Truth
Jesus prayed in the
garden to The Father in that prayer He said this "Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is
truth. "As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into
the world. "And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be
sanctified by the truth. John 17:17-19
If we are in Christ we must be set apart (Sanctified) by truth. God's word is truth and Jesus is the
way, the truth and the life. So truth must be our aim and our endeavour, in how we walk, what
we speak and what we believe.
Eternity is real and forever. Our belief in God and Christ can not be divorced from Sheol - Hades & the lake of fire. David in Ps 139:8 said " If I ascend into heaven, You [are] there;
Eternity is real and forever. Our belief in God and Christ can not be divorced from Sheol - Hades & the lake of fire. David in Ps 139:8 said " If I ascend into heaven, You [are] there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You [are there.]"
God's eternity and omnipresence somehow include His presence in Sheol (OT)- Hedes (NT)
God's eternity and omnipresence somehow include His presence in Sheol (OT)- Hedes (NT)
At the point of Christ's crucifixion we read in Luke 23:39-43 "Then one of the criminals who
were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” 40 But
the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the
same condemnation? 41 “And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but
this Man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You
come into Your kingdom.” 43 And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be
with Me in Paradise.”
The question we need to ask was where did the criminal and Jesus then go when they died? The verse says Paradise, so where was that?
First lets consider accounts of the resurrection of Christ in the new testament.
Matt 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, 1Corinthians 15:1–6, John 21:14
The prophecy concerning Christs resurrection is recalled by Paul "For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. “he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. "Psalm 16:10, Acts2:27-31
Notice in 1Peter 3:15-22 that it was by the same Spirit who raised Christ by whom also He (the Spirit of Christ see Rom 8:9) preached to the spirits in prison.
First lets consider accounts of the resurrection of Christ in the new testament.
Matt 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, 1Corinthians 15:1–6, John 21:14
The prophecy concerning Christs resurrection is recalled by Paul "For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. “he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. "Psalm 16:10, Acts2:27-31
Notice in 1Peter 3:15-22 that it was by the same Spirit who raised Christ by whom also He (the Spirit of Christ see Rom 8:9) preached to the spirits in prison.
Our New testament understanding must be that Jesus is first in all things and therefore does things
before His church can do it or does it. We need to consider some things. Jesus's pre-eminence
see Col 1:14-23. We also read that He was & is the word of God, who is God yet who became
flesh (John1, 1John1)
He has to die first and be resurrected before we can. He overcame death and sin so we by His
He has to die first and be resurrected before we can. He overcame death and sin so we by His
spirit can. He ascended up to the Father so that in Him we can also be blessed with every
spiritual blessing (Eph 1) and if we die before He returns we will be with Him apart from our
When we are away from (absent) from our body (tent) we are present with the Lord.
When the final resurrection comes our soul that has been with the Lord will be brought with the
Lord at Jesus’ coming and the bodies in the ground will be resurrected & gathered to the clouds,
our bodies will be made new and incorruptible. (although I am not sure how this happens)
So already we can see that when a believer dies there soul goes to be with the Lord. There body
goes into the ground until the day of resurrection which happens at the last day.
The Old Testament concept of those who believed God and where saved and made righteous.
Remember Old or New Testament saints are saved through faith not by works.
But what about when they died?
OT saints went to Sheol also called Abraham's Bosom, also known as Paradise.
Notice the poor man Lazarus went to Abraham's Bosom & the rich man went to Hades.
Sheol was the old testament name and Hades is the new testament name for the place of dead souls.
be left in Sheol. That means the souls who belong to God will not either. Hence 2Cor 5:1-8
But this verse also tells us that Jesus would have to go to Sheol and yet He would not remain there.
So when Jesus said to the thief on the cross who believed "Today you will be with me in paradise"
So when Jesus said to the thief on the cross who believed "Today you will be with me in paradise"
is in the heart of the earth (Matt 12:40)
In traditional bible teaching we are told the Lord ascended to heaven and so we say that paradise must
In traditional bible teaching we are told the Lord ascended to heaven and so we say that paradise must
therefore be in heaven which sounds true but He did not ascend to heaven when He died. In fact
called Abrahams’ bosom and His body went into a tomb where the stone was rolled in front of the
entrance. We would then understand Paradise moved from hades to heaven.
Hell is not the right word for Sheol /Hades because of the bad translations of the original Greek text
in some Bibles (including the KJV) that do not define the 2 separate compartments, but use the same
word hell for the one place.
So Sheol/Hades was and is like a waiting room, where the souls of the dead went, both OT believers
and none believer. But it had two sides. Notice in verses16:25-26 “But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember
that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and
you are tormented. ‘And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to
pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’
There was a “great gulf fixed” it couldn’t be crossed either way. The rich man was in the torment side, Lazarus was in Paradise (Abraham's Bosom).This side is now I believe empty since Jesus was resurrected, but the other side holds the tormented unsaved who wait the white throne judgement.
(Rev 20:11-14) says “Then death and Hades are judged, that means the unsaved who have been waiting in Hades/Sheol will be resurrected and then cast into the lake of fire. Also known as Gehenna. “
So to clarify this again Sheol/ Hades is divided into 2 halves or compartments one part was for OT
saints this part was known as Abraham's Bosom – or paradise. The OT saints waited there until the
go to the torment side of Sheol/Hades, His soul went to Sheol/Hades to the place known as Abraham
Bosom or Paradise it is in the heart of the earth. From there His soul ascended, fulfilling Ps16:10.
In 2Peter2:3-5 we read “By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time
In 2Peter2:3-5 we read “By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time
their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.For if God did not spare the
angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell (Tatarus) and delivered them into chains of darkness,
to be reserved for judgment;and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people,
a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly;”
The word hell is wrongly translated as it is in fact Tatarus Strongs number G5020 ταρταρόω tartaroo
The word hell is wrongly translated as it is in fact Tatarus Strongs number G5020 ταρταρόω tartaroo
(tar-tar-oh'-o) v.
1. to incarcerate in the Abyss "Tatarus" to await final judgement and eternal torment
[from Tartarus (the deepest dungeon of Hades, known as the Abyss)]
KJV: cast down to hell.
Jesus did not go to the place of torment (sometimes called hell) when He died, He went to Sheol,
1. to incarcerate in the Abyss "Tatarus" to await final judgement and eternal torment
[from Tartarus (the deepest dungeon of Hades, known as the Abyss)]
KJV: cast down to hell.
Jesus did not go to the place of torment (sometimes called hell) when He died, He went to Sheol,
to Abraham’ bosom. He was raised bodily from the grave. He is now alive at the Fathers right hand.
He will be coming again to gather His own, judge the living and the dead and reign in Jerusalem as
King of Kings on the earth.
Where will you be going to be?
Where will you be going to be?
link to audio on hell by Chris hand.
Part 1
Part 2
