The text for the sermon this morning is 1 Peter 1, verses 10 through 12, as we continue our consideration of 1 Peter. And in connection with that text, I would ask that you turn back to the prophecy of Isaiah, chapter 53. Isaiah 53, that well-known chapter which outlines for us the suffering and glory of the servant of the Lord, the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Isaiah 53 in connection with the text 1 Peter 1, 10-12 Hear now the word of God as we begin at verse 1 of Isaiah 53 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed He grew up before him like a tender shoot and like a root out of dry ground He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised and we esteemed Him not. Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows. Yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten by Him, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. And the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way. And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living. For the transgression of my people he was stricken. He was assigned a grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer. And though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in His hand. After the suffering of His soul, He will see the light of life and be satisfied. By His knowledge, My righteous servant will justify many, and He will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will give Him a portion among the great, and He will divide the spoils with the strong, because He poured out His life and a death and was numbered with the transgressors. For He bore the sin of many and made intercession for transgressors. In our text, 1 Peter 1, verses 10 through 12, you recall we've been considering Peter's sermon here, his singing, as we have said, about salvation, about the salvation of God's people, that inheritance that has been laid aside for God's people, and God's people who are also guarded by the hand of God for that inheritance, that salvation. Verse 10, concerning this salvation, the prophets who spoke of the grace that was to come to you searched intently and with the greatest care trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things. A beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, do you live in the joy of your salvation? It's not an unimportant question. It's a question we've really been considering with Peter so far as he's been talking about this joy of salvation. Do you live in the joy of your salvation? It's something that we must all really and seriously think about and consider. Does your salvation, the salvation that you profess to have, that you claim to have for the sake of the blood of Jesus, does it give you joy for life? Is the joy of your salvation reflected in the way that you live? The things that you say? How you work? How you recreate? In your relationships? Very simply, is it reflected in your entire lifestyle? Can others see and hear as they observe you and hear you speak? Can they see and hear that you are a citizen of heaven? Is that clear to them? Maybe a more important question is this. Do you understand the greatness of your salvation? Now, of course, we can't fully. But do you understand the greatness of your salvation and what that means for you as much as humanly possible. You see, that's a more important question really because if you don't understand the greatness of your salvation, then you cannot begin to live in the joy of salvation. Again, we know that Peter has been singing to these privileged pilgrims, including you and me, about this salvation. We have already considered the first two stanzas of the song we might say, And this morning we come to the third and final stanza of this song. Basically, pretty soon in this epistle, as we said before, he is going to instruct these pilgrims about living distinctively Christian lives among pagans in a pagan world. But as of yet, he is still basically in the introduction with this song. We saw the beauty of what he was saying in the first two stanzas. And now as we read this text, this third stanza might seem a little bit strange to you. Well, what is he saying? and what really is there for us to understand from it. But it too is beautiful. Again, Peter has been singing about salvation, about that inheritance that is waiting for these pilgrims, that is kept in heaven for them. And in the first stanza, he sings about the blessedness of this inheritance because it is completely the work of God the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ applied to you and me by the power of the Holy Spirit. And what a blessing, because we didn't have to do anything to get this inheritance. In fact, we couldn't do anything to get this inheritance. Maybe at one point in your life you've been given a wonderful gift, something that you might say is expensive. Boys and girls, maybe you were given a computer. Or as adults, maybe you were given a large sum of money or maybe you were given an estate or even a business, a successful business, a most wonderful gift. You see, the most wonderful gift you can imagine in this life does not compare with this gift, this inheritance, which does not spoil, does not fade, does not perish, but it is kept in heaven for you who are guarded, kept safe by the power of God for that inheritance. That was the first stanza. Then in the second stanza, Peter sings about the fact that we may be called upon to suffer in this life because of our faith in Jesus Christ, Because we are Christians that might bring on suffering for you and me. But we can rejoice in the midst of that suffering. Why? Again, because of that