Amen. You can turn to 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 10 to verse 12. We're gonna look into what the prophets have looked for in the Old Testament and what angels are looking and longing into. Look at the text with me in 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 10. We'll look at the last phrase there, verse 12 as well. Concerning, verse 10, Concerning this salvation the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully and in that last phrase verse 12 Things the salvation are things into which angels long to look there's this longing from the prophets in longing for from the angels, and I wonder if you've ever longed to look for something or look into something. I know there's many who have gone to Florida as snowbirds, and when you get to Florida, you see that beautiful sunrise or sunset, and because you're going there infrequently, you may long to see the sunrise or long to see the sunset, and there's this awe when you see the sunrise and all its beauty and glory. But if you're looking around you, maybe you see a citizen of Florida, and they've lost that awe factor. They've been around that beautiful sunrise and beautiful sunset so much that they've forgotten what is before them. They don't have that awe that they once had when they moved to Florida. Peter here in 1st Peter chapter 1 verse 10 to 12 is showing us that there is this awe factor, there's this longing that should be in our very own soul concerning the salvation we have received, but the temptation as we've seen last week in verse 6, through grievous, various trials, this testing of the genuineness of our faith in the trials, verse seven, it can have a wear, it can have a tear on the awe factor of this gospel that we've received. And if we become too familiar with this gospel, well, we can be like that citizen in Florida that's lost it entirely. And Peter here, as he writes to, again, as we saw this morning, a different setting, but he's writing to Christians suffering and facing different, types of trials and they're growing weary and cold and Peter is saying one more thing must be mentioned in this first chapter concerning this salvation. I've shown you in verse three all the way down to verse nine this glorious salvation that you've received and you've been born again to by God's great mercy. That it is this living hope, it's this eternal inheritance. It's this salvation kept in heaven for you, never to be snatched from you. and you by grace will receive it on that great day. But Peter says, you can't forget that. You don't just have that stored up in your memory and put away in your heart and never to think about it again. But it must be like that sunset that you're looking at every day and that sunrise in the morning the next day that you're longing to see. Why? Because Peter says in verse 10 to verse 12, this salvation that we've received in the new covenant as believers is this salvation that the prophets under the old covenant searched for. They longed to see its fulfillment. And not only the Old Testament prophets, But the angels in heaven are longing to look in and understand this glorious salvation that God's poured out upon unworthy sinners in His great mercy. Peter is saying that we as New Covenant believers live in a better time in redemptive history than the prophets. And we as New Covenant believers have something that the angels long for. And Peter's saying if the Old Testament prophets searched diligently to pull back glory upon glory of this salvation that they saw in seed form, How much more should we search and unpack and meditate upon when we stand on the other side of the cross that the prophets foretold? When we see this finished work and this inheritance that is secured through the death of our Savior. And not only that, if the angels are singing 24-7 in heaven and they haven't received this salvation, How much more should we rejoice? That's what Peter's getting at in verse 10 to verse 12. This salvation concerning, verse 10, this salvation is what he's already talked about. Verse 2, it's this salvation by the triune God's work. We've seen that, verse two, God's foreknowledge, the sanctification of the spirit, verse two, the obedience of Jesus, which produces obedience in his blood-bought people through the sprinkling of his blood. We've seen this new birth, this salvation to be received on this last day. Peter says, okay, that's good to understand that, but let me say these two other points of implications. Number one, The prophets search for this. Let's look at that in verse 10 to verse 11 once more. Verse 10, concerning this salvation, number one. Look at the longing of the prophets, the prophets who prophesied about the grace, and look what he says, that was to be yours. So the prophets in the Old Testament are prophesying about this grace, you could say this new covenant age that is ours in Christ Jesus, the grace given to you, Peter says, personal grace. The prophets prophesied about the grace that was to be yours, They searched and they inquired carefully, verse 11, inquiring what person or time the spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. What Peter's saying is that this salvation that we've received, this great mercy, it wasn't God's plan B in the New Covenant. But what he's saying is that even under the Old Covenant with the Old Testament prophets, this is God's only plan of salvation from Genesis 3.15 all the way into the New Covenant through this promised Savior that has now been fully revealed. But verse 10 tells us these prophets in the Old Testament, They prophesied about this