A. Opening illustration: “A good piece of chocolate is like a good piece of music. It contains something memorable that stays on your mind for the entire day.” -food technologist Darin Sukha, Smithsonian Magazine, “the Son of Man came to save people from their suicidal love affair with possessions (and every other idol) and to lead them into a kind of impossible obedience that displays the infinite worth of Jesus.”
B. Background to passage: Peter has been expounding on the salvation that these suffering churches and believers possess as his primary means of encouragement to them (which is the purpose of the book). He closes out this first bastion of strength and endurance in suffering by demonstrating how wonderful the salvation and the grace of God that was intended for us is demonstrated. This is not so much about the depth of the gospel, which Peter has already mentioned, but about the excitement that it should bring to the lives of believers to help them overcome suffering.
C. Main thought: The magnificent, marvelous, matchless grace of the gospel intended for us
1) The Prophets Searched It (v. 10)
a. Peter speaks of the prophets who constantly searched for answers. They examined their own writings and oracles to take was they did understand about the mystery of the promised Messiah. The idea is strong, powerful, careful examination and may have looked as though they had caught a scent of something and were in hot pursuit. They had seen a glimpse of this message of this coming King, and they wanted to know the when, how, where, etc. They wanted to know who the Messiah would be, and when He would come. They wanted to know how He would bring the Gentiles to salvation. About the New Covenant. Out of all the things that the OT prophets had to go over (oracles of judgment, visions and dreams of God, histories of God work, etc), they desired most to know about salvation that God would provide through the Messiah by grace. Jesus and the cross, the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.
b. Mat 13:17 For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. Also, examples of Daniel, Isaiah, Hab
c. Illustration: "It cost God nothing, as far as we know, to create nice things, but to convert our rebellious wills, it cost Him crucifixion." C.S. Lewis
d. The prophets who only had pinholes to see through were excited, how much more so should we who have the hindsight and knowledge of all the prophecies. We have seen the blanks filled in between the prophecies. We now know all the fulfillments and the prophecies yet to be fulfilled. We have a full written word detailing these things. Yet, we yawn. I did a Facebook post trying to get people to guess what food the article above was talking about. I got answers like bacon, mushrooms, tacos, pizza, and coffee. I think coffee connoisseurs are is not what most of us are. We doctor it, or drink it many ways, and it’s not to say that we don’t enjoy it, but it’s either habit or necessity. We drink coffee to help us wake up, shake off the drowsiness of the night or day. We use it to get rid of the yawn. It would be incredibly missed, but for what reason? We act as though it is simply an idea or a historical fact or a set of car keys, a wallet, or phone that we are comfortable with or that we have misplaced. However, it is a person, a relationship, a treasure that we seek. We know not the intricacies of the sufferings and the glories of the grace meant to be ours. Many of us don’t care. Excitement about what Christ has done is long gone. We must ask God for a spirit of hunger for him. We must repent of our apathetic approach to the gospel of our salvation. It’s the best news ever. It’s the greatest day of your life. It’s the best news of all the days of our lives. Repent from indifference toward the study of the Word. Repent from our laziness in prayer. Repent from our boredom with respect to the church.
2) The Spirit of Christ Inspired It (v. 11)
a. Notice is was the Spirit that kept on giving more details to the prophets. The predictions, while written down by the prophets, were inspired by or indicated by the Spirit. Two theological truths come from this: (1) the trinitarian reference to the Spirit. This is not a different Spirit from the Holy Spirit or the Spirit of God. This phraseology is also used in Romans 8:9 with all three references. We are to understand that the Spirit is a witness to Christ in the OT as well as the new. (2) The truth that the Spirit inspired, here “predicted,” is an important one to our theology. Inerrancy comes from an inerrant God.
