The Saints’ Prophecy

I Peter, we find ourselves once
again in chapter one. As is so often the case, something
that both John and Trey mentioned is our tendency to take things
for granted. I didn’t prompt them to do that,
as is so often the case. It isn’t even so much as great
minds thinking alike as much as the common bond in Christ
and the common theme of our tendency to forget to praise God for all
that He has done. And I believe the passage that
we come to, verses 10-12 of chapter 1, were specifically designed
by Peter with that tendency in mind. The tendency to take so
much for granted and of all the things that we take for granted,
of all the things that we presume upon are salvation. Our salvation
is perhaps the most dreadful thing for us to take for granted.
And I believe Peter knew that weakness. He probably even knew
it in his own heart. And because of that, he sought
to put into the minds of the people the glorious nature of
salvation, the glorious truths of the Gospel. He wanted to remind
us and to bring us once again on knees of glorious exultation
for all that God has done. Salvation is and has been the
topic from nearly the opening words of this epistle. Salvation. And I want to take you back and
course our way through these first nine verses. I’ll tell
you, in reviewing my notes, this is now the third time that I’ve
had occasion to preach through Peter. The first time I just
folded verses 10 through 12 right in to this consideration of chapter
one, verse six through nine. I basically just lumped it in
there, said very little about it. The second time I preached
through Peter, I just alluded to these verses as kind of appended
onto verse 9. But the more that I looked at
verses 10 through 12, they are a separate, they do stand on
their own. They are a separate and distinct
feature of this opening chapter. And there are some incredible
truths woven in here. And for that reason, I repented,
studied these passages anew and God produced a new message, at
least in me. As I said, I want to go back
to the beginning to set the tone of this chapter. Peter closes
out the great chapter that we have been studying in verse nine. He closes it out with the promised
blessing of faith. your salvation, the salvation
of your souls. Look at verse nine. And as I
said, the entire section, at least verses three through nine,
centers around the doctrine of salvation and so many themes
as we’ve been looking at. But Peter makes this explicit
statement to close out that paragraph, which serves to open the paragraph
of study that will take up this morning. Peter can’t get away
from the subject of salvation. It is the theme of his soul,
if you will. Back to 1. In verse 1, Peter
opens his epistle. We spent three weeks on Peter
alone, you remember. And what Peter gave us in those
opening verses was three unmistakable features of the church. From
the world’s perspective, we are aliens. We don’t belong here.
We don’t fit in. To the degree that we do, we
shouldn’t. We shouldn’t feel like this is our home. We are
just passing through. Secondly, from the Gospel’s perspective,
the church is scattered and it should be. It should be at every
corner of this globe and wherever it glows. is planted, it should
grow and bloom and flourish to God’s glory. From God’s perspective,
the church is chosen, and in that sense, Peter introduces
this theme of salvation. Look at the end of verse one.
where he mentions saints who are chosen according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, that you
may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood. All
of which are deep and abiding truths of the Gospel itself.
Peter opens formally the letter with that greeting and then begins
this great theme of salvation in verse 3. And he begins to
look at the blessings of the new birth of Christ. And in granting
us new life, God, first of all, Peter says, was motivated by
nothing but mercy. There wasn’t anything in us that
God looked out and said, boy, in him, I get a good deal. Nothing. It was only God’s mercy. Secondly,
it restored to us hope. The great characterization of
the lost people of the world is that they are without God
and without hope. That’s what Christ gives us. And no wonder Peter opens and
says, blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who, according to his great mercy, mercy has caused us. God did
it, has caused us to be born again to a living hope. It is
alive. It is ever-growing. The closer
we get to eternity, the more our hearts well with excitement.