grace that has been fully revealed. And you can look in the text and we understand that it was the Spirit of Christ who used the prophets as a mouthpiece for God. We look throughout the Old Testament and every time there's a prophetic a prophetic statement and it's always with that formula, thus says the Lord. It's never a prophet saying, I think this or I think that. But the prophet is moved by the Spirit of Christ, Peter says, to be the very mouthpiece of God. And when the prophet in the Old Testament spoke, With the formula, thus says the Lord, that was God dealing with his people, speaking his very words through that prophet's own mouth. And it was about God himself, it was about his salvation and his plans and his purposes. But you can see the, you could say the heart of the Old Testament prophecies, the climax of the prophet's predictions. Look what verse 11 says, the spirit of Christ prophesied through these prophets as a mere vessel and it was indicating, verse 11, the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. The prophets here They prophesied about the death of Jesus Christ. They prophesied about the glory of Jesus Christ and his exaltation. Peter is saying that they were given this revelation from God and by God, and it caused something in them to search, to see more of the glories of the promises revealed in the Old Testament, pull back to know more about this promised person that will die. for the people of God and be raised to everlasting glory and seated in the heavenly realms, the Son of Man, Daniel 7, all these different prophecies, the prophets received by God and it caused them to search, to know more about this person, Peter says, to know when the fulfillment will be, when will the fullness of time be, when this promised one will enter into this world. What will his life be like? What will his death be like? What will happen after? His death. Everything in the Old Testament and everything in the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation is focused on the sufferings of Jesus Christ and His glories to come. After His death and the glories to come and His return and for all eternity in the future. That's the whole point of the Bible. If you, as Spurgeon said, think of every road in the UK and England. Spurgeon said, every road leads to London. And so, too, every text in Scripture leads us to Jesus Christ. There is in every book of the Bible something that is telling us about the sufferings of our Savior on behalf of His people and His glory. That's what Peter is getting at. And the prophets, they longed for this. How do we know this? Well, look with me for a moment at Luke 24. Luke 24 verse 25 to verse 27, after our Lord has suffered on the cross, and he said it is finished, he gave up his life, he laid down his life, and then he was buried, and then he was raised on the third day. And in Luke 24 we see our Lord appear on the road to Emmaus, and it's interesting. The disciples, they have the Old Testament, but they missed the mark that Peter's getting at. They missed the whole point of the Old Testament, that it's about the sufferings of the Messiah and his glories to come. And Jesus here, post-resurrection, Look what he says in Luke 24 verse 25. He says to these disciples on the road to Emmaus, foolish ones and slow of heart to believe what? To believe all that the prophets have spoken. 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 10 says that the Spirit of Christ spoke through the prophets concerning the sufferings and the subsequent glories of Christ. And Jesus here, after he died and suffered and was raised from the dead, he comes to these disciples who are in disbelief. They're confused. They didn't put the pieces together concerning the person and the time of the sufferings of the Savior. And Jesus says, You're slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. So the prophets have indeed spoken, verified by our Lord himself. What did they speak about? Verse 26, Jesus says, was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer? There's that phrase that Peter used. Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things? Was it not necessary that the Savior would die on the cross for sinners? and enter into his glory? That's what Peter's getting at. The prophets spoke about it. Jesus says that not only Peter, the apostle, but Jesus himself says it was necessary that Christ should suffer and die on the cross and be raised from the dead and ascend into glory. And look what Jesus goes on to say, verse 27. He expounds the Old Testament, what the prophets have said from the whole Old Testament. Look, he begins with, Moses, the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, Jesus, beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them, the disciples, in all the scriptures, the things concerning himself. That's what Peter's getting at. Our Lord has already taught his disciples and the apostles what he's teaching these disciples on the road to Emmaus about, that the whole Bible, As you look at Genesis and Exodus and Deuteronomy and Numbers and Leviticus and every page of scripture it's speaking about your Savior who died for you. And your Savior who came into this world for you. And your Savior who was raised on behalf of you. And your Savior who's seated in glory who's one day going to bring you there. Jesus says, was it not necessary? It was necessary. That was the only way for you and I to be saved. For us to enter the kingdom of God. That the Christ should and must suffer in the stead of sinners. That he should rise and ascend into glory. But he didn't have