inheritance. Because of that salvation that awaits us, which is indeed so great. Remember, Paul says in Romans 8, For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. But again, Peter is not through yet. In the third stanza, he continues to sing of the greatness of salvation, of this inheritance. But this time, not by looking forward to that inheritance, but by looking backward. And tying the knot, we might say, or making the important connection between the Old Testament church and the New Testament church. Between the saints of old and the saints today, and everyone in between. You see, this salvation is so great, it is so awesome, it is so important that it was planned and prophesied long before any of these pilgrims that Peter preaches to, long, long before they were born, and long before you or I were born. And Peter wants them to know that they cannot begin to live in the joy of their salvation among pagans and rejoice in suffering unless they understand, at least in part, the greatness of this salvation. In congregation, the same is true for you and me today. This text is about salvation prophesied for the pilgrim's benefit. We want to notice very simply the content of the prophecy and secondly, the purpose of the prophecy. The text says in verses 10 and 11, concerning this salvation, the prophets who spoke of the grace that was to come to you searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. Again, Peter makes it clear here that this salvation is so great, it is such a blessing that many hundreds of years before, way back in the Old Testament, there were those who knew about it. They knew about this salvation for you and for me today. They were called prophets. Who were the prophets? Well, we know they were men, and in some cases women who were prophetesses, who had received a special revelation, and we could say a commission from God. They were specifically called by God. Now, a man could become a king or a priest because he was in the right family, and very simply when his turn came around, then he would take his job as king or priest. And we can think in our modern day of Prince Charles and his son Prince William, the heirs to the British throne, those in line. But a man could not become a prophet just because his dad was a prophet. He had to have a special call from God with a message from God for his people. And the messages that the prophets came with, you know, were not all the same either. Sometimes the prophets would be sent with a message to review God's people because they had sinned. At other times the prophets were sent to encourage God's people in the midst of turmoil and difficulty and distress of some sort. And still at other times they were sent to remind God's people who they were because they had forgotten. They forgot to whom they belonged. They forgot that they were once slaves in Egypt and that God had delivered them by His mighty hand and His outstretched arm. They needed to be reminded to whom they belonged. Who were the prophets Peter is talking about? He's talking about those from Moses to Malachi, including Isaiah and Joel and Amos and Jeremiah and all the others. It even includes David, who was both a prophet and a king, as Peter calls him in Acts 2. Salvation through Jesus Christ, with all of its grace, was made known to the prophets of the Old Testament. And they prophesied about it. They told of it. They gave a preview of what Jesus would one day do. And notice the text says that it was the Spirit of Christ who made these things known to the prophets. This is a good reminder for you and me that Jesus isn't just a New Testament figure. Oh, as the man Jesus He is, but not as the Son of God. Not as the second person of the Blessed Trinity. He's not only a New Testament figure. He was at work even in the Old Testament. He made known to the prophets what He was going to do for them and for you and for me. And the beauty of this congregation is that that salvation that the prophets prophesied about is the very same salvation that you and I enjoy today and that we will enjoy fully in heaven one day. It is the same grace which includes the benefits of salvation like calling, regeneration, conversion, justification, adoption, sanctification, preservation and one day perfection in the glory of heaven. All those theological words we hear about. But talk of that salvation, you see, even predates the prophets. In Genesis 3, verse 15, we already read the gospel of salvation. And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise you on the head and you shall bruise him on the heel. Almost at the dawn of history already. But guess what? It goes back even farther than that. Turn with me to Ephesians chapter 1 if you would. Ephesians chapter 1 as we read the beautiful words penned by Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Verses 3-14. Listen. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ in accordance with His pleasure and will to the praise of His glorious grace which He has freely given us in the one He loves. