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1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1. We will look at verses 
10 through 12 tonight, but we'll read the entirety of the chapter. 
1 Peter 1. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, 
to the pilgrims of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, 
Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the 
Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and 
sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace 
be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his abundant mercy, 
has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection 
of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible 
and undefiled, and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven 
for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for 
salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you 
greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you 
have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness 
of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, 
though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honour 
and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom, having not 
seen, you love, though now you do not see him, yet believing, 
you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving 
the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Of this salvation, 
the prophets have inquired and searched carefully who prophesied 
of the grace that would come to you. Searching what, or what 
manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who is in them was indicating 
when he testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and 
the glories that would follow. To them it was revealed that, 
not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things 
which now have been reported to you through those who have 
preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, 
things which angels desire to look into. gird up the loins 
of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace 
that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 
As obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts 
as in your ignorance, but as he who called you as holy, you 
also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, be holy, 
for I am holy. And if you call on the Father, 
who without partiality judges according to each one's work, 
conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in 
fear, knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things 
like silver or gold from your aimless conduct received by tradition 
from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as 
of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was ordained 
before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these 
last times for you, who through him believe in God, who raised 
him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and 
hope are in God. Since you have purified your 
souls in obeying the truth, through the Spirit, in sincere love of 
the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, 
having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible, 
through the word of God, which lives and abides forever. Because 
all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower 
of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but 
the word of the Lord endures forever. Now this is the word 
which, by the gospel, was preached to you." Well, let us pray. Our 
Father, we come before You, and Lord, we acknowledge that we 
need You. We need the power of Your Holy Spirit tonight to be 
among us, Lord, and we ask that You would be pleased to bless 
us in that way, to help to expose the glorious message that is 
contained in this passage of Scripture that we hope to look 
at tonight, and that You would be pleased to bless it to the souls 
of each one of us here, Lord, that it would be a means to bring 
glory to your name, and a means to edify your people here, and 
a means to bring sinners into salvation through your Son, the 
Lord Jesus. So, Lord, we ask for your blessing, and we pray 
this in Christ's name. Amen. Sorry, one second. So, I've been preaching through 
the book of 1 Peter, primarily in Vernon Church, but also here 
have been working through some of the similar sermons, not all 
of them. So it's very important when we're 
working in series here that when it's several weeks in between, 
sometimes we kind of forget what we looked at last time. And it's 
always important to kind of understand the context here. So just by 
way of a very quick review, when we find ourselves in this chapter 
here of 1 Peter, Peter is preaching to the pilgrims of the dispersion 
that he calls them here. These ones who have been, they're 
feeling displaced, they're suffering in various ways, he calls them 
pilgrims. And he's reaching out to them, 
and his intention is for them to shift their focus from their 
circumstances, from where they find themselves, the various 
trials that they're going through, and to focus rather on the heavenly 
realities and what he calls what he calls salvation in in several 
instances here, and everything contained within that, that we 
are in Christ, we are citizens of heaven, we're bound for glory. So if you're in verse, the beginning 
there, at the introduction, verse one and two, he gives us, he 
really highlights the sovereignty of God. Speaking of election 
there and how the salvation, their salvation was wrought out 
by the triune God, that according to the foreknowledge of God, 
the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, and because of 
the obedience and sprinkling of the blood Jesus Christ that 
was how they were they were to be saved so that's his first 
his first in his introduction there to get their minds thinking 
rightly there and then he and then he goes on in verse 3 reminding 
them of the of the abundant mercy of God that this this salvation 
come proceeds from a God who is abundantly merciful that he 
is a God of infinite love and an infinite mercy that that proceeds 
from him and and and That is why we can be saved. And then 
he brings them into the forefront, the inheritance that we as believers 
have in the future too, that we can look forward to that. 
One day we will receive this inheritance, an inheritance that 
he calls here is says here is incorruptible, undefiled, and 
that does not fade away. And we looked at that as that 
it's incorruptible. So it's not corrupted by sin. 
It's not like this world that we find ourselves in now. Everything 
is corrupted by sin. And also that it's undefiled. Undefiled, that there's nothing 
that is unclean. There's no evil. There's no evil 
forces, nothing that can that can defile this inheritance that 
we are headed for, and that it does not fade away. It's not 
something that is subject to the change of time. So it's everything 
that is different than where we find ourselves now in this 
earth, in this temporal world. Everything is polluted by sin. 
