1 Peter 1_10-12 - The Revelation of Salvation
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Summary
In our third sermon in the series, "The Revelation of Salvation," Pastor Ken continues our exploration of Peter's first encounter with God's Word. In this sermon, we see that God's salvation is not accidental, not fragile, but ancient and ancient-looking, and that it is the salvation that the prophets themselves long to see.
Transcript
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Well, amen, and praise God for his worship, for the things that we've sung and said, and
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What a wonderful thing it is to worship Almighty God together this morning.
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This morning, our sermon's title is titled, The Revelation of Salvation.
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the revelation of salvation now if you haven't been with us for our previous two sermons there's
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a lot of space in between them i preach once a month so between the two sermons there's a large
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gap so i want to remind us of some of the things we've covered so far in our first sermon on first
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Peter, we saw that the hope that we have in this life is anchored in the triune God alone.
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We saw that we were chosen by the Father, that we've been sanctified by the Spirit,
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and that we've been sprinkled clean by the blood of the Son. Our hope is rooted in the Trinity.
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In our last sermon in 1 Peter, Peter taught us that we are to suffer with joy.
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That there's a joy in suffering for the name of Christ.
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He shows us that trials are not enemies sent from God to destroy us,
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but tools in the hands of the Father to refine us.
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These are the deep roots of the Christian life.
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These are foundations and pillars upon which all of us are called to build.
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This morning, Peter turns our eyes to something even more astounding.
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he invites us to step back and see the long sovereign sweep of god's mighty hand over time
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he shows us prophets that are straining forward to look into this salvation angels looking into
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this salvation and how we as the church today possess this wonderful and great gift
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peter wants the suffering church to see that their salvation is not small
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it's not accidental and it's not fragile it's ancient it's spirit rot it's christ secured
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it's the very salvation that the prophets themselves long to see and all the host of
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heaven is straining to look into. Today, when we come to these three verses,
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If Peter's right, then your salvation is bigger than you know. If the words of Peter are true,
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then your salvation is bigger than you could possibly imagine.
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you belong to a story that god has been writing since the beginning
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peter wants you to see that how the prophets searched for this great story how christ fulfilled
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it how the angels marvel at it so that you might live with courage clarity and unmistakable peace
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So if you're not already there, please turn in your Bibles to 1 Peter 1, verses 10-12.
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the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours
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The first question we need to ask when we come to a passage like this
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What is the salvation that these prophets searched?
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It's the very salvation that Peter has been unfolding throughout all of this passage.
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The salvation that sustains a suffering church.
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The salvation that secures every benefit that is Christ for the believer.
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This is the salvation that is promised and preserved for the people of God.
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And Peter tells us that this is the salvation that the prophets searched so diligently for.
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They bent their minds and their prayers and their lives towards understanding the grace that is now revealed to you.
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This is the salvation that we're concerned about this morning.
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The next question we need answered is, who is a prophet?
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A prophet is one who interprets the oracles or hidden things of God.
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It's one who's been moved by the Spirit to speak.
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He's a man that's seized by the Holy Spirit, carried along, as Peter says,
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so that the very breath of God fills his lungs and his mouth.
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These were men who were uniquely summoned to unveil mysteries that Israel could not see on her own.
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Think of Isaiah, lifting his eyes to the Holy One.
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Samuel, hearing his name in the stillness of the night.
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Daniel reading kingdoms as easily as we read books.
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Jonah fleeing the call only to find mercy chasing after him.
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Joel heralding the day that the spirit would be poured out on all flesh.
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Chosen to reveal the word of God in their own appointed hour.
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one in which you are revealing fresh knowledge,
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This is something the church desperately needs to recognize.
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We live in America where Pentecostalism and Charismania is everywhere.
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Everyone thinks that they have a new word, a new revelation.
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According to the scripture, that ministry has run its end.
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God, who in many times and in many ways spoke to the fathers by the prophets,
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has in these last days spoken to us by his Son.
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once the son has spoken once the apostles have borne witness to his testimony and the scriptures
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were inscripturated it's a good word inscripturated the need for new revelation ceased
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god has not fallen silent in our day don't mistake that he's just finished the sentence
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and those who are called to preach and teach
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but he unfolds the mysteries that are already revealed.
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And in this way, the prophetic ministry continues.
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and now entrusted to those who with the same spirit
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but the once-for-all word entrusted to the church.
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that the prophets searched and inquired about these things diligently.
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These things are the grace that you now stand in,
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that the apostles have revealed, that pastors now preach these things you now possess.
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These men strained their eyes towards a Christ that they would never see in the flesh.
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And yet they sought him with all of their might and with all of their soul
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and with all of their prayers. They sought Christ.
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Meanwhile, many Christians today tend to grow lazy in our searching for Christ.
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And then we wonder why our lives fall into chaos and disorder.
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Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.