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins in accordance with the riches of God's grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Christ to be put into effect when the times will reach their fulfillment to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will in order that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be for the praise of His glory and you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession to the praise of His glory. Even earlier. All the way back to before the foundation of the world. You might say, well, big deal. So what? Beloved, that's how great this salvation is. You see, salvation was not some afterthought in the mind of God. And it was not, as some say, oh, God's first plan failed, and therefore He had to go to plan B and send His Son and kill Him for us. Absolutely not. before the foundation of the world that shows to us how important God's people are to Him, that we, even those of us who live today, were in His eternal thoughts and are in His eternal thoughts. Beloved, this should show you and me the intimate connection, the continuity between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Of all the ages, there are those evangelicals today who say that the Old Testament means nothing for us today. It's not necessary. All we need is the New. But that's not true. The two are connected. There is continuity. We've talked about the already and the not yet of salvation. We have salvation already now, but not yet fully as we will one day. Salvation was an already in the Old Testament as the saints of old enjoyed the promised Messiah. The promise of that great salvation. But we have more of the already than the Old Testament did as we enjoy the fulfillment of those promises. since the first coming of Christ, but we do not yet have it fully as we will in glory. Augustine said the new is in the old concealed. The old is in the new revealed, talking about the Old Testament and the New Testament. The New Testament was shadowy, somewhat concealed, not totally clear in the Old Testament. The Old Testament is made clear, revealed in the New. You cannot separate the Old and New Testament. We need the complete package to understand God's history of revelation and His history of redemption and the greatness of salvation. And this salvation with all of its benefits of grace was made known to the prophets. And they thought it so wonderful that they prophesied about it. Yet they didn't completely understand it. The Spirit of Christ didn't allow them to fully understand it. The text says halfway down verse 10, they searched intently with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. The Spirit revealed to them that the Savior of the world, the Messiah, would come, that He would suffer. Isaiah says it very clearly, doesn't He? And that afterward there would be glories to follow, but the Spirit didn't reveal to them who He was. In particular, when He would come, how He would come, or what the circumstances would be that surrounded His coming. Oh, there are bits and pieces and little snapshots here and there throughout the Old Testament. But even though they didn't know those specifics, the prophets knew that this salvation was great. So they made careful search and inquiry about it. Now the force of the original Greek here means that they looked intently as with a microscope. They made very careful investigation. They left no stone unturned as we say. They asked questions of the Lord as Isaiah 6.11 says, Then I, that is Isaiah, said, Lord, how long? In Daniel 7, Daniel sees a vision of the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, and he says, As for me, Daniel, my spirit was distressed within me, and the visions in my mind kept alarming me, I approached one of those who were standing by and began asking him the exact meaning of all this. In Daniel 9, we see that the prophets themselves searched the Scriptures for certain answers. As Daniel says in verse 2, In the first year of his reign, that is, Darius, I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of years which was revealed as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolation of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. the prophets understood how great it was the salvation and they wanted to know more Jesus says in Matthew 13, 17 for truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see and did not see it they desired to hear what you heard what you hear and did not hear it pointing to the greatness of the revelation that we enjoy in our day since Christ has come. The Spirit revealed only so much to the prophets, but not everything. Oh, Micah prophesied that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Isaiah talks about his birth in chapters 7 and 9 as well as about his ministry in various places throughout his prophecy. And of course, in the background passage we read in Isaiah 53, we read about his suffering and death. Very detailed, really. And even the glories to follow. And that's an important consideration. That's an important order. The order, the Spirit of Christ Himself predicted His own suffering first and then to be followed by glories. You see, suffering comes before glory. And the Old Testament makes that clear already in Genesis 3, verse 15. It talks about the serpent striking the Redeemer's heel. That's the suffering. And then it talks about the Redeemer crushing the serpent's head, and that's the glory. Or Isaiah 53, again, we read about Christ's suffering, but then we read in verses 11 and 12, talking about after the suffering of His soul, He will see the light of life and be satisfied by His knowledge. My righteous servant will justify many, and He will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will give Him a portion among the great, and He will divide the spoils with the strong. Christ had to suffer first, you see, before the glory. But the people didn't understand that. The Jews of Jesus' time were looking for the Messiah who would come and throw off the yoke of Rome. They were looking for the glory. They wanted that glory. We think of the Olympic athletes. It's not totally related, but a little bit. You can think about the fact that they're going to Athens in a few