Living Hope – Spirit-led Prophets led us to Gospel

Posted: January 29, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: God, Gospel, Grace, Heaven, Jesus, Justification, Salvation, Sanctification, Sermons, Service, The Holy Spirit, The Spirit of Christ | Leave a comment

If you could know one thing in the future, what would it be? If you could know one thing in the future, what would it be? Some of the questions you may be concerned about are: Who am I going to marry? Is my baby going to be healthy? Will I have enough money through retirement? Will I have enough money at the end of the month? What is going to be on the exam? Will my kids turn out okay? (Whatever “okay” means. If okay means have a good job, get married, buy a house and have kids, then the bar is too low. Don’t settle for the North American dream! Seek the Kingdom dream! The standard should having a big heart for Jesus.) Back to our question, if you could know one thing in the future, what would it be? Some of you may want to know who will win the upcoming Super Bowl. Okay, maybe you don’t want to know that because you don’t gamble. But there are millions of people who will gamble on the NFL championship game as gambling is exploding in popularity. What used to be taboo and kept to Sin City is now mainstream. If you could know one thing in the future, what would it be?

I believe one of the top concerns we should want to know about the future is what will happen after we die? Our lives are short here on earth and if there is an afterlife, what happens after we die? How many of you spend time planning your vacation. You save up. You study up on the places to go. You work up because everybody knows that you do double the work to leave on vacation and then do double the work afterwards. I have a question for you: how long is your vacation? A week? Two weeks? Now how much time are you giving to spending all eternity? In other words, our primary concern should be our salvation. Salvation from our sins to eternal life. Our Elders have been working on definitions for our Guiding Principles update and this is what we came up with in defining salvation: Salvation is the removal of the effects of sin by the person and work of Jesus Christ. Salvation is the removal of the effects of sin by the person and work of Jesus Christ, so we can have a relationship with Him and His people, the Church. Some wonder, are we going to have an afterlife and be rescued from the pain and hostility of this life or are we just put in the ground to become worm food? I do not mean to be crass, but that is what naturalists and evolutionists would have you believe. Not a lot of hope there, right? But what if one of the most important questions about the future could be answered today concerning your salvation and what happens after you die?

The concern about our salvation goes along with our 2023 THEME: IN AN INCREASINGLY HOSTILE CULTURE, KEEPING OUR EYES ON CHRIST WILL KEEP US FAITHFUL! It is why we are studying 1 Peter. 1 Peter is about having a Living Hope, which is our series title for the next few months. You can have living hope, even living in this hostile world, because you have been born again. God wants you to have a living hope in the midst of this hostile world where you are born again and become an elect exile. This is Peter’s perspective and what we have covered the last two weeks studying 1 Peter 1:1-9! Remember how we learned the first week that we are elect exiles – homeless, but handpicked. Then last week we learned that being born again produces a living hope, a lasting inheritance and a joy during necessary trials. And yet our response should be to bless God (to ascribe Him worth), focus on what will last and rejoice greatly. As Dan Allender has said, “Probably the most unexplainable reality in all the universe is, how can you have everything and pursue that for which you are not allowed to have? This is like having billions of dollars and throwing it all away for picking up a quarter on the ground. That’s madness.”[1] This is why must keep our eyes on Jesus and focus on what will last. Peter emphasized this in 1 Peter 1:8-9, “Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not 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.” This love and belief will be finally realized by the salvation of our souls. The salvation of our souls is the immediate context for the verses we are going to study today from 1 Peter 1:10-12. Let’s read about our salvation and who were the first to predict our salvation from 1 Peter 1:10-12. Read 1 Peter 1:10-12!

People who predict the future are sought after every day. Maybe you already did this morning? Did you consult the meteorologists this morning to see what the weather will be? We sure did this week with the snowstorm on Wednesday. Maybe some of you checked out the stock futures for tomorrow to see where you should invest God’s money? (You did catch that reminder that all your money is really God’s money that He has entrusted to you?) Others of you look at the odds makers. But none of these predictors are right 100% of the time. However, there was a group of people who nailed their predictions. This group of people were called the prophets. They spanned millennia and yet the focus of all their prophecies was on Jesus Christ, the author and perfector of our faith and salvation (Hebrews 12:1-2). The focus on the prophets was Jesus! Theirs was always only one message – the gospel! Islam teaches that the focus of prophets is Allah and see Jesus as only one of the prophets and not the top one at that. The Bible teaches that the focus of the prophets is Jesus! Jesus is the goal and object of the predictions by the prophets. This is what we read in 1 Peter 1:10-11, “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.” 

