1 Peter 3:19-20
J
The theological question we wrestle with this morning is did Jesus Christ preach in Hell? There are four major views as to what happened and why Peter wrote verse 19.   The second question we wonder is why does it matter?  
J
Four main views
  1. The Holy Spirit upon Noah, preached repentance to many before the flood. Those who did not listen (which would be all but eight people) are imprisoned in Hell.
  2. Christ preached in Hell and announced His victory to those who didn’t listen to Noah’s cry for repentance.
  3. Christ proclaimed His victory to fallen angels in Hell to show that Jesus was justified and so will Christians be justified also.
  4. Christ proclaimed His victory to fallen angels after the resurrection to show that Jesus was justified and so will Christians be justified also.
J
  What did the early church think?
J  
It is surprising to find that the phrase “he descended into hell” was not found in any of the early versions of the Creed (in the versions used in Rome, in the rest of Italy, and in Africa) until it appeared in one of two versions from Rufinus in A.D. 390. Then it was not included again in any version of the Creed until A.D. 650. Moreover, Rufinus, the only person who included it before A.D. 650, did not think that it meant that Christ descended into hell, but understood the phrase simply to mean that Christ was “buried.” In other words, he took it to mean that Christ “descended into the grave.” (The Greek form has hadēs, which can mean just “grave,” not geenna, “hell, place of punishment.”). We should also note that the phrase only appears in one of the two versions of the Creed that we have from Rufinus: it was not in the Roman form of the Creed that he preserved. This means, therefore, that until A.D. 650 no version of the Creed included this phrase with the intention of saying that Christ “descended into hell”—and the only version to include the phrase before A.D. 650 gives it a different meaning.
J 
What does this mean and why is it important?
J
  1. There will be hard verses we will wrestle with. We Will Encounter Hard Verses.
  1. Hell is real and we should warn everyone regardless if Jesus literally preached there or not. Hell is Real
  2. Jesus has power over all things. Jesus Has all Power
  3. We will conquer death and Hell through a saving relationship with Jesus. We Are Conquers Through Christ
  4. We must turn to Christ in repentance unlike those unbelievers in Noah’s day. Turn to Jesus for Salvation

J

Let’s pick apart verse 19. “He went”- clearly states Jesus went from one place to another place. “proclaimed” the Greek word kerusso means to herald. This means that He heralded His victory over death. 1 Corinthians 15:55-57 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” If He were sharing the gospel He would have used euangelizo. That’s why I do not believe He was giving anyone in Hell a second chance, just a proclamation that Satan has been defeated. The use of “spirits” here would mean those who have passed away, not those who are currently living. More than likely it refers to demonic spirits. Prison in this context is a place and not a condition.
J  
Here are some descriptions of Hell Revelations 9:1-2 “And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft.”  
J
2 Thessalonians 1:6-9 “since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,”  
J
Revelation 20:10 “and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”  
J
Revelation 20:15 “And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”  
J
How can a person be saved from Hell and have a relationship with Christ? Romans 10:9-10 “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”  
J
How do I know I’m saved?
  1. The Word Confirms it- 1 John 5:13 “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.”
  2. The Holy Spirit Affirms it- Romans 8:16 “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,”
  3. A Life that Reflects it- Matthew 13:23 “As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”
  4. A Love that Represents it- 1 John 3:14 “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death.”