Go ahead and take your Bibles and turn to 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1. It's been several weeks since we've been in 1 Peter. It feels like forever. But between being out of town and then we had several weekends or midweek services where we didn't have our service because of the holidays. So we're going to jump back into 1 Peter. And just as we go back to 1 Peter, let's take just a moment and try and remember where we've come, where have we been so far in this epistle? Does anyone remember kind of what's the overarching theme we had covered from verse one down through verse eight? And I don't believe we'd covered all of verse eight, but does anyone remember kind of what is the overarching theme so far of 1 Peter? Anybody, anybody? Josie. I'll narrow it for you a little bit. What is, who is Peter writing to? In a sense. Gentiles? Exiles. Yes. Very good. Very good. So Peter's writing to exiles. Now what's the significance of that? The very first week we kind of focused in on what's the significance of the fact that Peter is writing to what he calls elect exiles. Anybody? No? All right, I'll just refresh us then. Peter's writing to the exiles. He's trying to encourage them. This is the primary focus of the book so far. This is a huge focus. He's seeking to encourage them primarily on the basis of their salvation. The assurance that the believer can have in Christ is cause for incredible joy. This has been an overarching theme through this book. In fact, this is one of the hallmarks of being a true follower of Christ, is joy over your salvation, joy over your standing before Christ because of what Jesus has done for you. In verse six, Peter writes, in this you rejoice. This is actually a statement of fact, and we pointed this out as we went through it many weeks ago. True believers do rejoice in the reality of their salvation and the assurance that they experience their salvation. Again, this is not just a suggestion. Look at all you have. You should rejoice because of this. Peter's saying, in this salvation you do rejoice. This is because this is a mark of being a genuine follower of Christ. And so once again, Peter's epistle focuses heavily on the hope that believers can have. In 1 Peter 3.15, he writes, always be prepared to give an answer for the, what? Hope that lies within you. And do it with gentleness and respect as believers, our hope in Christ and the joy of our salvation. This is cause for immense joy. It should be so evident to the lost that it gives us opportunities for gospel witness even, which is what 1 Peter 3.15 is talking about. Your joy and your rejoicing over your salvation should overflow to the extent your hope in the second coming of Christ, in what He has accomplished for you, should overflow out of your life to the extent that the lost would look at you and say, there's something different about that person. Why are you so hopeful? In a world that oftentimes seems hopeless, a believer's hope should shine through to the lost. As we concluded looking at 1 Peter 1, 3-7, we asked the important question, if you claim to be saved, how is your life different? And so I want you to grasp a critical truth, a critical gospel truth. True conversion is marked by transformed living. This is yet another major theme in Peter's epistle. True conversion is marked by transformed living. We'll see that particularly in the next section that we'll tackle next week, beginning in verse 13. So with all this in mind, let's look down at verse 8 of 1 Peter 1. In our passage today, we're going to see both the outcome and the glory of our salvation. So let's start by reading through this text together. 1 Peter, again, down in verse 8. Peter says, though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory. Obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls, 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. Let's go ahead and take a moment and pray for God's grace as we look at this text to understand His Word and that it might change our hearts. Let's pray. Dear Lord, we do thank you for your word. We thank you for the opportunity to come back together this evening and to gather as believers and to worship around your word. Lord, I pray that this epistle from Peter would change our hearts and lives. Lord, I pray that as we look at this text and we see truly the glory of our salvation, the wonderful nature of our salvation, that we've been freed from sin, that as believers we have a restored relationship with our God, Lord, I pray that we would glory in that. I pray that that would give us immense cause for joy and hope, regardless of our outside circumstances. We pray all these things in Jesus name. Amen. Well just a few days ago I was looking at the news and I came across a video that was both a little bit confusing and also very frightening. The video was taken from a dash cam that was mounted on the front of a Toyota RAV4. The RAV4 appeared to be on the side of a road and there was a thick fog covering the street in front of the RAV4 kind of hovering over the road and so it almost looked as if this car had pulled off to the side just for lack of being able to see through this fog. All of a sudden, through the fog, there quickly appeared another vehicle kind of bursting through the fog and driving directly at this RAV4. And so the driver of the RAV4 quickly responded and actually shifted into reverse and he started driving backwards down this highway. As he drove backwards, the second vehicle continued to drive directly at him. Ultimately, this vehicle crashed