In connection with our confessional reading this afternoon, I invite you to turn with me to Revelation chapter 22. Now, the book of Revelation, as many of you know, is the book of last things. In it, we read about the end of the world, we read about what God is doing at that time, what Satan is doing at that time, and what the future of the church will be. And Revelation 22 is the end of the end, the final destination, the heavenly Jerusalem and who will be there and who will not be there. Let's read Revelation 22. Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb, through the middle of the street of the city. Also, on either side of the river, the Tree of Life, with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His servants will worship Him. They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads, and night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. And he said to me, these words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place. And behold, I'm coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me. But he said to me, you must not do that. I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers, the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God. And he said to me, do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. But the evildoers still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy. Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Blessed are those who wash their robes so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs, and sorcerers, and the sexually immoral, and murderers, and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star. The spirit and the bride say, come. And let the one who hears say, come. And let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who desires to take the water of life without price. I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book. If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes away from the words of this book and of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city which are described in this book. He who testifies to these things says, Surely I am coming soon. Amen, come Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen. And we have now come in our confessional reading to Lord's Day 16. Please turn there with me. That's page 530 of your book of praise. At Lord's Day 16 of the Heidelberg Catechism, along with discussing death, Lord's Day 16 discusses eternal death. Lord's Day 16 discusses hell. Not in the exact same context as Revelation with end times prophecy, but rather in the context of the life of our Lord Jesus Christ and his ministry. That most confusing line of the Apostles' Creed, he descended into hell. What does this mean? What can this mean? Let's read, Lord's Day 16. Why was it necessary for Christ to humble himself even unto death? Because of the justice and truth of God, satisfaction for our sins could be made in no other way than by the death of the Son of God. Why was he buried? His burial testified that he had really died. Since Christ has died for us, why do we still have to die? Our death is not a payment for our sins, but it puts an end to sin and is an entrance into eternal life. What further benefit do we receive from Christ's sacrifice and death on the cross? Through Christ's death, our old nature is crucified, put to death, and buried with him, so that the evil desires of the flesh may no longer reign in us, but that we may offer ourselves to him as a sacrifice of thankfulness. Why is there added, he descended into hell? In my greatest sorrows and temptations, I may be assured and comforted that my Lord Jesus Christ, by His unspeakable anguish, pain, terror, and agony, which He endured throughout all His sufferings, but especially on the cross, has delivered me from the anguish and torment of hell. After the sermon, we will sing our Amen song of Hymn 31, both stanzas. May God bless the preaching of the truths of His Word. Beloved in Jesus Christ our Lord, there is a famous inscription, so the tale goes, above the gates of hell. You may have heard these words, or you may have read these words before. This is supposedly the inscription. Abandon every hope, ye who enter here. Abandon every hope, ye who enter here. What you may not know is that this inscription comes from Dante's Divine Comedy, a narrative poem about a man named Dante who travels through hell, and then purgatory, and finally reaches heaven. This is a medieval writing with some of the understandings coming from the Roman Catholic Church, a church with a very overactive imagination, and some coming from Dante himself, who had a very creative mind. The Divine Comedy, it is not a good source to understand theology. It's not. It shows a very warped and twisted understanding of scripture and of God. However, this inscription over the gates of hell, this does possess some truth. And the familiar part of the inscription, that's just the last bit of it. The full inscription reads like this. Through me, the way into the suffering city. Through me, the way to the eternal pain. Through me, the way that runs among the lost. Justice urged on my high artificer. My maker was divine authority. Before me, nothing but eternal things were made, and I endure eternally. And then, our line, abandon every hope, ye who enter here. There's a lot that's right in this inscription. There's a lot that does tell the truth about hell. The suffering city. Good description of it. Eternal pain. It's made for the lost, not the found. My maker was divine