And they should. There was a third blessing in
that section. Not only was our new life motivated by mercy and
granting to us hope, but it promised to us an inheritance. It gave
to us a concrete, firm promise from an unlying God. God does not, cannot, will not
lie. And He has promised to us an
inheritance. And it’s an imperishable, undefiled. All of those things, all of those
elements point to the subject of salvation. Peter cannot get
away from it. And at the end of verse 5, he
says that this inheritance is reserved in heaven for you who
are protected by the power of God through faith for salvation. It’s the first time that he’s
used that word, but the subject has been at hand since the opening
words of the epistle. And he’s not done yet. In verse
6, he says, in this you greatly rejoice. In what? In the salvation
that is promised you. In the fact that you have been
chosen by God. In the fact that God has caused
you to be born again. All of those things. are folded
into that great truth, in this you greatly rejoice. And we saw
in that section, finishing, concluding just last week, that the section
is not so much about trials, although the trials are certainly
there. The section even isn’t so much about rejoicing in trials,
although that truth is there as well. The great truth woven
throughout verses 6-9 is faith. And what faith produces. Faith
carries us through trials to glory. And faith carries us through
obscurity to salvation. We almost knew that Peter was
going to end with that, didn’t we? The glorious nature of faith
is that it is that which locks on to a promise of God and holds
on unto salvation. Look at verse 9, where he says
that this faith is that which allows us to be obtaining as
the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls. Salvation
is by faith. It is placing our faith in Almighty
God and in what God has provided in our Lord Jesus Christ. All
that to say, Peter cannot depart from this subject of salvation.
Even still, in the passage before us today, Peter will not depart. He merely will take it up and
investigate new elements, new facets of this great subject. In this particular section, as
I said, his desire specifically is to increase believers’ appreciation
of salvation, their appreciation of the gospel. And his attempt
is transparent. He doesn’t attempt to hide it
at all. It is a gospel. It is a salvation
so glorious that it must be fully grasped and admired. Look now,
if you would, at verse 10. As to this salvation, the prophets
who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful
search and inquiry. Seeking to know what person or
time the spirit of Christ within them was indicating as he predicted
the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was
revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you
in these things which now have been announced to you through
those who preach the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from
heaven, things into which angels long to look. That’s our text
for this morning. I want to go back to verse 10.
In verse 10, Peter just begins this section by trailering on,
tacking on to the previous section, this little clause as to this
salvation. He’s not going to go away from
this theme. He says, speaking of salvation,
the prophets made careful search and inquiry. Rather a surprise. And so let’s pause. Let’s see what it is a prophet
was. Even that little word prophet,
which serves to just introduce us to God’s messengers, the messengers
of God, those who carried forth divine messages to God’s people. But the use of the word prophets
there points to all kinds of truths that the first century
church knew immediately and in an instant flooded their minds.
What kinds of truths? And the point is that they should
flood our own minds. The point is this word prophets
points to the fact that a gap existed. A gap of understanding,
a gap, if you will, of communion between a holy God and an inherently
unholy people. A gap that necessitated a man
of God to bring a message from God to the people of God. There
was a gap of understanding. There was a lack of knowledge.
And God used His prophets to impart that knowledge. It also
points to the fact that there was a God and that this God was
a loving God who desired to commune with, communicate with his people. He could have just as easy from
the moment that Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, have cast
them out forever and had nothing ever to do with them again. He
could have cast them into a godless eternity. But he didn’t. From that very instant, God began
to impart and to put into place His plan of redemption. Even
Moses, the first prophet, prefigures a holy God who called Moses and
Moses alone to the holy mountain, leaving all the other people
apart as they must be because of their unholiness. And He called
Moses out of love and imparted to him a message. for the sake
of His beloved people. Not only that, this little word,
prophets, not only points to the fact that a gap existed and
that God desired to close that gap, but the fact that God clearly
does not communicate with all. He doesn’t communicate with all.
He doesn’t commune with all. He doesn’t send a message to
everyone. The fact that God used prophets,
the fact that God communicated to prophets a set and specific
message for a set and specific people, prefigures God’s sovereignty. It clearly points to the fact
that God did not commune or communicate with everyone. God didn’t need
prophets. God could have, through some
kind of spiritual osmosis, communed with people all across the globe
instantly and given them spiritual understanding.
