The Bridge - 1 Peter 1:10-12
Notes
Transcript
Sermon
Sermon
10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 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. 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 preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.
Ok so Peter has established a clear line of thinking that all worship praises God for WHO HE IS AND WHAT HE HAS DONE.
Then he spent some time laying out what God has done as it pertains to the gospel and salvation for His people.
He turns and says, ok people, as to this whole “salvation” you now have, none of this is random and, actually, it is quite planned out.
A lot went in to you hearing the gospel.
May use the 14 periods to lay some of this out in historical order
Commentary mentions Ephesians 3:4-6 as a resource to aid in understanding the past plans for saving God’s people.
4 When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. 6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
Piper says that the drive for these two verses is Thankfulness for our great salvation.
How can we take such a great salvation for granted. Were others saved by faith? Yes absolutely, we see this in Romans 4. But they didnt get to see it. They went to the grave, having to wait to heaven to understand what in the world God was doing.
We can see it and understand it.
The Bridge in Steps
The Bridge in Steps
10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully,
Step 1: God revealed his plan of grace for you to the Prophets - v12
Step 1: God revealed his plan of grace for you to the Prophets - v12
Step 2:Prophets searched backward and wrote forward to gospel writers
Step 2:Prophets searched backward and wrote forward to gospel writers
The searched high and low to figure out Who this message was for and when this messiah would come. They understood that they were writing for others that would come later. We see this play out as the writers of the NT (Paul, Peter, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and James) and that early bunch of believers (writing of the gospels-Document Q).
Grudem (quote below) says they searched previous scripture and prophecy that preceded them, but also searched their own prophecies, trying to make sense if it was current times or future times. Peter is saying they found it to be for future times, as to God’s plans of grace.
Its important that be established. We are talking about in the context of prophecy for grace, not specific judgment and event prophesies.
To what is he referring to when he says “searched and inquired carefully?”
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.
Grudem commentary from Logos says these two words indicate that whatever the process was, it was much more than the prophets just sitting and pondering, “hmm i wonder what all this means and what God is doing.” It means they were scratching their heads, searching very hard, and coming up empty on what God was doing.
They understood God’s justice and they understood God was a merciful God, but how would God forgive sinners?
From Grudem on Logos
What did they search? Since Peter does not say, we cannot be certain. Yet this word (eraunaō), the third ‘searching’ word in this sentence, is used elsewhere of searching through Scripture (see John 5:39; 7:52). An excellent suggestion is therefore that they searched through earlier Scripture, and probably their own prophecies as well, to find out about the ‘salvation’ and the ‘grace’ they were predicting. Moreover, the fact that they subsequently learned that their prophecies were not for their own times but the future (‘they were serving not themselves but you’, v. 12) suggests that they also searched and investigated their own times and circumstances, seeking to learn if their prophecies
Grudem, Wayne A. 1988. 1 Peter: An Introduction and Commentary. Vol. 17. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
Isaiah and Moses are the two that come to mind first as far as prophets that would be under this list. Also David comes to mind.
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.
So this is a third time that I have heard of where the Holy Spirit is described as the spirit of Christ.
List: Romans 8:9, Galatians 4:6,
Peter gets a little more specific by saying the predictions are based on the sufferings of Christ and glory from it.
Not all prophets do that. Isaiah definitely comes to mind here.
The people of Israel were looking for the messiah to come. John 4:25 comes to mind.
25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.”
From BibleRef
Verses 10 and 11 explained an important truth about the earlier prophets of Israel. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, the prophets of the Old Testament had written about a coming salvation by God's grace. They had written about a savior who would suffer and then be glorified. Then they had searched and asked: "Who is this person and when will this happen?"
What was revealed to them was this: As they wrote the words of God under the influence of the Holy Spirit, they were serving not themselves but future generations. The Christ would come after their time.
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 preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.
I wish I had a bible reference for this. Its not that I doubt Peter. He is giving insight into the mind of the prophets.
I wonder if theres evidence of this in scripture?
Piper refers to Isaiah 6 and the call of Isaiah in which he hears the prophecy and then says how long lord. Im pretty sure that prophecy is directly to Israel and the exile, so i cant use this to show proof.
Not really seeing anything else.
This is one of those times where i think i have to go, inspired so believe.
Interesting article by Gospel Coalition
Interesting article by Gospel Coalition
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/article/the-old-testament-prophets-self-understanding-of-their-prophecy/
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/article/the-old-testament-prophets-self-understanding-of-their-prophecy/
This article does not touch 1 Peter and im a little dissapointed at that. Seems important to the discussion.
Im giving up on the search for now to find a reference to a time a prophet did this in scripture.
So its interesting to know that the prophets were made aware that their message of Gods plan for redemption was for a future time and people.
Loose List of OT passages and prophecies about God’s grace
Loose List of OT passages and prophecies about God’s grace
Exodus 34:6-7
2. Jonah 4:2
3. The covenant in Genesis 15-very loosely
4. Hosea 6:6
5. Lots in Isaiah
6. Lots in Psalms
Step 3: The first round of NT Gospel Messengers(writers) shared with these folks.
Step 3: The first round of NT Gospel Messengers(writers) shared with these folks.
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 preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.
What does it mean that angels long to look.
It could mean, they want to but can’t.
Or it could mean, they want to know how it all plays out. They’ve seen the story so far and want to know how it turns out. Piper holds to this view.
Word commentary points out that Hebrews 1:5-2:18 has good background on this. The angels have no dog in the fight because their future doesnt hang in the balance. At times, they have been sent to share a message from the Lord, and its obvious they see whats happening. They just do not know how it plays out because they do not have God’s knowledge.
I also go back to Hebrews 12:1 here where everyone is watching the thing play out, cheering on the runners.
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
Step 4: Someone shared all of it with you
Rejoice because of your salvation. Someone took the time to share the gospel with you.
Or maybe i am sharing with you and you are receiving it for the first time.
Either case, its part of the unfolding of the redemption story.
Step 5: You take it to others
If you are a Christian, you find yourselves within the story. Not without something to do, but with a task assigned to you.
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
-Theres only one story in the bible from beginning to end. In addition, there’s a dependency on all God’s people (1:10-12)
Salvation is found in Christ alone!
The Bridge - The Old Testament writers sometimes wrote for their own time, but also for these people in NT times and for you.
Mile 1 of the Bridge - The OT prophets wrote so the New Testament writers could understand
Mile 2 of the Bridge - The NT writers write so we can understand.
Mile 3 of the Bridge - We share the gospel for others to understand.
The work is not complete.
We see this in Hebrews as the saints cheer us on to finish the work!
Preliminary Notes
Preliminary Notes
From Summary sermon- Called To Salvation As Exiles
2. The Bridge-OT, NT, And You
-Theres only one story in the bible from beginning to end. In addition, there’s a dependency on all God’s people (1:10-12)
Salvation is found in Christ alone!
The Old Testament writers wrote for their own time, but also for these people in NT times.
The OT prophets wrote so the New Testament writers could understand
The NT writers write so we can understand.
We share the gospel for others to understand.
The work is not complete.
The Angels are watching the show, waiting to send the finalle.
We see this in Hebrews as the saints cheer us on to finish the work!
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,