Message for Sunday Morning, August 22, 2010 Message 3 in Making The Best Out of The Worst of Times (I PETER SERIES) Christian Hope Church of Christ, Plymouth, North Carolina by Reggie A. Braziel, Minister What s So Great About Salvation? I PETER SERIES: Making The Best Out of The Worst of Times MESSAGE 3 Scripture Text: I Peter 1:10-12 12 As we continue with our series from I PETER, I would like for you to please turn with me in your Bibles to I PETER 1:10-12. 12. (READ SCRIPTURE TEXT) P R A Y E R ================================================== Introduction tion Every preacher of the gospel knows that any time he preaches a series of messages from a particular Bible Book, there will be parts of the Book that are fairly easy to preach and other parts that are very difficult. And every preacher battles the temptation to preach the easier passages and skip the more challenging passages. I have to confess I was very tempted to move right past VERSES 10-12 12 and move on to the more familiar Be Holy As I Am Holy passage in VERSES 13 and following.
I am glad now that I resisted that temptation, because VERSES 10-12 12 are rich in truths about OUR GREAT SALVATION. It is interesting ting that PETER keeps coming back to this subject of our SALVATION over and over again. verse 5 who through faith are shielded by God s power until the coming of the SALVATION that is ready to be revealed in the last time. verse 9 for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the SALVATION of your souls. Now notice how Peter begins VERSE 10..Concerning this SALVATION I think all of us as Christians are thankful for our SALVATION, but I m not sure many of us truly understand What s So Great About Salvation. In VERSES 10-12 12 Peter reveals FOUR REASONS WHY OUR SALVATION IS SO GREAT. ===========
The first reason WHY OUR SALVATION IS SO GREAT is because. I. It Was Predicted by The Great Prophets of Old v.10, 11 10 Concerning this salvation, THE PROPHETS, who spoke of o f the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, 11 trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. 1. Did you know there are over 300 prophecies in the Old Testament that predicting the first coming of Christ. And every one of those prophecies are in complete agreement reement. 2. Now why is that important? Well imagine 300 arrows being shot into the air by many different men, in many different places, over a 1,500 year span, and every single one of those arrows fell in the same exact spot. That would not only be amazing, it would be a miracle wouldn t it? 3. Well imagine over 300 prophecies being given by many different men in many different places over a 1,500 year span and every single one of those prophecies fell on Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God! -ISAIAH predicted that CHRIST would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14)..and that His ministry would begin in Galilee (Isaiah 9:1) and that He would work miracles (Isaiah 35:5,6)..And that He would be wounded and bruised and crucified between two thieves. (Isaiah 53:5, 12) and that He would be buried in a rich man s tomb. (Isaiah 53:9) -MICAH predicted CHRIST would be born in the little town of Bethlehem. (Micah 5:2)
-In PSALM 78:2 ASAPH predicted that CHRIST would teach in parables. -DAVID predicted that CHRIST S hands and feet would be pierced (Psalm 22:16) and that lots would be cast for His clothing. ( Psalm 22:18) and that He would be accused by false witnesses. (Psalm 35:11) and that none of His bones would be broken. (Psalm 34:20) and that He would rise from the dead. (Psalm 16:10) - ZECHARIAH predicted that CHRIST would enter Jerusalem riding a donkey (Zechariah 9:9) and the He would be sold for 30 pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12) and that His side would be pierced. (Zechariah 12:10 4. Now did these great prophets understand everything they wrote? Probably not! Peter tells us in the last part of verse 10 and first part of verse 11, they searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing. 5. But while they didn t understand everything they wrote, every one of those Great Prophets understood two things: One, that CHRIST would suffer, and two, His sufferings ferings would be followed by glory. 6. Is that not exactly what happened when CHRIST died for our SALVATION? First there was terrible suffering, which was followed by THE GLORY of HIS RESURRECTION and ASCENSION. N. 7. Yes, our salvation is a great salvation because it was PREDICTED BY THE GREAT PROPHETS OF GOD!
