The Certainty of Salvation
1 Peter • Sermon • Submitted
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Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.
1 Peter
This morning I want us to consider the confidence Christians should find in the gospel of Jesus Christ. To be careful not to separate this main idea from this message with the main idea of this passage we need to consider the confidence in the gospel in light of suffering, in light of being grieved by various trials, and in view of living as sojourners and exiles. In other words, as we live as faithful Christians we will be persecuted, we will face various trials, but we must not lose faith in the good news of the birth, life, death, burial, resurrection and return of Jesus Christ. The doctrinal truths of the person and work of Christ should give us as Christians confidence and courage to live as we have been called to live, with joy inexpressible and filled with glory!
Now the reason I believe this passage provides us with this confidence is because it tracks the progress of the gospel throughout redemptive history! This is how we will consider this text this morning. This text shows us the proof we have in the Gospel of Christ by the way it has been proclaimed and proven true.
Our salvation was,
First, prophesied by the prophets.
Secondly, predicted by the Spirit of Christ,
and Finally, preached by the apostles.
I. The Prophesied Grace
I. The Prophesied Grace
Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully,
Peter begins verse 10 pointing back to verse 9,
Concerning this salvation,
What salvation? The salvation the elect exiles would be obtaining the outcome of their faith, the salvation of their souls.
The salvation that was a result of the work of their Triune God and merciful Father.
The salvation that was accomplished through the work of the Son.
The salvation that was applied to them by the work of the Holy Spirit.
The salvation that caused them to love Christ.
The salvation that brings a joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory.
Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully,
Peter explains this salvation is not new, it is not something that God just decided to provide for them. This salvation was one that had been planned and prophesied, foretold, declared and promised from the beginning.
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;
These are just a few examples but, what do all of the Scriptures have in common? They are all prophecies of future grace, grace that the prophets said were yet to come. It wasn’t that these men had not recieved grace, but that they knew grace was yet to come, and not just to Israel but to the gentiles as well. They did fully understand these things but they knew that Grace was coming, those who were undeserving of God’s salvation would receive it as a gift through faith.
Notice also, they didn’t just prophesy of coming grace, they searched and inquired carefully.
The prophets were given divine revelation about God’s gracious salvation, but they desired to know more. I am reminded of Paul’s word to the Corinthians 13, they knew in part and they prophesied in part, but the knew the perfect was coming!
I love what Matthew Henry writes regarding the Prophets careful search and inquiry.
The words are strong and emphatic, alluding to miners, who dig to the bottom, and break through not only the earth, but the rock, to come to the ore; so these holy prophets had an earnest desire to know, and were proportionably diligent in their enquiries after the grace of God, which was to be revealed in the days of the Messiah: their being inspired did not make their industrious search needless; for, notwithstanding their extraordinary assistance from God, they were obliged to make use of all the ordinary methods of improvement in wisdom and knowledge.
Are you starting to see what we can learn from these prophets of old? How did they search and inquire carefully?
They read, studied, and meditated on the Scriptures.
They sought God in prayer for wisdom and understanding.
How are we to search and inquire? Through the same means of grace. Reading the Scriptures, meditating on them, and asking God through his Holy Spirit to illuminate these Scriptures to us.
Henry goes on to give 4 observations that I thought were helpful.
1. The doctrine of man’s salvation by Jesus Christ has been the study and admiration of the greatest and wisest of men; the nobleness of the subject, and their own concern in it, have engaged them, with most accurate attention and seriousness to search into it.
2. A good man is much affected and pleased with the grace and mercy of God to others, as well as to himself. The prophets were highly delighted with the prospects of mercy to be shown both to Jews and Gentiles at the coming of Christ.
3. Those who would be acquainted with this great salvation, and the grace that shines therein, must enquire and search diligently into it: if it was necessary for an inspired prophet to do so, much more for persons so weak and injudicious as we are.
4. The grace that came by the gospel excels all that was before it; the gospel dispensation is more glorious, evident, intelligible, extensive, and effectual, than any dispensation that ever did precede it.
Do you see why those who have recieved God’s grace through the Gospel of Christ, can rejoice in the midst of suffering. We live in the greatest of gospel ages. We live in the church age, when those who have been called out by God recieved justification by faith. We no longer have to slay sheep, goats and bulls to atone for our sins. We know longer have to work through a priest would go into the holy of holies for so that we might receive forgiveness for our sins.
We have recieved the grace of God because of the love of the Father and the mercy he has shown us through the punishing His Son in our place.
This is why as the prophesied of the grace to come, they searched and inquired carefully so that they might point us to the salvation to come or to,
II. The Predicted Sufferings and Glories
II. The Predicted Sufferings and Glories
These prophets not only proclaimed the words of God that foretold the coming grace of God, they also, were inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.
