then quotes another prophecy as this sermon and he quotes it from David.

[23:36] And I just want you to hear the whole thing. I'm just going to read it in its entirety. This is Acts 2. We're going to begin verse 22 and following. Men of Israel, hear these words. Now, remember, he's talking to people who understand their Hebrew Bible, who understand everything that I've just told you, caverns underneath the earth.

[23:55] Alright? You with me? Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know, this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

[24:13] God raised him up, loosening the pangs of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it. Well, how do we know this? Because then he quotes David.

[24:24] For David says concerning him, I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken. Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced.

[24:35] My flesh also will dwell in hope, for you will not abandon my soul to Hades or let your Holy One see corruption.

[24:47] You have made known to me the path of life. You will make me full of gladness with your presence. Brothers, I may say to you with the confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried and his tomb is with us to this day.

[25:06] Being therefore a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on this throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of Christ that he was not abandoned to Hades nor did his flesh see corruption.

[25:27] How cool is that? Right? Like how many of you have read this in your Bibles in Acts and how many of you have read the Psalm when David is speaking of this and you're like what do you mean?

[25:38] Like I guess he wasn't going to let me go to hell? It's like no, he was in it. He was in Hades. He says you're not going to leave me there because when you come you're going to take me. Where?

[25:49] Now our minds because we only have one vision of Hades we're thinking wow is David burning until Jesus showed up? No. We know that to be the case because to be in the other part of Sheol is to be in paradise or to be in Abraham's bosom.

[26:08] So this is where the gospel comes in and it's powerful. All these images this is where Peter is drawing these images. There's a story that Jesus writes down if you want to write it down it's Luke 11 and he's describing to the people of Israel what he's doing.

[26:22] And this is part of the supernatural part of our Bible that's hard for us. We don't understand that when we sin and we fell into corruption we fell under the power of Satan.

[26:33] This is Ephesians 2 and that there's this that he controls not only death but he holds the keys to Hades where we belong. And so Jesus shows up fulfilling prophecy and they understand how powerful Satan is and that he's holding the keys to death in Hades and so he tells them this.

[26:55] This is Luke 11 21. When a strong man fully armed guards his own palace his goods are safe but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil.

[27:16] Now that's very cryptic right? You know what he's talking about? He came to overpower Satan and take back the spoils. This is what David is talking about and you will bring me into my inheritance.

[27:31] Alright? So listen now this is if you want to turn there Revelation chapter 1 listen to how John recants or retells the story of Jesus gathering the keys while in Hades while in Sheol this is for Revelation 1 12 then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest the hairs of his head were white like white wool like snow his eyes were like a flame of fire his feet were like burnished bronze refined in a furnace and his voice was like the roar of many waters in his right hand he held seven stars from his mouth came a sharp two edged sword and his face was like the sun shining in full strength boy that sounds like the strong man to me that's a pretty powerful picture when I saw him

[28:34] I fell at his feet as though dead but he laid his but he laid his right hand on me saying fear not I am the first and the last I am the living one I died and behold I am alive forevermore and I have the keys of death and Hades he said you have no reasons to be afraid anymore because you cannot be held by either death or Hades I won I overpowered death this is why Peter says when he rose from the grave that's what gives us hope because he comes back and he comes back holding victory this is why he's talking about Peter is saying he went down into the prisons because he knew why he was there he had already won he was there to grab the keys and go hey

[29:36] I won you tried to stop what I was doing but you failed we know this verse for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God remember this phrase from Romans what it means to fall short from God's glory is for those of us who prove righteousness we're perfect in our obedience we have the right to be in the presence of God to be in the presence of God is called his glory and so he says we all sin and we do not have the right to be in his glory listen to this this is the writer of Hebrews telling the Jews what Jesus did this is Hebrews 2 10 for it was fitting that he for whom and by whom all things exist and bringing many sons to glory shall make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering so he suffered rose from the grave and what does it say he brought many sons to glory you guys remember this phrase he set the captives free so when Jesus descended into the grave when he descended into Hades for three days he was there to proclaim victory over those who tried to stop him in Genesis chapter 6 he was there to gather up all the saints who were in paradise and then take them as he raises from the grave he raises them and takes them into the presence of the father he takes them into glory this is why for almost 2,000 years the apostles creed has been memorized and quoted in churches to remind ourselves of the power of the entire gospel it's not that