It's defiled by evil. And it's subject to change. Things fade away. Things come 
and go. So he's saying, look, we can focus. Look at what we 
have coming. And then in verses six through 
nine, he speaks about how because of this, because of when we think 
of these things, we can greatly rejoice. Even though we're going 
through various trials, if our focus is on these things, understanding 
that this earth is not the be-all, end-all, but we are headed for 
glory, this is what we have in store for us, then we can have 
this joy inexpressible that he says here, joy inexpressible 
and full of glory. And again, that comes by focusing 
on this great salvation and on the captain of our salvation 
that the writer of Hebrews calls him, our Lord Jesus Christ. So 
now when we come to verses 10 through 12 here, he's He hasn't changed what he's trying 
to do there. He still wants to comfort them 
and really highlight this salvation. But he comes at it from a different 
perspective now. In the previous verses, it was 
a lot of what we have in the future, the hope of glory. and 
also just focusing on God, who God is, that type of thing. But 
now he's coming at it from another perspective, and he wants to 
magnify it, to just highlight how great this salvation is, 
how awesome it is. And he does so by showing what 
importance this was to the Old Testament prophets and to the 
New Testament apostles who delivered this message, to them and then 
also even to the angels, in fact, the angels that are desiring 
to look into this redemption here. So he basically is going 
to highlight for them how this salvation that they're experiencing 
is something that has been wrought out by God through all of history, 
and here they are. They have this salvation that 
has been culminated in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. So then that so first so first 
here then we'll look at the Old Testament prophets that That 
these that these men here that it was this was the the subject 
the salvation was the subject of of intense Scrutiny by these 
by these Old Testament prophets here. Holy men of old he calls 
them them later on in the book. So So so he starts up by saying 
then in verse 10 of this salvation now, he's obviously speaking 
of everything He's he's just talked about So not just specifically, 
you know, the fact that they are saved, but what's all included 
in that. He uses the terms, you know, 
inheritance and hope and the living hope there. Those are 
all the same thing, everything that he's talking about. This 
so great a salvation here. And he says that they inquired 
and they searched, they inquired and searched carefully about 
this. So I think there's a common misconception here with this 
passage is that is that the Old Testament prophets, they didn't 
know what they were writing, that they wrote down through 
inspiration, they wrote down, but then they didn't understand 
what it was. Now, we have to be careful, because 
when we think of inspiration, inspiration was not a dictation. 
God did not say, you know, they didn't listen, hear something, 
and write it down, and then have to go and read it and study it. 
Now, there are instances where they do receive visions and express 
things from the Lord, and I think Daniel, there's an example in 
Daniel where they have to go back and, you know, the Lord 
said, write this down, what exactly was that? But generally speaking, 
the Holy Spirit used these men, and their characters, their cognition, 
and what they wrote down was not, they understood what they 
were writing about. So they knew that this revelation 
that Peter is talking about here, this revelation that they had 
was of a saviour, was of a king, Savior King who would who would 
come and and and one who would save them from their enemies, 
you know So it's it's not that they didn't know that they were 
speaking about the Messiah and they and they were trying to 
understand that they've they fully Understood that that they 
were speaking of the Messiah and it's not it's not that they 
were questioning the truthfulness of the message either the the 
You know, they were they had the they had the Holy Spirit. 
They knew that God was speaking through them It was very clear. 
That's why they they prefaced so much of their of the prophecies 
and of their instructions with, thus saith the Lord, or the word 
of the Lord came to me. So they understood that the Lord 
was speaking. So this is not questioning the truthfulness 
of their message. It's not questioning the content 
of their message, of their revelation. But they're seeking to understand 
the fuller meaning behind this message, because they did not 
have a complete revelation of all of this. It wasn't until 
the coming of Christ And the subsequent explanation of that 
message by the apostles who were endowed with the Holy Spirit, 
who Peter says here that they were the ones who took this message 
and explained and preached it to them. It wasn't until then 
that this fuller understanding was achieved. In the London Baptist 
Confession, chapter 7, verse 3, it's very helpful there that 
That paragraph says, or part of the paragraph says, this covenant, 
speaking of the covenant of grace and salvation, this covenant 
is revealed in the gospel, first of all to Adam in the promise 
of salvation by the seed of the woman, and afterwards by farther 
steps until the full discovery thereof was completed in the 
New Testament. So the full discovery was completed 
in the New Testament. So now these prophets were seeking 
to understand what what is this they were they were studying 
it they were trying to learn but they didn't they weren't um it was 
not given to them and later it we'll see here that it says that 
they they it was revealed to them that this was something 
in the future that was going to happen the grace that was 
going to be come to us so and that's what he says here next 
that they prophesied they prophesied of the grace that would come 
to you so peter makes this distinction here now between between what 
we have received and what and what they have received not in 
terms of Not in terms of salvation, it's not that they didn't receive 
grace and we do. Important to keep that in mind 
as we go through here. The Old Testament prophets were 
saved by faith, to be sure. So he's not speaking of the grace 
in that regard, but it's like the confession says, it's the 
full discovery of this grace that was completed in the New 
Testament. Turn to Matthew chapter 13 for 
a minute, Matthew 13. verse 16 and 17. Jesus says, 
But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for 
they hear. For assuredly I say to you that many prophets and 
righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see 
it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. So they 
had this desire to see, but they were not given this fuller understanding 
of what they were speaking about. But we have that. The grace has 
come to you, and we know that that is because of the Lord Jesus 
Christ, that Christ is the one who fulfills the Old Testament, 
and the one that it all makes sense, it all comes together 
in our Lord Jesus Christ, that he is the one that, in all the 
circumstances around him, that explain all these various prophecies 
and various things that these Old Testament prophets were speaking 
of. So for example, we think of Psalm 65 verse 3, David says, 
as for our transgression, you will provide atonement for them. 
