Shabbat Shalom, everyone. Please open your Bibles, this ministry meeting, to 1 Peter chapter 3, beginning with verse 13 to the end of the chapter, verses 13 to 22. And I'm reading those verses. First of all, we begin with verse 13. And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? But if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye, and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled, but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts. And be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. Having a good conscience that where as they speak evil of you as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Messiah.

For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well-doing than for evil-doing. For Messiah 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 by the Spirit, by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison, which sometimes were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is eight souls, were saved by water. The like figure, whereunto even baptism, does also now save us not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards God by the resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah, who is gone into heaven and is on the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.

And I'm stopping here at the end of 1 Peter chapter 3, verse 22. Now, as we have been covering this book, the letter, the epistle that Shimon Petos wrote to the early Hebrew believers, we have noticed that in these chapters, one chapter after chapter, we find out the truth of the fact that when a person becomes a believer in Yeshua the Messiah, we notice very quickly that in following our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, there are trials and challenges in this world because the world do not love those that follow Yeshua the Messiah. Had they loved the believers, they would have treated the believers in the right way. Just the same that had they loved Yeshua, they would have treated Yeshua in the right way.

But unfortunately, because of the human nature that man has, man rejected Yeshua the Messiah in the past history, they are still rejecting him today, and they will still reject him in the future unless God works in our lives and change us and by the holy Spirit of God work it out a desire in the heart of a person to come to faith and to say Lord Yeshua i am accepting you as my Lord and Savior and i'm inviting you into my heart you are my Mashiach you are my Messiah and i want you to forgive my sins, and give me a hope for glory. That's what happened with every one of us that have accepted Yeshua the Messiah.

Well, what happened here in 1 Peter chapter 3, the apostle emphasizes the responsibility that we all have as believers. We have covered in the first 12 verses of chapter 3, as you remember, in verses 1 to 7, the responsibility of the wives and the responsibility of the husbands we have also covered in verses 8 to 12 the responsibility of. Each believer to each other in the body of Messiah and we have learned in verse 8 9 finally be all of one mind having compassion one of another love as brethren be pitiful be courteous not rendering evil for evil or railing for railing but contrary wise blessing knowing that ye are there unto called that ye should inherit blessing once we became believers in Yeshua the Messiah a change ought to happen in our lives in our behavior among the body of Messiah unfortunately it's not always so in our lives because we are not always in a right spiritual condition and then notice what he says in verse 10 11 and 12 for he that love life see good days let him refrain his tongue from evil and his lips that they will speak no guile let him forsake evil and do good let him seek peace shalom pursue shalom with one another and with the people around us and finally he says why if i love life in its proper way is because the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous his ears are upon.

Their prayers the face of the Lord is against them the due evil God sees hears and his face is against us the believers now because he's speaking to these Hebrew believers God's face is against the believers who behave in a way that is not becoming the child of God and sometimes we are wondering when God is not favoring us because if we behave exactly contrary that what the Lord wants us to behave what do we expect from the Lord because God is going to have to deal with his own people you will notice later on in chapter 4 that he will say the judgment must begin at the house of God chapter 4 verse 17 in other words God will deal with his own people even before he's going to deal with the world without and that's why it is important for us to understand that now here from verse 13 to verse 22 we have an additional encouragement for the believers in two ways number one in verses 13 to 17 that every Messiah follower every christian every.

Mesh he should desire in his or her heart to have the Lord Yeshua as the Lord of our lives he has to have lordship in the life of the believer and notice how he specifically speak about this in verses 13 to 17 he says who is he that will harm you verse 13 if ye be followers of that which is good in other words if the believers are following that which is good normally speaking in the world in which we live in when we do the right thing people are not necessarily harming the believers when they do the right thing you know when somebody does the right thing nobody is going to harm us in general it's not always so but in general when we do the right thing there's nothing to be afraid of he's saying who is he that will harm you when you follow that which is good he's saying to them and he's saying this to us but notice now in verse 14 but he says.