to do it. Peter says it's a great mercy. We don't deserve that. We deserve to suffer eternally. We deserve to be cast out of his presence in hell for all eternity. But the Christ, for our salvation, He suffered. He ascended into glory. And we see later that the disciples, their hearts burned within them as Jesus Christ opened up the scriptures. Now I remember in seminary a student saying, wouldn't it be wonderful to see what sermon Jesus Christ preached to the disciples here on the road to Emmaus as he opened up Genesis. and said, there am I. You see Genesis 3 verse 21, that lamb that was slaughtered and his skin clothed, Adam and Eve, that was a foreshadow about me. Me, the lamb of God, the atoning sacrifice, all these wonderful things in the Bible. Wouldn't it be wonderful to sit down and see our Lord preach the Old Testament for us and tell us each passage of the Old Testament, what it's pointing to and how it's fulfilled in Christ? And I remember Dr. Constant says, you don't have to, wish that would happen because our Lord in the book of Acts, the book of Acts he argues is called the Acts of the Risen Lord through the Holy Spirit given to the church and we see here that that God himself through the sermons of the apostles in the book of Acts actually preach what Jesus Christ is getting at. They preach Jesus Christ from all the scriptures. And the disciples, the apostles, they would have learned from Jesus Christ, here in the road to Emmaus, how to preach Christ from the Old Testament. Let me just give you a glimpse. If you look in Acts chapter two, verse 22 to 36, we'll just walk through this. This is Peter's Pentecost sermon. How did he learn how to preach Christ in all the Old Testament? Well, he learned it from our Lord, and look what he does here. There's Old Testament scripture upon scripture. Prophecy upon prophecy. Poured out here, and we'll see it's fulfillment. Look at Acts 2 verse 22. This is Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost as the Spirit of God is poured out as promised in Joel 2. Peter says in verse 22 of Acts 2, Men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know, look what he says, and we'll go into the Old Testament in a moment. This Jesus delivered up his sufferings according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. He is the lamb slain before the foundation of the world, as Peter has already said that. He says you crucified there. They're guilty of murder. They're morally responsible you crucified and killed him by the hands of lawless men But God raised him up losing the pangs of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it and look what he does Psalm 16 is quoted. And what he'll do here is show that David here, the king of Israel, also functioned as, you could say, a prophet in this case. And he talks about the sufferings of Christ in Psalm 16, but also the subsequent glories of Christ. And look what David says in Psalm 16. He writes, Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced. My flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades or let your Holy One see corruption. You've made known to me the path of life. You will make me full of gladness in your presence." And look what Peter does here. He shows what Jesus is getting out on the road to Emmaus or what Peter's getting out in 1 Peter 1. Peter says in Acts 2.29, Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David, this psalm of his soul not facing death, Psalm 16. Well, this patriarch David, he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day, but being therefore a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that he would set one of his descendants on his throne. Look what David said in Psalm 16, verse 31, Peter says, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of all that we are witnesses, being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into heaven, But he himself says, the Lord, so Yahweh says to my Lord, so God the Father says to God the Son, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. Peter says, let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him, that is Jesus Christ of Nazareth, both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you've crucified. Well, there's a little glimpse of what Peter's getting at, and what Jesus proclaimed in Luke 24. Psalm 16, you can go and read that in your Bibles. Peter's saying that when David penned that letter, he was functioning as a prophet, speaking of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, that he would suffer, but he wouldn't be held captive in the grave, but he will be raised, and he'll ascend to the Father's right hand until all his enemies are put under his feet, and then the end of the age will come." Peter's saying that's what the prophets, that's what they longed for to understand. They would have had this revelation from God, and back in 1 Peter chapter 1, they searched, They inquired, they longed to know more of the sufferings of this promised Savior to come and His glories after He's raised from the dead. And Peter's whole point of saying that all is that, brothers and sisters, you've received something the prophets never fully received in their time. Now they see the whole picture in the presence of the Lord, but in their day as they lived in this world, they longed and didn't see the full revelation of this glorious Savior that we now see in this new covenant age. That if they so longed for something they never saw the full realization of, Peter's saying, how much more should you long? How much more should your heart burn like the disciples' heart on the road