The First Underground Revival
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The “underground” churches of China and Islamic nations are bursting forth with thrilling reports of revival. Such fellowships are referred to as “underground” because they meet in “secret” locations due to political-religious persecutions. Over 2,000 years ago the First Underground Revival took place. It was not symbolically “underground”. The event happened in the deepest regions beneath the earth’s surface in locales known as Abraham’s Boson/Paradise and Hades/a place to torment. The timing of the revival was during Jesus’ 3 days and nights of death. While His mangled body lay in the tomb, His spirit descended into hell and then crossed over into Paradise. He preached a sermon in each location. The sermons were different in content, but both had the same effect on the audiences. In a fulfillment of Philip 2:9-10, those under the earth bent their knees in homage to the Name of Jesus.
The unrighteous were eternally rebuked for not listening to the prophetic warnings of their day. Their folly became abundantly clear as Jesus, the one of whom the prophets spoke, declared His righteousness and Lordship. They bowed their knees too late. They were sentenced to remain in the place of torment.
Many of the righteous heard words confirming the accuracy of the prophecies they’d uttered about the birth, ministry, death and victorious resurrection of the Coming Messiah. All were commended for their faithfulness. They by no means were sentenced to remain where they were. Shortly after Jesus’ physical resurrection from the dead, they too were raised. Their bodies came out of their graves and were seen by many as they walked the streets of Jerusalem. Later, when Jesus ascended from the Mt. of Olives they were the cloud of witnesses with whom He entered heaven. They joined all of heaven in exuberant rejoicing as Jesus of Nazareth took His rightful place at the right hand of God the Father.
When I get to heaven, one of the first DVD’s I plan on checking out will be about, The First Underground Revival. What a joy it will be to see the saints of old receiving the fullness of salvation. The cast will include Abraham, Moses, Sampson, John the Baptist, Sarah and the thief who Jesus promised to meet in Paradise, It will be exhilarating to watch them walking Paradise’s isles to answer the altar call given by Jesus to confess Him as Lord.
Explanatory Texts
The mini-exhortation I’ve offered deserves further study. To fully appreciate what has been stated it would be best to read through the following outline with a Bible in hand. It documents the things Jesus’ spirit and soul experienced/accomplished during the 3 days and nights after His crucifixion. It’s an explanation of what He did in the spiritual realm while His torture scarred body lay in the tomb Thursday through Saturday night.
1) All of the OT saints anticipated and desired to be part of the company that was to be raised from the dead almost simultaneous to the resurrection of Jesus. It could be, their graves cracked open during the earthquake at His death. For sure, their resurrections took place on Easter Sunday morning - Matthew 27:51-54
2) This company included Job, Jacob, Joseph and all the other OT saints that had lived righteous lives. The following verses indicate each named had prophetic inklings of what would take place around the time of the Messiah’s sacrificial death and victorious resurrection. – Job 19:25-27, Heb. 11:21-22, Gen. 47:28-31, 50:24-26, Joshua 24:32.
3) Paying the full penalty for the sins of mankind necessitated that Jesus taste every phase of death’s punishment including hell – Heb. 2:9, Ephes 4:9, Acts 2:27, Psa. 71:20-21
4) Psa. 88:6-18 is a Messianic Psalm that foretold Jesus sufferings in hell. Verses 10-12 hint of the points covered in His sermons to the spirits of the dead in Paradise/Abraham’s bosom and to those in hell. The answer to all the questions asked in those verses is, “Yes”.
5) The sermons preached to the righteous and the unrighteous culminated with a fulfillment of Philip. 2:9-10. The list of those that will bow their knees at the Name of Jesus includes those “under the earth”.
6) Prior to the resurrection of Jesus Abraham’s bosom/Paradise and hell were located in the interior regions of the earth and had an impassable gulf between them – Luke 16:19-31
7) First - At death Jesus’ spirit and soul descended into hell and preached to the spirits of the unrighteous dead that had perished in Noah’s flood - 1 Peter 3:18-20. It was a sermon of judgment and they bowed their knees to Jesus confessing His Lordship. This was a prophetic formality as it did not release them from hell.
Second – He crossed over the impassable gulf and preached to the righteous dead in Paradise. It was here He met the thief who had been crucified beside Him and all of the saints of Old – This is when the righteous OT saints bowed their knees to the Lordship of Jesus. Such qualified them to be resurrected and to go to heaven in body, soul, and spirit when Jesus ascended from the Mt of Olives. LK 23:43, 1 Peter 4:5-6, Acts 1:9-11, Heb 12:1, 18-24
9) When His spirit and soul burst from the neither regions of the earth they collided with and entered His physical body as it lay in the tomb. It was instantly resurrected. The procession behind Him was the OT saints from Paradise; David, Solomon Ruth and so forth. Shortly after his resurrection, their spirits and souls hit their decayed buried bodies and they came bouncing out of their graves. Post that event Paradise was emptied and the spirits of righteous/born-again people go directly to heaven at death. However, they will not be physically resurrected until the trumpet blast of the Coming of the Lord.
10) 40 days later from the Mt of Olives Jesus ascended into heaven with the OT saints that had been resurrected. Their cry of His victory was foretold in Psa 27:7-10. Heb 12:1, 18-24 speaks of a great cloud of witnesses.