If ye suffer for righteousness sake happy are ye and be not afraid of their terror neither be troubled in other words he's saying to those believers to whom he was writing look at this if you do the right thing if you suffer because you did something right for righteousness sake he says blessed you are you are blessed by the Lord if you did the right thing and yet people misunderstood you and cause you affliction because you have done the right thing he says even if it happened and it may happen in the life of the believer it happened in the life of those believers he says even if it happened when you do the right thing you are blessed by the Lord, even though you suffer because you have done something right, rather than you have suffered for that which is wrong.

Now, can you imagine if you and I have done something wrong, and then we suffer the consequence of that? Well, we deserved it, right? Because we have done something wrong. And we deserve to be punished. And it is the grace of God that He, at times, does not discipline us much harder than what we deserve but when we do the right thing when we do as it says the word righteousness in Hebrew it's tzedakah tzaddik something that is right and righteous when we do the right thing before the Lord and before those that are around us and yet people reject us and despise us and inflict upon us suffering, the Lord is saying to us, blessed are ye and be not afraid of the terror, neither be ye troubled.

Now, where does Peter get this information about suffering for righteousness sake? Where does he get? Again, I would like to emphasize again, Peter is writing to early Jewish believers he's reminding them of their history and the history was at the time that the nation of Israel was divided and there was a time which the southern tribes of Judah needed to trust God in spite of the fact that there was coming affliction upon them turn with. Me for a second to Isaiah this portion is really brought out to us from the history of Israel Ahaz the king of Judah faced crisis in his life because of the upcoming invasion of the Assyrian army and also Israel the northern tribes this is the northern kingdom of Israel and Syria not Assyria but Syria both of these nations wanted Ahaz the king of Judah to join them against Assyria but Isaiah warned Ahaz not to join these ungodly Kings but to trust in God for deliverance if you notice in chapter 7 and verse 10 moreover the Lord spoke again unto ahaz saying ahaz was the king of Judah it was to ahaz that he gave the sign of the virgin birth of the Messiah in chapter 7 and verse 14 therefore the Lord himself shall give you to ahaz and the tribes of Judah a sign behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and you shall call his name Immanuel, God with us.

In the next chapter 8, God is warning Ahaz not to join himself to those wicked nations, and not to be afraid of the king of Assyria, but to trust God for deliverance. And so we find out now that in our chapter 1st Peter chapter 3 and verse 14 it says if you suffer for righteousness sake happy are ye and be not afraid of their terror neither be ye troubled you see he's taking those Hebrew believers who have experienced terror and trouble in their lives and he's reminding them of what God said to Ahaz the king of Judah many many years ago over 750 years prior to them where Ahaz the king of Judah also needed not to be afraid of the terror of the northern tribe of Israel of the Syrian and as well of the Assyrian he is warning Ahaz and he is warning the believers to trust God and not to be afraid of the terror of those wicked Kings or the wicked nations who rise up against the believers and so brethren now notice that in verses 15 he's actually.

Quoting what he wrote in Isaiah chapter 8 and verses 12 look at this beautiful verse in verse 15 but when terror come your way when problems come our way the best thing to do for the believer just the same as it was the best thing for Ahaz the king of Judah to do 750 years or so before is to sanctify the Lord God in your hearts the word for sanctified is set him apart in your own heart. You know, when trouble comes our way, the responsibility of the believers is to set Yeshua, the Messiah, apart in our hearts, to give him the devotion of our lives, to turn to him from all the trouble that exists in this world, and to find satisfaction in the person of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah he used the word sanctify it's come from the word to set apart it's come from the word in Hebrew it's also come from the word bait mikdash the sanctuary you see when Israel were in the.

Wilderness God said to our people of old Israel make me a sanctuary that i will dwell in the midst of the nation of Israel God delight to dwell in our hearts and in the midst of his own people just the same like Yeshua in Matthew 18 and verse 20 he says where two or three are gathered together unto my name there am I in the midst of them he promised to be the center of the gathered saints around him and so what we learn here that we are exhorted to set the Lord Yeshua the Lord God the Lord Messiah in your hearts how important it is to devote ourselves to the Lord you know when trouble coming your way when you are facing difficulties in your life when there's problems at home and the jobs and the health issues to where can we turn except to our blessed Lord Yeshua the Messiah and therefore the Lord is telling Peter is saying to them you know give room.