to Emmaus and say, I want to search like the prophets but more because I've seen this completed work, that my Savior's now alive and at my father's right hand." Have we lost our awe factor? We don't want to be like that Florida citizen who's just used to all the beauty around them, but we want to be like that guest, just overwhelmed day by day with this Savior that's done everything for us. Peter's saying the prophets had an awe factor. How much more should you and I The second point is not only did the prophets, as the Geddes say, by faith the prophets saw a day when the long form Messiah would appear with the power to break the chains of sin and death and rise triumphant from the grave. We've seen that day. The power of sin and death and the chains have been broken. He's been raised. Not only do the prophets long and search for that day that we now have seen concerning this salvation, but the angels, Peter says, the prophets long for this day. But look at verse 12. Here's what the prophets long for in full realization. Verse 12, Peter says, it was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves, but you, Peter says. And the things that have now been announced to you, through those who preach the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. That's Peter's whole point here. These things that the prophets long for have been revealed. Where have they been revealed? They've been revealed in the gospel that we've received, the gospel that we live by, the gospel that we preach, and it's a revelation from God, the Holy Spirit from heaven. Peter's already spoken of that, that verse three of 1 Peter 1, God has caused us to be born again to a living hope. That phrase, to be caused to be born again, is God's divine action. That verb is a divine verb, you could say. It's God, the Holy Spirit, who caused us to be born again, to have ears to hear the gospel, to have a heart to respond to the gospel. That's God's great mercy. Peter says it's been revealed, so they've longed for that. But now he says this salvation that we've heard and received, verse 12, it's things into which angels long to look. There's much mystery here. This gospel that we have received, verse 12, it's been announced to you. So if we're Christians, or even if you're here today, the gospel's announced to you personally, not by the words of men, but God through his spoken word by the Holy Spirit is speaking directly to you through his word by the Spirit, Peter's saying. It causes the angels to look and long into it. It's this personal grace. Back in verse 10, the prophets prophesied about the grace that was to be yours, personal, effectual grace for you. Christ didn't come into this world to die for an unknown people, but he came with with his heart set on a personal group of people. The 12 tribes of Israel were on the Levitical priest's chest, and as he went to make those sacrifices, he bore the names of the people of Israel. And the same is true for Christ, the good news of the gospel, that he has your name on his very breastplate, you could say. And it's this personal grace, your grace, that is given to you. This personal grace that the angels long to look into. What's this longing? There's mystery here. but it's a longing about the gospel. Peter says the angels long to look into this salvation that we're concerned about, and you can define this salvation, this gospel in 1 Corinthians 15, that Christ died for our sins, he had accordance with the scriptures, he was buried, he was raised on the third day, what we've seen, it's this gospel, and this person, and this savior, and these benefits that we've received that the angels are longing for. What does this longing look like? Think for a moment if you look with me in Luke 15. Luke 15 verse 10. With the story of the prodigal son we see something about this longing of the angels. Luke 15 and verse 10. What are the angels longing for to see? It says, just so, well, just so what? If you look back in Luke 15 verse 9, the prodigal son, or the lost sheep is in this context, and the lost coin that is found. There's great rejoicing, verse 9, when she found the lost coin, she called together her friends and neighbors saying, rejoice with me, for I found the coin that I've lost. Jesus is speaking about salvation. When God saves a sinner, when He draws them by His Spirit from death to life and brings them into His own household, there's this rejoicing from who? Verse 10 of Luke 15. Just so, Jesus says, I tell you, He says, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents. Well that gives us a glimpse into what Peter's getting at when the angels are longing to look into this salvation that has been preached to us by the Holy Spirit through his word. You could look at it in that way, that the angels are rejoicing. Whenever they see God in his great mercy saving a sinner, they're rejoicing in heaven. And you think about that for a moment. John Piper said, we only know maybe .1% of what God's doing in this world right now. We don't know really anything of what God's doing in his saving purposes in this world. We get a little glimpse of our Lord's saving mercy in our little corner of the harvest. But day by day Jesus Christ is saving a people that he's bought with his own blood. And moment by moment, it's almost overwhelming to think about, but moment by moment as God calls men and women out of darkness to light, then he rises them from death to life. Angels are singing over one sinner. So imagine the multitude of sinners as we see in Revelation. A multitude that no man can number over from Genesis 3.15 onward until our