into the front of this Toyota RAV4. It continued pushing the RAV4. And to make matters worse, this accident actually took place on a dangerous bridge in Canada. And this bridge stretches across a deep ravine. A 200-foot drop stood imposingly on both sides of the bridge. And thankfully, the driver of this RAV4 was OK. He was safe. Eventually, the driver of the second vehicle, he drove away and was later arrested by the police. As interesting as all of this was, that's not what caught my attention about this story. What drew my attention was the interview with the driver of the RAV4 as he recounted the frightening accident. He was quoted as saying, the bridge, it's at least a 200 foot drop into frozen, cold, icy water. It's very deadly this time of year, as local people well know. So when you see him push me onto the bridge and slam me against the side, I was worried. I was worried if my legacy was good, whether or not I'd been kind enough, whether or not I was a good example to my nephews and nieces, my future stepchildren. And I was absolutely struck by this statement. The man involved with this accident had absolutely no hope. When you consider being in that situation, faced with life and death, faced with a situation that you very well may not make it out of, and this man's reflection on the situation was, I was worried if my legacy was good. I was worried what kind of example I was to nieces, nephews, relatives. When he's faced with death, he's plagued with doubts, whether or not he had done enough. And as Peter writes to these persecuted believers in 1 Peter 1, he's just finished discussing the genuine faith of the believers in verse 7. Again, remember, true conversion leads to transformed living. This is what our previous section focused on. And so, genuine faith leads to genuine, real change in your life. Remember, these believers, they're facing such intense persecution. Many of them are afraid that they may walk away from the faith due to the outside persecution and pressures that they're facing. Again, as Peter refers to these individuals as elect exiles, this is a play on words. Because, yes, are they exiles in a spiritual, heavenly sense? This world is not their home. Yes, we understand that. But that's actually not Peter's point necessarily. That's one of his points. The play on words comes in the fact that these people had actually been driven from their homes. Many of them were literal exiles. They were refugees from spiritual oppression. And so Peter encourages the believers through this opening passage that the testing of their faith, the perseverance of the believers will result in praise and glory and honor. the revelation of Jesus Christ, he encourages them to persevere in spite of their circumstances, whatever hardship you may be facing. As you endure that for Christ, Peter says it results in praise and glory and honor for Jesus Christ. Peter's encouraging them that their salvation gives them cause for hope, no matter what their outside circumstances are. With this, Peter launches into verse 8 and he writes, These believers, hopefully and expectantly, were awaiting the second coming of Jesus Christ. They did not see Jesus now and they love Jesus in spite of the fact that some of these believers may not have ever seen Jesus. And we spoke about this specifically last week. This is the nature of Christian love, which is first shown to us by Jesus Christ, by Christ himself. We love him. Why? Because he first loved us. That's 1 John 4, 19. Their love for Jesus ran deeper than a surface level attachment or emotional connection. In fact, this word used for love in this passage, it's literally meaning a deep level of affection and intimacy. This word is stated in the present active tense. And so as you think about this word, meaning a deep level of affection and intimacy, it's also stated in the present active tense. This is important because Peter's intending to communicate the believers love Jesus Christ with an ongoing continual love. You say, why does all the grammatical stuff matter? You know, present active tense. It's because Peter's communicating something in that original language that we're not necessarily picking up. on the surface. This means the believers are continually, actively pursuing Jesus Christ. It's not just coming to them. It's not Christianity by osmosis. And so as you consider this, I want to ask you a question. Is it possible to love someone that you have never seen before? What do you guys think? Yes? How so? Well, if you've never met them, how can you have a deep, continual love with them, for them? Through what? Okay, that's true for Christians especially. Yeah, Rachel. That's critical. You can still what? know them, you know them. I think particularly in our age of information, you've got email, you've got text message, you have social media. And there are some times that I think you can go on social media and you can see a certain individual and you kind of, you start to get a feel of who that person is based off of what they post and their opinions. And you start to almost feel this connection to them. Like I relate to that person. I relate to what they're saying. I relate to what they're going through. Maybe you've interacted with somebody that you don't have a relationship with here. Maybe somebody that lives far away and you've kind of connected with them somehow. And so you communicate and you keep up. How does that happen? Because as you communicate, you get to, like Rachel said, you get to know that person. This is something that we talked about