But He didn’t. Neither did He communicate everything
that He ever wanted to communicate in one prophet, at one time,
at one message. Many prophets had multiple messages
and God had multiplied prophets. Does that make sense? God used
prophets. He didn’t need prophets. And
in that he prefigures a sovereign and loving God desiring to communicate
with his people. Let’s go back to the message. In verse 10, it says, the prophets
who prophesied of this grace that would come to you, He’s
still focusing on salvation. Peter lingers on this word salvation. And at every repetition, he seems
to find something new to say about it. Here, the word is practically
equivalent with the great word, the gospel, that was over and
over again revealed in piecemeal to the prophets by the Spirit
of Christ. And the main subject of that
revelation was the sufferings of Christ and His glory subsequent. But even the prophets, even these
men who were so highly favored, saw these great things dimly
and far off. They didn’t have the whole revelation
of God. Even like we do. The prophets,
fascinatingly enough, knew what they prophesied. They wrote it,
but they didn’t invent it. Those things were spiritually
prompted to them by the Holy Spirit, by what the passage calls
the Spirit of Christ. The prophets knew what they prophesied. They certainly wrote it, but
no sooner did they finish writing, they sat down and began to study
what they had just spoken. They began to search into these
things they didn’t know, and they sought to understand what
was the appointed date. What stage in the world’s history
was Christ going to come? These words imply a vehement
desire of knowing, a yearning, an eagerness and a great diligence
in seeking. The prophets, those Old Testament
spokesmen of God, once their prophecies were delivered, set
about to discover the meaning of their own prophecies. Isn’t
that astounding to you? See, our tendency is to look
at Ezekiel and go, oh, Ezekiel, what a wise man. All these wheels
and things spinning around. And I’ll tell you, as soon as
Ezekiel was done, he sat down and he said, what? He sat down. They fell on their
knees. They cried out to God. God, what
does it mean? They sought to fully understand
God’s plan of salvation about which they had just spoken. Hosea 12.10, I have spoken to
the prophets. I gave numerous visions and through
the prophets I gave parables. But that doesn’t mean that the
prophets understood it all. Amos 3.7, surely the Lord does
nothing unless He reveals His secret counsel to His servants,
the prophets. But disclosing God’s mind to
a mere man is nothing that we can take in in one sitting. Even Hebrews 1.1 speaks of this
grand revelation, ongoing, piecemeal, time after time, line upon line. Hebrews 1.1, God, after He spoke
long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and
in many ways, from Moses to Malachi, all of
the Old Testament prophets were absolutely taken in, fascinated
by the promises of salvation. But you know what? The prophets
didn’t merely wish to receive salvation. They did. They actually
obtained salvation. They looked on those promises
and laid hold of them as something future. But they received the
gift of God’s full salvation without seeing its full accomplishment,
as we talked about the Old Testament saints in Hebrews 11. without
seeing Christ, without having a relationship with Him, even
though the prophets wrote of the Messiah, He was a distant
figure. They never fully comprehended
everything that was involved with Christ, was involved with
His life, with His ministry. Some of those things were just
given to them in shadows, and yet they grasped it in faith
from a God who would not lie. Isaiah chapter 60. Isaiah chapter
60. Isaiah opens what is for us one
of the most clear testimonies of Christ. At Christmas time,
we rejoice to read these passages, so many of which are set by handle
to music. Arise, shine for your light has
come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold,
darkness will cover the earth and a deep darkness, the peoples.
But the Lord will rise upon you and his glory will appear upon
you. Nations will come to your light and kings to the brightness
of your rising. And I have no doubt. That no
sooner had Isaiah spoken those words, he sat down and he muddled
within himself, what does it mean when? Who is this Messiah? Isaiah 62. For Zion’s sake, I
will not keep silent. For Zion’s sake, I will not keep
quiet unless her righteousness goes forth like brightness and
her salvation like a torch that is burning. The nation will see
your righteousness. All kings will see your glory
and you will be called a new name which the mouth of the Lord
will designate. You will be a crown of beauty
in the hand of the Lord, a royal diadem in the hand of your God.”
That is Christ. The prophets didn’t know Him.
Not by name. Not by face. The prophets, as private individuals
just like you and I, but with much less light than you and
I, sat down and they had to reflect and wrestle and intensely search
the Scriptures to try to ascertain what their prophecies meant.
Their words and their public function were not so much their
own words, but the Spirit’s word, and as such, they had to sit
down and study, to wrestle with those things. And in the end,
get this, people, This is the astounding part of this whole
introductory sentence. The main sentence of this section
is simple. As to this salvation, the prophets
made careful search and inquiry. That’s the first part. That’s
the part that we’ve just considered. The prophets dug in to their
Bibles. They searched. They studied.
They were diligent students of the Word. And what was the result? It was revealed to them that
they were not serving themselves, but you.” What an overwhelmingly glorious
promise and truth that is. These things are for us. And
when he says it, it is repeated throughout this section. Look
at it. They prophesied of the grace that would come to you.
