Tabernacle Bible-Presbyterian Church

Q&A Part III

Question #1
Did Jesus go to hades to preach the gospel to those who died in Noah’s flood? (Based on what Peter wrote in his epistle.)

Answer #1
The belief that Jesus went to Hades to preach the gospel to those who died in Noah’s flood comes from one interpretation of 1 Peter 3:18-20 – “For 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 by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.” This view would take the “spirits in prison” to refer to men who died in the flood in Noah’s time and are now found in Hades. However, this view implies that a second chance is offered to those who have died. This flies against the theology of the Scriptures. God’s Word declare in Hebrews 9:27, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:” Furthermore, Abraham declared to the rich man in hell in Luke 16:26, “And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.” To teach that man can now find a second chance to go to heaven once they are in Hades must be rejected on biblical and theological grounds.

The right view to understand the phrase “spirits in prison” is to regard this as souls who are held captive by sin during the time of Noah. Christ in the Spirit was working through Noah, the preacher of righteousness, to proclaim the gospel to them. Those who did not obey are now suffering punishment for their sins in hell. There are several reasons in support of this view. First, Peter called Noah a “preacher of righteousness” in 2 Peter 2:5. The Greek word translated “preacher” in 2 Peter 2:5 corresponds to the word “preached” in 1 Peter 3:19. Second, Peter earlier in the epistle wrote of how the spirit of Christ was preaching through the prophets in the Old Testament. Thus, Noah preaching in the power of the spirit of Christ follows the same theme. Third, the context indicates that just like Noah was persecuted in the past for preaching in the spirit of Christ, Peter was also facing persecution for preaching the gospel.

Question #2
Is the parable of the Good Samaritan about Christ’s love for the sinner who is dying on the road? Or simply an example for us of how to love our neighbour?

Answer #2
The Parable of the Good Samaritan is found in Luke 10:25-37. As stated in the last weekly, we must be careful not to over emphasise the embellishments from the essentials in the parable. A good way is to determine the focus of the parable which is found either in the beginning or end of the parable. In the case of this parable, the parable was Christ’s answer to the question posed by a lawyer – “And who is my neighbour?” (Luke 10:29). The lawyer posed this question because he wanted to claim that he had practised this commandment throughout his life, and thus have inherited eternal life (c.f. Luke 10:25). Through the parable, Christ showed him that if he indeed was a practitioner of the commandment of love, he would also love the Samaritans who were chief enemies of the Jews, just like how the Samaritan showed love to the man who was left half-dead by the thieves.

The doctrine of Christ’s love for sinners can be found in numerous passages of Scripture including the well-loved John 3:16. However, one must be careful not to use a wrong passage of Scripture in support of biblical doctrine. The Parable of the Good Samaritan deals with the question of “who is my neighbour”, and must be treated as such.

As for the interpretation of the parable, please refer to Weekly No. 21 of 2022 on the article entitled, “Who is My Neighbour?”

Question #3
When did Paul go to the third heaven? Did Paul go to the third heaven during the interval between when he was stoned outside Lystra and when he recovered and went back into the city?

Answer #3
Paul wrote of his experience in the third heaven in 2 Corinthians 12:2-4, “I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.”

As for the stoning of Paul outside Lystra, the account can be found in Acts 14:19-20, “And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and, having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead. Howbeit, as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up, and came into the city: and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.” This occurred during the first missionary journey of the Apostle Paul.

First, let us consider what the Scriptures mean by the third heaven. The third heaven refers to the realm where God dwells, in opposition to the first heaven which is the atmosphere where the birds fly and the second heaven which is the abode of the sun, moon and stars (i.e. what is often known today as outer space).

Verse 2 tells us that the “catching up” of Paul to the third heaven occurred some fourteen years ago from the writing of 2 Corinthians. This would mean that the event occurred sometime between A.D. 42-44. Paul would be present in either Tarsus or Antioch. It would also be before the first missionary journey and thus could not have occurred during the stoning of Paul outside Lystra.

