Introduction (Portray yourself as Isaiah the prophet. Look out as if in trance toward the back of the auditorium, and begin to talk to the Lord as if He were there):
“Yes Lord, you know that I, your servant Isaiah, have desired to know who this One is. Who shall be this suffering servant? Lord for these three weeks I have fasted and prayed in order to know just who this man is. How can he be the Almighty God and the Father of Ages and yet be born of a virgin? How will he be a light to the Gentiles and yet be the Messiah of Israel? Lord when will he come? Will it be in my days? Will I yet see him? Oh Lord I have desperately sought to know this. Please reveal it unto me, your servant Isaiah.”
This is the fervency and ardor of the prophets that Peter describes. These prophets, who told before hand of the coming of Christ, greatly longed to know all that was said about Him. In verses 10-12, Peter concludes his great praise to God for the salvation provided by Christ. He emphasizes the importance of God’s salvation by describing how diligently the prophets to whom it wasn’t intended sought it. With these words Peter is telling us that we must be making a diligent search concerning the great salvation that God has provided for us.
Peter, in this passage of Scripture, gives us three reasons why we must be making a diligent search concerning the great salvation God has provided.
I. The prophets to realized how awesome God’s plan was.
The first reason we must be making a diligent search concerning the great salvation God has provided is because the prophets realized how awesome God’s plan was. They understood the immense importance of the prophecy that had come to them. The significance they placed upon the message given to them can be seen in two important truths:
A. They made a deliberate and thorough search
The first truth that shows the significance the prophets placed upon the message given to them is that they made a deliberate and thorough search. The words “They made careful searches and inquiries” are the translation of two verbs that refer to the intensity of the prophets’ search. The first word pictures the deliberateness of the search. It wasn’t haphazard. These words give the picture of the hound sniffing the trail of the escaped convict, tirelessly following the scent. It conveys the meticulousness of the super lawyer Matlock as he seeks for some minute overlooked detail that will break the case. It shows the determination of a forty-niner digging for gold. These prophets eagerly sought to understand fully through much reflection what the Holy Spirit revealed to them.
The prophet Daniel received a vision and fasted for three weeks in order to determine its meaning. These prophets saw the coming of the Messiah as their hope. It was he who would usher in a new period of righteousness. They earnestly desired to see who this Messiah would be and when He would come.
If these prophets, who had only partial revelation concerning the Messiah, sought diligently concerning this coming salvation, how much more should we look to discover all the truths about our salvation. We know what Christ has already done for us. But it should stimulate us to look at what the Scripture has to say about Christ and what He will do in the future. Though we know much more than these prophets concerning the sufferings of Christ, yet we don’t know all that is going to take place. Even the apostle John says, “Beloved, now we are the children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that when he appears, we shall be like Him for we shall see Him just as He is.” Those words should motivate us to seek out Christ in His Word for that is Who the Scripture is all about. These Old Testament prophets sought to know what was going to happen through careful meditation and thought on the revelation of God. Shouldn’t the thought of Christ’s return and our gathering unto Him be a cause for great searching and meditation on our part? Just think of the glory of God and all that we are going to participate in as Christians.
I have read Jonathan Edwards’ narrative of some of the remarkable conversions during the Great Awakening in the middle 1700’s in New England. One thing that struck me is that when these people were converted, they thought often of Jesus Christ and the glory of God. They meditated on the Scriptures and spoke about it often with others. Edwards related one particular event concerning a four-year-old girl who had been converted. Edwards says, “She sometimes appears greatly affected and delighted with texts of Scripture that come to her mind. Particularly about the beginning of November, that text came to her mind, Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in, and sup with him and he with me.” Her mother overheard her talking very earnestly to the other children about it . . .Why it is to sup with God.” Could it be that we have been outdone by a 4-year-old? Shall this little child be our teacher?
This desire is what Peter is trying to convey to us. We ought to make a careful and deliberate search of the Scripture. The scientist and Christian, Isaac Newton, once said, “If I have ever made any valuable discoveries, it has been owing more to patient attention, than to any other talent.” We shall certainly discover the worth of Scripture when we pour over it, time and time again, not in a cursory glance but in deep and diligent inquiry into the very thoughts of God.
B) They understood that it wasn’t directed to themselves
The second truth that shows the significance of this great salvation is seen in that these prophets were deeply committed to finding out all they could concerning the Christ even though it wasn’t directed to them. Peter says that it was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you! Even after they came to that realization that this had no bearing on them in their time they still sought after it with great diligence. Jesus told his disciples that, “Many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see and did not see and to hear what you hear and did not hear it.” When are people interested in news that does not concern them? When it is really amazing important news. When an earthquake hits, everyone is interested even though it doesn’t concern them directly. Several years ago, while we still lived in Minnesota, when a flood devastated East Grand Forks, MN everyone wanted to know what was going on, how many were killed and how many were homeless.
