By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; (20) 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. (21) The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: (22) Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.
We have here, in the opening of this scripture, a passage, which hath been a subject to various Commentators of much perplexity. Christ by his Spirit, preaching to the spirits in prison, hath excited great enquiry, and, as may be well supposed, various opinions; especially among men, untaught of God. But wherefore should it be thought a thing more incredible that Christ's Spirit, should preach before the flood, than by his servants the Prophets after? The Holy Ghost assures us, by Peter, 1 Peter 1:11, that it was the Spirit of Christ which, in the Prophets, did signify, both his sufferings and his glory. And why may we not suppose, that it was the same Spirit which spake in Noah, when he preached the righteousness of Christ by faith? Hebrews 11:7
It is really curious to observe, to what lengths, the pride of human wisdom will go, in those who have never learnt of God. It would tire my Reader to hear, much less would I wish him to turn over, the variety of opinions of the carnal, on this passage of scripture. Some have supposed, that Christ at his death, went into hell, to preach to devils, in order to induce them to repent. Others, that he went there to liberate the souls of his saints, then there. Some, take the words as figurative, and with a freedom of thought peculiarly their own, make the passage to mean no more, than that of the preaching to the Gentiles. And others have considered the prison here spoken of, as the Ark; and that Christ, during the time Noah and his family were shut in, preached the Gospel to them. Reader! what miserable work do all men make of God's word, untaught by God's grace! If the Lord be our Teacher, surely there will be no difficulty in learning of the Lord. And in this case, the passage before us will not be attended with any obscurity. Nay, I think, we shall discover in it, a beautiful and striking testimony, to the truth as it is in Jesus. Let us once more read the scripture, under this impression; and looking at the same time up to the Lord, for grace to teach; see what we can make of it.
And first. It is said, Christ by his Spirit went and preached unto the spirits in prison. Now, hence we learn, one grand undeniable truth; namely, that Christ by his Spirit, actually was in the Church before his incarnation; that he was engaged for his Church in personal acts, at the time here mentioned, before the flood; and that he exercised his ministry, by preaching in the instance here recorded. Now, how mysterious soever these things may be, (and how should they be otherwise than mysterious, to creatures such as we are), surely they most decidedly prove, the Godhead of Christ. For, upon what other ground, can such things be said, or supposed to be done? Proverbs 8:12 to the end; John 1:10; Revelation 13:8
Secondly. Those to whom Christ preached are said to have been sometime disobedient, when once the long suffering of God waited in the days of Noah. Now, this silences at once the foolish notion of those noted just now linked, scripture is the best comment of scripture, and there we learn, from the 6th Chapter of Genesis (Genesis 6:1), the truest particulars in relation to this disobedience of men. The old world had corrupted itself, and the Lord in determining the destruction of the ungodly, determined the preservation of the chosen seed, in the person of Noah. In the instrumentality of Noah, (as in the after Prophets, 1 Peter 1:11), the Spirit of Christ preached. And as the Holy Ghost bears witness, by reason of Christ's Spirit preaching in Noah, he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith, Hebrews 11:7; Genesis 6:3
Thirdly. I beg the Reader, in as particular a manner as any, to notice how the Lord's distinguishing grace is marked in the person of Noah, and by the Spirit of Christ. Noah is the first person, concerning whom we read of grace. And it is remarkable also, that the first time we meet with the word grace, or covenant, in the Bible, it is in relation to this man, Genesis 6:8 and Genesis 6:18. And do not both refer to Christ? For who but Jesus is the grace, or covenant of his people? 2 Timothy 2:1; Isaiah 42:6. And what was it but grace which prepared the Ark, or saved those eight persons in it; namely, Noah, and his wife, and his three Sons, and their wives?
Upon the whole, then, I venture to hope, that this sweet scripture, (for indeed it is a sweet one, when opened to us by the Holy Ghost), will comfort both the Writer and Reader of this Poor Man's Commentary, when considered abstractedly from human policy, and brought under the standard of divine truth; not as man's wisdom teacheth, but what the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual, 1 Corinthians 2:13
I shall not detain the Reader, with a long train of observations, on the close of the Chapter, having already so largely trespassed. But I would just beg to remark, on what the Apostle saith in application of the subject, to the present day of the Church, that baptism is called a like figure to the Ark; for both point to Christ, and are made blessed only in Christ. Noah's faith in Christ was what the Ark typified, and the baptism of the Spirit is what alone renders that ordinance profitable, being the representation of redemption in Christ. And the return of Jesus to glory confirms the whole work of the cross being done.