In verse 12, these things which now have been announced to you,
Through those who have preached the gospel to you. What he’s
speaking of is those first century Christians and everyone forward,
including us. You see, Peter looked out upon
the landscape of Christianity and he knew that we would have
cause to take these things for granted. He knew that we would
become complacent about the glorious truths of the gospel. And he
sought from the very first opening pages of his epistle to increase
the appreciation of God’s people for all that God had done. It was revealed to these prophets
that they were not serving in their studies. They were not
serving themselves, but you. It was revealed to them that
the realization of all of their prophecies was not for their
time. They weren’t going to discover
it in its fullness. Isn’t that an amazing truth?
That Moses on the mountain would be given a certain degree of
information and yet he wouldn’t have a full comprehension of
it? That Isaiah and Malachi and all the other prophets with them,
Hosea, Jonah, Jeremiah, Even prophets without name in Scripture,
given information, and yet it was given in shadows, just piecemeal. The prophets saw the Messiah.
And Peter points here to the fact that they saw Him with clear
enough accuracy in those broad outlines throughout the pages
of the prophecies. But in striving to know more,
they were limited. They were just kept hemmed in,
as it were, The future was revealed to them that these even those
truths that they knew of a certainty that had an element of uncertainty
to them. And it kept them focused down
the road in the future, they knew that these things were future.
How did they search? How did they inquire? One said
that by searching out and foretelling the sufferings and the glory
of Christ, they spoke of a suffering Savior. His sufferings then and
after glories are our salvation. That’s what they pointed to.
They pointed to a Messiah who is going to suffer and be glorified,
as we’ll see in a moment. Bottom line point to all of this
consideration of this first point, is that it is the ignorance,
or at least the inconsideration of divine things, as one Puritan
said, that makes earthly things, whether good or evil, appear
great in our eyes. Isn’t that the very same thing
that our brothers said at the outset? Both John and Trey? We begin to focus on other things,
and it’s because we’ve lost sight of the glorious Gospel, the greatness,
of our salvation, that other things begin to appear important
or more glorious than they are. Moses and all the other prophets
were looking forward to the culmination of Christ’s saving work. And
yet, they received it only from a distance. Remember Hebrews
11? All these died in faith without
receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed
them from a distance. Hebrews 11.39, all these having
gained approval through their faith did not receive what was
promised. The point here is that the magnitude
of this salvation is proved, the glorious nature of this salvation
is proved by the earnestness with which the prophets themselves
made diligent search. And we, have infinitely more
light than the prophets. How much do we rejoice in the
salvation that God has provided? What I want to look at this morning,
by way of digging now deeper into another level of this passage,
beyond just those opening and basic sentences, I want to look
at three glorious elements. Three glorious elements of God’s
revelation. You see, the prophecies were
ours. They are the saints’ prophecies.
They weren’t the prophets’ prophecies. They weren’t messages that were
destined for them. They were destined for us. The full import,
the full glory of those messages was for us. And that’s why I want to look. What is the meaning? What are
the glorious truths of that revelation of God to us? First of all, God’s
revelation to us is a message of salvation by grace. The prophets
discovered that. The prophets saw that. Look at
verse 10. As to their salvation, the prophets who prophesied of
the grace that would come to you. Not that God hadn’t dealt
by grace, because from the garden forward, it was all grace. It
always has been grace. But they knew that there was
going to be a special measure of grace laid upon the people. The prophets here prophesied
about grace towards us, the grace here, this word is introduced
in such a way that indicates that Peter’s readers would have
known exactly what was in his mind. They knew the grace of
God like no people had ever known it. They knew how undeserving
they were of the gospel of God. They knew how undeserving they
were of a loving Savior who had paid their penalty on the cross. But Peter introduces it and says
that the prophets message was a message of grace, the prophets
knew that. The focus of the prophets intense
study and trying to figure out and comprehend the person and
work of Christ was centered, focused on the grace that was
going to come to sinners. That was the grand theme. Salvation
concerns essentially the act of saving sinners, whereas grace
encompasses the motive behind it. The prophets couldn’t figure
it out. Not at first. That’s what drew
them in. They couldn’t understand the
abundant grace of God in the salvation that He was offering
to undeserving sinners. His forgiveness, as one said,
the prophets sought to understand God’s grace and mercy in Christ
like no other. His forgiveness, goodness, unmerited
favor and blessing lavished upon undeserving sinners. That’s the
key. That’s the whole key to this
first point, is the abundant grace of God given to undeserving
sinners. They knew God’s promise of salvation
by grace went far beyond Israel to include us, you and I, in
this day. They looked down through the
annals of history. They were given insight to know
that this gospel would go on and flourish and open far beyond