So they have this revelation that God will provide atonement 
for them, but it's in the New Testament, that's where we see 
Jesus crying out, it is finished, paid in full, as he dies on the 
cross, that atonement there being paid. Isaiah 53 prophesies and 
it gives a lot of detail in Isaiah 53 of this suffering servant 
of Yahweh. He would suffer, he would be 
crushed for our iniquities, he would be crushed by Yahweh himself 
as his soul was made an offering for sin. And then when we come 
to the New Testament, Romans 3 tells us here, we see that 
the man, Christ Jesus, being set forth by God as a propitiation, 
Propitiation is the payment to satisfy divine wrath, the propitiation 
by His blood to bring about our redemption. So Christ is the 
one who answers that, Christ is the one who gives us that 
fuller understanding of all the Old Testament, what the Old Testament 
pointed forward to. Turn to 2 Corinthians for a minute, 
2 Corinthians chapter 3. 2 Corinthians 3 verse 12 through 
14. Therefore, since we have such 
hope, we use great boldness of speech, unlike Moses who put 
a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could 
not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. but 
their minds were blinded. For until this day, the same 
veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, 
because the veil is taken away in Christ. Even to this day, 
when Moses has read, a veil lies on their heart. Nevertheless, 
when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord 
is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there 
is liberty. But we have all, with unveiled face, beholding 
as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transferred into 
the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit 
So very, very, very clear here that we see that Christ is the 
answer to all of these, to all of these, the Old Testament. We think of in Moses, Moses received 
this revelation from the Lord in Exodus 34 where the Lord says, 
says that he's a God who's abundant in mercy and a God who's abundant 
and forgives all sin and transgression and iniquity. And then the second 
half of the verse, he says, but by no means will clear the guilty. 
Well, that leaves us with a big problem. But Christ is the answer 
to that problem there. So the veil is taken away in 
Christ. When one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 
So we can see then very clearly how that New Testament gives 
us the complete picture of this salvation. But these Old Testament 
prophets here, as Peter says, they were seeking to learn more 
about it because it was a matter of such importance to them. So it says here that they were 
searching what, or what manner of time. So some translations 
say who, or what kind of person, and what manner of time. And 
again, they understood that they were speaking of a saviour king. They understood that there was 
one who would come from the seat of David, and one who would be 
a king forever, and that he would be the saviour. But they were 
trying to understand, what kind of a person would this be? What 
kind of a person would be a king, yet one whom God would crush 
as an atonement for sin, but yet his soul would not be left 
in Hades. He would be raised from the dead, 
as David says in Psalm 10. What kind of a person could that 
be? And what would be the circumstances 
surrounding his arrival? When would he come? You know, 
these things, they were trying to understand this. But they 
weren't given that information. It tells us here that it was 
revealed to them that rather it was going to be, it was to 
us. These things would come to us in their future. So they didn't understand that. 
But we know that it was in the fullness of time. God sent forth 
his son, born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those 
who were under the law. So they were trying to understand, 
when would that time be? Well, it was the fullness of time, 
Paul says, God's time. Now there's definitely some practical 
application for us in this as well with these prophets here, 
thinking of them studying and learning and wanting to know 
more about who this Messiah was here. I've talked often about 
this need for us to be studying, to be learning more about this 
salvation. That's how we are As Peter has 
been teaching in the previous verses here, that's how we get 
through sufferings, and that's how we can deal with sufferings 
in our life, with joy and with peace, by knowing who our God 
is. And this is, again here, just another reminder to look 
at these Old Testament prophets here. and to follow their example, 
studying. I love the quote by Charles Hodge. He says that the gospel is so 
simple that a child can understand it, yet so profound that studies 
by the wisest theologians will never exhaust its glories. And 
I think that is just a beautiful quote because it's so true. We, 
like these prophets here, they didn't have the full revelation, 
but we have this fuller revelation, as the Confession says, the full 
discovery of it in our Bible. So we ought to be studying, learning 
more about who our Savior is. So now that, you know, we have 
the full discovery of it, but that doesn't mean that we have 
Because we have the New Testament and we have these things explained 
to us by these apostles, that doesn't mean that once we've 
read through the New Testament, then we've got it all figured 
out. That's why I quoted Hodge there. There's no way to exhaust 
the glories that are contained within the Word in regards to 
the Gospel. So we are to continue to learn. 
