Text: 1 Peter 1:10-12
Title: The Greatness of the Gospel
Date/Place: LSCC, 5/15/05, AM
I. INTRODUCTION
A. Opening illustration: Karl Barth’s statement about the greatest thought ever to come across his mind.
B. Background to passage: Referring back to the salvation being continually obtained, Peter describes this salvation in terms of how it came to the believers beginning with the OT prophets. Peter is seeking to deepen the readers’ appreciation for the salvation that they now possess. We tend to become complacent, dull, unimpressed, satisfied about salvation over time. We lose enthusiasm for what God has done, and therefore display the glories of it in a fashion that is unimpressive to others.
C. Main thought: So, Peter is reminding the readers in their persecution about four expressions of the greatness of the gospel.
II. BODY
A. The Prophets Studied It (v. 10)
1. Peter is referring to OT prophets. After having written their prophecies, they began to diligently pour over them to gain further insight and deeper knowledge about the specifics of their fulfillments. They knew that their prophecies concerned the future believers and members of the kingdom. They wanted to know who the Messiah would be, and when He would come. They wanted to know how He would bring the Gentiles to salvation. About the New Covenant. Out of all the things that the OT prophets had to go over (oracles of judgment, visions and dreams of God, histories of God work, etc), they desired most to know about salvation that God would provide through the Messiah by grace. Jesus and the cross, the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ is the centerpiece of all history.
2. Matt 13:17, Heb 10:7,
3. Illustration: “the spiritual blessing they (Peter’s readers) have now are greater than anything envisioned by the OT prophets or angels.” –Wayne Grudem, “However much these readers may be suffering, they stand in a position that even the greatest of the ancient prophets did not have.” Tell about the time capsule that we buried in 7th grade.
4. We should live like the prophets did understanding that salvation through Jesus is the greatest thing ever. It brings God the most glory, because God saw fit to send His Spotless Son to die in the place of undeserving sinners and redeem them in love. To change their nature, give them a promised inheritance with God. To give the abundant life, joy in Him, peace that surpassed understanding, and eternal life with Him simply because of His grace and love. Even though they were suffering, they stood in a much greater place than the OT prophets because of their intimate knowledge of God’s salvation. Has salvation become just salvation?
B. The Spirit of Christ Inspired It (v. 11)
1. This is an interesting choice of words by the apostle. Only one other time in the bible is “Spirit of Christ” used, Rom 8:9. The Greek requires that the Spirit of Christ is the one who is doing the indicating and predicting. We see three things in this verse: 1) that Christ (Gr. for “anointed one”) is equal with God, 2) that the Holy Spirit inspired the words of scripture, 3) the content and central theme in the scripture is Christ’s coming, suffering, and glorification. It was the Spirit of Christ who laid out in scripture the reality of what was to happen to Him. Talk about suffering and glories.
2. John 12:23, Luke 24:27, John 5:39, 2 Pet 1:19-21
3. Illustration: Renee Zellwegger inspiring Kenny Chesney’s song, me picking Mackenzie up and carrying her removes her of responsibility about where we end up, asking Oprah what to do
4. This is the one great truth that the Spirit of Christ wanted to emphasize—the gospel. From these truths we can take Scripture’s divine inspiration indicating trustworthiness, authority, inerrancy, infallibility, and indispensability. It is so crucial that we can trust, believe, based our life upon the bible.
C. The Apostles Preached It (v. 12)
1. Peter next speaks of those who preached the gospel to the readers of this letter revealing the truth that the Spirit of Christ revealed to the OT prophets in less detail. He even states that the Holy Spirit empowers the proclamation of the gospel. And this proclamation deals with the essential truths about faith and repentance toward Jesus as God’s only way to salvation.
2. 1 Cor 1:18, Col 1:28, Luke 14:23,
3. Illustration: Statistics tell us that about 95% of Christians will never lead another person to faith in Christ. I remember the students that I determined to witness to each semester in college, and the pressure at the end if I had waited four months without sharing. Whitfield said, “God forbid that I be with someone a quarter of an hour” without sharing Christ with them. Tell about the Judgment House storyline where the boy is a Christian but not telling his friends, dreams about a car wreck, all die, and his friends beg to know why he never told them.
4. This is why there is power in the proclamation of the cross. We are those that now preach the gospel in the power of the Spirit. This is not an option; this is a command. You are living in disobedience to God if you are not pointing others to Christ. This doesn’t mean you are responsible to win them, but that you are responsible to share with them. We must make it an intentional purpose in our lives to share Christ with people. There is a “How to Share Your Faith Seminar” at Hollis Center BC on Sat May 21 at 9 a.m. We will pay half the $20 fee if you want to go and learn how to better share your faith. We are giving you two opportunities through VBS to share your faith.
D. The Angels Desired to Know It (v. 12)
1. Peter next shows the greatness of the gospel by showing that even the angels are desiring to know about it. The word used here describes an overwhelming impulse not easily satisfied. We want to know what it is like to be in the holy presence of God, and they want to know what it is like to be saved by grace. They will never experience that. Their main purpose is to praise God day and night, so they want to know about the beauty of transforming a rebellious heart into an obedience heart, so that they might praise God all the more.
2. Illustration: explain the importance of this particular Star Wars movie, then tell about the lengths at which some were willing to go to see it. The mob mentality, and if everyone is going to get whatever it is, there must be something to it—missing out?
3. You, not the angels, nor the prophets, but the NT church is the recipient of the most prized revelation ever given. You are a privileged people. Maybe if you don’t feel privileged, it is because you have very little understanding of what you have access to. The angels would love to be in your shoes. It think this indicates that there is much more to salvation than we even realize.
III. CONCLUSION
A. Closing illustration: A prominent pastor and his family were eating at a restaurant after church, and the waiter indicated that a man had paid for their dinner. Dessert… Tip…
B. Recap
C. Invitation to commitment
Additional Notes
• To glorify salvation is to glorify God
•
