Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro:

Dr. Karl Barth was one of the most brilliant and complex intellectuals of the twentieth century.

He wrote volume after massive volume on the meaning of life and faith.

On one occasion when Barth was visiting in America, a student at a theological seminary asked him in this question "Dr.

Barth, what was the greatest thought that has ever crossed your mind"?

Every one was on edge to see what Barth would say.

He waited a long time.

Then he lifted his head slowly, and he said, "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so."…

Salvation... there is no greater word in the English language!

The subject of salvation is so deep that the greatest theologians cannot fully explain it.

And at the same time it is simple enough for a young child to understand… Salvation is defined as "the rescue of the human soul from sin, death, hell and Satan".

The Bible tells us that man is guilty of sin.

As a result of his guilt he is headed for judgment .

Without salvation, man is destined to spend an eternity in the Lake of Fire.

Because of this fact, man desperately needs to be rescued.

He cannot attain this deliverance on his own... he cannot save himself.

The message of salvation is that while man cannot save himself from eternal torment as a punishment for his sin, God can… and He will...

This is the message that He sent through the prophets, It is the very essence of the work of the Apostles.

It is the message that has been handed down throughout the ages.

And it is the message that God has for you today!

We have been talking about salvation, for the past few months, in our Sunday Evening Bible Study… In fact tonight, we are going to be starting to talk about the security of our salvation.

Peter has very briefly mentioned our salvation in the first couple paragraphs of this letter… and now he talks about our Salvation at a greater depth.

He now talks about “The Greatness of Salvation”

Read 1 Peter 1:10-12…

Meat:

Peter's goal in these 3 verses is to describe just how great salvation is.

Keep in mind that Peter is writing to Christians who were suffering immense trials and difficulties.

He has already encouraged them to have joy, to rejoice and to persevere.

In verses 10-12 he reminds them of how great their salvation is.

This in and of itself should be an encouragement to all of us… Sometimes the best way to make it through times of great trouble is to focus on the good things that God has done for us.

We have some great examples from God’s Word that we can follow… Even at the point of death Christians can rejoice because of the great salvation they possess.

1) As Stephen was being stoned because of his faith in Christ, he was able to rejoice and proclaim "I see Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father" because of his position in Christ.

2) Paul and Silas were imprisoned for their ministry and at midnight they sang praises in the jailhouse.

3) Even Peter himself was arrested and scheduled to be beheaded and he could sleep in peace in the prison because of his salvation.

Folks, if you have put your faith in Christ, you possess the exact same salvation that they did… you are indwelt with the exact same Holy Spirit that they were.

In there few verses that we read... Peter goes a long way in describing this great salvation.

Salvation is Great because...

Peter gives us some reasons why our salvation is so great and that is what we are going to look at this morning…

First of all… we know Salvation is great because…

1.

The Prophets Studied It

1 peter 1:10 “10 Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you,”

The phrase “Searched Carefully” comes from a Greek word that means … “to examine or consider in even greater detail or over a lengthier period of time”.

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 didn’t just receive the word of God, write it down and walk away… There are times that we have a tendency to get our “check marks” for the day…

I read my Bible… Check

I said my prayers… Check

I went to Sunday Morning Service… Check

Don’t get me wrong… These are all important things for us to do.

But are we doing them because we want to grow in our knowledge and relationship with Jesus?? Or are we doing it, just so that we can say… we did??

Verse 11 Tells us what they were trying to find out…

1 Peter 1:11 “11 searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.”

The Old Testament Prophets wanted to gain more…

1.1 Information about the Messiah

The Time of His arrival

The circumstances leading up to His Arrival

What would happen after His Arrival

His Sufferings

His Glory

Jesus tells his disciples this very thing…

God chose certain men throughout history to tell of the coming Messiah.

Peter says that even though they were chosen to prophecy of the salvation that God had planned for His people.... they wanted to know more!…

They hungered for more…

Do you have that type of hunger??

When you are reading through Scripture does it wet your appetite and give you the desire to learn more about what you are reading?? Do you have a hunger to learn more about our Heavenly Father, His attributes, His requirements for our lives??

These prophets did, and God kept feeding them… with revelation after revelation…

Just to the Prophet Isaiah, it was revealed that the Messiah would be…

1) Born of a virgin (7:14)

2) He would be rejected (53:1-3)

3) He would bear our sins and sorrows (53:4-5)

4) Would be spat on and struck (50:6)

5) He would be disfigured by suffering (52:14)

6) He would make a blood atonement (53:5)

7) He would be our substitute (53:6)

8) He would save those who believe in Him (53:12)

9) He would heal the brokenhearted (61:1-2)

To the Prophet Jeremiah …

1.

The Messiah would be a descendant of David (23:5-6)

2. The Messiah would be both God and Man (23:5-6)

3. Jeremiah also proclaimed that the Messiah would be born of a virgin (31:22)

4.

He said that the Messiah would be the New Covenant (31:31)

-The Prophet Zechariah told us that:

1) The Messiah would be God's servant (3:8)

2) The Messiah would be Priest and King (6:12-13)

3) He would be greeted with rejoicing in Jerusalem (9:9)

4) He would bring salvation (9:9)

5) The Messiah would come into Jerusalem riding on a donkey (9:9)

6) The Messiah would be the cornerstone (10:4)

There were many other Prophets and many other prophecies.

Here’s something to think about… With all they knew, the Prophets did not know what we do!

And Peter says that they desired to know more about this salvation.

But what they did know...THEY TOLD TO OTHERS!!

These men spent their lives telling the people about God's process of salvation… And How Great A Salvation it is!

That is our second point today… we know Salvation is great because…

2. The Apostles Shared It

v. 12 “To them (The OT Prophets) it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us (The People that saw Jesus) they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you (The Church) through those (The Apostles) who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven”

Peter shifts his focus from the Old Testament prophets to the New Testament Apostles.

Jesus Himself had commissioned His Apostles to preach the Gospel in…

The Apostles were able to share and spread the Gospel of Christ…

2.1 Through the Power of the Holy Spirit