[31:19] Jesus just died for our sins he conquered any power that could ever cause us to ever wonder or fear so this is the apostles creed it says this I believe in God the father almighty creator of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ his only son our Lord who was conceived by the Holy Spirit born of the virgin Mary suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified died and was buried he descended into hell now you know what that means right on the third day he rose again from the dead he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the father almighty for from there he will come to judge the living and the dead so when we quote the apostles creed and it says he descended into hell we don't need to freak out he didn't descend into a burning furnace to take on more pain he descended to grab the keys proclaim victory grab the saints and raise victorious now that is an awesome story but it starts all the way in Genesis 6 and you can't get the whole picture unless you're willing to take the time to learn all the language so this is why

[32:34] Peter is writing to a church that is suffering not only physical harm like cancer and struggle and pain and suffering and some of them are starving but they're also suffering for their faith they've told Rome we're not going to worship your gods we're going to worship the true God Yahweh we believe in Jesus Christ to be king only and so he says 1 Peter 3 18 for Christ also suffered once for sins the righteous for the unrighteous that he might bring us to God there it is how awesome that he who what does Jesus say no one could get to the father but through right so they would descend waiting and literally Hebrews says that they died not receiving the promise they hadn't seen it yet so when Jesus comes and he gathers I'm sure there was a pretty loud shout for joy there was a loud echo throughout the halls of the underworld saying he's here this is why it says he came proclaiming victory now remember

[33:38] I'm making speculation I don't know I'm okay if I'm wrong when I get to glory but if one side can see the other side I think he just stood in the underworld and said I won and one side grieved and the other side rejoiced he brought us to God being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison so Peter tells the church this is the last point so we've done how the Hebrews understood the underworld who goes there the upper and lower levels Jesus is three days and this last section is the encouragement for the church Peter tells the church to remember the story of Hades because it was Jesus' victory lap and if he won there he will not leave them to fail if he conquered the greatest war of all time he will not let them suffer unto death and lose their soul because he

[34:45] I love this he puts his hand on John and says oh don't be afraid the very thing you're afraid of which is death and Hades I own it so you cannot be held there I'm going to close by reading if you turn with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 4 I was just really comforted by this this week so I figured it was a good way to end our time 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 16 and following Paul writes to the hurting church he says this 2 Corinthians 4 16 so we do not lose heart though our outer self is wasting away our inner self is being renewed day by day for this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen the things that are seen are transient the things that are unseen are eternal for we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed we have a building from God a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens for in this tent we groan amen to that longing to put on our heavenly dwelling if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked for while we are still in this tent we groan being burdened not with what we not that we would be unclothed but that we would be further clothed so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life he who has prepared us for this very thing is God oh this is important church

[36:41] I was you aren't preparing yourself for this he is he not only won the victory he carries you through your suffering this is important when you feel like I am failing there is no way God would want me there is no way I deserve this new body and this new home Paul says no it is God who is preparing you for this thing he has given us the spirit as a guarantee so we are always of good courage we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord for we walk by faith not by sight yes we are of good courage and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord so whether we are at home or away we make it our aim to please him why do we have courage because he who began a good work in us will complete it the guarantee is the spirit that now lives with inside of us and so Peter and Paul are looking at the suffering church whether it is our body in this particular area he's talking about the groaning of our bodies and there are many my stepdad is on the way to the hospital right now because there's something going on with his knee

[37:56] I mean there's people in our church who are suffering from cancer there are people in our church who have lost loved ones in the last few weeks we understand the groaning part and where does he point us to our comfort the work and the power of Jesus this is why our Bibles is filled with just the absolute insane stories because we have to have something more than take this pill work out and eat your vegetables because we all know it doesn't work sure we might see a little improvement but it will not give us the new hope that we need so my encouragement to all of us is to take Paul's words he says stop looking to that which you can see your bank accounts your country your leaders your health and he says look to what you can't see which is Christ and all God's people said

[39:00]  Amen our Father I'm so thankful that I get the joy of being loved by these people and loving them and sharing with them your wonderful gospel for the weak Lord I pray they are strengthened for those who have strength Lord I pray that they will share it for those who are lost and confused Lord bring them to yourself in Christ's name Amen thanks for listening to the sermon podcast of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill Tennessee where everyone is in equal need of grace to plan a visit or to learn more about us visit our website at gracereformed.org for innen thank you to the of thanks for