last week. It's actually frequently come up over the last several weeks. I think that that's critical for us to see. But you love someone by knowing them. And it's vital that we know Jesus. If we do not know Jesus, we cannot love him. And Peter says these believers love Jesus, even though they hadn't seen Him, with an ongoing, continual love. So how do you think that happened for the believers? They don't have text message, they don't have social media, they don't have email. How do they know Jesus and love Jesus when they cannot see Him? How are they getting to know Him? We understand knowing someone is critical to loving them. What are your thoughts? How do these believers know Jesus? Scripture. So today, how can you know Jesus? Scripture. God's word. This is foundational. This is as basic as it gets. If you're not reading this book, you can't know God. You can't. It's impossible. If you're not regularly reading this book, this is what the believers were doing. In order to get to know Jesus, they were reading and engaging the scriptures. They were engaging with God's people on a regular basis. They were regularly communing with Jesus through prayer. The heart cannot love what the mind does not know. And so Peter's opening words to these believers, you love him. It indicates that they had an ongoing relationship with Jesus Christ. And so again, as you think about Bible study, again, I'm trying to break this down for you in the way that I would do sermon prep, because essentially, what I'm doing is not any different than what you can do. Obviously, if you walk into my office, there's gonna be a lot of books, so I have a lot of tools available. But essentially, what I'm trying to do is I'm trying to come to the Bible and break it down in a way that's understandable, I'm trying to apply it, and then I'm bringing it to you. So as you seek to apply this, look at your Bible, a phrase you should highlight or underline or write a note about. In verse eight, he says, though you have not seen him, you love him. Note that present active tense. That is critical. It is an ongoing, continual love. The only way that's possible is that these believers, they are searching after Jesus Christ. They are seeking to know him and love him and follow him. They're striving to know their Savior through, again, through regular prayer, the reading of scriptures that were available to them and worship. And again, considering these believers have significantly less scripture available to them than we have. They don't have the full canon of scripture that has been compiled in the way that we have it. We have a significant advantage, a leg up on Christians that have existed for centuries. We have far more revelation than they have. And that's something we'll actually discuss in this passage, but as you consider for yourself personally, again, seeking to apply this passage now, apply it to your own life. How are you personally striving to know more of Jesus Christ? How are you, Christian, individual teenager in here, how are you striving? What steps are you taking to know Jesus Christ better? Are you seeking to know him through his word? Are you spending time regularly with him in prayer? Do you dedicate yourself to worshiping Jesus while you're at church? These are critical questions for us to ask. Again, it's critical that this love is descriptive of believers. The same way it was descriptive of New Testament believers, it should be descriptive of us. Peter should be able to write about the modern church today and say, these people love Jesus Christ with an ongoing, continual, it is a dynamic love. It's always developing and growing, because they're always seeking to know Him. Peter continues then in verse 8, Peter says, So Peter's structure in the second phrase, it very similarly mirrors his first phrase. He says, though you do not now see him, you believe in him. And this is yet another mark of a regenerated individual, okay? And so if you're going through again, taking notes carefully, you're seeing marks of true believers. Mark number one is what? What's mark number one of a true believer in verse eight? Number one, true believers, what? Jesus. Love, true believers love Jesus. Mark number two, this is a hallmark of a true believer. True believers believe in Him. Again, it's another mark of a regenerated individual. The believer's faith is not contingent upon visual confirmation. Jesus says to Thomas in John 20, 29, have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who believe and have not seen. the physical evidence that Thomas received as confirmation would not always be available to believers. And so as believers today, we fall into this category, those who have believed without the ability to visually confirm our beliefs. What an amazing truth. And so while we don't have access to the same visual confirmation that was available to Thomas, we have an incredible written record. A written record that has been preserved, it's inspired by God, a record that is equally capable to convince those who doubt. We've seen that over and over again through the evangelist gospel and John. And in his epistle, Peter will discuss extensively the revelation that we have been given. This culminates in verse 12, where he states, And so the belief in Jesus Christ referenced in verse 8, it leads us to a tangible response. Remember verses 3 through 7, the primary theme of verses 3 through 7 is that true conversion leads to transformed living. And so again, we see the same idea repeated in verse 8. True belief, it leads to a tangible