The second reason WHY OUR SALVATION IS SO GREAT is because. II. It Was Provided by The Gracious Grace of God VERSE 10a Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the GRACE that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care 1. GRACE is an important word to Peter. In fact he uses the word GRACE 10 times in this letter.. (1:2, 10, 13, ; 2:19,20; 3:7; 4:10; 5:5, 10, 12) 2. And if you are a student of the Bible you know the word grace means God s undeserved or unmerited FAVOR. G.W. KNIGHT gives this simple explanation of God s grace: When a person works an eight-hour hour day and receives a fair day's pay for his time, that is a WAGE.. When a person competes with an opponent and receives a trophy for his performance, that is a PRIZE.. When a person receives appropriate recognition for r his long service or high achievements, that is an AWARD.. But when a person is not capable of earning a wage, can win no prize, and deserves no award-- --yet receives such a gift anyway-- --that is a good picture of God's unmerited favor. This is what we mean when we talk about the grace of God. 3. I think there is a tendency among those of us who were raised in a Christian family..who have been going to Church all our lives.who accepted Christ at a relatively young age to believe we have always been good, decent people.
But brothers and sisters, we must understand that none of us I repeat, NONE OF US deserves to be saved, regardless of how good or decent we think we are regardless of how long we have been going to Church. If it were NOT for the GRACE OF ALMIGHTY GOD none of us could be saved. *BY HIS GRACE God saved you and me from the PENALTY for our sins, which is eternal death. * BY HIS GRACE God is presently PROTECTING us from the deadly POWER of sin by His indwelling Spirit. *AND BY HIS GRACE God is PRESERVING us for an eternal home in heaven where we will be eternally separated from all that is sinful. =============== And the third reason WHY OUR SALVATION IS SO GREAT is because III. It Was Preached by The Gallant Apostles of Christ v. 12 a vs. 12 a It was revealed to them that t they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from Heaven. 1. Everything the Prophets of old had PREDICTED about Christ SUFFERING and the GLORIES that would follow all came true.
2. They had predicted JESUS would DIE on a CROSS. And He did! They had predicted JESUS would be BURIED in a borrowed TOMB and He was. And they predicted that JESUS would RISE FROM THE DEAD and He did! 3. And from that day forward, the DEATH, BURIAL and RESURRECTION OF JESUS became the focus of the Apostles preaching. 4. The Apostles didn t preach on Four Ways to Improve Your Marriage or Five Steps to Financial Freedom or Three Keys to Raising Happy Children. Those gallant, brave Apostles of Christ risked their very lives to preach the GOOD NEWS of SALVATION through CHRIST to anyone who would listen! 5. One of those gallant, ant, brave apostles was PETER who wrote this wonderful letter of HOPE. And among those who heard Peter er preach the good news of salvation were the suffering, persecuted Christians who first received this letter. Our SALVATION is GREAT because It was PREDICTED by The Great PROPHETS of Old. It was PROVIDED by The Gracious GRACE of God. It was PREACHED by The Gallant APOSTLES of Christ.
But there is a FOURTH reason WHY OUR SALVATION IS SO GREAT and that is because. IV. It Has Puzzled the Glorious Angels of Heaven vs. 12 b verse 12b Even angels long to look into these things. 1. C O N C L U S I O N During the building of the Golden Gate Bridge over San Francisco Bay, construction fell badly behind schedule because several workers had accidentally fallen from the scaffolding to their deaths. Engineers and administrators could find no solution to the costly delays. Finally, someone suggested a gigantic net be hung under the bridge to catch any who fell. Finally in spite of the enormous cost, the engineers opted for the net. After it was installed, progress was hardly interrupted. A worker or two fell into the net but were saved. Ultimately, all the time lost to fear was regained by replacing fear with faith in the net. As we paid nothing for God's eternal love and nothing for the Son of His love, and nothing for His Spirit and our grace and faith, and nothing for our eternal rest...what an astonishing thought it will be to think of the unmeasurable difference between our deservings and our receivings. O, how free was all this love, and how free is this enjoyed glory...so then let "Deserved" be written on the floor of hell but on the door of heaven and life. Richard Baxter, The Free Gift.