We have to strive to continue to learn about our Savior. Because 
the full revelation of Christ is not here yet. Peter says that 
all this stuff will be, this hope, this inheritance that we 
have, it's all coming at the revelation of Jesus Christ. here 
that he says in verse seven at the end, the revelation of Jesus 
Christ. That's when we see Christ face to face and we don't, and 
it's no more, we don't walk by faith anymore, we walk by sight 
because we will see him face to face. But until then, we are 
still walking by faith and therefore to bolster our faith, to grow 
our faith, we ought to study and learn more about who our 
savior is. I think this morning, Pastor, 
again mentioned that the church, Yeah, the Church, the Bride of 
Christ, looks at the Bridegroom, looks at Christ as the chief 
among 10,000 and, escaping me now, but, what's that? That's 
right, altogether lovely, thanks. But that is how we ought to look 
at our Savior and have that desire to learn more about Him. So the 
more we learn, the more we study the Word and learn, the more 
we can look forward to in anticipation to the future, to the revelation 
of Jesus Christ and seeing him face to face. And then again, 
the more that will help us to get through the various trials, 
various difficulties that we will encounter in our lives here. 
So then in verse 12 here, it says that it was revealed that 
not to themselves, but to us, they were ministering. So they 
knew that these things that they were prophesying about, it was 
revealed to them that this was going to come in the future, 
in their future. So they had this, an eschatological 
approach then, as they were studying, as they were making these careful 
searches here, understanding then, okay, this is in the future. 
to the future for that fulfillment of what they have been speaking 
of here. One man says that they were aware 
that they were speaking of a Messiah, but who the man should be who 
would hold that office, or what period in their history he would 
arise, they longed to know. They foresaw a Christ, but could 
not foresee Jesus, and they could give their Christ no definite 
position in history. So that's what they understood, 
that he was in the future, but they understood he was the Messiah, 
but they didn't know that he would be Jesus and when he would 
come. Now, Peter says that these things that they have been prophesying 
about, they're fulfilled now in our era. He says we have the 
full discovery of this salvation, this so great salvation here. We think of Simeon and Luke. 
chapter 2, Simeon was waiting in the temple. Now, he had received 
divine revelation from God that he would see the Christ, that 
he would see the Messiah. And he says here, as he picks 
up the baby Jesus, he says, Lord, now you are letting your servant 
depart in peace according to your word, for my eyes have seen 
your salvation. So here he is. He's the Messiah. He's here. He's the savior of 
the world, the fulfillment of the Old Testament. He's arrived. 
And that's what Peter wants them to understand, that they're in 
this same era. Christ has come. Christ has fulfilled 
this Old Testament, and they're recipients of this salvation 
here. And now this solidifies, of course, 
the Christian message as well. This was not a new thing, that 
Jesus of Nazareth comes onto the scene and, you know, claims to be the 
Christ, whatever, and the group follows him. It was not a novel 
thing. This was what the Old Testament was speaking about. So it solidified that message 
there. You know, Jesus, in John chapter 
5, verse 39, he says, you search the Scriptures, for in them you 
think you have eternal life, but these are they which testify 
of me. So Jesus making it very clear that the Scriptures were 
speaking about him. But how could they be speaking 
about Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth? Well, it was because what Peter 
says here, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating 
when he testified. So again, just realizing that 
their message, that the message here was of divine origin, that 
the Spirit of Christ was the one who enabled these and inspired 
these men to write this message, the message that the Christ was 
coming and that he would be in the future there. So affirming 
that message as a message of divine origin. And now the same 
spirit who we'll see later on here that is in verse 12 is the 
one who is delivering the gospel message through the apostles 
and the New Testament preachers. That same Holy Spirit now has 
gone out to bring that message through these men to the world. 