response. What is that tangible response? Does anyone know? In verse 8, Peter says, those who truly believe, what is their response to that belief? David, yes, true believers, they again, we see this theme again repeated, they rejoice. This is a natural response of someone who has been saved by grace. They rejoice, it flows out of them. This inexpressible joy that is experienced by the regenerate believer, it is yet another assurance of your salvation, that you have joy over all that Jesus has accomplished for you. This is a mark of a true believer. And you can look at that and say, I recognize I'm truly saved. This is a fruit that comes out of salvation. So in addition to rejoicing over the second coming of Christ and future expectation of glory, Peter now writes that we rejoice because of our current salvation. Peter, in the beginning of this book, as these believers are facing immense physical persecution, his theme has been to point them to the future. Look to the future, look to the second coming of Jesus Christ, the hope of glorification. Why does he do that? Why do you think he's pointing them ahead constantly through the first seven verses of this book? He's constantly saying, look ahead, look at glorification, look at the hope of the second coming. Michael. Right, they're facing difficult persecution in this earthly body. And so Peter's saying, this is not your home. Look to the future. You have hope. And so in addition to that rejoicing, Peter's now writing that we have reasons for hope in this current state of salvation. Peter describes this joy as being inexpressible. It means exactly what it sounds like. There are no words to physically express the joy that you experience as a believer because of your salvation. Because your debt has been paid, your sins are forgiven, you have an eternal relationship with the God of creation. The believer rejoices with a joy that cannot be described. This word inexpressible, it's actually not used anywhere else in the New Testament. The root word of this Greek word for inexpressible, the root word is leleo in the Greek. It literally means to say or speak. And so the full word, anekleletos, it literally means unable to be spoken. That's what this word inexpressible means. Peter literally says, I can't put it into words for you, this joy that you experience. Have you ever felt joy like this before? Have you ever felt so excited over something you literally cannot even get the words out to fully express your happiness over a situation? As you think about that, I want you to think about a time in your life where you felt that way, inexpressible joy about something. You were so happy, you're struggling to process all your emotions at once. Peter says, capture that feeling. That's what it should be for believers. That's how you should feel as a believer over your salvation. You should have this overwhelming sense of joy that you don't even fully know how to process your emotions or respond in the moment. Peter says this joy, this is also filled with glory. You could think of this joy as being exalted or joy that is not bound on an earthly plane. Again, that's something we focused on over the last several weeks as believers we have joy that transcends our earthly circumstances. One commentator writes, joy that has been infused with heavenly glory, it is thus joy that results from being in the presence of God himself. This is what the believers experience, joy infused with heavenly glory, joy that you can only experience when you've spent time in the presence of God. This is a joy that results from communing with Jesus Christ through his word, through prayer, and through worshiping Jesus Christ. And so again, I really want to focus in on this. Maybe you'd be sitting here tonight and you really don't know what Peter is talking about. Maybe you've never truly experienced joy like this. And I want you to understand, again, joy is a distinctly Christian characteristic. It's a characteristic that is unique to disciples, true followers of Jesus Christ. More than any other people group in the world, we have immense cause for joy, do we not? In a world that is constantly faced with tragedy and distress, you think about the last month. We've seen murders on a national level. We've seen multiple different terror attacks. In a world that is constantly burdened with tragedy and death, believers have hope. Again, we have immense cause for joy. You've been rescued. As a believer, you've been redeemed. An unbearable weight of sin has been lifted off of you and placed on Jesus Christ. You have cause for joy. This is what Peter's trying to do for these believers. Stop looking at your earthly circumstances. Look at what you have from a spiritual perspective. Maybe tonight you need to genuinely evaluate your own heart, evaluate your salvation. Do you truly have a relationship with Jesus Christ? Listen, if you do, your life should be marked by joy. joy over who Jesus is, joy over all that He has accomplished for you. And if you're unsure of your salvation, again, in verse 8, Peter has given us three characteristics that describe true believers. Again, what are those three characteristics? We named the first two. You guys are going to have to give me the third one here. Three characteristics of true believers, all of them listed in verse eight. We said the first two are you love Him. The second one is you believe in Him. What's the third one? You rejoice. These are the characteristics of true believers. And maybe you do love Jesus. Tonight, maybe you're saying, I do love Jesus, and