In your heart for Yeshua the Messiah set him apart exalt him in your own hearts give him a portion in your life and this will enable you not to be afraid of the terror and the trouble that coming our ways this exactly again please turn to Isaiah chapter 8 and look what he said to ahaz in verse 13 of Isaiah 8 he says sanctify the Lord of hosts himself let him be your fear let him be your dread In other words, instead of being afraid of the enemies that are coming, Ahaz, of Assyria, of Syria, of the northern tribes of Israel, instead of being afraid of them, Ahaz, you set apart Jehovah, the Lord of hosts.

You will set apart him in your heart and he will be your fear and let him be your dread don't be afraid of others but be afraid or have the reverence for the Lord rather than fear of men so Peter is reminding those Hebrew believers he says you know just like Ahaz of old needed this exhortation you as well brethren you set apart the Lord in your hearts to give him room in your own hearts and in your own life the word also set apart in Hebrew is takdishu or tekad shu set him apart the Lord in your heart make room in your life for him give him priority in your life as a believer but he doesn't stop there because in verse 15 he gives them another encouragement in a time of fear and trouble and terror he's telling them the second thing listen to these brothers and sisters be always ready to give an answer to every man that ask you a reason of the hope that is within you with meekness and with fear you know people ask us.

The question why do you believe in Yeshua the Messiah why did you say that you have accepted him into your life why is he so precious in your own life why do you go to Bible studies why do you attend meetings on a regular basis why do you read your Bible why do you pray why do you keep company with other believers and you just don't go around the world and having all world pleasure why are you so different why well we have to be ready to give an answer to give always notice be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you for the reason of the hope that within you well you and i have to be always ready and by the way that word here and for an answer it's come from the Greek word apologetikos in other words it's apologetics we always have to be able to give a clear answer why do we believe in a person of the Lord Jesus.

The Messiah you know it is a shame and it is very sad when a believer is unable to give an answer to people who ask him or ask her listen what makes a difference between your God and my God your Messiah and my special leader the believer are to be able to give at least a clear answer why do we believe what we believe and why we have this hope that it is in our hearts concerning our eternity and our eternal destiny and so the apostle Shimon petros is encouraging those early believers and he said to them always be ready you know Paul said in Romans chapter 1 and verse 15 he says to the Roman i am ready ready for what Paul what are you ready for Paul in Romans chapter 1 verse 15 Paul said i am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also i'm ready i'm willing i'm not ashamed of the gospel of the Messiah because it is the power.

Of God unto salvation to everyone that believe God saved me he forgave my sin and my sins and i'm ready to minister and to share the word with others we should not be those that are not able to give a clear answer to a question they're being asked why do you believe in Yeshua the answer because he is the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me and he gave me a hope a living hope that's what Peter want those believers and you and I to give an answer to those that ask us you notice he used the word for the reason of the hope that is in you what is the hope that is in us well he just said to them in chapter 1 and verse 3 blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus the Messiah which according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible undefiled that fadeth not away and reserved for us in heaven.

What a hope the believer have. You know, brothers and sisters, if we lose everything here at the end of time in this world, the believer has something because of our faith in Yeshua the Messiah that others do not have. We have a living hope, not a dead hope. And Peter is emphasizing this and it's so precious to see how he had mentioned that you know Paul said in Acts chapter 28 and verse 20 when he was being taken and being in Rome and he was actually testifying before the Jewish community who came to him to speak with him you know what he said to them at the end of the book of Acts chapter 28 and verse 20 Paul said for this cause therefore have I called for you to see you and to speak with you because for the hope of Israel i'm bound with this chain who is the hope of Israel is Yeshua the Messiah who is the hope of the body of Christ is Yeshua the Messiah he is the hope of the believer he is the one that have given us so much in order to give us a future and a destiny in the coming day an eternal relationship with him and there are so many verses that we can read in Scripture concerning the hope of the believer.