But it says here that they testified beforehand of the sufferings 
of Christ and the glories that would follow. So we have to remember 
again here what Peter's doing. He's wanting to strengthen their 
faith and comfort them as they're going through the midst of all 
these various trials that they're going through now. And he does 
something very interesting with the way that he words this part 
here, with the sufferings of Christ. What he actually says 
here, he says the sufferings into Christ, or even more literally, 
we would say the into Christ sufferings. Or we perhaps could 
go as far as to say the with Christ And I believe that's the 
idea conveyed there, and that preposition of in Christ, the 
preposition contains the idea of being placed in and being 
with. And some people look at, some 
commentators, I should say, look at that as a, translate it as 
the until Christ sufferings, and with the idea, and it can 
be used that way, perhaps, that preposition, but with the idea 
that suffering until Christ returns, but I think the idea here that 
Peter wants to convey is that you are with Christ, suffering 
because you are in Christ. And I have John Calvin on my 
side to support that. Kelvin here, he says, this then, 
speaking of the sufferings, the sufferings, what our Bible says, 
of Christ, these sufferings is not to be confined to the person 
of Christ, but a beginning is to be made with the head, so 
that the members may in due order follow. As Paul also teaches 
us, that we must be conformed to him who is the firstborn among 
his brethren. In short, Peter does not speak 
of what is peculiar to Christ, but of the universal state of 
the church. So, I think Kelvin here acknowledges 
that, yes, he is speaking of Christ's sufferings, for sure, 
that Christ did partake of sufferings, but yet that it's not limited 
to that, that he's also referencing their sufferings as well, that 
they are experiencing these sufferings because they are in Christ, or 
they are with Christ. And later in the book, in chapter 
4, verse 13, he says that they are partakers of Christ's sufferings 
there. So understanding that not only 
is he speaking of the fact that Christ will suffer, but more 
so that they are suffering as part of that, that Christ as 
the head, as Kelvin says here, What did Kelvin say here? The 
beginning is to be made with the head. So Christ was the one 
who suffered as our head. Well, the members, the body of 
that are in due order to follow, Kelvin says here, so that we 
will suffer because Christ suffered. And then also, too, that as Christ 
entered glory after he suffered, then so too will we enter glory 
after we have suffered. And we can be assured of that 
because that's based on the sure promises of God as found in Scripture. So sufferings and glory. Christ 
suffered, entered glory, so too will we suffer and enter glory. And he says here that the Old 
Testament prophets, they testified about this. And we find that 
they experienced that as well. They understood this idea of 
sufferings and glory. I think Job, for example, Job 
suffered terribly. We're very familiar with that. 
And in Job chapter 19, he says, have pity on me, my friends, 
for the hand of God has struck me. So he's suffering. But then 
he goes on to say, for I know that my Redeemer lives, and he 
shall stand at last on the earth, and after my skin is destroyed, 
this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall 
see for myself, and my eyes shall behold." That's glory. So Job 
understands sufferings and glory. And we can think of Psalm 23 
as well. You know, yea, though I walk 
through the valley of the shadow of death, that's suffering. And 
then he goes on and he finishes the psalm that I will dwell in 
the house of the Lord forever. So that's glory. We see that 
all through the Old Testament, that pattern of the understood, 
sufferings and glory. In James 5, he says, take, my 
brethren, the prophets who have spoken in the name of the Lord 
for an example of suffering, affliction, and of patience. 
So this was not a new phenomenon that his audience was experiencing, 
Peter's audience here, but this was the pattern. what would happen to the people 
of God, because that was the message that was contained in 
the Old Testament, that sufferings and glory. Now we have, Peter's 
saying, we have a clear understanding of why. It's because we are in Christ, 
because we are with Christ, that Christ went through sufferings, 
ahead of us, to secure glory for us. Now, we obviously don't 
experience the same type of suffering as Christ did, to be sure, you 
know, or the same amount, especially when we think of the sufferings, 
you know, Christ suffering on the cross. But that's not his, 
you know, his Christ suffering the wrath of God. He did so, 
so we don't have to. That was specifically the purpose 
of the cross. So he's not He's not saying, 
you know, you're gonna suffer those same things, of course 
not, but the idea that Christ suffers and enter glory, we will 
suffer and enter glory there. Excuse me. But we see Jesus, who was made 
a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned 
with glory and honor, that he, by the grace of God, might taste 
death for everyone. For it was fitting for him, for 
whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many 
sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through 
sufferings. So Christ is our head, what he 
has gone through, and so too will we go through 
on our on our journey to glory, sufferings and then glory. Now, 
we have to understand here that, as Peter said as well, he says 
it's a, you know, you have suffered, you've been grieved by various 
trials, he says here. So now when we speak of, you 
know, suffering is inevitable, and we heard a lot about that 
this morning, you know, suffering, we all suffer in various ways. 
So, you know, I don't want to, we don't want to that we're going 
to, you know, something is bound to, horrible to happen, but just 
the reality that suffering does happen in this lower world and 
that, you know, it's a variety of suffering that we experience, 
but yet that is what God has laid out for us there. So just don't want to scare you 
or worry you that we're all destined to have some sort of a horrible 
suffering in our life because of because of this concept. That's 
not what Peter's getting at here. Like he said, he calls it various 
sufferings for that purpose. And then he goes on here, he 
says, in verse 12, to them it was revealed, so we sort of dealt 
with that already, that it was revealed to them that the Messiah, 
the Savior, King of whom they were prophesying, he's not going 
to come in their lifetime, but he's going to be sometime in 
the future. And now this message that they've 
received, that Peter's audience has received here, this is the 
same message that was preached to them by these apostles and 
preachers in in the New Testament era now. So now everything has 
been fulfilled. The new covenant that Jeremiah 
and the other prophets foretold, that new covenant is here. That 
covenant has been ratified. All the terms have been met by 
the work of the man Christ Jesus. And that salvation is here. God has come, Emmanuel, God in 
the flesh, met the terms of that covenant and now And now we can 
experience this salvation because of that. Now turn to Hebrews 
9 for a minute. Hebrews chapter 9, verse 11. 