weeks. They're looking for the glory of the gold. But it doesn't come without the suffering, does it? Without the years and years of work and preparation and training. But even the twelve disciples didn't fully understand that Jesus had to suffer even after He clearly told them that it was necessary for Him to be betrayed into the hands of wicked men and to die. And on the road to Emmaus, you recall that the two disciples Jesus met, they were kept from recognizing Him And in their sadness, Jesus said to them, O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory? The prophets spoke of the suffering first and then the glory. It's very plain. Suffering followed by glory. See, that's the greatness of salvation, isn't it? Jesus suffered the cursed death of the cross, the criminal's death. And He suffered the anguish of hell, crying out, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And beloved, do you understand that even a little bit? That God the Father took out His wrath on His Son, His wrath that should have been taken out on you and me because of our sin. If you've never thought about it, that death penalty, you see, It was not just for one day. It wasn't just for a couple of weeks. It wasn't just for an earthly life sentence, like 80 years. It was an eternal death sentence. And God the Father turned His face against His Son, and Jesus Christ suffered an eternity's worth of hell for each and every believer. That had to happen to Jesus Christ, because if it had happened to you or me, we couldn't survive. we wouldn't survive. See, beloved, that's how great this salvation is, brothers and sisters, that was prophesied already by the prophets, planned for the foundation of the world. But praise God for the glories that follow. These glories include, and to our benefit, Christ's resurrection, His ascension, His being seated at the right hand of God the Father, His name being given, the name that is above every name, His return one day to judge the living and the dead. Suffering followed by glories. That was the pattern for Christ. But if you think about it, it's the pattern for you and me too, isn't it? We saw this last week in connection with Peter talking about rejoicing in the midst of trials, in the midst of suffering, until we obtain the glorious inheritance, the salvation of our souls. Our salvation, beloved, was revealed to the prophets. But not in full, only in part. Yet their prophecy had a purpose. A very important purpose. Verse 12 says, It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you. When they spoke of the things that have now been told to you by those who have preached the gospel to you, by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, even angels long to look into these things. Again, God didn't reveal everything to the prophets. and they didn't understand everything that was revealed to them. But they did come to realize somehow by the power of the Holy Spirit that their work was for the benefit of others. Of those to come after, it was for the benefit of the New Testament church in Peter's day and for us today. They were not to know completely about the person of Jesus Christ in the flesh and the time when He came to live among men and die for our sins, But the purpose of their prophecy was so that the pilgrims and you and I would understand that this Jesus, this very same Jesus whom we celebrate, this very same Jesus with His suffering and glories, this very same Jesus who was preached by Peter and the other ministers of His day and who is preached today, is the One, the One and only of whom the prophets prophesied about. You say again, so what? What's the point? The point is this, beloved. The prophecies have come true. They have been fulfilled. And what this means, congregation, it means that God is faithful. It means that God's Word is true. It means that He faithfully does what He says He will do. And that makes His salvation even greater, doesn't it? Because we can trust fully and completely in God. God promised to send a Savior and He fulfilled that promise. And that makes this salvation through Jesus Christ even greater because that means that Jesus Christ Himself will remain faithful to you and to me. He will come again, as He said, to take us to be with Him. It means that the Holy Spirit's witness to our hearts of what the prophets prophesied so long ago, that that witness is true. Boys and girls, it means that Christ's promises are true and that we can run that marathon race of faith that you learned about in Vacation Bible School. We can run that race with confidence that we will not become weaker, but in the strength of the Spirit, we will become stronger. We will make it to the end. We will reach the glory of heaven because Jesus Christ has guaranteed our victory because He is such a great Savior. Beloved, that same Spirit who moved the prophets to preach about the promise of the Messiah, the same Spirit was poured out on Pentecost and He works in us today to proclaim the fulfillment, to spread the news of the fulfillment of their prophecies, of the good news of the Gospel. Jesus Christ has come. He has paid the penalty of the sins of His people and God the Father has accepted that payment and our God reigns. And we know that without a doubt because of the glories that followed Christ's suffering. This salvation and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is so great, again, that the prophets knew that. And they wanted to know more about it. They searched intently. But notice, Peter also says that the angels long to look into these things. What a statement! You see, the angels are amazing creatures. They