b. Argumentation
c. Illustration:
d. If you are a Christian, the same Spirit of Christ that indwelt the OT prophets indwells you. He witnesses
to Christ in you, the hope of glory. He opens your eyes to the suffering/crucified Lamb of God who takes
away sin in Isa 53 and Psa 22. The details of his torturous treatment from the false accusations, the
condition of his bones, tongue, and heart are all given us. He confirms in your spirit the predictions and
manifestation of the baby born in Bethlehem. You can see the Christ is the Seed of the Woman in Gen 3
that will crust the head of the serpent; that one day a prophet like Moses would come, preceded by one
with the Spirit of Elijah. The virgin birth, the Egyptian escape, the lamb in the thicket from Gen 22, the
king forever promised to David. When you focus on and celebrate the gospel and the salvation it brings
you are completing the will of the Spirit in your life.
3) The Apostles Preached It (v. 12a)
a. Peter explains that the prophets were also told that their ministries were not for themselves but for you.
He uses the words “good news” to describe what was preached to these believers. The suffering of
Christ and his subsequent resurrection and glories have been proclaimed under the power of the Holy
Spirit by the apostles, evangelists, NT prophets, and fellow believers. This is the means to salvation.
b. Argumentation
c. Illustration: "The atonement in Jesus Christ’s blood is perfect; there isn’t anything that can be added to
it. It is spotless, impeccable, flawless. It is perfect as God is perfect."
d. The gospel is good news because of the bad news that apart from Christ and his suffering and
resurrection we cannot have eternal life. We are not “good people.” We will not just be OK. Can’t hold
out hopes that good deeds outweigh bad ones. Our good deeds do not help us get in. Our bad ones
cannot be forgotten about without a substitute. That’s why it’s good that the bible teaches that Christ
paid for our sins, iniquities, transgressions, errors, mistakes, blasphemes, rebellion. He took all the
punishment that would have been ours. He bore it on the cross for the joy set before him, and rose from
the grave to conquer death, then ascended to heaven to rule and reign at the right hand of God. We can
have eternal like by repentance and faith in this, in him, in a vicarious substitutionary atonement. Our
sins can be covered. Jesus said that you must be born again to the most religious man around. You say, I
don’t understand that. Don’t worry, neither did he. Being born again happens when the Spirit of God
comes and convicts you of your sin, opens your eyes to the beauty of Christ, lets you realize the offense
that you have committed, turn away from it, and trust in Christ alone. Not Christ plus anything, just
Christ. There are not many ways to God, Jesus is the only way. All other religions are false and
damning. All other denominations that don’t teach that salvation comes by grace alone through faith
alone in Christ alone are false and damning. If you are trusting in anything other than the gospel of Jesus
for salvation, it’s bad news for you! Embrace the good news. Rejoice in the good news.
4) The Angels Desired to Know It (v. 12b)
a. This is a thought that should make us appreciate being human. Angels – created beings, possessing a
will, being in the presence of God – wishing they could know of salvation. It’s a word picture of angels
leaning over to look at something so they may learn. They can’t experience the joy that comes from
embracing a treasure in a fallen world. They can’t experience being given hope and eternal life when it
was impossible for us. They want to fully understand but can’t.
b. Argumentation
c. Illustration: At Christmas children, and all of us, anticipate what is in the boxes underneath the tree.
Some of you are shakers, but all of you are guessers. Some families let their kids open one present the
night before the rest just to quell the mounting tide of desire.
d. Same application as the first point. The OT prophets wanted to understand more, so they searched. The
angels bent over to learn, desiring to learn. We, on the other hand, grow uninterested. The gospel that
will be our theme in glory becomes not so glorious. The good news becomes just news. We dive more
intensely into politics, sports, work, entertainment, social media, hobbies, money, or human
relationships than the most glorious truth ever given. The most glorious gift ever given and the most
wonderful event in the history of the world, and we pay it little mind. From this we must repent and
pursue.
A. Closing illustration: In a speech made in 1863, Abraham Lincoln said, "We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us."
B. Recap