Paul elsewhere in Romans 5 said hope make us not ashamed because the love of our Lord Jesus the Messiah the hope of being with him and having a relationship with him this is a wonderful truth to get a hold of and the apostle Peter emphasizes this in verse 15 sanctify the Lord Messiah in your heart and be always ready to give an answer to every man that asks you of the reason of the hope that is within you with meekness and with fear we don't need to do it with arrogance we don't need to be proud and that in any form and shape it has to be done in meekness and in reverence towards the Lord and in meekness not to be proud but to be meek and humble before the Lord and recognizing that it was totally his grace that brought us into such a precious position through our Lord Jesus the Messiah.

So now we continue in verses 16 and 17 of 1 Peter chapter 3 and now he wants to encourage the believers to maintain a good conscience. You know, sometimes. Because of our behavior we don't have a clean conscience you know conscience what is a conscience a conscience is our internal judge that witness to all our doings you know when you go to a court and you have a judge and everybody bring against you all the accusation and the judge has to proclaim or to give the verdict the conscience that every person have is our internal judge he is a witness to all that we think say and do unfortunately that judge many times accuse us because there is much to accuse us even as believers conscience of a believer he or she ought to seek to have a good conscience before the Lord Paul said in the book of Acts chapter 24 that he seek to always maintain a good conscience before men and before God so Peter is saying now in verse 16 having a good conscience that where is they speak evil of you as of evildoers that they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation or good behavior in the Messiah.

For it is better if the will of God be so that he suffer for well-doing than for evil doing so what is saying to them it is better for you to seek to maintain a good conscience that that internal judge who observe your life will say wait a minute this was the right thing that you did or if you did something wrong this was wrong you need to correct it this what that internal judge does he the conscience is the one that witnesses to everything that we say, do, think, and all that which no one else can see, no one else can know. And how often, beloved brothers and sisters, we don't have a good conscience.

Why? Because we have not been pleasing to the Lord. We have acted, we have done something, we have said something, we have behaved in one way or another, and our conscience troubles us. A conscience bothers us. This judge, internal judge, speaks to us. You remember the first time that conscience entered to this world? The first time that conscience came to this world was when Adam violated God's word by eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which was forbidden. And the moment he aged from that, conscience came in. The internal judge have been created, if you will. And then Adam could not face God anymore.

So he's running away from God. He's hiding behind the trees. And when God walking in the cool of the day in the garden, he asked Adam, where are you? Well, he knew where he was. But Adam was hiding behind the trees. He did not have a good conscience before the creator God. Like we did not have a clean conscience before we became believers. We did not have positionally a clean conscience because we knew we were not right with God. We knew we were sinners. We knew we deserved to be judged. We knew that we are not right with God. And that's why religion has been developed.

Religion is a cover-up for men to try to make things right with God. I'll make religion, I'll make a cover-up so I will appease myself as if I'm going to be right with God. So men try all sorts of religion, work system, idolatry. You know, Adam was the first one that introduced works system. What did he do? He took the leaves from the tree and he covered himself. You see, now I'm covered by my nakedness. God does not see my nakedness. But all the coverage, the fig leaves that he covered himself did not avail him before God. God still saw through him, saw his sinfulness, and God said to him, have you eaten of the tree that I told you not to eat of?

And Adam began to pass the buck to his wife, and so on, and she to the serpent, and so on. They were not right with God. Their conscience was troubling them, that's why they were hiding. But beloved brothers and sisters, even after we become believers, and positionally we have a purge conscience, we still, as believers now, have to seek to maintain a good conscience before the Lord now as believers. Positionally, we have a purge conscience. According to Hebrews chapter 10 and verses 1 and 2, we have a purge, positioning, purified conscience. But practically, we not always have a clean conscience. That's why the Apostle Peter is saying to them, having a good conscience, that where is they speak evil of you as of evildoers, that they may be ashamed, this is before God, that falsely accuse you for your good behavior in the Messiah.

