1 Peter 1:8-12: Faith and Salvation I. Base Text: 1 Peter 1:8-12 II. Understanding the Text A. 1 Peter 1:1-7 1. Peter writing to "elect exiles"-- Christians 2. Blessings of God through Jesus Christ 3. Born again to living hope through resurrection of Jesus 4. Inheritance imperishable, undefiled, unfading 5. Believers rejoice in this despite trial 6. Tested faith results in praise, honor, glory at revelation of Jesus Christ B. Love, Belief, Joy (1 Peter 1:8) 1. Peter indicates how the believers love Jesus, believe in Him, are filled with joy on account of Him 2. Yet they have not seen Him! 3. John 20:29 4. Furthermore, the joy they feel is "inexpressible," "filled with glory" 5. Further evidence of Peter's greatly encouraging message, fervent joy of believers C. Outcome of Faith (1 Peter 1:9) 1. Through this love, belief, joy, testing of faith, we have the outcome 2. The salvation of souls! 3. Faith a critical component of salvation (Hebrews 11:1, 6) 4. But it is not just any faith-- it is the faith that is tested by trial, full of the love and joy of Christ (1 Peter 1:6-8) D. The Prophets and Our Salvation (1 Peter 1:10-12) 1. Peter then moves on to speak "concerning this salvation" 2. Prophets who prophesied: prophets like Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, etc. 3. They prophesied about the "grace to be yours" 4. Inquired, searched carefully 5. The "Spirit of Christ" in them a. the Spirit belonging to Christ, Spirit regarding Christ, or Christ's spirit? b. Based on 2 Peter 1:19-21, Romans 8:9, likely the Holy Spirit c. Holy Spirit as belonging to Christ as much as the Father! 6. What person/time Spirit was indicating when Christ would suffer, obtain glory a. Passages like Isaiah 2/9/11/53, Daniel 2 under discussion b. Grand culmination of God's plan (Ephesians 3:10-11) 7. Revealed to them that they were serving Christians through message of prophecy now fulfilled in the Gospel a. How actively did they know that they were serving us? b. They knew that the great "day of the LORD" and the reign of the Messiah were in the future c. Thus, the message they predicted of more value to people after them than for themselves d. Message "announced" through those preaching the "good news" by the Holy Spirit e. Such indicates divine origin of the message (cf. Galatians 1) 8. Angels seek to look into message of Gospel a. Seems to indicate that God kept truth of Gospel hidden even from the heavenly host b. Written to show to us the great value of its message! III. Application A. Belief, Love, and Joy Without Seeing 1. One of the great challenges of believers today is that they are called upon to believe in Jesus despite not seeing Him 2. We feel deprived-- after all, people fortunate enough to live in the first century could see Jesus or His Apostles! 3. Yet, despite the challenge, we are called upon to have faith in that which cannot be seen, and if we have that faith, we are blessed (John 20:29) 4. Even in the first century, believers who had not seen Jesus loved Him regardless, believed in Him, and rejoiced in Him! 5. It may be almost 2,000 years later, but the message remains the same and is still preached, and we can still love Jesus, believe in Him, and take great joy in salvation without needing to see! 6. It is all there for us to consider in the Bible! B. Great and Inexpressible Joy 1. Peter again takes up the idea of joy (cf. 1 Peter 1:6) 2. Again, he indicates that such is the present reality of the believers: they are rejoicing with a joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory 3. The source of that joy? Jesus Christ the Lord, salvation through Him, forgiveness of sin, the peace of Christ, and the hope of future redemption (1 Peter 1:1-7, Philippians 4:4, etc.) 4. Such things are not limited to the first century-- we can enjoy all of these things as much as they did! 5. Do we, therefore, rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory? 6. If not, why not? What can we do to manifest this joy? C. Value of Gospel 1. Peter goes through in great detail the wonderful value of Gospel 2. It is the grace that is shown to us, a message that the prophets diligently considered, seeing that they were providing blessings for us, things concerning which angels want to learn! 3. Peter is attempting to help us understand the great value of the message of salvation! 4. Jesus does the same with His disciples (Matthew 13:16-17) 5. Also akin to the Hebrew author's message in Hebrews 11:39-40 6. The Gospel is the greatest message of good news that man can hear! 7. Do we stand amazed at the Gospel and its power, or do we treat it casually? 8. If we really understand the power and value of the Gospel, what will we do with it (Matthew 28:18-20, Romans 1:16)? IV. Conclusion A. Peter continues his greatly encouraging message B. The great value of salvation 1. Love, belief, joy in the unseen Jesus 2. Salvation of souls through faith 3. The Gospel, God's great message, heralded by prophets, preached by Apostles, things angels want to understand! C. Let us be saved or cherish our salvation, and serve God through faith! D. Invitation/songbook