live in the glorious presence of God. They have seen the splendor and the majesty of God. They have also been working in history, haven't they? They rejoice over repentant sinners. They will gather the elect in the end. They are conscious of God's work of grace in the lives of His pilgrims, but they too, beloved, don't fully understand or comprehend it. We say, what could they need? Again, they see the glory and the splendor of God. What more could they need? Remember, they are not the recipients of God's grace. They don't need it. They're not sinful. They are not the recipients of God's amazing grace. They long to look into these things. They, too, understand the greatness of that salvation. The Greek means to literally gaze at without stretched necks. On the one hand, we can think of those who rubberneck on the freeway. When traffic is all blocked up and you find out that it's not because there was something on your side, it was on the other side, but everybody in front of you, like you, busy looking to see what's going on. Or boys and girls, when there's something really exciting or important for you to look at, and maybe there are adults or bigger people in your way, you stand on your tiptoes and you look and you move your head in any way you can to look around the people in front of you to see whatever it is that is so important that you want to look at. See, that's what the angels are doing with regard to this salvation. They are excited to see the fullness of this salvation, to witness the marriage supper of the Lamb, but notice they only witness it. Whereas you and I as believers, we will participate in it. That's how great this salvation is. The angels are watching the church of Jesus Christ because that is how God has chosen to reveal His divine plan. As Paul says in Ephesians 3, verse 10, in order that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. Beloved, how do you come to know about this great salvation through Jesus Christ? Only through the Word of God applied by the Holy Spirit. Again, the prophets thought that it was worth carefully searching and inquiring about. And the angels long to understand it. They understand how great it is. How about you? How about us as a congregation? Do you long for that salvation? Is it worth your time? Do you consider it as the prophets did and the angels do? Is it worth your time to carefully study the Bible to try to understand all that you can about God's plan of salvation? Beloved, take God's Word. Spend time with it. Read it. Study it. Search it. Live it. Obey it. Indeed, it's sometimes hard to understand in our prosperity, it's hard to understand that we don't deserve this salvation. we deserve to burn in hell that's a fact that's what we deserve but if you believe in Jesus Christ by grace through true faith you will never be forsaken by God and you will live in his glorious presence for eternity planned for eternity but if you don't believe you will suffer the torments of hell and be separated from God for eternity Jesus Christ has opened up the only way to the Father. Do we truly understand this? Boys and girls and young people, do you understand this? Do you think that catechism is boring? Do you think that learning the doctrines of Scripture as taught in the catechism is a waste of time? Do you think church sitting here listening to someone preach for 30 minutes or so is boring and a waste of time? listening to the message of the gospel? Are you embarrassed to let others know that you're a Christian or that you go to church? See, the prophets weren't. The angels aren't. They thought it was wonderful. Jesus Christ is the only way. There is no other. There are many who try to tell us that there are other ways and that we can get to heaven on our own, but it is simply not true. If you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and understand and desire this great salvation, then it will be reflected in how you live today. You will live in the joy of that salvation and it will penetrate the miseries of this sinful life and of this sin-sick world. If you understand how great Christ's salvation is, then the joy of your salvation will include the knowledge and assurance that you are not your own, but you belong body and soul in life and in death unto your faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. If you understand even a little bit about the matchless work of Jesus and His great salvation, then you can and you will live distinctively Christian lives in joy among pagans in a pagan world. And just as the prophets prophesied about the promise of Jesus Christ and His salvation, they couldn't help but to tell about it, you and I will also then tell about the fulfillment of such a great salvation, accomplished by such a great Savior. Do you understand, beloved, how great this salvation is? We have to keep asking that because it is a matter of life or death that you and I know. See, that's the joyful sound. Jesus saves. Jesus saves. Amen. Our gracious God and Heavenly Father, we indeed thank You and praise Your holy name for that joyful sound, that joyful truth of salvation in Jesus Christ alone. Father, help us to understand the greatness of that salvation, that indeed it was not an afterthought for You, but part of Your plan from eternity. That we have been in Your thoughts for all eternity. How wonderful that is, O Lord. And indeed, we pray that we might live in the joy of that salvation, that that joy might grow day by day and be evident to those around us as we desire to live for you. Father, lead us and guide us by the power of your Holy Spirit. In his name alone we pray. Amen.