When we have a good behavior and we are being accused those who accuse us will have to answer to the Lord in due time because he will have to answer them and tell them you have inflicted suffering upon my people when they did good God knows everything as we have read the eyes of the Lord are everywhere and he can see everything and so verse 17 he's saying for it is better if the will of God be so that you suffer for well-doing than for an evil doing it is better to suffer for well-doing for good conscience in order to have a good conscience before God rather than to suffer for that which is wrong and evil okay so these verses are very important because in verses 13 to 17, the Apostle Peter stimulating the believers, the Jewish believers reminding them of biblical history that they are to desire the Lordship of God in their lives.

And to seek to have a good conscience even if they will suffer a time for doing the right thing. And now, brothers and sisters, in the next verses, in verses 18 to 22, he give them the supreme example of suffering unjustly of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah verses 18 to 22 now before i'm going to speak about those five verses i want to say one thing that all five verses have been the subject of various views by good and godly Bible teachers many Bible teachers read the very same text and they come to a different conclusion on these verses. These verses are one of the most difficult passages that the Bible gives us and we really need the grace of God to help us to understand these verses clearly.

Now mind you, there are more than one conclusion that good and godly believers came to and there are good reasons for that, but it's still good for us to go over them and to ask the Lord to show us, to help us with. These verses. Now, the first verse here in verse 18, we have the sufferings of the Messiah as a substitute. This is very precious to every believer's heart. You notice what he says in verse 18a, for the Messiah also has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. I'll pause here for one moment. This first half of verse 18 is very clear.

It speaks to us of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, who became a substitute on our behalf. Actually, there are three words in this first part of verse 18 that Bible scholars use. And those three words are difficult words, but propitiation is the first word. The second word is substitution. And the third word is reconciliation. I'm not an Englishman. I'm a Hebrew boy, and Hebrew is much easier for me. But those three words are being used by good godly scholars to explain to us verse 18a propitiation substitution and reconciliation the first word propitiation is found in the first part for the Messiah also has once suffered for sins the Messiah Yeshua have once and for all no more to suffer he suffered for us for the believers for sins once no more than once and by suffering on the cross on the tree for our sin he propitiated the word propitiation means satisfied a holy requirement of a righteous God with respect to sin when Yeshua the Messiah died for us on the tree he propitiated he satisfied God with respect to sins that's where we have the word propitiation and why God needed to be satisfied because God cannot look upon sin God is holy and he cannot look upon sin and if you remember Habakkuk says in chapter 1 and verse 13 thou art of pure eyes and to behold evil and canst not look on iniquities God is holy he cannot look on sin on iniquity he is pure he cannot behold evil.

And therefore he needed to be propitiated satisfied he is a holy God a sinner will come to him only on a basis of God being propitiated so the Messiah had to die in order to satisfy a righteous God secondly notice that again verse 18 the first part it says here the just for the unjust this word is substitution he was the just you and I the unjust he was the righteous the tzaddik we are the chotim the sinners he was suffering the holy one the just one the pure one for the un-pure one you and I mankind the just for the unjust this word is substitution he is taking it from Isaiah 53 all we like sheep of ganastri verse 6 we have turned all to our own ways and the Lord laid upon him Yeshua the Messiah the iniquity of us all this is substitution he became a substitute how precious it is can you imagine when we're going to stand before God and God is going to remind us he's going to say Gideon Gideon for your sin and sins.

My son had to suffer and to be punished for me I judged him so you, Gideon will be able to come to my presence and to receive sin's forgiveness we will eternally going to praise him for this substitution but then notice that the third word here, it says in verse 18 again, that he might bring us to God, that word is reconciliation he is going to bring us back to God you remember beloved brothers and sisters before sin came in Adam faced God and God faced Adam there was a joy between God and man there was not a distance but sin came into the world and because of sin Adam now turned his back on God and he fled from God and he hid himself behind the trees he no longer could come back to God but God loved him and he wanted Adam to come back so how God would bring Adam back God had to judge a sacrifice an animal to shed blood so now because God could not look at man now God could turn himself now to man.