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we neglect the God who promises that if you seek me and find me you will seek me with all of your
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heart some even imagine that their faith would be easier if they lived in the time of Christ
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this is not true this is not true for the believer for Jesus said himself that it was better that he
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completed revelation of God. We possess the Gospel in all of
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its bright glory. The prophets searched carefully for these things because they saw them only
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in a shadow. How much more should we then, who are easily distracted by the cares of
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this life, seek the Lord with all diligence? If the prophets bent their lives towards a
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glimpse of this truth? How much more should we, who can behold this with unveiled lenses,
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run hard after the God who has revealed himself to us? There's a sober warning here.
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I don't want to spend too much time on this warning because this is an encouraging passage,
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Luke 13, 24-27 speaks about a group of people who failed in their duty to seek after Christ.
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For many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.
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When once the master of the house has risen up and shut the door,
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The bishop, J.C. Ryle, in his book, Practical Religion,
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writes words that tremble with this wonderful truth.
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They shall see at last the value of an immortal soul
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they shall understand at last their own sinfulness and God's holiness
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and the glorious fitness of the gospel of Christ.
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They shall comprehend at last why ministers seem so anxious
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and preached so long and entreated them so earnestly
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we might be found as those who are knocking on the door
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We have a duty in our time to seek the Lord while he may be found.
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You should be seeking him in the scriptures, in prayer, in your day-to-day lives.
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You should be seeking him in every moment of every day.
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We are called to love him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
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Yet we find time to watch movies, read books, sleep too long.
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Inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating
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when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and subsequent glories.
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This verse, at first glance, might not seem like much, but it is an absolute treasure chest.
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Peter lifts up the curtain, and he shows us what's happening behind the scenes of the Old Testament.
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The prophets were not writing political commentary or just spiritual knowledge.
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They were leaning forward and straining to see the Christ who would come.
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And Peter tells us that it was the spirit of Christ himself who was revealing these things to them.
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So, let me draw out some of these theological concepts, because they're really good here.
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First, it was Christ's own spirit that was revealing to the prophets what was to come.
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The one who fulfilled the prophecies is the very one who first gave those prophecies.
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He spoke a word long before he ever came in the flesh.
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In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
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when isaiah saw the lord high and lifted up john in his gospel tells us that he saw christ
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in his glory even abraham rejoiced to see my day and he saw it and was glad
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the prophets of old were looking to jesus christ because christ himself was revealing
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From Genesis to Revelation, Christ is not simply the fulfillment
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It matters because Christ is both the author and fulfillment of prophecy.
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If he is the author and fulfillment of prophecy,
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then your faith does not rest on shifting sand.
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It rests on one who has planned this redemption since the beginning.
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Right now, as a church, we're going through Genesis, speaking about the beginnings of mankind.
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Since that very beginning, God had this plan in place.
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Christ coming in the flesh, dying on the cross, rising from the grave for your redemption was not plan B.
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It was always his intention, always his will, always his desire to see a church fulfilled or redeemed and fulfilled through his son.
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We're looking at one divine author through and through.
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When Adam ate from the tree, he did not make a mistake.
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God had a plan and a purpose and a desire to see his people saved.
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Second, if the first truth spoke about and reveals who is coming,
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Then the second reveals what the prophets were trying to understand.
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Peter shows us that their ministry was a holy searching.
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An earnest longing to know who the Messiah is and when he would come.
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These men were looking at things that they could only see dimly.
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The prophets searched the scriptures for a person.
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And now, church, we search the same scriptures to behold the one who has come.
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The Old Testament is like a room with all this furniture, but it's dimly lit.
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The New Testament is that same room, just lit up.
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In the Old Testament, they were anticipating what is to come.
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Many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see and did not see it.
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If they gave their lives before Christ ever arrived and understanding him and his ministry,
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how much more should we give ourselves to knowing him that has been revealed?
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We do not search for rumors of a Savior. We search for the Savior himself.
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Peter draws our eyes to the pattern that the Spirit has revealed in the Scriptures
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He shows us how he was to fulfill these prophecies
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it says in Luke 24 26 was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things
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the prophets saw him coming they saw a bruised reed in Genesis 3 15 a spotless lamb in Exodus 12 5
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Psalm 2-7 reveals a risen Son declared as Lord over all.
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Psalm 110 is one of the most commonly quoted passages of Scripture in the New Testament.
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Isaiah 9-7 reveals a child whose kingdom will never end.
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Daniel 7-13-14 reveals the Son of Man receiving all dominion and glory.
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They were looking for a specific person in the scriptures.
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the spirit showed them all these things and they were looking through these shadows
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his name is jesus you're named after him christian means little christ
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he has branded you with his very own name and called you his own we see the substance of all
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All of these promises, the fulfillment of everything that they were waiting for.
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We see the glory of the Lord, the fulfillment of these prophecies, the redemption of our souls.
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So church, lift up your heads and look at your Savior.
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If this is your Savior, then you have no reason at all to bow beneath fear.
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That has borne every heartache and every trial and every sin on your behalf.
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His sovereign hands have carried every prophecy
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You don't think he'll carry you to your completion?
