February 1926
T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
70
meanings show is “ to cross over from one place to another. What does this mean? The Lord went to Paradise, as He intimated to the dy_ng thief, “ Today thou shalt be with Me in Paradise. » as most readers know, is not the Paradise to which Paul was caught up, but a place in this earth fEph. 4 :9 ; Romans 10:7: “ Who shall bring up Christ from the abyss? , etc.) Paradise was that portion of Hades to which all the saints of God in Old Testament times went. A great, fixed, impas sable gulf lay between it and the other portiqn where the rich man and other unregenerate spirits of men were. This compartment was not the prison where the fallen angels were, as stated in the Scripture quoted. Theirs was another place called "Tartarus” , only mentioned once in the Scrip tures (2 Pet. 2 :4 ). Thither the Lord Jesus, in His Spirit, “ took a Journey;’’ “ crossed overi^-^mjide a passage.” Methinks I hear the stir and see the trembling and shud dering (James 2:19) that took place as\the Conqueror (if we may so say) knocks at the barred prison door and enters their dark abode. We doubt not these very spirits were present at the laying of earth’s foundations, and sang with other “ sons of God” the Joyous songs of praise to the Creator. • Here He stands in their presence. What will His mes sage be to them? Salvation from their prison house? Never, until the great day of wrath, will they leave those dens of darkness and gloom, to face the throne of dazzling whiteness! What Gospel did the Lord preach on this dread occasion. NONE! The purpose of His visit seemed to be that He, the prom ised seed of the woman, had come in the fullness of time, and all God’s purposes of grace, fore-known in Eden, were now accomplished. The great sin-offering had been offered. Sin had been righteously met and put away from God as regards His people. All the sin forgiven, and the price paid in full, that the blood of bulls and goats had covered during Old Testament times. Satan’s purpose to pollute the seed had failed and fallen to the ground, and "that Holy Thing,” the Son of God, born of Mary, had been recognized and believed on among men as “ God manifest in flesh.” God had triumphed! The Prophecy Fulfilled The bruising of the heel— promised in that Eden declara tion—had taken place when the Son of God died on the cross and now the bruising of the serpent’s head must come to pass, to be followed by his banishment to the “ lake of Are prepared for the devil and his angels” (spirits), when the purpose of God will be complete. Christ addressed the spirits in prison as God’s special herald or ambassador, probably announcing that death and the grave, the fruit of sin, were to be robbed of their prey; that the Old Testament saints were to be released from the power of the devil, and arise to new heights of glory with their conqueror (Heb. 2:14, 15). Speaking as men, what a moment when the door of their prison closed, and the Lord began to gather the captives and led them forth in captivity on that resurrection morning! (Eph. 4 :8 ). Psalm 24 is millennial, probably, in Its primary setting, but doubtless has reference to the Lord appearing on high in resurrection with the spoils of conflict behind Him! “ A multitude of captives.” The strong man (Satan) had been spoiled and his goods taken. Taking this interpretation of our .quotation, there is no ground for building up any theory that the Lord Jesus, preached salvation to dead men during His three days In Hades. (Continued on page 105)
same angels cast down to Tartarus to dens of darkness waiting the Judgment of the Great day as Jude also states. When did the Fallen Angels Fall? The casting down must have taken place, It would seem, in Noah’s day where men were destroyed from oft the face of the earth and those of the “ sons of God” disobedient, banished, as the Scriptures declare. Following further the subject of the “ Sons of God," we learn something from the book of Job. Chapter 1:6 says: “ The sons of God came to présent themselves before God and Satan came among them.” Later on they (2 :1 ) appear before God again. Their sphere was clearly this earth "walking up and down in it” (1 :7 ) if Satan’s answer can be taken as for the others. There is no doubt as to who these sons of God were. They were angels. When Job, by the spirit, records the laying of the earth s foundations, he says: “ When the moving stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for Joy." These “ sons of God” must have been angelic beings for man as yet was not created. Isaiah calls Lucifer “ son of the morning” or a “ morning star.” Doubtless this latter was a term for the more mighty angels which excèl.in strength and “ sons of God” the general term for those of lower rank. The plain infèrencè of these Scriptures is that the sons Of God” in Gen. 6:4 were angelic beings, that they fell through leaving the estate in which God had placed th'em, that they went after strange flesh In like manner as Sodom, that they were imprisoned in Tartarus (2 Peter 2:4) in dens of darkness (Jude 6). The Devil’s Design If this is so, what purpose did Satan have in promoting this intercourse between them and mankind? Simply this: He wished to make God a liar. His purpose was to corrupt the seed of the woman and make it impos sible for God’s Word to come to pass. "The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s head.” He had heard his doom in Eden but refused to acknowledge defeat. The language of our quotation brings before us disobe dience, Insolence and contempt, fierce unmanageable con tumacy. We may not know all that took place beyond the ken of men during those days of probation before the flood, but it is certain God held' back the vials of His wrath (as the word “ disobedience”—with its meaning given would give us to understand) until His longsulfering could wait no longer. I How polluted mankind had become is known by the awful fact that of all living in Noah’s day only eight were saved alive. How well Satan had succeeded in seducing the world! Noah’s family was the only pure one. Since the time 'of the deluge, angels have been denied the privilege of mixing with men in daily converse and also appearing in human form except on one or two occasions as recorded in the Old Testament and referred to in Hebrews 13:2. A Sermon to Spirits We come now to the time spoken of in our quotation when Christ visited the spirit world. “ The spirits in prison.” “ Prison” as we have seen is a place of restraint for unmanageable' individuals, a place of custody and implies being there for a crime, "waiting the Judgment of the great day.” How can we tell the purport of these solemn words, "Saints shall Judge angels” ? What won ders the future holds for us who are heirs of life! Assum ing that “ the spirits in prison” are those angels or “ sons o f God,"— why did Christ visit them? What did He preach? We notice the force of the word “ went” which as the various
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