Lord returns. He's saving sinners day after day and moment after moment. This vast multitude. You can't help but think of ceaseless praise in the throne room of heaven. That it's as if the angels are just peeking over to To think, what does it look like to have the image of Christ stamped upon one's soul? And to have all these glorious benefits, to be an heir with Christ, to be a son of God. What does it look like? They're peeking over and they're so overwhelmed with what God's doing for sinners that the angels, the fallen angels, They never received any benefit. Jesus Christ didn't redeem angels. He didn't die for angels and the angels that did not rebel. They longed to see what we experience in the gospel. But we also see, if you look in Luke 2 verse 13 to 14, thinking about our Lord's incarnation, We also see when our Savior, who is the good news, the good news is about a person, Luke 2 verse 13 to 14, we see something of this longing, you could say, this rejoicing that the angels have concerning Jesus Christ, the good news. And we get a glimpse of that in the birth of Christ. If you look in, we'll look back at verse 10 of Luke 2, here's an angel proclaiming this glorious salvation. Verse 10 of Luke 2, the angel said to the shepherds, fear not for behold I bring you good news of great joy. They're almost bursting out of the scenes that I've seen a savior. I've heard in the throne room of heaven of this Christ who's come, who's left the throne room and clothed his self in humanity. a manger behold I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord the one that the prophets foretold and this will be a sign for you you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger and Look what's happening here, they're rejoicing, they're longing. Verse 13, and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased. Can we say that this is the song of the angels in heaven? When Jesus Christ saved you, that the angels said, oh Lord, glory to God in the highest and peace among men, that he saved us. A sinner who deserved God's wrath but in great mercy. Glory to God. He's a pardoning God. Who is a pardoning God like thee? Who has grace so rich and free? They haven't personally enjoyed it. They just get a glimpse of it. They see it in the lives of God's redeeming work among sinners. We see a glimpse of that then and we ask, well why is Peter in 1 Peter chapter 1, we get maybe why he's talking about the prophets longing and searching with this great awe factor to see Jesus Christ having seen him from afar. But why does Peter mention the angels here, longing, rejoicing over the salvation we've received? I'll give you a quote by John Piper, I found it helpful. He says, Peter's whole point, as he wraps up this first section, he writes that if the angels got excited about your salvation, if the angels got excited of your grace, that they rejoiced at your salvation, How much more should we rejoice? If the angels long to look at the work of God in your life, in saving you, how much more should we, should I, who am the very recipient of that salvation, rejoice? He's saying the prophets, they foretold the grace that you would receive and they searched and they rejoiced. How much more you and the angels rejoice not only at your salvation, but of all of our salvations. How much more should we rejoice? Why is this here? Peter's saying because in various trials, in grieving situations, in the testing of our faith, We can become like that citizen who has lost the awe factor, one who has lost seeing the son of righteousness who came from heaven above. and dawned in this world of darkness, who died under the darkest day in human history, where all light was done away with when our Savior hung on the darkest day under the wrath that we deserve. But on the third day, you could say the lightest day, where the Savior rose from the dead, And that was the dawning of a new day. Peter says, don't forget that. If you're tempted to become too familiar with this salvation, well, you are on the pathway of losing that awe factor. And the prayer that we must ask the Lord to put in us is what Peter's put before us in this whole chapter. That we, as we've seen this salvation, Our response is verse 3, blessed be the God and Father of our The angels rejoice over your salvation, not their salvation. Our response, blessed be the God and Father of our, my Lord Jesus, who's caused in his great mercy us to be born again to the living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Not only that, but to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, unfading, kept in heaven for me, for you. who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Amen, let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word, this great salvation that is seen from cover to cover of your word, Lord, from Genesis 3 to the consummation and our Lord's return in the new heavens and the new earth where we will rejoice and praise Our lamb that was slain for us for all eternity, Lord, we know we'll never tire of singing his praise, but Father, in our weak, our fallen, our straying body with still that great enemy of the old man in us, the indwelling sin, Lord, we know that we don't praise you as we ought. We don't have that awe factor. We don't have that searching, that longing, that rejoicing. concerning what we've been given, we pray, Father, that you would instill in that joy afresh, rekindle that in our heart, Lord, that we would be able to be a wonderful witness in this day for our Lord Jesus Christ and his sufferings and subsequent glories. And we pray this in his name, amen. Amen.