I do believe in Jesus, but I have no rejoicing. I'm not a joyful person. And especially when I think about my salvation, I don't feel joy. Maybe you feel guilt. And that may very well be because you have no assurance of your salvation. You have no confidence in your standing before Jesus Christ. And so if you would sit here tonight and say, you know, from a biblical perspective, as best as I can say, I love Jesus. I believe in Jesus. I've genuinely turned from my sins and confess and repented, but I don't have joy. Again, I would encourage you to evaluate your walk with God right now. It's very likely that that's the case because you don't have assurance of your salvation. You have no confidence in where you stand before God. And frankly, as you consider this, I want you to understand something very clearly. Assurance is a gift that is given to obedient believers. Assurance is a gift that is given to obedient believers. And so tonight, if you're sitting here and you would say, I'm not obeying Christ, maybe you're living in open rebellion against Him, whether actively or passively, I want you to understand two things very clearly. Number one, you won't have assurance. And so if you're sitting here and saying, I understand, I know I'm a believer. but I don't have this joy. This joy that should be descriptive, I don't have this joy. And I want you to understand, you won't have that joy if you're living in habitual sin. You won't have assurance. And number two, you shouldn't have assurance. You shouldn't have assurance. Again, it's a gift that is given to obedient believers. And so if you're comfortable living in sin against God, whatever form that may take, again, whether actively or passively rebelling against God, you have every reason to worry about your salvation. You have every reason to doubt, you have every reason to fear, because true believers aren't comfortable living in their sin. And so as we focus in on this assurance and joy Peter discusses, these are gifts that are given to obedient followers, obedient disciples. Are you tonight an obedient follower of Jesus Christ? Or maybe like the church at Ephesus, you've lost your first love. You've lost your joy because you've left that first love. Can I encourage you, if this is where you're at, you feel like you're straying from Jesus Christ, you're losing your joy because you're not pursuing Him the way that you should be, Revelation 2.5 says this, This is giving us a roadmap of how to get back to where we were. You say, I've lost my joy because I'm not following Jesus the way that I should be. I know I'm not following Jesus the way that I should be. And I need to get back to where I was. I need to get back to honoring him in the way that I live my life. How do you do that? Revelation says, go back to what you did before. Do the works you first did. Rekindle your love for God's word. Go to him frequently in prayer, passionately share the gospel with the lost around you. And maybe you'd say, well, I just don't feel like doing that. Listen to me very carefully. Right living produces right emotions. Write that down. Right living produces right emotions. A lot of times, Christians will say, I don't feel like doing this. Why don't I feel like doing this? Listen, we don't do what we do because we want to or because we feel like it. We do what we do because it's right. We do what we do because the Bible says to live a certain way. And so we make decisions based off of facts, not based off of our emotions. And so I want you to understand something very, very clearly. If you frequently battle your emotions and you say, I don't feel like living this way, you're never going to feel like following Jesus. Do what's right, your emotions will follow. You understand me? Do what's right, emotions follow. Right living produces right emotions. So Peter concludes this section in verse nine. He says, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Peter writes that these believers, these obedient believers, they are obtaining or receiving the benefits of their faith, which is what? What is the benefit of their faith? The primary benefit that we've just looked at? Three letter word. Joy, rejoicing. This is the primary benefit, and these believers are receiving it. He says you're obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of their souls. This is an ongoing process of sanctification. And so we understand while we certainly do reap benefits of salvation while here on earth, we have freedom from sin, the empowerment of grace. We also do look ahead. We expectantly await the hope of glorification. And this is, again, this is a frequent theme through Peter's epistles. And so in the following two sentences, we're going to move on to verse 10. In the following two sentences that comprise verses 10 through 12, Peter emphasizes the glory of this situation, not by discussing it from the recipient's point of view. As you look at verses 10 through 12, they focus entirely on the glory of your salvation. And so it's a unique passage in that Peter doesn't look at it from the recipient's point of view. He doesn't evaluate salvation from your point of view or from mine. He actually evaluates it from the messenger's point of view. And so we'll see four primary groups through this text that are messengers of the gospel. Notice verse 10. Peter says, concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours, searched and inquired carefully. And so the first of the four groups who foretold of our salvation are who? This one's pretty easy. Prophets. The prophets