authority. God is in control of hell. I injure eternally. It's eternal death. Abandon every hope, ye who enter here. Hope is only found in Christ. These things are true. These things are biblically accurate descriptions of hell. Now, on a day like this, on the last day of the year, a Sunday afternoon, why all this hell talk, you might ask? Couldn't we hear about something else? Couldn't we hear about something nicer, about something more comforting? Well, the comfort will get there, but much like Dante, we have to go through hell to get to the glories and comforts of heaven. They have to truly understand what we mean when we confess every Sunday, like we did just a few minutes ago, he descended into hell. And so, on this last day of the year, this Sunday afternoon, ask the question with me, do we really believe a Savior who descended into hell? You'll see that the answer is a qualified no and a comforted yes. Do we really believe a savior who descended into hell? First of all, a qualified no. So we have to go, this afternoon, through hell to get to heaven. Now, obviously, we shouldn't take this literally. This plot point of the Divine Comedy is nonsensical. The only way out is through idea. That this man, Dante, he has to travel through hell and then through purgatory before finally reaching heaven? It's utter nonsense. We know that the journey for all believers is through this life, and then immediately in heaven. Not a split second out of fellowship with God. We worship Him here, we close our eyes in death, immediately we open them in glory. And this is possible through Jesus Christ, the one who closed the gates to hell, the one who opened the gates to heaven. Hell is closed to believers. And so, if Dante, if the character in this story, was a believer, he could never have gone through those gates to hell. And if he was an unbeliever, he could never have left hell. The gates are closed. But how? Well, the gates of hell, they're closed to believers because we have one who suffered hell for us, for our sake, in our place. And in the last few Lord's Days, we've seen the descent of our Lord, haven't we? We've talked about that, that it's like a staircase going down from heavenly glory, worse and worse and worse. Starting in Lord's Day 14, where we confess He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. So God himself, emptying himself of his divine glory, becoming not only a baby in a manger, but even before that, becoming a single cell in a womb. Then, Lord's Day 15, he suffered. During all the time that he lived on earth, but especially at the end, Christ bore in body and soul the wrath of God against the sin of the whole human race. Suffering like nobody else can suffer. Before him, like nobody else would suffer after him. And now, Lord's Day 16, the descent continues. He died. He died. The God of life died. He was buried. He really died. His spirit was separated from his body. His body had no life left in it and was buried below the earth. And then our focus for this afternoon, he descended into Hell. And it's this line, it's this part of it, where we seem to have some kind of mental block here. We can accept and have some understanding of the miracle of the Incarnation. That God himself, God Almighty, took on human flesh in order to save us. We don't know exactly how, it was a miracle after all, but we know that that single cell in Mary's womb, going through the phases of human development, being born, growing up into a man, that was God himself, the second person of the Trinity. And we can accept and we can have some understanding of his suffering, despised and rejected, feeling the weight of the wrath of his heavenly father every day of his life, knowing that the cross was coming. We can accept and have some understanding of his death. Even though he's God and he's immortal, somehow he died. It's hard to square that circle, but we know that he breathed his last. We can accept and we can understand that then his body was buried. But that is sent into hell. No matter how many times it is taught from the lectern, no matter how many times it's preached from the pulpit, we always inevitably end up asking, okay, but did he really? Did he really descend into hell? And what does that mean anyways? And when we turn to Lord's Day 16, when we look at question and answer 44, our confusion over this, it only increases. Because even though the question is asked, no answer is actually given. Why is there added, he descended into hell? In my greatest sorrows and temptations, I may be assured and comforted that my Lord Jesus Christ, by his unspeakable anguish, pain, terror, and agony, which he endured throughout all his sufferings, but especially on the cross, has delivered me from the anguish and torment of hell. This is an amazing answer. This is wonderful, this is comforting, but it doesn't actually answer the question. So, let's ask that question here bluntly and receive an answer bluntly. Did Jesus really descend into hell? Did Jesus really descend into hell? No. No, he did not. Even though there is a literal spiritual realm known as hell, the suffering city, eternal pain, a place for the lost, made by God himself, a place where all who enter it should abandon every hope, Jesus never went there. He never stepped foot in the realm of the damned. Now, one of you might say, well, what about those passages then that speak of him descending? What should we make of those passages, then? Well, let's examine those passages. Let's tackle this problem