The Privilege of our Salvation
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I was having a conversation the other day with a fiend about the convenience of being able to pay for things at the checkout line with your cell phone. And he was irritated with those stores that didn’t afford you the opportunity to pay with your phone. Apparently the technology is already there in the credit card readers, they just have to enable that functionality. And in the middle of the conversation, I stopped and said, “You know what, that is very much a 1st world kind of problem.” And he laughed and admitted the fact. How difficult is it to pull out your wallet and get out your credit card and swipe the card though the machine? If you lived in a 3rd world country you would be concerned about where your next meal is coming from, and here in the USA we get irritated if every convenience is not afforded to me.
When immigrants come to America (hopefully legally), a lot of the times they end up being hard working diligent people. Why? Because they realized the privilege it is to live in America. Because they didn’t have it this good back in their home country. So they work hard to keep the privilege of being in the USA. Contrast that with some Americans who instead of feeling privileged feel entitled. Those that take advantage of government welfare programs and do little to no work because they just expect the government to take care of them, probably don’t have the same level of awareness of the privilege afforded to them by being a USA citizen.
Tonight I want to talk about the privilege of our salvation. As believers in Christ, as church age saints we have a privilege that is unparalleled throughout the rest of salvation history. Our problem is that we sometimes take advantage of that privilege.
Peter is encouraging the scattered Gentile believers that form various local churches in what is now modern day Turkey.
He first encouraged these believers by highlighting the wondrous hope that is afforded to them.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
Then he encouraged the believers by marveling at the inexpressible joy that is theirs through their faith and love for Christ.
Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
Peter is now encouraging believers by describing the unparalleled privilege that they have through their salvation.
Believers be encouraged, you have been afforded an unparalleled privilege by means of your salvation in Christ.
How do we determine the quality of the privilege of our salvation?
Peter highlights this privilege with two important truths.
I. The mission of the prophets highlights the privilege of our salvation
I. The mission of the prophets highlights the privilege of our salvation
Mission = They searched diligently
Context:
Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
Salvation = justification, sanctification, glorification
Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
Of this salvation the prophets have
1). exerted an incredible amount of effort in order to learn something about it
2). and have made careful and meticulous inquiry to try to find out as much as they can.
They have inquired and searched diligently.
Notice the important contrast
“who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:”
In the Greek the word “you” is emphatic. Peter wants these readers to understand that this grace which was prophesied by the prophets of old was for you- in a significant way that it was not for the prophets. Now that doesn’t mean that the prophets were not recipients of God's grace as well. Salvation in every dispensation is a matter of grace through faith.
But, the privileges of this grace are not the same from one dispensation to another. The prophets did not get to experience the subject of their prophecies. And in fact the prophets did even understand fully the prophecies they gave.
“Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.”
So after the prophets prophesied of the grace that was to come, they went back and searched for the context that would become the fulfillment of their own prophesies, that is “what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ did signify”
That means when the prophet Isaiah penned chapter 53, when he wrote these words,
Surely he hath borne our griefs,
And carried our sorrows:
Yet we did esteem him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
When Isaiah scribed these words he did not fully realize the context in which these precious truths would be fulfilled. So he searched diligently he inquired in what time or person or place, in what manner of times these things might come to pass but he never was privileged to see his prophecies come to fruition.
Yet believers, you have seen Christ!
Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
You have not physically stood before His cross, but you have seen Him. You have seen your Savior through the eyes of faith. How? Through the revelation that has been given you in the Word of God, that privilege was not given to Isaiah or Jeremiah. But you have, with eyes of faith, born witness to your Savior hanging blooded on that cross. You have seen his nail pierced hands and feet. You have glimpsed his thorn pierced brow. You have seen the blood freely flow from his side in substitutionary love for your sake. You have heard with ears of faith those words spoken with grace and mercy from the cross- “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” And you have heard the agony of the cry, “My God, my God, why have you forsake me?”
Every word of Isaiah 53 bleeds the Lord Jesus Christ. That is a privilege unparalleled in salvation history. That is something that the prophets searched out diligently and sought fervently, but were not given the same privilege as you or I.