foretold of our salvation. Now, who are these prophets? Who are some prophets that foretold of the salvation that was to come? Isaiah. Yeah, that's a very good one. Isaiah. These are primarily Old Testament prophets. These prophets foretold of the grace that we would receive through salvation. Peter says that this grace is specifically intended for these believers that he's writing to now. This is special in that God's favor and power were meant for you, believer. This is unique. One commentator says this, the purpose of this paragraph is to show Peter's readers that spiritual blessings they now have are greater than anything that was envisaged by Old Testament prophets or even by angels. Again, Peter is trying to encourage these believers that you have something unfathomable, something incredible, clearly worth rejoicing over, something that would transcend any earthly circumstances. Peter's seeking to increase his readers' appreciation for their salvation. Consider Old Testament prophets that Peter could be referring to here. Men like Isaiah or Jeremiah, Daniel, even the prophet Micah, who foretold of the Messiah and the coming of Messiah. These men were faithful to their calling despite unbearable trials and hardships. These men foretold of the coming Messiah. They foretold of grace and a salvation that would be available to future believers that they themselves did not fully understand. And so as you consider this, we know in Titus 2, 11 through 15, Paul, he lays out this perfect framework of grace and how grace functions in the life of the believer. And this is Peter's focus here as well. Peter says, prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours. This is the primary emphasis. We have received grace upon grace through God. Grace should empower our spiritual walks. Grace actually trains and teaches the believer how to look more like Christ. And so you don't have to turn there, but I'm going to read for us Titus 2, 11 through 15. And I want you to listen very carefully. Listen for the function of grace in the life of the believer. Verse 11 says this, For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people. training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. So what is the function of grace as laid out in Titus chapter 2? What does grace do for the believer? Any guesses? It teaches us the way we should live. Yes, very good. It does something else. What else does grace do? It teaches us the way we should live. Grace also teaches us the way we shouldn't live. It's very simple, right? Paul says, training us to what? Renounce ungodliness and worldly passions. So the first thing grace does is grace says, this is how you cannot live. And then the next thing that grace does is it says, this is how you should live. These are characteristics that should define you as a believer, right? Self-controlled, being upright, living a godly life. And so we understand that a characteristic of God, a core characteristic of God, is God's grace. And we see that most clearly demonstrated through the person of Jesus Christ. At the beginning of Titus 2, verse 11, it says, Now we know God's gracious in the Old Testament. So what does that mean when Paul says the grace of God has appeared? Now, I'm gonna tie this back to 1 Peter, so don't get lost, all right? Stay with me. Paul says in Titus 2.11, grace of God has appeared. We know God's gracious, yes? Is God gracious in the Old Testament? Yes. We know that because even in Jonah, Jonah says, well, I didn't wanna come and preach to these people because I knew you were gracious and I knew you'd forgive them. And it's kind of this really funny rant from Jonah because he's upset that God did what? That God was forgiving? We know God's gracious. Why does Paul say, then, the grace of God appeared? How did it appear? What? Say it louder, you got it. Through Jesus Christ, right. The grace of God appears in a personified fashion for the first time through Jesus Christ. The grace of God appears through Jesus Christ. And so as you consider this, now looking back at first Peter, Peter says concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours, searched and inquired carefully They are prophesying about the person and work of Messiah. This is Peter's point. This has always been the case throughout the Old Covenant. These believers experience the grace of God, but they experience the grace of God in a different way, in a unique way from the way that we experience God's grace. The idea that we would have limitless stores of God's grace, grace that is capable of training us and teaching us how we ought to live, this is unfathomable for an Old Testament prophet. In John 1, verse 16, John writes, for from his fullness, we have all received what? Grace upon grace through the person of Jesus Christ. This Messiah was bringing God's grace to humanity. Again, this would have been unimaginable for these believers. And so Peter says, these prophets, they searched and inquired carefully. These words communicate that the prophets were not merely curious. They're not pondering what their prophecies could have meant. They're not aimlessly just thinking about their prophecies. Instead, both of these words, again, if you're taking notes carefully and you're trying to be thoughtful, two words that you should highlight, underline circle, searched and inquired carefully. These words communicate an intense, diligent, determined search for what their prophecies could mean and when they might be fulfilled. These prophets are intensely, diligently searching for the meaning