Vou. XXXITT BROOKLYN, N. Y., JUNE 15, 1912 No. 12 HOW JESUS PREACHED TO SPIRITS IN PRISON “Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened in the spirit, by which [two eaxperiences—death and resurrection] he preached unto the spirits in prison.”—1 Peter 3:18, 19. This text has been made the basis for some peculiar presentations, From it some have deduced an intermediate state lasting between death and the resurrection. Others have claimed it as an authority for the doctrine of purgatory. The difficulty in every case seems to be the failure to remember that the Bible always and everywhere teaches that the dead are really dead, that they knew nothing, and that, therefore, it would be impossible to do any preaching to the dead humans. Undoubtedly the theory that people are more alive after they die than when they were alive is responsible for nearly all of the foolish things which we have all at some time professed to helieve. Before dismissing the thought that these “spirits in prison” are human spirits, let us note the fact that to say, “human spirits,” is an absurdity of itself, because human beings are not spirits and spirit beings are not humans. ‘“Who maketh his angelg spirits,” is the Scriptural proposition. True, we do sometimes speak of humans as possessing a spirit of life, but by this we merely mean that they possess the power or energy of life, and the same would be equally true of the lower orders of creation, beasts, fish, fowl, ete. Again, we sometimes speak of the church as spirit beings— begotten of the holy Spirit. Thus the Apostle speaks of the natural man in contrast with the new creature, a spirit being. To appreciate this statement we must remember that the church class receive the begetting of the holy Spirit to the end that, if faithful, they may attain unto a spirit resurrection and become spirit beings, like unto the angels and like to the Redeemer. But we are not spirits yet, except by faith—by hope. However, the context shows the Apostle had no reference to the church, either: we were not in prison; we received the message of salvation through the Apostles. SPIRITS ONCE DISOBEDIENT The spirits to whom the message was given had proven themselves disobedient, says St. Peter. He even tells us the time of their disobedience, namely, that it was “in the days of Noah, while the ark was preparing.” Surely, if noticing these particulars mentioned in the context, no one would be excusable for misunderstanding this Scripture and considering it in any way applicable to humanity of our day or to humanity in general, However, it is helpful to us to learn the full particulars of the matter, What was their disobedience, and when and how were they inprisoned? Turning to Genesis 6:1-5, we find there the cause of the disobedience of those angels, who for a time had been permitted to see what they could do for the uplift of humanity, or, rather, permitted to demonstrate that the downward tendency of sin is incurable except in the manner which God has already arranged through Messiah and his glorious reign of a thousand years. Instead of those angels helping mankind out of sin they helped themselves into sin, and by so doing they increased the depravity amongst humanity until the astounding record is that “the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thought of his heart was only evil continually.” The particular sin of those angels was that when they were granted the privilege of materializing—of taking human bodies for the sake of helping and instructing mankind—they misused this power and took to themselves the daughters of men for wives. Thus these angels came gradually to prefer to live as men amongst men and to rear earthly families rather than to abide in the condition in which they were created—spirit beings, higher than humans. Not only was this wrong in the sense that it was taking a course in opposition to the divine arrangement, but it was wrong also because the thing was done for the cultivation and gratification of lust, and it led to their own moral defilement as well as having a baneful influence upon humanity; for we can readily see that for the angels, of superior powers and intelligence, to become leaders in lustful practices would mean a great influence upon mankind toward sin and defilement of mind and body. We are particularly told that the offspring of this improper union between the angels and the daughters of men were giants, both physically and mentally superior to the fallen human family—‘“men of renown.” And this statement, that they were “men of renown,” was at a time when manhood’s estate was reached at a hundred years, and implies that God did not inter [5043] fere to hinder or stop the progress of sin for perhaps several centuries. In the meantime the race had become so corrupt that apparently only Noah and his family were uncontaminated— all others had more or less come under the influence, directly or indirectly, of these fallen angels or their giant sons. Hence, of Noah it was written (not that he was a perfect man, but), “Now Noah was perfect in his generation” (uncontaminated) and his family apparently the same. Hence these alone were saved in the ark, while all the remainder, more or less contaminated, were destroyed by the flood. “IN CHAINS OF DARKNESS’’ It was then and there that God imprisoned those spirits, angels, who kept not their first estate, and are therefore called fallen angels, devils, demons. They were not imprisoned in some far-off world called hell, nor are they engaged there in stoking fires for the torture of poor humanity. Following the leading of the Scriptures we find that when the flood came they were not destroyed because, while their fleshly bodies which they assumed might indeed perish, yet they would merely dematerialize, or assume their spirit conditions again. The record is that God cast them down, that he condemned them to an overthrow—that they might not any longer associate with the holy angels, but must be reserved in tartarus—our earth’s atmosphere. Here they were imprisoned, not in a special place, but in the sense of having their liberties restrained, “in chains of darkness.” They were no longer permitted to materialize and thus to associate with humanity. These things are distinctly told us by St. Jude and St. Peter (Jude 6, 2 Peter 2:4, 5)—an explanation in full harmony with the Genesis account of their fall. ONCE DISOBEDIENT—STILL DISOBEDIENT We, of course, cannot know that all of those fallen angels are still in a disloyal condition of heart. On the contrary, in harmony with our text, we may suppose that some of these fallen angels have since repented of their wrong course and it would be none too strong a way to state the matter—that any such repentant ones would surely have terrible experiences as a result. To be obliged to be in close touch and relationship with the more evil and malignant ones and to have knowledge of all their evil designs and efforts would be a terrible experience and, besides this, we may be sure that the rebellious would not hestitate to persecute the repentant ones in every conceivable manner, as they would be lawless, regardless of the divine will. On the other hand, the repentant ones would be obliged to restrain themselves and to not render evil for evil. knowing that this would be contrary to the divine will. In other words, repentant ones amongst those fallen spirits, influenced by the preaching of Jesus or otherwise, would have a kind of purgatorial experience, and the very thought calls forth our sympathy. When imprisoned or cut off from the privilege of materialization, many of the fallen spirits, we know not what proportion, continued their active opposition to God, after the manner of Satan. Hence they are spoken of as his angels, his messengers, his servants and he is spoken of as Beelzebub, the prince of demons. Satan, who sinned much earlier than the dthers. and in a different way, the Scriptures tell us was an angel of a higher rank, or a higher nature, and this superiority of his has made him the prince or ruler over the hosts of fallen spirits, FIGHTING AGAINST GOD The fight of Satan and his fallen angels is against God, against all who are in harmony with him, against all the regulations of righteousness, and against all the channels and servants whom the Lord may use. St. Paul’s words along this line are forceful; he remarks that God’s people contend not merely “with flesh and blood,” but also “with wicked spirits in high positions,” and the question arises, “Who is sufficient for these things?” The reply is that none is sufficient; without the aid of the Redeemer his church would be quite overcome and vanquished by evil, Likewise, without the Redeemer’s aid through his kingdom, without the binding of Satan, without our Lord’s releasing of the world from the hondage of sin and death, there would be no hope of the world’s recovery from its present bondage. But with the Apostle we exclaim, “If God be for us, who can be against us?’—Romane 8:31. (191-192)
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