the doors of Israel. Psalm 102, even they will perish,
but you endure. All of them will wear out like
a garment, like clothing. You will change and they will
be changed. You are the same and your years
will not come to an end. God has always been an unchangeable
and gracious God. Psalm 116, gracious is the Lord
and righteous. Yes, our God is compassionate. It wasn’t that they saw Israel
as a deserving people. They knew that any act of goodness
or magnanimity on God’s part was only due to His grace. James 1.17, you know it. Every
good thing and every perfect gift is from above, coming down
from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or
shifting shadow. Everything is a gift of God’s
grace from the very moment we are born. specifically, has always
been available to sinners and always and only by grace. Even
those Old Testament saints didn’t earn their salvation. They didn’t
earn their salvation by good works. It’s all been grace from
the very beginning to the end. It’s only by grace that God saves
It’s only by God’s grace that we are brought to life through
that process called regeneration. It’s only by God’s grace that
we receive the gift of faith. It’s only by God’s grace that
we walk in newness of life. No wonder Christ is called not
only the author, but the finisher, the perfecter of our faith. Isaiah, in writing. Isaiah knew when he was writing,
he wasn’t writing a new concept. He was writing as one who was
proclaiming the same message of God’s gracious favor from
all time. Oh, everyone who thirsts, come
to the waters. Not a new message. You who have
no money, come buy and eat. Come buy wine and milk without
money, without cost. Why do you spend money for what
is not bread and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen
carefully to me and eat what is good and delight yourself
in abundance. Come, he says to a gracious God. Later in that same book, seek
the Lord while he may be found. Call upon while he is near. Let
the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts.
Let him return to the Lord. He will have compassion on him. And to our God, for he will abundantly
pardon. God has been the God of salvation
from as soon as Adam and Eve exited the garden. He has been
the God of gracious salvation from that very moment. This message to us is a message
of salvation by grace. And people, we can never become
complacent about that. We can never take that for granted.
That doesn’t mean that you constantly have to dredge up all the nasty,
foolish, vile things that you used to do. That used to characterize
your life. But you can look upon a God and
know that He is infinitely holy. And yet in His holiness, He drew
you to Him and there was nothing, absolutely nothing in you to
prompt Him to do that. Secondly, God’s revelation to
us is not only a message of salvation by grace, it is a message of
suffering and glory. It’s a message of suffering and
glory. Look again at verse 10. As to this salvation, the prophets
who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful
search and inquiry, seeking to know what person or what time
the Spirit of Christ was indicating. The prophets wanted to know.
They wanted to know more about this Messiah. More about this
plan of salvation. More about God’s plan of redemption. And the prophets searched for
understanding of God’s gracious purpose, what His time was for
its accomplishment. And the Christian prophets, they
had these Old Testament writings laid right out before them for
a place to look for it. The process that is pointed to
here is one of intense search for an object or a truth that
is known to be discoverable. They believed that they could
ascertain when and who. They believed that if they put
enough of the clues together, they would have the answer. What the prophets looked for
specifically was to what time the Messiah would come. Or if
they couldn’t find that, what kind of time, what would kind
of be the flavor of the seasons that would usher in this particular
and unique salvation? They weren’t interested in just
the general doctrine. Oh, let’s study stoically the
doctrine of salvation as far as the Old Testament Scriptures
unfolded it to them. They weren’t interested in that.
They weren’t just doing academic, busy work, holy as it might have
been. They weren’t just playing theology. They sought to know more precisely
what person would come as a Savior. What person was going to come
not only as a Savior, but as some kind of a judge, a prophet
in a very real sense. What kind of a Savior was going
to come as going to be a judge and a prophet and a priest and
a king all together And not only that, during what
era would it come? Whose reign? Under whose reign
would it be? Was this time of the Messiah
further off? Was it far distant? Was it near? What kind of time would it be? Was it going to be a peaceable
time or a troublesome time? Were the people going to be free
or in bondage? What about the qualities of the
time? What signs might we see in the pages of our own prophecies
that might give us a clue as to when and how? This diligent
inquiring the time of Christ’s coming showed the prophets earnest
longing for it. They longed for this salvation. To Daniel and to Daniel alone,
to a degree, some of this understanding, this insight was given, but even
that with obscurity. Daniel 9, 25, So you are to know
and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild
Jerusalem until Messiah, the prince, there will be seven weeks
and 62 weeks it will be built again. with a plaza and a moat,
even in times of distress. Then after 62 weeks, the Messiah
will be cut off and have nothing. And the people of the prince
who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary and its
end will come with a flood. Even to the end, there will be
war. Desolations will be determined. And that clarifies everything.