of their prophecies. They're striving to understand what their prophecy could mean when it might be fulfilled. These prophets were utterly captivated by the thought of salvation and what that might look like. They were in love with this idea of grace and the coming of Messiah, and they desperately wanted to understand exactly what God's plan for redemption would look like. Commentator Thomas Schreiner writes that these Old Testament prophets likely studied earlier prophetic writings. They definitely sought to discern the meanings of their own prophecies as they attempted to understand what grace would look like. So these prophets are even going so far as to study previous prophetic writings. And again, we discussed this last week as we looked at Psalm 119. The author of Psalm 119, he actually expresses a very similar sentiment, stating that he seeks after God with his whole heart. This attitude is one that we must seek to emulate, and the prophets do the same thing. They're seeking after God. They're desperately trying to discern the meaning of their prophecies and former prophets' writings. We have an unbelievable revelation given to us. Revelation that Peter tells us here Old Testament prophets anxiously hoped and waited to understand. The revelation that we have reveals to us the character of God. It reveals God's plan for salvation. It reveals to us God's grace. Things that, again, angels long to understand. And it's stunning as you consider all this. Peter's trying to raise our view of our salvation, and he's saying Old Testament prophets, that they tried desperately to understand what you fully understand now as God's plan of redemption. He's trying to raise our view of salvation. And it's stunning that as believers today, we take for granted information that other spiritual giants desperately wanted to understand. Peter says these prophets, they're searching, they're inquiring carefully. And what are they inquiring about? Look at verse 11. They're inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent So Peter, again, he writes that they are inquiring about Messiah and glories to come. And this, again, it simply reinforces the message of the previous verse, that these prophets, they're searching desperately to find out this information. The word used for searching in this passage, it's elsewhere used in the scripture to describe searching through something, searching through a house or through a building. Clearly we understand these prophets were searching through the scriptures. Again, it confirms our suspicion that they're going so far as to even look through earlier prophetic writings in a desperate attempt to understand the salvation that lies ahead. Salvation that you and I not only do we fully understand through God's revealed word, but we fully have access to. We enjoy all the benefits of grace available to us through Jesus. In this verse, Peter also introduces the second being at work in the revealing of salvation, in the message of salvation, and that is the Spirit. And this would, of course, be the Holy Spirit, who is revealing through the Old Testament prophets to foretell of the coming Messiah. Peter refers to the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Christ, or the Spirit of Messiah. And this just simply demonstrates that this was the Spirit's primary work in the lives of the Old Testament prophets. And we know this, as many Old Testament prophets, they detailed the person and work of Messiah. His coming resurrection, His suffering, Isaiah 53 is perhaps the best example of this. Psalm 22 is yet another example of this. And Peter here is referencing some Old Testament writings as prophecies that we would not ordinarily look at and say, that's prophecy. Do you understand that there are some Psalms that New Testament writers refer back to and say, that's prophecy about Jesus Christ, but you would never look at the Psalms and say, that's a prophetic genre of scripture. This is the New Testament apostles' view of prophetic writing through the Old Testament. They're constantly looking ahead to Jesus. Peter writes in verse 12, 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 preach the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look." Peter's informing his reader now that these prophets, they received divine communication, that these prophecies were not concerning their generation, but a future one. And this doesn't imply that there's no intended meaning or no intended application for the generations that receive the prophecies initially, but rather the primary purpose of the prophecy is to benefit future generations. Again, what an incredible truth. Old Testament prophecies, their primary benefit is for who? Peter says, it's for you. This is the primary benefit of these prophecies. In this second phrase of verse 12, he says, And finally, in this section, we see the last two groups who were involved in delivering the message of the gospel. One of these groups is pretty obvious, and it'll jump right out to you. The second group may not be as obvious. Can anybody tell me what the two groups who are responsible to deliver the message are in this passage, the message of the gospel. Anybody? Oh, you raised your hand or no? No? Do you have a guess? No? Prophets? Okay. Not necessarily, but you're close. Okay. Not priests. Angels is one. Very good. Now that's the easy one. What's the other one? He says, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preach the good news to you. OK, Holy Spirit is one, but we already got him in verse 10. No. Good guess. Those