Verse 11 through 15. But Christ came as the high priest 
of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect 
tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation, 
not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, 
he entered the most holy place once for all, having obtained 
eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and 
goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies 
for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood 
of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without 
spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the 
living God. And for this reason, he is the mediator of the new 
covenant, by means of death for the redemption of the transgression 
under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive 
the promise of eternal inheritance." And they're so very, very, very 
clearly seeing that Christ is the one who has come. He's fulfilled 
all that, and now salvation is possible because of what Christ 
has done. And then he says here that these 
things which have now been reported, to you. So these are the, these 
things, these are what the Old Testament, or what, sorry, what 
these New Testament preachers, apostles, are going and teaching 
them. They're these things that have been reported among you. 
These are all the things concerning the Lord Jesus, concerning what 
He did, how He came and fulfilled this covenant. They're these, 
all the things that the Old Testament prophets foretold. Think of Jesus 
on the road to Emmaus, speaking to these to these two men there 
in Luke chapter 24. He says to them, he says, you 
old fools and slow of heart to believe. And he says, ought not 
the Christ to have suffered? Ought not the Christ to have 
suffered these things and to enter into his glory? And beginning 
at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the 
scriptures the things concerning himself. So these were, and through 
those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit, he 
says here. So all these things that surrounding 
the Lord Jesus Christ, these are the things that he has, that 
they have preached to them and taught them. All these things 
that were taught, that were prophesied by the Old Testament there. Now 
he says they've been preached, They've been preached by the 
Holy Spirit. Those who preach the gospel to 
you by the Holy Spirit. Now, many commentators would 
think that this is a reference to Pentecost. And of course, 
it very well could be that they receive the Holy Spirit from 
heaven there at Pentecost. And whether it's specifically 
referring to Pentecost or not, either way, it's the fact that 
these men were equipped by the Holy Spirit to explain to the 
people all the things concerning this man, Jesus of Nazareth. All these things around him, 
what had happened to this man, Jesus. This was exactly what 
the Old Testament had prophesied about what would happen to the 
Messiah, and that this man was, in fact, was the Christ, that 
he was the Christ whom he had claimed. This story, all these happenings here, it 
was Christ. And we have the Holy Spirit coming upon these men in order 
to rightly teach and rightly explain this to them. Turn to 
Acts chapter 2 for a minute. Acts chapter 2, we'll see a prime 
example of that there. Peter standing up and speaking 
there in Acts chapter 2. We'll just begin at verse 22. First, in verse 14, he explains 
these things in regards to Pentecost and all the happenings that were 
there. And then he goes on to explain now about Jesus of Nazareth. 
Men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested 
by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through 
him in your midst, as you yourselves also know, him being delivered 
by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have 
taken by lawless hands, have crucified and put to death, whom 
God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it 
was not possible that he should be held by it." And he goes on, 
and he works all through here. He continues to rehash sort of 
all the account of the work and of the crucifixion of the Christ 
here. And if you drop down to verse 
30 again, he says, Speaking of david now david being a prophet 
knowing that god had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit 
of his body According to the flesh he would raise up the christ 
to sit on his throne So peter's saying, you know, look david 
understood that that that that and david foretold of the christ 
who would come from From his body the fruit of his body as 
the as the king There and he goes on then that um He, foreseeing 
this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul 
was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. This 
Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore, 
being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from 
the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this 
which you now see and hear." And then he continues on, we 
can drop down to verse 36, Briefly there, he says, therefore, let 
all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this 
Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. So very clearly 
explaining that all this stuff that happened to this man, Jesus 
of Nazareth, this was in fact, this was what was going to happen 
to the Christ. And this, he is in fact the Christ. He's come. 
He has brought in salvation. And we see that more often in 
Acts as well. In chapter three, he says the 
same, in verse 18 of Acts, he says, which God foretold by the 
mouth of all his prophets that the Christ would suffer, he has 
thus fulfilled." Again, speaking of the Lord Jesus there. So, 
in Acts 7, Stephen goes through the whole history of the nation 
of Israel with that intent to show them that, look it, this 
Christ was the one that was prophesied, that he would come. He wasn't 
even allowed to finish his sermon because they were so convicted 
by what by the fact that, just like he says, just like your 
fathers killed all the prophets who prophesied of this Christ, 
you know, you killed him, and they just couldn't take that. So they killed him before he 
could finish. So we have these men gifted by 
the Holy Spirit to give us this fuller explanation and to bring 
that message to to these pilgrims of the dispersion, this message. 