head-on. One of those passages is Ephesians 4. Please turn there with me. Ephesians 4. That's page 977 of your Pew Bibles. Page 977. We actually heard a little bit from this, this morning as well, about ascending on high, leading a host of captives. Anyways, Ephesians 4, the first 10 verses. I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. There's one body and one spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore, it says, when he ascended on high, he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men. and this is the main point here, in saying he ascended, what does it mean that he also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens that he might fill all things. So there are those who point to these verses, especially in older translations, such as the King James Version, and that has verse nine, and it says it in this way, this is the King James Version, Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? That's how that has it translated. And so they take this to mean that Jesus' ascent into heaven came after his descent into hell. It's like poetry, it rhymes. He went to hell, and when he was done there, he went into heaven. But that, it doesn't do justice to the verse, that's not what is being talked about here. Now, it can be translated this way, it can be translated the lower regions of the Earth, or it can be translated, as we have it here in the ESV, the lower regions, comma, the Earth, the lower regions, that is, the Earth. And neither translation here actually refers to any kind of descent into the suffering city. So we have to look at this in context. The Apostle Paul, he's answering the question, how can Yahweh, how can the great I Am, the eternally existing One, without beginning, without end of days, how can He ascend? He's already as great as He can possibly be. How can He ascend? Well, it's because Yahweh, the great I Am, the eternally existing One, without beginning, without end of days, it's because He descended first. We heard that also this morning, John 3, what Jesus said to Nicodemus. The only one who ascended is the one who first descended. This descent is best understood as the incarnation, as the beginning of the steps of the humiliation. And the earth, it's always been spoken of in this way, in contrast to heaven. In John 8, 23, you are from below, I am from above. Jesus is not telling the Jews that they were from hell. He's saying that they're from this earth, below heaven. Or Acts 2.19, I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below. Again, there's that above and there's that below, demonstrating heaven and earth in relation to each other. This passage, Ephesians 4, is not about Jesus literally descending into the realm of hell. There is another, there's another text, there's another passage that has some stronger evidence for this. Turn with me now, this is the second one, this is the last one, too. 1 Peter 3, that's page 1016. 1016 of your pew bibles. 1 Peter 3, we'll read the verses 18 and 19. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison. So the simple reading of this, the simple reading of this makes it seem like after the cross, after death, what our Lord did is he went and he continued to work out salvation. He was put to death in the flesh, but his spiritual self, his soul, went down into hell and he preached to the souls of those languishing there, having formerly disobeyed in the days of Noah. But our Lord does, according to this theory, is that He gives these people a second chance. He preaches the Gospel to them. If they believe, He takes them from Hell into Heaven. That's why He descended into Hell, so the story goes. But there are a few issues here with this interpretation. First of all, the issue of the word spirit. In verse 18, for Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit. This should be translated as capital S Spirit, the Spirit, the Holy Spirit. This is not a reference to the spiritual self, to the soul of our Lord. Our Lord was raised up by the power of the Spirit on the third day, Easter Sunday. So that's the timing of the work of the Spirit here. It's not in between, but on the third day. So, He died in the body, but He was made alive in the Spirit on the third day. And then, there's also an issue with the word spirits in verse 19. that word spirits there, it should be understood not as the spiritual selves of human beings, not the souls of wicked men who disobeyed previously, but rather rebellious, wicked, spiritual beings. In a word, demons. Call them what they are, demons. And demons cannot be saved by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. So if he would go down to preach to them, telling them to repent, They couldn't be saved, even if they did repent. And why? Well, the Catechism students know this. We went through this before. It's because our Lord took on human nature to pay for human sin. The cross was not there for demonic sin. The cross, Jesus' sacrifice, did not cover the sins of demons. So, the descent into hell by our Lord, based on this passage, it fails for two reasons. The timing and the purpose. It cannot mean this. So how should this be properly understood then, this passage? It's in the Bible, we should seek to understand it. So we should understand this not as a descent in between the cross and the tomb, not what was he doing there in the tomb, but rather this is about the events of Easter Sunday itself. So here's the fleshed out version then of 1 Peter 3, 18-19. I'm adding in my own descriptive