who preached. This is the second group, those who preached the good news. This is the third group that is responsible to deliver the gospel message to God's people. And in writing this, Peter is actually taking New Testament apostles, and he's taking the gospel message, and he's setting it on the same playing field as Old Testament prophecy. Peter is taking revelation that you have access to today and saying, the revelation you have written down by the New Testament apostles, the gospel as preached by Jesus and the New Testament apostles, it is just as important as Old Testament prophecies. Now, that to you may not be surprising, but again, for these believers, Peter is ratcheting up his view of salvation. He is continually trying to elevate the believer's view of salvation. This gospel that you have heard is just as important as Old Testament prophets' writings. Again, of course, today we understand all Scripture is inspired and profitable, but this would have been a radical statement for these very young New Testament believers. One commentator writes regarding this final verse, he says, Peter's main point throughout this is that believers in Jesus Christ are incredibly blessed to live in a time when the predictions of these prophets have come to pass. So blessed are modern day believers that Peter concludes writing, the good news that we have received are things into which angels long to look. Now, if you're anything like me, there's a good chance that at some point you may have wondered what it would be like to be an angel. What it would be like to be in heaven. How do they operate? What do they do all day? You know, they don't really have days in the same way that we have days. You've probably thought about some things like that. It's absolutely captivating to me that Peter says angels long to understand redemption that we experience through Christ. you consider the primary function of an angel is what? To glorify, to worship and praise God. And so I think ultimately, they desire to understand this redemptive plan the way that we do, so that they can better praise and glorify God. But as you think about this, in the same way that you may wonder what it is like to be an angel, angels wish they could understand what it's like to be saved. to be rescued by God's grace, to be bought back, to be redeemed. What an incredible truth. Even more shocking is Peter's use of the word long. Angels long to look. This is actually the same word used to describe a sinful lust in the New Testament. It reflects an intense and unfulfilled desire. One author wrote, angels who see ultimate reality from God's perspective, find them to be objects of intense interest. For they know that these struggling believers are actually the recipients of God's greatest blessing and honored participants in a great drama at the focal point of universal history. These angels long, they desire intensely to understand the salvation that you have through Jesus Christ. Again, do you think that salvation is cause for joy that transcends any earthly problem you face? Peter thinks so. Peter thinks so, and he's writing to believers who have been kicked out of their homes, who are running for their lives, some of whom their family members have been murdered before their very eyes. This is the reality of these believers as their exiles. And Peter believes, for these embattled Christians, that their salvation is enough to lift their spirits. Is your salvation enough for you? Is your salvation enough for you? Just as these believers in Peter's epistle play a pivotal role in God's plan for humanity, so do we. Today, you can glory in your salvation, do you? Do you glory, do you rejoice in the salvation that you have through Jesus Christ? Do you understand the greatness of your salvation? And how does that knowledge impact your walk with Jesus? Ultimately, much like the prophets, the knowledge of our salvation, the greatness of our salvation, should so overwhelm us that it drives us back to the scriptures, studying more and more, trying to know more and more, about our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Let's go ahead and bow and close with a word of prayer. Dear Lord, we do thank you for our salvation this evening. God, we recognize our sinfulness, our desperate need to be saved, to be bought back, to be redeemed. Lord, we thank you that you sent your Son, Jesus Christ, to live and to die for us, to rise again, that he would conquer death and be able to restore us to our relationship with God. Lord, I pray that for any in this room who may not know you, who may not have a true relationship with you, I pray that they would examine their hearts today, examine their salvation. Lord, if they would not be a true follower of you, I pray that you would do a work in their heart that only you can do. I pray that you would draw them to yourselves and that they would make a true confession and repentance. Lord, I pray for believers in this room today. I pray that if any would not be experiencing the true joy that can accompany their salvation, I pray that they would, like the church at Ephesus, that they would return to the works that they did at first. that they would return to a true love for your word and a love for prayer, a love to share your word and your glorious gospel with the unsaved world around them. God, we can only do this by your grace. We're so thankful for that grace today, grace that prophets wish to understand, grace that angels long to understand. God, we're so thankful for your grace for us, in Jesus' name, amen.