And he's saying to man come to me back be reconciled with me so now man on the basis of the finished work of the Messiah can turn himself and now he can be reconciled back to God so beautiful the ministry of reconciliation that we have in Scripture Daniel said in janiel chapter 9 and verse 24 that when a Messiah will die he will finish he will make an atonement for reconciliation to bring men back to God to bring Israel, the nation, back to God, Daniel 9 and verse 24, reconciliation, it's so important, so what we learn here from these verses, propitiation, substitution, reconciliation happen here in the work of the Lord Jesus, for the Messiah has once and for all suffered for sins, the just, for the unjust, that he might bring us, you and I, those early believers, the Jewish believers who scattered to bring them back to God when they were so far away from him now let's move on into this difficult passage in verses 18b here's where the difficult passage coming notice what it says.

Here in verse 18b being put to death in the flesh but quickened by the spirit oh so many views we have over this verse and i'm just going to elaborate a little bit about these verses first of all the biggest problem here in this text is to identify in verse 18b whether he was making a contrast between the human flesh of the Messiah and the human spirit of the Messiah or the human flesh of the Messiah and the holy Spirit who have raised the Messiah notice verse 18b it says here been put to death in the flesh that means he died but he was resurrected by the spirit here is where lies the question in the Greek we don't have capitals so in the Greek when it says spirit you have to know to identify whether it is speaking about the human spirit of the Messiah or the holy Spirit himself the person of the Ruach ha-kodesh the holy Spirit some say that here in verse 18 we have the Messiah who died and his spirit needed to be resurrected or revived now.

A couple of things i want to make clear when Yeshua came into this world he is the eternal son of God when he was born through the virgin Miriam he took the nature of man the seed of Abraham he became literally a human being he never stopped to be God he still was always and will always be divine but he also took the nature of humanity to be union with the divine nature So when he became a man, he had human body, he had human spirit, and he had human soul. He was literally man just like you and I, a human being. I show you this by reading a verse or two.

Turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 23. In order for a person to be considered to be a human being, 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 23 tells us, And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray that your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus the Messiah. Here's a human being that has spirit, soul, and body. If one has not spirit, soul, and body, he is not a human being. An animal, for example, has a body and a soul, not spirit. A plant, for example, has a body, but not a soul and not a spirit. Only human being that has been created in an image of God has spirit, soul, and body.

And therefore, when Yeshua, the Messiah, entered into this world, he had taken upon himself human nature, just like you and I, sin apart. One more verse. Turn to Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 14. The writer said to the Hebrew believers for as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood he also himself likewise took part of the same just the same like the human race have flesh and blood Yeshua also himself took of the same nature in order that through death he might destroy him that has the power of death, that is the devil. Hebrews 2 and verse 14. So it is clear in the Bible that the Messiah, the Son of God, became a human being, spirit, soul, and body.

So when he died on the cross, as we read in 1 Peter 3 and verse 18, the Messiah suffered for our sins. He died as a just for the unjust. He literally was separated from God. What is death death means separation when a person die his body and his soul and spirit are being separated so when Yeshua the Messiah died for us on the tree he was separated from God you remember his body went to the grave and his spirit and his soul went to sheol now again it is so important to grasp this here the reason i'm saying that he went to shoal because he said that in Psalm 16 and verse 10 you will not leave my soul in shoal neither will you allow your holy one to see corruption this is in the grave so the spirit and the soul separated from the body of Yeshua the Messiah and then in order for him after he was three days and three nights in the grave.

And he soul was in shawl he needed to be resurrected after three days and now to become alive to be resurrected united with the soul and the spirit and the body and to be resurrected here in this world and so that's what the Bible teachers are now dealing with this question he put to death in the flesh but he was creakened by the spirit some believe that it's applied to the human spirit here in verse 18, and not to the Holy Spirit of God. I personally take this verse to my understanding now, the Lord might reveal to me otherwise as time goes on, that what the apostle is saying here, that he died in the flesh when the Messiah died, but the Holy Spirit of God resurrected him in due time after three days and three nights that he was in the grave and so verse 18b one have a problem to distinguish whether it speaks about the human flesh and the human spirit or whether it speaks.