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It means that your life will not be ruled by chaos.
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It means that no sorrow can overturn your peace.
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If every shadow of the promises were traced through the Old Testament,
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The king who fulfilled every word concerning his own sufferings
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will fulfill every word concerning your salvation.
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it was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you and the things that have
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now been announced to you through those who preach the good news to you by the holy spirit
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sent from heaven things into which angels long to look i feel like there could have been a couple
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more yous in there when i was breaking up this passage and highlighting the things i wanted to
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touch on. You know how many times I underlined and circled you? When you go through a passage
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of scripture, you should do the same. It tells you where this is directed. This passage of
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scripture is directed precisely at the church. Peter is revealing a breathtaking truth in
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this passage. He's saying that it was shown to the prophets from the past that what they
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were searching and writing and looking into wasn't for them. It was for you.
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The prophets knew that this was not something they would benefit from in their time.
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It was something that they were looking ahead to, not just to the fulfillment of the promises,
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but to the people who would receive the fulfillment of those promises.
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They lived and wrote with a forward-facing faith,
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laboring for a generation that they would never meet.
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the spiritual kingdom is a higher subject than the human mind can succeed in investigating,
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And guided by that very Spirit, the prophets gladly took up their work.
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They took up a harvest that they would never taste.
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They knew that the Spirit was revealing events, preparing for a people yet unborn.
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Peter tells us that angels who enjoy heaven itself
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still burn with holy desire to gaze into God's unfolding plan of redemption.
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An angel in heaven beholding the glory of the Lord,
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looking over the stoop of heaven to see what God is doing down here.
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If angels long to see this, how much more should the church rejoice
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in what has now been announced to us by the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the gospel?
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The angels marvel at the present, and we, standing in the full light of Christ,
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are called to carry this kingdom forward to those yet unborn and bless them with it.
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There's a post-millennial flavor to all of this.
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A desire to see the generations beyond us blessed with this knowledge, with this truth.
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I wish so deeply that I didn't have to help plant this church.
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That we could have all been a part of a church that had been long-standing, faithful, bold, and zealous for Christ in our time.
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I wish that there was already a long-standing institution with years and years and years under their belt of faithful preaching of the word.
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I wish that we did not have to do these things.
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And the reason we do is because those that came before us
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They did not think about those who would come after them,
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We, as God's church today, cannot make the same mistakes.
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of the health of our institutions, of our families, of our communities, of our nation,
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To put forth seeds in the ground for harvest that we will never taste.
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We should think about Oxford that was built hundreds and hundreds of years ago
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with blueprints left in the basement for when the beams rot.
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That they were told to cut down trees that were planted at the founding of Oxford
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so that when the beams finally do rot, they can have trees to repair them.
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They didn't think Oxford would be gone in their lifetime, or even in their children's lifetime.
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They knew it would withstand the test of time and be there long enough to have trees rot.
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Recover this mindset when you go to church on Sunday
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I don't want this church just to be successful for me
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I want to have a church graveyard where I can be buried in the back
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Recover this mindset when you pick your careers.
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when we step back and look at the full sweep of this passage of Scripture,
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The prophets who searched for this salvation with a holy longing,
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straining to see a Christ that they would never see in their time,
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Christ himself then stepped into history, walking the very road that he revealed in times past,
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suffered and then was glorified, fulfilling every shadow and every promise about him.
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And now, in these last days, the veil has been lifted,
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and the grace that they long to see has been placed into your hands.
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The salvation they searched for, the Messiah they foretold of, the glories they glimpsed from afar, this is the grace that you now stand in.
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You are living in the brightest age of redemptive history.
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you're living in the age that the prophets pointed to the angels marvel at and christ is
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accomplishing so do not live as though you are in the dark do not fear as though the story were
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uncertain do not doubt as though god has left you to fend for yourself the god who wrote the
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promises, the God who fulfilled the promises, the God who announces the promises, is the God
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who holds you fast today. Let this truth drive out your fear, shatter your doubt, and flood your soul
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with unshakable peace. For if the prophets search for this, if Christ suffered to secure it, and if
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the angels long to look into it, then you may walk forward with confidence, knowing that you were no
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accident. Your life is no tragedy. Your future is not a question mark. The same Spirit who
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spoke through the prophets, who raised Christ from the dead, and who awakened you to this
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grace, will carry you, ultimately, home. Amen? Let's pray.
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Father in heaven, God of gods, redeemer and lover of our souls.
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Lord, we know that you're the one that has promised great and marvelous things in your word.
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You have revealed such great truths to us this morning.
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That this plan of redemption was revealed in times past.
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That you've had a plan and a purpose for us since the beginning.
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But that redeeming us through your Son was always your desire.
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God, help your church this morning to live out these truths with boldness and confidence.
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God, keep your church pure, preserved for that day,
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looking ahead to Christ, who is the author and finisher of our faith.
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God, we love you, and we thank you for revealing to us this salvation.