That’s all they had. They longed and they pleaded
and they waited on God, and that’s it. Even John the Baptist, he didn’t
have the full light of the gospel laid out before him. You remember
John the Baptist as we coursed our way through Luke? Remember
Luke? Even John the Baptist, himself a New Testament prophet
of sorts, the last prophet of the Old Testament, the first
one of the new. When Jesus had finished, Matthew
11, when Jesus had finished instructions to his 12 disciples, he departed
from there to teach and preach in their cities. Now, when John,
while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word
by his disciples, astounding revelation here in the scriptures.
And he said to him, are you the expected one? Or shall we look for someone else? Even John the Baptist couldn’t
fully grasp the times and the coming of the Messiah and the
full import of what that meant. They did know that he was going
to be a suffering Savior. That much they knew. At the end
of verse 11, they were seeking to know what person or time the
Spirit of Christ was indicating as he predicted. The sufferings
of Christ and the glories to follow that much they knew. They
knew that the savior was going to suffer, they knew that he
was going to suffer like no other, and they knew that he was going
to be glorified, he was going to be a glorious savior received
by God. They didn’t have his name, they
didn’t have his address, they didn’t have his birth date. All of those things were part
of the messianic woes, you might say. Christ spoke of them often
in His Gospels, as we have seen. But those messianic woes included
not only war and apostasy and false teaching, but widespread
affliction and natural disasters. No wonder, even after Christ’s
coming, New Testament writers began to look on those things
and to point to those things, to the specific return of Christ.
2 Thessalonians 3, let no one in any way deceive you, for it
will not come unless the apostasy comes first. What the prophets
then began to do is to look down the annals of prophecy and to
begin to carve out that general season when Christ will return. But the prophets, all they had
was a suffering Savior. They had Psalm 22. They had Psalm
22 that spoke of their Messiah. My God, my God, why have you
forsaken me? Far from my deliverance are the
words of my groaning. Oh, my God, I cry by day, but
you do not answer by night. I have no rest. All who see Me sneer at Me.”
Verse 7, they separate with a lip. They wag their heads saying,
commit yourself to the Lord. Let Him deliver Him. Let Him
rescue Him. Those very words were quoted
at the cross. Over and over again in Psalm 22, that messianic Psalm,
we see the suffering Savior prefigured. We see it again in Isaiah. In
Isaiah 52, Behold, My servant will prosper. He will be high
and lifted up and greatly exalted. But first. Isaiah 53, who is believed our
message to whom is the arm of the Lord been revealed, he grew
up before him like a tender shoot, like a root out of parched ground,
not exactly prime growing season. He had no stately form or majesty
that we could look upon him, nor appearance that we should
be drawn to him, attracted to him. which makes those pictures
of a buff and cleanly shaven Christ repulsive all the more. He was despised and forsaken
of men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, like one from whom
men hide their face. He was despised and we did not
esteem him. The prophets knew. The prophets
knew if they knew nothing else, he was going to be a suffering
Savior, but that he too would be glorified. Zechariah 12.10,
I will pour out on the house of David and on all inhabitants
of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplication so that they
will look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they will mourn
for Him as one mourns for an only son. Then they will weep
bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn. Zechariah 13.7, Awake, O sword,
against My shepherd and against the man My associate declares
the Lord of hosts. strike the shepherd that the
sheep may be scattered, and I will turn My hand against the little
ones.” The prophets wanted clues, but they weren’t for a lack of
that clue. They knew that when Christ came, He would suffer.
When the Messiah came, He would be a suffering Savior. But He would be glorified as
well. Isaiah 9, a child will be born to us, a son will be
given to us, the government will rest upon his shoulders. His
name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal
Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase
of his government or of peace. On the throne of David over his
kingdom to establish it and uphold it with justice and righteousness
from then on forevermore. He wasn’t going to suffer forever. Zechariah 2, 10 through 13. I
mean, the passages are just, they are so abundant, there’s
no way we could do them justice. No way. Sing for joy and be glad,
O daughter of Jerusalem, for behold, I am coming and I will
dwell in your midst, declares the Lord. Many nations will join
themselves to the Lord in that day and will become my people.