Why was Christ the focus of the prophets? Two reasons: our salvation and the Spirit! Our salvation and the Spirit! The Spirit is actually how we get salvation. The Spirit of Christ. Who is the Spirit of Christ? Notice I said “who” not “what.” The Spirit of Christ is not his personal and internal spirit. “The Spirit of Christ is the Holy Spirit, who was speaking through the prophets.”[2] We know this from other passages in Scripture. There are a number of references in the New Testament to the Spirit of Christ. Let’s look at just two of them. The first is from Romans 8:9-11 where we find out that the Spirit of Christ lives in us, “You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” Notice how 6 times the word Spirit is used, but how He is attributed as the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ and just the Spirit. Furthermore, the Spirit of God dwells in you. This is the promised Holy Spirit. And Romans 8:9-11 is a good summary of how the Holy Spirit delivers salvation. The Spirit convicts us of sin, He leads us to Jesus and then regenerates us from the inside out as well as being a deposit of the inheritance being kept in heaven for us (John 16:8-11; 13-14; Titus 3:4-7; Ephesians 1:13-14). It is the Holy Spirit who is our Helper. Paul also makes this statement in Galatians 4:6, “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” It is the Holy Spirit that lives in our hearts and encourages us to cry out to our Heavenly Father as His born-again children.

So it makes senses that “the Holy Spirit moved the prophets.”[3] “The Spirit of prophecy is associated with the inspiration of the Bible.”[4] This is a prophetic book with both forthtelling the truth and foretelling the work of God. Let’s talk about the prophets. “For Peter, ‘Christian prophets’ and ‘Old Testament Prophets’ are in the same category.”[5] They both required godliness, truthfulness and focus on the Messiah. Which prophets are we talking about and what did they predict? Have your Bibles ready! We will start with Moses. Moses records the prophesy of Satan (the Serpent) being crushed underfoot in Genesis 3:15, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” Moses also prophesied about a prophet to come in Deuteronomy 18:15, “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers – it is to him you shall listen.” The patriarch Jacob prophesied in Genesis 49:15 that a ruler would come from the tribe of Judah, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.” Notice that last part and compare it with Peter’s opening statement in 1 Peter 1:2, “… for the obedience of Jesus Christ.” Christ fulfills Jacob’s prophecy. Another prophet was Nathan who prophesied in 2 Samuel 7:16 that David’s house and throne would be established forever, “And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.” Jesus is the forever King! David himself prophesied in Psalm 22 a number of prophecies that came true at the cross of His greatest son Jesus. Psalm 22:7-8 predicts that the Messiah would be mocked, “All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; ‘He trusts in the LORD, let Him deliver him; let Him rescue him, for he ‘delights in him.’” Don’t these words echo to when Jesus was on the cross that the observers were taunting Him to come down from the Cross to save Himself? Jesus wouldn’t save Himself so that He could save you and me! Psalm 22:18 predicts that Jesus’ clothes would be divided, “they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” The soldiers cast lots for Jesus’ robe (Matthew 27:35). David also predicted in Psalm 16:10 that Jesus’ body would not see decay, “For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.” This was fulfilled when Jesus rose from the grave 3 days later. Then there is the prophet Isaiah who predicted in Isaiah 7:14 that Jesus would be born of a virgin, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign. ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call His name Immanuel.” Jesus was born of the virgin Mary. Isaiah also prophesied that Jesus would be despised (Is. 52:13-53:12). And let’s not forget about Micah who we just studied late last year. Micah prophesied in Micah 5:2 where the Messiah would be born, “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.” Where was Jesus born? In Bethlehem! (Luke 2:1-7)

I talked earlier of the evils of gambling. Let me tell you about the odds of Jesus fulfilling just 8 of those prophecies. “According to a professor at Westmount College, the chance of Jesus fulfilling these prophecies are 1017 or 100 quadrillion to one. That number means nothing to us so the professor illustrated it this way. If you mark one of ten tickets, and place all the tickets in a hat, and thoroughly stir them, and then ask a blindfolded man to draw one, his chance of getting the right ticket is one in ten. Suppose that we take 100 quadrillion silver dollars (we’ll Canadianize the illustration and use a loonie) and lay them on the face of Texas. They’ll cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up the one silver dollar that has the special mark on it. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would’ve had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man, from their day to the present time.”[6]By the way, I gave you 9 prophecies, which adds exponentially more improbability and there are many more Old Testament prophecies Jesus fulfilled. Just read the Gospel of Matthew because Matthew loves to show their fulfillments. All this begs the question why are you taking chance with your life other than with Jesus? It’s madness why the world doesn’t follow Him. I don’t say this to shame anybody into salvation. God’s salvation rescues us from shame – the effects of sin. I just have a hard time understanding why everybody who hears this message doesn’t run to the altar and surrender their life to Christ and is baptized. But it also explains why so many are born again and are elect exiles! Are you?