And not only just their testimony as they went around preaching, 
but then also as they start writing epistles to the letters, epistles 
that now we find in our canon of scripture, epistles that are 
inspired by the Holy Spirit. Now they have a divinely inspired 
interpretation of the Old Testament as well in explaining who Christ 
was, what manner of who it was, what manner of person, what manner 
of time. Well, it's now. It was when Christ was here, 
when Jesus of Nazareth was here. He's the Christ. It's been fulfilled. 
Richard Barcello says that the New Testament is the infallible 
interpretation of Jesus in relation to the Old Testament. So we have 
an infallible interpretation of what these Old Testament prophets 
were inquiring and were searching carefully about and what they 
were prophesying about. An infallible interpretation 
of it in our New Testament. So now Peter says then to these 
suffering believers, he says that you are recipients of something 
that has been anticipated since Genesis 3.15, since the fall 
of man. that all of redemptive history 
so far had been pointing to this One who would come, and now He's 
come, and He's fulfilled it all there. So that God in His sovereignty 
orchestrated all of history to bring about these events that 
He prophesied about, and to bring about this moment, this climax 
of salvation with the coming of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. 
into this world and bringing about redemption through Him. 
Jesus who took on flesh, the Son of God took on flesh for 
us men and for our salvation. And Peter wants them to realize, 
he's saying here, you are the recipients of this, this great 
salvation. It's truly amazing how God has 
brought it out, and you get to be the recipients of that. And 
another thing that Peter doesn't really draw it out here, but 
I think it sort of just follows, is that in order for them, just 
to help them have an appreciation for this salvation and the gospel 
message there, is that, you know, he talks about how the gospel 
was preached to them by these men who were filled with the 
Holy Spirit. It's that it was a, because it's a message that's 
so, so wonderful that these men were willing to submit themselves 
to all sorts of suffering in order to bring this message to 
the ends of the earth, as they had been commanded to. So, you 
know, that they were, Paul says the gospel is the power of God 
unto salvation and that message of the gospel that the men were 
willing to die to bring that message. It should help them 
to realize just the value, the magnitude of their salvation. These men could have stayed in 
Jerusalem. They received the Holy Spirit. 
They could have stayed there, but rather they obeyed what Christ 
had told them to do, was to wait there until they had the Holy 
Spirit, and then to go and bring this message to the uttermost 
parts of the world. So they followed that, they suffered 
much for the cause of bringing this message, this message of 
so great a salvation to these people. And then he goes on here, 
he says here, the things which angels desire to look into. So again, this salvation or salvation 
is something so great. Redemption is so great that even 
the angels, they take interest in it and they want to watch 
the proceedings. What is this? To look into, here 
he says. It gives us sort of the idea 
of a bending over and looking down, watching it. And I think 
it sort of reminds us of the Ark in the Old Testament in the 
temple there. On the Ark was the two angels 
looking over, bending over, looking at the mercy seat on the Ark. The mercy seat was sprinkled 
with blood signifying the atonement for sin so that mercy and grace 
could be given. And again, that's obviously pointing 
forward to the atonement made by the death of Christ to atone 
for sin so that grace could be given there. And the word indicates 
this perpetual desire to watch this, to continue to watch, to 
watch this redemption play out in history. As redemptive history 
plays out, the angels are watching this and they're amazed by it. 
It's the salvation of man there. Because the angels don't experience 
redemption for themselves. We understand that there's fallen 
angels, Satan and his angels, there are fallen angels. and 
they cannot be redeemed. They are destined for eternal 
punishment. And we also know that there are 
elect angels in 1 Timothy. Paul talks about elect angels 
there. And these angels, they're elect, 
but they have not been redeemed. Rather, they're put into some 
sort of a state where they are not able to sin. So, you know, but 
they didn't need saving because they never saved and they've 
never sinned and they've been prevented from sinning. So therefore 
they don't need to be redeemed from anything. But now, so therefore 
they watch the redemption of man play out because redemption 
really is amazing. And that's why Jesus says in 
Luke 15, he says that there's much rejoicing Heaven among the 
angels every time a sinner repents and is saved it's because because 
redemption because salvation is Is so amazing grace is so 
amazing there so if we think we just we think of redemptive 
history God God creator he creates a He creates man in his own image, 
the crown jewel, we would say, of his creation, in his own image. 
And he tells that man, he says, to not eat of this tree. And 
in the day that you eat of this tree, you will surely die, he 
says. And then man, instead of obeying God, listens to the serpent 
and eats of the tree. But on that day, they didn't 
surely die. Yes, we understand they died 
spiritually in the sense of their nature became fully corrupted 
by sin, but they did not immediately die that day. Rather, an animal 
died, and God used the skins of those animals, animal, whatever 
it was, to clothe Adam and Eve and make them presentable, so 
to speak. So that's how it starts out. 