Then I will dwell in your midst and you will know that the Lord
of hosts has sent me to you. Be silent, all flesh, before
the Lord, for He is aroused from His holy habitation.” He will be glorified. God promised
it. Isaiah 53, which passage started
off with the sufferings of Christ, but the Lord was pleased to crush
Him, to put Him to grief if He would render Him as our guilt
offering. As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will
see it and be satisfied. That is the glory of Christ. By his knowledge, the righteous
one, my servant will justify many and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will allot him a
portion with the great. He will divide the booty with
the strong because he poured himself out to death and was
numbered with transgressors. The clearest biblical commentary
on that is clearly Hebrews to pardon me, Philippians to. where
he humbled himself, he suffered even to the point of death, death
on the cross. And for this very reason, Paul
says in Philippians 2.9, for this very reason, God highly
exalted him, super exalted him, and bestowed on him the name
which is above every name. He brought everything into subjection
under Christ’s feet, Ephesians 1 says. He is our glorified Savior. He is our suffering Savior. But
He is our glorified Savior. And the point is simple. If the
Old Testament prophets who spoke of Christ eagerly sought to learn
more of Him, knowing that He was going to be a suffering and
glorified Savior, how must these clear truths, how precious should
these be to us? How precious should a suffering
Savior be to you and I? It’s a third point here. Not
only is God’s revelation to us a message of salvation by grace,
a message of suffering and glory, but it is a message of gospel
mysteries. As to this salvation, verse 10,
the prophets made careful search and inquiry. They were looking
to know what time or person the Spirit of Christ was indicating.
And it was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves,
but you. In these things which now have
been announced to you, there is no more hidden mystery. There is nothing else left to
be revealed. Remember Hebrews 1.1 says, Former times, in many
portions, in many ways, these messages were given. But God
has spoken in Christ. In Christ, we have the full revelation. We have the gospel and we have
it through those who preach the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit
sent from heaven. Peter started this grand proclamation
of the gospel in Acts, chapter two, when he said, repent each
of you and be baptized. Peter started it, but it went
on from there. Paul took it up, and all the
prophets and all the saints and all the faithful people of God
since have continued to proclaim the full gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ. One said it this way, all these
extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost, the calling of the prophets
and apostles, evangelists, the ordinary ministry of the gospel
by pastors and teachers, tend to that great design which God
has in building His church, in making up that great assembly
of all the elect to enjoy and praise Him for eternity. And you’re in on it. That’s the
astounding thing. We’re in on it. Things that were
talked about in obtuse fashion in prophecies for thousands of
years came clear in the first century in Christ. And they become
abundantly more clear and they should be to us. But look at
the added glorious nature of these things when it says that
these things were prompted by the Holy Spirit. Things into
which angels long to look. Do you know that an angel can
never be saved? There are holy angels and there are fallen angels,
demons. Demons cannot be saved. Don’t
bother praying for them. Neither the devil. But holy angels
are already, they are what they are. The interest of the angels isn’t
just a passing fancy, it’s not a curiosity, not as one said,
whimsical. They’re not just curious and
looking into these matters of salvation. They have a deep and
abiding passion. They long to have a deep abiding
desire to look into these things that we know firsthand. You know
what it is? They cannot comprehend. They
are overwhelmed by the abundant grace of God, the goodness of
God, because they know us. They know our putrid and vile
nature, and they see a God who is infinitely holy, and they
fall down on their faces before Him, and they see Him time after
time after time appeal to us and come to us and lay out this
plan of salvation and send His own beloved Son to die. One said
it this way, they have a holy curiosity to understand the King
of grace that they will never experience. These holy angels
do not need to be saved, but the holy ones seek to understand
salvation so that they might glorify God more fully.” Now,
people, if angels long to look into these mysteries of the Gospel
so that they might more fully understand and glorify God, and
salvation has nothing to do with them per se, how much more should
we constantly meditate on the abundant grace of God that has
come to you and I and fall on our knees all over again and
give him glory. Let’s pray. Oh, merciful God, we are stunned by the depth of
this passage. We are stunned by the glory of
the gospel. the message revealed in our day,
that we have been privileged to lay hold on those that grasp
these things from afar, those who even preached them from the
beginning and yet didn’t understand them, those who are your holy
beings who attend your right hand and yet long and yearn to
look into these things. Father, we confess how we take
these things for granted. Grant us grace. to look again
at the greatness of our salvation. It’s in Jesus’ name that we pray. Amen.