About the human flesh and the holy Spirit of God let me make one more reference you don't need to turn there but the proof that Yeshua had spirit soul and body found in those three verses in the Bible spirit in Luke 23 verse 46 and John 19 30 Yeshua said i commend to you my spirit when he prayed on the cross to the Lord when it's come to the soul in Psalm 16 10 he says you will not leave my soul in sheol his human soul he had it's also written in John 12 and verse 27 and the fact that he had a human body found in Matthew 26 and verse 26 he said this they were eating together Yeshua said unto them take break it he gave to the disciple he said take this is my body had a reference to his very own body so he had a spirit he had a soul and he had a body the Messiah but now after all this explanation that i'm saying about verses 18b i want you now to go to verse.

19 and look what he's saying there that's why it makes it so difficult to understand he says by which also he went and he preached unto the spirits in prison which sometimes were disobedient when once the long sufferings of God waited in the days of noah while the ark was a preparing wherein a few that his eight souls were saved by water and here we need help from the Lord to understand it by which he also went and he preached unto the spirits in prison some people believe and i believe it's wrong that the Lord Jesus when he died he went to hell and he was preaching the message of the gospel to those who died and he told them that they might have another chance now to accept him and to go to heaven this is wrong this is not correct this is not biblical and that's why we have to kind of understand what is going on here you notice that it's saying in.

Verse 19a that which has a reference to the holy Spirit in the previous verse where it says he was quickened by the holy Spirit by the same spirit by which by the holy Spirit he this is the Messiah went and preached unto the spirits which are in prison now but he preached to them long before when they were still alive do you see what I mean beloved brothers and sisters the Lord Yeshua the Messiah preached through the power of the Spirit of God to those individuals who are now in prison in hell but before they were alive in the days of Noah you see it says in verse 20 which sometimes in other words before they were disobedient when the long sufferings of God waited in the days of Noah while the ark was in preparation so Yeshua the Messiah long before he became a man he preached in the power of the Spirit of God through Noah and to those individuals who are now in Hades in hell in prison but when.

They were alive they heard the message of the gospel the message of the love of God when Noah was preparing the ark before the judgment came upon the face of this world do you know brothers and sisters that Noah was a preacher of righteousness he was preaching every time that he put a nail into the ark he was saying to these of all he's saying judgment is coming the flood is going to come God is going to judge this world in righteousness I am preparing an ark for the safety of my family will you come in will you accept Yeshua the Messiah of course the Messiah was not born as yet but will you accept the word of God the proclamation of God but they rejected it and noah was preaching and he was sharing the word of God but they rejected the message of Noah turn with me to Genesis chapter 6 for a minute Genesis chapter 6 verse 1 says this and it came to pass when men began to be multiplied upon the face of this earth and the daughters were.

Born unto them that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair and they took them wives of all that they chose and the Lord said my spirit shall not always strive with men for that he also is flesh yet his days should be 120 years there were giants in the earth in those days and also after that when the sons of God came into the daughters of men that they bear children unto them the same became mighty men which were of old men of renown and God says in verse 5 he saw the weakness of men that was so great on the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of their heart was evil continually and it repented the Lord that he had made men on the earth and it grieved him in his heart and the Lord said I will destroy men that I created from the face of this earth both men and beasts and creeping things and the fowls of the earth for it repenteth me that I have made them but verse 8.

Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord and these are the generations of Noah Noah was a just man and a perfect in his generation and Noah walked with God here we find that Noah he walked with God and he was the one that God has said to him you build an ark get it ready because I'm going to judge this world in righteousness now those people have heard the message about the Messiah through noah who was preaching in the power of the Spirit of God the message concerning the Messiah the concerning God but they rejected it and they despised the message of noah and now they are in prison they are in hades they are to suffer eternal loss but when they were alive they heard the message and they rejected the message of Noah and now we find out that the preaching of the coming of the Messiah was already preached by Noah a long time ago in the power of the Spirit of God and those souls that rejected the message are finding themselves now in prison.