The prophets have a message for you. The implication of verse 12 is that if the prophets were seeking salvation from God for themselves, they were also seeking it for others. That is true for us too. In the very short time I have left, let me give you 3 implications concerning your salvation. We will call them 3 concerns for salvation. This is for those not saved yet and for those being saved. Salvation is a process. We are saved at the moment of salvation. That is called justification. We are being saved. That is called sanctification, which we learned in 1 Peter 1:2 is the task of the Holy Spirit. And we will be saved – the outcome of faith (1 Peter 1:9). That is called glorification. So salvation should be our priority concern about the future. Concerning your salvation … 1) search for grace (v. 10). Concerning your salvation search for grace. Verse 10 tells us “concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully.” God has given your grace. It is a treasure. In fact, you will not discover the treasure if you don’t know you need it. Grace is what we need at justification, sanctification and glorification. This is because unlike any other religion who says we must do things to be saved and achieve paradise, Christianity teaches God did something for us so we could be with Him forever. In all other religions, heaven is an achievement. In Christianity, heaven is a rescue operation. This is why you must search for grace and forgiveness through Jesus Christ to be saved. Presuming you want to be saved. Think of yourself shipwrecked on a deserted island and you can’t rescue yourself, but you can make an S.O.S. (Save Our Souls) sign in the sand. It is also why each day you must search for grace to continue to be saved. The great preacher Charles Spurgeon put it this way, “Brother, you do not want dying grace till dying moments. What would be the good of dying grace while you are yet alive? A boat will only be needful when you reach a river. Ask for living grace, and glorify Christ thereby, and then you shall have dying grace when the time comes.” Concerning your salvation search for grace. 

That is the first concern of your salvation is search for grace. Do you know you need grace? The second concern is to seek the Spirit of Christ. Concerning your salvation 2) seek the Spirit of Christ (v. 11).Seek the Spirit of Christ. Verse 11 explains the prophets sought “what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.” As we seek the Spirit of Christ, two things will happen: a) we will be filled with the Holy Spirit and b) we will never get far from the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. We won’t forget the Cross nor the living of the resurrection and ascension of Christ. His conquering death led to Him going to Heaven to receive His crown as king. A continual focus on the cross, resurrection and ascension of Jesus will help us focus on what will last.

The first concern of your salvation was search for grace, the second was seek the Spirit of Christ and the third concern of salvation is to serve the uninformed. Concerning your salvation 3) serve the uninformed (v.12). Serve the uninformed. Look what verse 12 teaches, “It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in 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.” The prophets’ messages were beneficial not just to them, but to their hearers close by and far off. To their immediate audience and to us today. I get this as a preacher because I am first of all preaching to myself as well as to you and then to those who listen to the sermon later on via video. The gospel has multiple beneficiaries and some who may not even know it yet. What if today’s message when you proclaim Jesus can have a generational effect? You are serving the uninformed. 

No wonder angels long to look into these things. “God is educating the angels through the church.”[7]Maybe the angels are going to school right now as we worship? They are better at worship in one sense, but they don’t have the necessary trials that we go through and yet still worship Him! They cannot be redeemed. They cannot receive grace and salvation. But humans can. Angels call God “Lord,” we do too, but we call Him also Father. Angels called Jesus “King,” we do too, but we also Jesus Kin and Brother. Angels call God “Alpha & Omega,” we do too, but also call God “Abba – Daddy!” This is why it is critical that you and I serve the uniformed and tell people the good news of Jesus Christ – their salvation!

If you could know one thing, the most important thing, about the future, is it whether you are saved or not? What happens to your soul after you die? The prophets tell us through the Spirit of Christ. They nailed their predictions because Christ was nailed to a cross. Concerning your salvation search for grace, seek the Spirit of Christ and serve the uninformed. 

In just a minute, I will give you some time to ask God about your future and what He wants you to do next. But you remember when I said that it’s madness why people don’t all follow Jesus? I think I understand it a little bit. This past Thursday morning I was walking my dog after the big snow. Now you need to know that my dog hates snow plows. He is scared. So much so that on Thursday morning he got out of his leash and harness. He ran off into the woods and would not come. It took 40 minutes of convincing him to come. His eyes were sometimes fixed on me, but more often than not, his eyes were fixed on the plows. For the past 5 years, I have fed him and taken care of all his needs. Yet, he didn’t feel safe. We can’t be saved unless we trust. Do you know what I did for Him to trust me? I slowly came to him with arms open wide and he finally let me hug and carry him to safety. He experienced salvation in dog terms. The prophets told us Jesus would come. Jesus came not in power, but with arms open wide for you. Will you trust Him for your salvation whether you trusted in the past?

[1] Dan Allender, “The Heart of Man” film, 2016.

[2] Thomas Schreiner, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton: Crossway, 2008), 2406.

[3] R.C.H. Lenski, The Interpretation of the Epistles of St. Peter, St. John and St. John (Columbus: Wartburg Press, 1945), 49.

[4] Craig S. Keener, 1 Peter – A Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2021), 87.

[5] J. Ramsey Michaels, 1 Peter – Word Bible Commentary (Nashville: Thomas Publishers, Nashville, 1988), 17.

[6] https://empower.global/the-mathematical-probability-that-jesus-is-the-christ/. Accessed January 25, 2023.

[7] Warren Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary – Volume 2 (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1989), 392.