words here. For Christ also suffered once for sins on the cross. That's what's being talked about, suffering for sins on the cross. The righteous for the unrighteous that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh. That was on Friday. being put to death in the flesh on Friday, but being made alive in the Holy Spirit on Sunday, in whose power He rose and proclaimed victory over the demons in hell. That's what this passage means. It was our Lord's resurrection that proclaimed His final victory over death. When He said, it is finished on the cross, He meant it. There was nothing left to be completed in hell. The work was completed on the cross, and it was sealed by the resurrection. Easter Sunday, you could say, is the exclamation point at the end of the proclamation, it is finished. So, did our Lord descend into hell? No, he did not. He did not journey down into the suffering city, past the gates that read, abandon hope. When he was physically in the grave, he was spiritually already in heaven, enjoying heavenly glory with the criminal beside him on the cross, to whom he promised, today you will be with me in paradise. This was not an empty promise. Today you'll be with me, but actually I'll be in hell and I'll see you after today. It happened exactly as he said. So our Lord did not descend into hell. But we can still confess this because he did experience hell. He can say that there is a comforting yes to this question. That's our final point. Now this is where it gets complex. This is the reason that we continue to be confused about this, despite having it taught once a year to the children, preached once a year to the congregation. It's because of this explanation that we can still confess boldly and powerfully he descended into hell. Because even though he didn't literally descend into the literal domain of darkness to preach, to suffer even more, to defeat Satan on his own turf, our Lord did go through hell. Absolutely, 100% he did, and that's what our confession is getting at here. Let's examine it once more. Why is there added, he descended into hell? In my greatest sorrows and temptations, I may be assured and comforted that my Lord Jesus Christ, by his unspeakable anguish, pain, terror, and agony, as he endured throughout all his sufferings, but especially on the cross, has delivered me from the anguish and torment of hell. So just like with Ephesians 4, just like with 1 Peter 3, it's not as clear as we would ideally want it to be. This requires explanation. And the explanation of this, beloved, is so good. It is so comforting. The explanation of this, like everything preached from this pulpit, boils down simply to the gospel. Let's begin with the explanation, and then we'll get into the comfort. So how exactly can we confidently declare he descended into hell every Sunday afternoon if he did no such thing? Well, it's because of what hell actually is. What is the true hellishness of hell? of the true glories of heaven, what we read in Revelation 22. The true glories of heaven are not actually the river of the water of life, bright as crystal flowing from the throne of God. The true glories of heaven are not the tree of life. It's not the 12 gates of the city, each made up of a single pearl. It's not the streets of gold like transparent glass. It's not the 12 foundations made up of gemstones. That's not the true glory of heaven. The true glory of heaven is that we're finally with God. That the dwelling place of God is with man. That he will dwell with us, we will be his people, he will be with us as our God. That is the true glories of heaven. The gold and the diamonds and the river and the trees, they're all extras. They all come with the greatest glory of them all, being forever in the presence of God himself. having been welcomed into not only his house, but into his home. Because a house is for visitors, but a home is for family. That's what we're welcomed into, into God's home. God is the true glory of heaven, and so then the true hellishness of hell, that's the exact opposite, isn't it? The true hellishness of hell is not the location. The true hellishness of hell isn't the darkness, it's not the flames, it's not the lake of sulfur. The true hellishness of hell is the absence of God. God himself, you see, is not in hell. He's not there, not because his reign and rule don't extend there, but he's not there because of his chosen absence. Hell is the judgment of God. And what harsher judgment is there than God removing himself from you? God, the source, the overflowing fountain of all good. Of course, heaven is filled with beauty. Of course, heaven has flowing waters and healing trees and shining golden streets. Because heaven is the home of God. And of course, of course, hell has darkness and pain and fire and punishment because God has fully removed himself from it. Everything good, even the maker of all good things, is gone. And that's why in our reading, you may have heard that I emphasized this one word, that's why in our reading we heard the word outside. Outside, verse 15, Revelation 22, verse 15, outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. They're outside, they're not inside. They're away from the presence of the God of life and light. All that there is then for them is death and darkness. And this is exactly what our Lord experienced, isn't it? Throughout His life, but especially at the end. Throughout His life, as He descended those stairs, as He descended those steps of humiliation, He was going