This news of the Messiah was so great, so amazing, that these prophets wanted to know everything they could about this coming cosmic event. They were doing this not so much for their benefit but for us who would be beneficiaries of this new gospel era.
II. It has been revealed!
The second reason why we must be making a diligent search concerning the great salvation God has provided is because it has been revealed. This is what the beginning of verse 12 says, “It was revealed.” Peter gives us three characteristics that show this great salvation has been revealed.
A. We are in the age of the good news
The first characteristic that shows this great salvation has been revealed is that we are NOW in the age of the good news. In verse 12, Peter says that this message (the gospel/the good news) has NOW been announced to us.
Peter says that we now are in the age of the good news! It is here! It’s arrived! We are living in an era in which no one else in history has ever experienced. Peter says that no other people of God have ever had a relationship to Him as we do now. Since the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, almost 2000 years ago, God now dwells in every believer! We are no longer related to God by a stone set of tablets but by his indwelling Holy Spirit. We are those who are led by the Spirit of God. We have a new “in Christ” relationship. In some way, not only is the Spirit of God dwelling in us but those of us who have trusted Jesus Christ as Savior have been placed into Christ Jesus. We dwell in Him. That is why God sees us as righteous, sinners though we are. We have been placed into Christ Jesus, the only one who has ever been righteous and right now we are seated with Christ in heaven. Think on that for a while if you would. We are in Him. We are in the era of good news.
God became one of us. He dwelt among us and lived perfectly as no one else ever had. Then he paid the penalty that we deserved so that we might no longer be separated from God. This is the era of good news. If you want to begin to understand this new relationship we have to God, read the book of Ephesians. Read it through each day for a month. Underline every place that says that we are in Christ or in Him, underline where it mentions being seated in the heavenly places with Christ. It is a remarkable truth upon which we should meditate. What will that do? It will give you a whole new perspective on your salvation and how secure you are in Christ.
B. It is a personal message to you
The second characteristic that shows this great salvation has been revealed is that is a personal message to you. This message has to be proclaimed personally. Three times in verse 12, Peter says that it is directed to you personally. It is not a family message. Because my mother believes does not make me a Christian. Because my wife believes does not make me a Christian. This is a message that everyone must receive personally. Peter declared to those in Jerusalem on that first Christian Pentecost to repent each of you individually. You must make that personal decision to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior. If you do not you will not be saved. You will remain in your sin. You will be condemned. When I was growing up I knew all about Jesus Christ and all that He had done on the cross, but I had never accepted his sacrifice on the cross as the payment for my sin. I had never come to realize that trusting Christ was an individual decision, not based on what my parents had done, but based on what I chose to do with Christ. The question posed to me is the same one I pose to you. What have you done with Jesus? A decision to do nothing is a decision to reject Christ. By saying I’ll choose Christ later you are saying I reject Him now. “What is my eternal destination?” is the most important question someone can answer for themselves. The Philippian jailer asked that question to the apostle Paul. In its basic form he asked what must I do to be saved from torment in hell? Paul responded, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.” That is, place your trust in the fact that only Christ’s death on the cross can wash away your sins and God will give you eternal life.
C. It is heaven’s word (You had better listen)
The third characteristic that shows that this great salvation has been revealed is that it is heaven’s word. In the middle of verse 12, Peter says that these people preached the gospel by means of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. This message was not given by men alone. It was a word from heaven declared through the power of God’s Holy Spirit. This wasn’t any ordinary message. Peter says that it was sent from heaven. It was a message that you must not ignore. The author of Hebrews declares that if the word given by angels to Moses was important and every disobedience received its proper punishment, how much more liable are those who ignore the message from God himself. Peter is saying, “You had better listen!”
There was a commercial that used to be on TV. In order not to date myself I will say that I was almost a baby when this commercial aired. In a noisy crowded room, an individual would say quietly to a friend, “My broker is E.F. Hutton and E.F. Hutton says . . . At that point the room becomes absolutely silent and everyone stops to listen to this advice. Then the narrator would say, “When E. F. Hutton talks people listen.” They were trying to portray how important the words of E.F. Hutton were. Just think by contrast how important, the eternal Words of God are. You must listen to the message that is given over and over in Scripture. Peter says that the words of the gospel are not something that can be just passed by.
The good news presented throughout Scripture is clear and important. The truth of the gospel is not obscure or meaningless. Every person is separated from God, enemies against Him. He could throw every one of us into dark and everlasting punishment if it wasn’t for his great patience with us. This is truly the bad news before the good news. Everyone is separated from God and if they remain in that condition until death, they will be separated from Him forever in torment.