And then we have the promise given, that one day of the seed 
of the woman, someone who would come, who would undo all of the 
work of sin and what the devil had done and redeem mankind. And then throughout history we 
have the promises to Abraham, that in his family all the seed 
of the earth would be blessed. All nations of the earth would 
be blessed by someone from his seed and promises made to David 
that it would be a king from his lineage who would sit on 
the throne forever. And we have a continual revelation 
of redemption. And then when we come to the 
New Testament, to the arrival of Christ on the scene, and suddenly 
it's the Son of God himself who comes down, takes on humanity, 
and becomes a man in order to redeem Man, it's no wonder the 
angels are amazed. And now we see Christ, He fulfills 
everything in the Old Testament, brings about the salvation of 
mankind, of His people. And again, and then the promise 
goes out to all of man. The promise is given, or the 
call is given to all who believe in the Lord Jesus will be saved, 
will be able to experience this great salvation. It's really 
a wonderful, amazing, amazing message that we find in the scriptures 
there, and the angels look into this and they're amazed by what 
is happening and that same call would go out now as well that 
all who believe in the Lord Jesus will be saved. You will experience 
this great salvation and in Hebrews Hebrews chapter 2, it says, how 
shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? So if you're 
here this evening and you have not come to Christ, have not 
trusted in Him, do not neglect it, do not reject it, do not 
delay, do not turn away, but rather believe on the Lord Jesus 
Christ and you will have this great salvation that that Peter 
talks about here. He doesn't use those words. That 
comes from the writer of Hebrews, but yet that's the idea. This 
is that we are to be amazed by this salvation that we get to 
be recipients of. So that concludes our exposition. Just by way of a few practical 
applications, then, again, just that we take example from these 
Old Testament prophets as far as when it comes to studying, 
to learning, to growing in our faith because we have this fuller 
revelation, this fuller discovery that our confession says in our 
New Testaments. But yet we are still walking 
by faith. We have not yet experienced the full revelation of Jesus 
Christ that Peter speaks of that is coming in our future when 
we see him. So we're walking by faith, but we can strengthen 
that faith by a diligent and careful study of the Word of 
God. And remember, that's Peter's 
whole point in this book here, is that in order to strengthen 
them, strengthen their faith by pointing them to the realities 
of this great salvation that they are part of. But we may not be necessarily 
experiencing you know, such difficulties right now, in the here and now, 
but this is preemptive. This is a way where, you know, 
by when these things may come in our future, and it will happen, 
you know, we're all going to experience loss and suffering 
and pain in many different ways, but yet if we are, you know, 
we don't wait till we're experiencing them, but yet beforehand that 
we are studying, we are learning, We're resting our minds on these 
things so that as we do experience suffering, we are able to go 
through that suffering with this joy inexpressible and full of 
glory that Peter says here. And then again, just to understand 
the pattern of sufferings and glory, that this is a reality, 
that we will suffer. You know, what Peter says in 
chapter 4, he says, think it not strange concerning the fiery 
trials that you're experiencing. So don't be surprised when sufferings 
come. That's the pattern that has been, 
that the Old Testament prophets spoke about our Christ experience 
and that we as being in Christ experience as well. Sufferings 
on our way to glory. John Kelvin here says, the Church 
of Christ has been from the beginning so constituted that the cross 
has been the way to victory and death a passage to life. So just 
the idea of sufferings and glory. And then lastly, again, just 
like I mentioned, just to be amazed at our salvation, that 
it is, you know, to ponder these things, to study the gospel and 
learn more of Christ, and then in that, God is glorified and 
we are edified, and then we will know that joy unspeakable and 
full of glory. So, let us close in a word of 
prayer. Lord, we do thank you for this 
passage of Scripture, and we thank you for your Word. Lord, 
we thank you that we have these passages like this that point 
us again to this great salvation that we can be part of, that 
we can be recipients of. Lord, it is humbling, and yet 
it is so Encouraging and we are so thankful for that lord. We're 
so thankful that we have We have been rescued from from the kingdom 
of darkness and that we have been Brought into your kingdom 
the kingdom of the son of your love and we are so thankful for 
that lord and our hearts are greatly encouraged by passages 
like this that tell that that speak and speak so So highly 
of our salvation and that caused us to be amazed by our salvation 
So lord, I do pray that that we would be Our hearts would 
be filled with the love for our Savior, with the love for you, 
and that we would leave here with that joy unspeakable and 
full of glory and praising our Savior all the day long. Lord, 
I pray that for each one of us here, and I do pray if there 
are any here tonight, Lord, who do not know you as Savior, that 
they would not delay, they would not hesitate, they would not 
neglect so great a salvation. So Lord, we do pray that you 
would revive the hearts of those who who do not know You. Lord, we pray Your blessing on 
us as we go our separate ways in this week. Watch over each 
one of us. Bless us, Lord. Help us to do all things for 
Your honour and glory, to live in light of this great salvation 
and have a desire to bring glory to You in all that we do. So, 
Lord, we pray this all in the name of our Saviour, the Lord 
Jesus. Amen. We'll close with a time of meditation.