In 2nd Peter 2 and verse 5 we read that Noah the eighth person was a preacher of righteousness he preached the righteous message of God to the world around but they refused the message of the gospel and so back to our chapter and I'm going to conclude here with this very very difficult passage even to explain and I pray that the Lord will help you to grasp it and as you read for yourself you will understand the Lord will help you to understand that i'm sure it says now in verse 20 which sometime with disobedience when the long suffering of God waited in the days of noah while the ark was in a preparing wherein a few that is eight souls were saved by water now what does that mean the eight souls were saved by water they were already saved spiritually because we know from Genesis chapter 6 that Noah was a just man.

He walked with God. He was already forgiven. God found favor, placed favor on Noah. But Noah and his family were saved physically. From the judgment of God through the water when they came to the other side of the new world after the rest of the world was judged by water so what the flood that was placed in judgment upon the world the very same flood became a figure of what we know today as water baptism now water baptism does not save but water baptism is that which gives us a good conscience before the Lord When we act in obedience by going through water baptism, we say publicly to those who observed it that we identify with the Messiah, Yeshua, for forgiveness of sins.

We are already saved positionally but water baptism is a testimony to the fact that we identified with the death and burial and resurrection of the Messiah so he says in verse 20 eight souls were saved from the judgment of God this is the physical judgment of God not the eternal judgment of God not the spiritual judgments of God they were saved by the water and God have brought these eight souls noah his wife shem ham and jeffet and their wives he brought him to the other side through the water of judgment and that water now became a figure and here how do we know it become a figure because the next verse says in verse 21 it says the like figure where unto even baptism also now does save us so what he's really saying that baptism save us he doesn't talk about spiritual salvation oppositional salvation but baptism for those Jewish believers of first century it saved them physically from the coming judgment of the 70 AD that the Romans were coming to destroy Jerusalem and the temple.

Those Jewish believers had to identify with Yeshua the Messiah and by identifying with him in baptism it saved them from physical destruction that came upon the rest of the nation of Israel who did not believe in Yeshua the Messiah let me just one more time read this verse again water baptism is an identification with Yeshua's death burial and resurrection water baptism does not save us spiritually but it put us on the ground of identification with the Messiah publicly in this world and therefore God's blessing is upon those that take the stand with him i'm reading again verse 21 the like figure where unto even baptism tvila does also now save us and he adds listen to that not the putting away of the filth of the flesh what the baptism doesn't put away the filth that we have of sin nature that is spirit baptism does but it does answer of a good conscience towards God by the resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah when a believer and especially those Jewish believers who had a hard time in first century.

To identify with Yeshua the Messiah because of the people to whom they belong the Jewish people the rest of the nation did not believe in the Messiah so for them to take a stand with Yeshua the Messiah it separated them from the rest of the nation of Israel where the 70 ad judgment came upon the nation and you know what happened in 70 ad when Titus came with the Roman's army destroyed the temple in Jerusalem over one million Jewish people died at that time and that was the judgment of 70 ad because of the rejection of the messiahship of Yeshua the temple was destroyed no more temple for our people Israel since 70 AD nearly 2,000 years there is no temple in the city of Jerusalem when the Romans came and destroyed the temple and therefore water baptism put a person on the ground of identification with the Messiah and the water that Noah had been upon with his family served to be a picture of water baptism which delivers one from the physical judgment of 70 AD and for us today.

We can go into the water a million times it doesn't save us but it places us in baptism identifying with the one that we already have accepted in our hearts that we already belong to him and it just identify us with Yeshua the Messiah here in this world now i conclude this chapter in verse 22 who is gone unto heaven you see Yeshua the Messiah after he died he was buried and he rose again he has ascended he has gone to the right hand of God the father he's sitting at his right hand and notice it said at the end of verse 22 angels authorities powers being made in subjection unto him everyone is in subjection to the Messiah angels authorities powers all are in subjection to him and we also are to be in subjection unto him as believers and by going through the water baptism we identify with him and taking a place of submissiveness to our Lord Yeshua the Messiah God said to him in Psalm 110 and verse 1 sit down on my right hand until I will.

Make all thine enemies thy footstool now brothers and sisters please forgive me if I didn't explain this sufficient enough these verses but Lord willing in due time as we study the word of God I will seek to go over that again and to make it a bit clearer than what I have done today. But the Lord is able to help us to understand his word better as we study it, read it, and pray and ask for his help.