The next part of the gospel is that there is absolutely nothing any of us can do to save ourselves. In Isaiah 65, God says that He looks upon our righteous deeds as filthy rags. Can you imagine thinking that all your charity work has earned you favor with God? And when you die you present that to God so He will allow you into heaven and you find yourself holding up nothing but dirty used surgical rags? This is the image that Isaiah presents. That is the second part of the gospel, there is absolutely nothing you can do to save yourself. Have you ever had a dream that someone is chasing you and you couldn’t run? You couldn’t move your legs? It’s like that. You can only hope that someone will come and rescue you.
Now comes the really good news. Paul says in Romans 5:6, while we were still helpless, Christ died for the ungodly. In our helpless condition Christ died for us. Two verses later Paul says while we were still sinners Christ died for us. Christ died for us before we could do anything. Christ did all the work. We were helpless. Christ offers to us the infinite gift that we could never deserve or work for or earn. This is the only mathematical equation where infinity plus anything else equals zero. What I mean by that is if you take the infinite gift of Christ’s death on the cross and try to add any of your works with that, it ends up as zero. You lose. I was talking with a guy in college and he said, “I know what I need to do to be saved.” I asked, “What’s that?” He said, “I have to walk down an aisle.” Where do you ever see that in the Bible? Some people think that if they walk down an aisle or pray a prayer, that saves them. I tell you if you didn’t place your trust in what Christ did on the cross alone to save you, but put your trust in the fact that you walked down an aisle or prayed a prayer then you are still in your sins. I was dealing with someone once, who when I asked how they received a home in heaven, replied, “by praying a prayer.” I questioned him further, but he didn’t understand that it was not the prayer that brought him forgiveness of his sins, but what he was acknowledging by that prayer.
Call on the Lord and you shall be saved. Acknowledge your need of the Savior who did it all to purchase your pardon. This is not some ceremony, it is coming to grips with what your relationship is before God and coming to Him with a plea for mercy based on the work of Christ on the cross. This is the good news, the great news called the gospel. Peter says that it is a word from heaven and you had better listen. Not on my authority, for that means nothing, but on the authority of Scripture. The Scripture says, “Today if you will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”
III. The angels desire to know about it.
The third reason why we be must making a diligent search concerning the great salvation which God has provided is because the angels desire to know about it. Peter makes this statement, completing his praise to God for the great salvation that He has provided for man. Peter notes that this salvation is so incredible that even the angels desire to comprehend its magnitude. This is what the end of verse 12 says, “Things into which the angels long to look.” In essence Peter is saying, “YOU, BE WISE LIKE THE ANGELS.” These angelic creatures created by God who are mighty not only in strength, but also in wisdom understand what the most important things in the universe are. Peter says that they long to study these things. Imagine, how much we could comprehend if our minds were not clouded by the effect of sin. What would we desire to study? I believe it would be God’s great plan of salvation that he worked out before the world was made.
The word that Peter uses, translated, “look” describes someone who is peering in from the outside. The angels cannot participate in man’s redemption. Those angels who have never disobeyed God have no need for this redemption. But nevertheless they peer into these matters as outsiders. They long to understand God’s salvation. They are like the poor boy who stands outside the deli window, looking at the delicious wares, but cannot partake of them. These angels peer into God’s salvation and wonder in amazement at the greatness of such a plan. They cannot fully comprehend it though because they cannot experience the great joy that we can at being saved by the living God. But we, we are insiders. We are privileged to share in that which was neither revealed to the prophets, nor which the angels can fully comprehend. Be wise like angels, make a diligent search concerning the great salvation which God has provided through Jesus Christ.
What does this mean for you? Diligently seeking this salvation will:
1. Make you wise. 2. Give you a new kind of life(overcome sin).
3. Give you a great joy, even in the midst of great suffering.
4. Cause you to recognize the purpose in suffering. 5. Give you a clearer picture of the greatness of God’s plan. 6. Give you a desire to tell of the excellent greatness of God’s plan to others
These would all be results of seeking diligently into God’s salvation, but not the reason. The ultimate reason Peter shows us is the great importance of God’s salvation as it relates to people. We should study this good news diligently because of how great it is. Be smart like the angels, and search diligently into the Scripture concerning this great gift for you.
Maybe you are thinking, “OK, I want to do that, but where do I start?” Probably one of the greatest Old Testament passages concerning the salvation provided by the Lord Jesus Christ is Isaiah 53. Read that passage. This passage speaks so clearly about the sufferings of Jesus for everyone’s sin. Meditate on that passage, tell me if that doesn’t change the way you think about God and His work of salvation. Then look at other Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament Scripture such as Psalm 22, which speaks of Christ’s crucifixion. Make a diligent search for the salvation that God has provided for you.
Commit yourself today to seeking Him in His Holy Word!