one step further away from God every time. Now in his life, it wasn't as bad as it could possibly get. He still had communion with God. He went away to pray, and he was strengthened. Twice, a voice came from heaven that said, this is my beloved son. With him, I am well pleased. Garden, where the weight of the wrath of God pressed out of him sweat like drops of blood. He still had the presence of God. An angel came to him to comfort him, to strengthen him. But on the cross. When Jesus was on the cross, there was darkness. There was no light at the end of the tunnel. When Jesus cried out on the cross, there was no answer from the Father. There was only silence. When Jesus suffered bodily and his body was destroyed unto death, God didn't save him. God let him die. Through this, he descended into hell. Hell was not after the cross, oh no, hell was on the cross. Each step of his humiliation on this earth, our Savior moved one step closer to hell. One step closer to that moment when he cried out, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? That is hell, God forsakenness. His blessed body was destroyed. His back was torn apart with whips. Blood was running down his face from the crown of thorns that was pressed into his head. Spikes were driven through his hands and through his feet. Darkness was over the surface of the earth for three hours. The light fled as the light of the world was rejected by the ones he came to save. He was forsaken. He was abandoned. That true hellishness of hell he experienced there on the cross. The wrath was poured out. He drank the cup. He became sin. He suffered the wrath of God without the presence of God. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why have you let me, your beloved Son, descend into the depths of hell? It's experiencing the darkness, experiencing the wrath, the forsakenness, and the destruction. Why? He asked this question, let us answer it. Why did this happen? It was for us. It was for our salvation. He did this for you and me, that we will never have to suffer hell. He experienced that unspeakable anguish, pain, terror, and agony of hell for our salvation. so that we will never have to go. It was all for us. It was for all of us, but it was also for each of us. Look, look at how our catechism makes this so personal. Our catechism is such a personal document, and this Lord's Day is no exception. It's so comforting. This is for each of us. Why is there added, he descended into hell? In my greatest sorrows and temptations, I may be assured and comforted that my Lord Jesus Christ, by his unspeakable anguish, pain, terror, and agony, which he endured throughout all his sufferings, but especially on the cross, has delivered me from the anguish and torment of hell. This is what it means for you, beloved. Why did he descend? He descended into hell for you, so that you can turn your back on it forever. As believers, we can turn our back on hell forever. Because for those who trust in the Lord, this life is as close to hell as it will ever get for us. The gates of hell have been closed forever. Hell will never receive a single believer. It's not an option for us. There's one destination for believers, and it isn't the suffering city. It isn't eternal pain. It isn't the domain of the lost. We do not have to abandon hope. No, beloved, it is precisely the opposite. In my greatest sorrows and temptations, when you are tempted to abandon all hope, when you feel as though you are descending into hell right here on this earth, Because that is possible for us to feel that way. When your depression wins the day and the tears just can't stop flowing. When you lock yourself away in a room or in a car and you just scream. An inhuman wail ripped from your throat because of your loss, because of your frustration, because of your pain. God is there. Maybe you're numb. You're numb to everything good, to the joys that you know that you're supposed to feel, the joys that you're supposed to be experiencing. And you're trying to ride out your last panic attack, with your heart beating out of your chest, when you feel as though there is no hope of tomorrow, and suicide seems like your only option. No matter where you go, no matter what you experience, no matter how dark your path is, there is light. God is there. He will never leave you. He will never forsake you. He will never abandon you. There is goodness. There is grace. There is joy available to you. Maybe it's just a tiny sliver of light. Maybe it's just a flicker of hope, but it's there and it will grow. It will grow and grow and grow until heaven explodes around you, until glory descends and you are welcomed into that glorious heavenly city. No matter where we go, no matter where we feel that we have gone, we might feel hell, but we'll never experience it, because God is there with us. We do not have to cry out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Because he hasn't. He is that light in the darkness, as we heard on Christmas Day. The light in the darkness of this world. But he's also the light in the darkness of your life. There's no place where he refuses to follow. There are no depths of despair where he says, that's not for me, that's not my job. He is there with us, always. And this is what he says. He says, through me, the way into the heavenly city, through me, the way to eternal joy, through me, the way that runs among the found, grace urged on my high artificer. I injure eternally, abandon all hopelessness, all ye who come to me. Amen.