Peter explains to us that with all the knowledge and understanding they had there were still things they did not fully understand. They were still inquiring, searching, investigating that they might understand more fully. They had been giving the knowledge of a future Messiah, a deliverer, a redeemer that was coming to save! However, they were curious when He the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.
Notice first, the Source of their Prophecies.
The Holy Spirit inspiration of these OT prophets, the Spirit of Christ in them. These men were not just prophesying out of their own wisdom, the were not just guessing on these things that were to come instead they were inspired by the Holy Spirit to speak and write the promises of God.
For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
Tom Schreiner writes, “Peter’s point, of course, was that the prophets predicted these matters but did not know when they would be fulfilled, and they hoped upon hope that they would be fulfilled in their days.”
From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
Matthew 16:
This brings us to the Subject of their inquiries.
The prophets message of grace was pointing to the sufferings and glories of Christ.
Let’s look back at another example from Isaiah.
Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.
Do you see the suffering, he was crushed, put to grief, his soul makes and offering for guilt...
David reminds us that even Peter the author of this letter struggled with understanding that Christ must suffer before the cross.
From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
These sufferings were not just prophesied and predicted, they were fulfilled.
Jesus was scorned and mocked.
Jesus was spit on.
Jesus was slapped.
Jesus was scourged with a cat of nine tails.
Jesus was suffocated as he was stretched out on the cross.
Jesus was speared in the side with a sword.
How about the coming glories...
The will of the Lord shall prosper in His hand! From the beginning, the prophets prophesied about the coming Messiah and the suffering he would experience. However they also understood there was greater glory to come. The OT is replete with Scriptures pointing us to the coming glory. A time when not only would their be glory in the Messiah, but glory for God’s people when because of the work of Christ, God’s people would experience the coming glory!
Revelation 21:
I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.
“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed; the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it. I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be uprooted out of the land that I have given them,” says the Lord your God.
From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
English Standard Version Chapter 21
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
Throughout the Old Testament the Prophets and even the Psalms pointed to a time when the suffering would end and the glory would be revealed. They did not fully understand it but they recognized the certainty of it.
The apostle John gives us imagery of the coming glory throughout the book of Revelation.
and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands,
Revelation 19:
Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
Revelation 19:11-
Do you see what the apostle John is trying to tell us? Jesus Christ is coming in all His glory! His suffering has passed and now it His glory will be revealed. Peter, James, and John recieved a glimpse of it on the mount of Transfiguration, but the full display of the glory of God is yet to come!
We would do well to consider glory prophesied, predicted and even pictured then, we can be sure post cross that Christ has suffered, died, and been resurrected for the salvation of our souls. There will be a day when he will return and Christ will come in all of his glory. But there are things about all of this that we still find hard to understand. That is why we should search and inquire carefully about these truths!
So far we have seen the Prophesied Grace to come, the Predicted Sufferings and Glories, and finally we will look at,
III. The Preached Gospel
III. The Preached Gospel
Notice what the prophets recieved,
It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.
First,
These revelations were given not only for the prophets and people of the Old Covenant, but for those who would be partakers of the New Covenant.
The ministry of the prophets was not just for the people in the age before the incarnation and crucifixion, but for the church age, all those who have believed in the Messiah who came and suffered, but will also return in all of His glory!
David provides us with the Scriptures in Daniel that point us to Daniels prophetic work in his day, then to those who would benefit from his work at “the appointed time of the end” and the “days yet to come.”
Think about for a minute how the OT Scriptures are not insufficient but instead inform how we interpret the NT. Although there are differences in how we connect the dots we can all agree that the cross is predicted in the OT along with a day when suffering will end in glory. When the lion will lay with the lamb and the child will play with the snake, and the swords will be beat into plowshares.
Peter then points to what specifically what the prophets service consisted of, The preaching of the good news!
Now, how did the good news come? Through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.
Now where is your mind running to as we consider the preaching of the gospel through men filled with the Holy Spirit sent from Heaven?
and forward...
And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
What happened after the Holy Spirit came from heaven?
But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words.
This was the beginning of Spirit filled preaching of the good news of the Gospel! This was when the good news would begin spreading to all nations. When men and women would turn to Christ by the thousands. When Christ’s church would be called out and assembled.
So when Peter writes to those of the dispersion about those Spirit filled preachers, he was one of the first or the first for that matter according to the book of Acts.
Once again Scripture affirms Scriptures.
The Prophets preached Grace!
The Spirit of Christ predicted the coming suffering and glory.
The
Finally, Preachers filled with the Spirit preached the good news of the gospel.