Imagine if Isaiah was given the privilege of standing before the cross to see the fulfillment of his own prophesy. Imagine as he viewed the Lord being nailed to the tree, and the sky turning to blackness, and the earth shaking violently beneath his feat. there stands Isaiah, lifting his hand and pointing at our Savior with a mingled love and sorrow, whispering
Surely he hath borne our griefs,
And carried our sorrows:
Yet we did esteem him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
Oh believer what a privilege we have been given, what a joy inexpressible is ours, what a hope that is ever living.
Be encouraged. For although you have may have to go through sorrows and trials that are but for moment, you have so great salvation.
I would ask everyone of us this question, do we take this privilege for granted? Some of us grew up hearing the gospel and the temptation is to get almost a feeling of entitlement. I know that none of us in this room would say that we deserve our salvation, that is simply impossible. But I do think there is the tendency to become casual in our view of the gospel. What I mean by that is this: what did the prophets do concerning the grace that has been given to you?
Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
How did you do this week at searching diligently at inquiring about your salvation? Did you spend time in God’s Word, or have the cares of this world crept in? Have the pressures on your time squeezed out your time spend searching diligently the Scriptures that contain your privileged salvation?
The prophets did not even understand fully what they were prophesying. But we have been given all things that pertain unto life and godliness in the Word. Do you really consider the high privilege of your salvation?
II. The ministry of the prophets highlights the privilege of our salvation
II. The ministry of the prophets highlights the privilege of our salvation
Ministry = unto us they did minister
Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.
Again the idea of privilege is emphatic here in the text. The word us is emphatic in word order in the text. These prophets did not minister to themselves and their own generation when they prophesied about the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow, they ministered primarily unto us. This was for our sakes, that is church age saints.
What has made us aware of this ministry?
which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven;
We have been made aware of the ministry of the prophets by the preaching of the gospel. The Holy Spirit inspired men like Peter, and Paul, and Matthew, and Luke, and James to give us the gospel. And in that gospel guess who they quoted? The prophets! Even our Lord while he was on the earth used the prophets to reveal the mystery of the gospel to us.
And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?
Perhaps even this evening as we considered Isaiah 53 your hearts burned within you as God’s Spirit opened unto you the Scriptures. That is the ministry of the prophets. That is the privilege of our salvation.
Notice this privilege is so great that even the angels desire to look into it.
“which things the angels desire to look into.”
Do you realize the significance of this statement? Look, the prophets were privileged to some pretty amazing things. I think of Elijah calling down fire from heaven to consume the burn offering. I think of Elisha, being able to see the heavenly angels surrounding the city. I think of Daniel sleeping with the lions. That is pretty incredible. Angels are give an even more incredible privilege- they are able to stand night and day before the throne of God and cry holy, holy, holy the Lord God of hosts. Yet even the angels are not afforded the amazing grace that you and I have. The fulfillment of God’s mercy and grace is for us, by faith in Christ. Even the angels desire to look and understand this great privilege.
Believers we are a privileged people. Again, I will ask this question of all of us. Have we taken this privilege for granted? Let me give you a second test in order to honestly answer this question. This test is found in the middle of v. 12:
“which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven”
How have you been doing with giving the gospel lately? I do not want to stand up here and place on you a sense of duty to give the gospel, but rather I want to instill in all of us a desire to give the gospel out of a realization of the great privilege that is available to those who would trust Christ as Savior. This desire springs up in our hearts as a result of the love of our Savior and the wonder of the privilege of the gospel. To think that God might us us to share with someone the gospel, that we might “beginning at Moses and all the prophets, expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning the Lord, so that their hearts might burn within them as we open unto them the Scriptures.”
Conclusion:
Believers be encouraged, you have been afforded an unparalleled privilege by means of your salvation in Christ.
We know this to be true because of the mission and the ministry of the prophets.
Have you taken this privilege for granted? What in your life needs to change this week?
Do you need to spend some quality time in the Scriptures inquiring and diligently searching out your salvation?
Do you need to reach out to that loved one, or that coworker this week and share with them the wonderful privilege of the gospel?
Be encouraged, though we may have trials and hardships in this life, our privileged salvation is outweighs them all.