Yours affectionately,
Pastor Clement Chew

THE FRUITS OF CHURCH GROWTH (IV)
Preacher James Tan

Spiritual Growth in the Fellowship of the Saints

The fellowship of the saints in the early church (Acts 2:42) constitutes the other aspects of life in the church — the learning of the “Apostles’ doctrine”, the continued observance of the sacraments in the “breaking of bread”, as well as “in prayers”. This simple pattern would form the basis of every church and would be part of the evaluation of how a church grows. The church cannot be said to be growing if members have no interest in studying the Word, pay no attention to the sacraments, or refuse to gather to pray. This is reflective of a lack of reverential fear (2:43) which the early church had. It is not just a mere attendance or gathering on the Lord’s day, but the active participation of the believers in these aspects.

Their care for each other, in how they took care of the welfare of the church (2:44-45), is resultant from the fellowship they had. This physical welfare and care in the church (while important), does not precede the spiritual aspects of the church, and it is not the measure of how a church is growing by how much good works are done. The unity and joy they had (Acts 2:46) was a result of their fellowship with one another in the Word, sacraments, prayer first, then practiced with their mutual care and concern as fellow believers. Having a focus on love and unity without caring first for the word, sacraments and prayer would be going against the biblical pattern. There would eventually be no spiritual basis for any such love shown, which would be man-centred, and man-pleasing, all in the semblance of Christian religion, but being no different from a community centre in reality.

The growth of the church is not centered upon one singular person or just the leadership alone. Paul had the company of saints in travel like Barnabas, Silas, Timotheus, Gaius, Aristarchus, etc. Paul had friends who cared for his safety and well-being while being persecuted at Ephesus (Acts 19:31), and was able to even visit friends “to refresh himself” (Acts 27:3). At this point, it can be observed that the individual churches had grown and matured over the years, such that Paul was able to find such like-minded brethren in all the places he visited. A church cannot be deemed to have grown if no real spiritual fellowship can be found in the congregation. If the members of the church are just another set of friends that would have little difference from the people of the world and would have no real spiritual concerns, then the church has not grown according to the biblical model.

Church Growth and Spiritual Leaders

One of the immediate concerns of the early church was the immense number of converts, the dire needs of the people, and the amount of welfare that had to be managed amongst the needy members of the church. While this was a genuine need, it must be dealt with the right spiritual principles. The key priority of the church is still the Word of God (Acts 6:2, 5), of which its focus cannot be compromised. While the Apostles certainly helped, they found the administration of it to be overwhelming, to the extent that they could no longer focus on the teaching and preaching of the Word. Despite the urgent need, the spiritual standards were not compromised. Even the men appointed must have the right spiritual qualifications and gifts (Acts 6:3). The primary focus of their appointment was not to further expand the church, but to make sure that those in the church are properly ministered to, even in their physical needs.

The focus of the end effect is that “the word of God increased” followed by the record of how “the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly, and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.” (Acts 6:7) This growth in the church would not be possible if the Apostles were not able to focus on the preaching and teaching of the Word.

This is a lesson for the church today that the biblical pattern for church growth is to prioritize the Word always, and never to compromise on the provision of it. All other matters that follow might be important (e.g., finances, administration, etc.), but they can be carefully managed by spiritually qualified and gifted believers. The existing church must be well taken care of first, and as the faithful preaching and teaching of the Word continues, the Lord will add and help the church to mature.

Churches today instead would seek to operate ministries for the sake of expansion and rapid growth first, and often at the expense of the Truth. The neo-evangelical methods that would seek to attract the world, using worldly methods go against the biblical model. They would use the world’s music, activities, business methods, advertising, psychology, etc. to grow the church. Positions are no longer held to biblical or spiritual standards, but for the sake of selfish politics and pragmatism. Leaders appointed to such positions will continue the vicious cycle of growing the church but leading it further away from Christ and the Truth. Though some semblance of the Gospel and the Bible might be used by such churches and ministries, it is a mere façade. This is the form of godliness, but without the true power of the church (2 Tim 3:5).