We Are Beneficiaries

Reading: 1Pe1.10-12

1 Peter 1:10–12 ESV

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.

Pray

We often find ourselves following in the footsteps of others who have gone before.

ILL: The “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” fixes

Sometimes fixing the problems of our predecessors makes life much more difficult for us. We can all point to generational problems, sins that carry on for generations.

But then there are those good things that we can do only because of those who came before us.

ILL: Joseph Lister and antiseptic treatment in surgeries

12 August 1865 - first successful surgery using carbolic acid as antiseptic

Derided by many, including some of the best surgeons and doctors of his day

Ended up saving King Edward VII’s life by advising the surgeon how to sterilize (24 June 1902)

Sometimes we stand on the shoulders of giants, and their work helps us reach new heights.

That’s what Peter wants us to see:

We Are Beneficiaries of the Prophets Who Came Before Us

Think about that for just a moment: we are the beneficiaries of the OT Prophets and NT apostles.

EXP: Beneficiary - one who receives the benefit of another’s work or provision

Minor accounts at the bank

Just as Lister needed the work of Pasteur, in the same way we need the prophetic testimony. There’s a couple of ways we benefit from those prophets of old:

We Are Enriched by the Grace They Uncovered

1 Peter 1:10 ESV

10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully,

The words for the phrase “searched and inquired carefully” are used in Psalm 119:2:

Psalm 119:2 ESV

2 Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart,

We Are Enlightened to the Christ They Revealed

1 Peter 1:11 ESV

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.

Pause: Relationship of Suffering to Glory

Quote: Peter H. Davids, The First Epistle of Peter. NICNT. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1990.

The First Epistle of Peter A. Opening Thanksgiving (1:3–12)

Neither Christ nor his people receive the crown of glory without the crown of thorns.

We Are Enlivened in the Gospel They Proclaimed

1 Peter 1:12 ESV

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.