WEBVTT
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Today we conclude the first major section in Peter's letter.
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Peter has been focused solely on our salvation, this glorious inheritance that we have.
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And really, I guess we could say that Peter's always focused on our salvation, but this is definitely the first major movement in his letter.
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It's really wanting our minds wrapped around how glorious our inheritance actually is.
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In fact, he's really had three main components to this first element in his letter.
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Two weeks ago was talking about the substance of our salvation.
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Our salvation is what he would call an incorruptible inheritance.
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And he would say, okay, there's 11 aspects to how great this salvation is.
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It is first the work of the triune God.
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It is by the abundant mercy of God the Father, who has begotten us, to a living hope in Jesus' resurrection, to an inheritance, that's the word he uses for salvation, and we talked about the nuance of what inheritance means.
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It is decreed by divine law, it is incorruptible, eighth, it is undefiled, ninth, unfading, reserved in heaven, eleven, as we are actively kept by God.
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11 aspects about how great our salvation is.
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Last week's focus was then the second movement, which was saying that we, while we are waiting for the full culmination of that salvation, we are being perfected.
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We're being prepared through trials to be perfected by those trials to be further prepared for our ultimate salvation.
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In other words, trials are not juxtaposed against the glory.
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No, trials get us to the glory.
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They're actually only ever necessary, as Peter would say in verse 6 of chapter 1.
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They're the refining fires of God's presence.
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They're the grounds by which faith, hope, and love are cultivated so that way we would receive the end of our faith, the very salvation of our souls.
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Peter now concludes with really what is just kind of him wanting to cap everything off and show that the timeless splendor of the gospel, the timeless splendor of our salvation, our glorious inheritance.
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And so he's going to talk about two different people groups.
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He's going to say that this glorious salvation was foretold by the prophets who searched it out diligently, and it's the focus of angels who look at it intently.
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So the prophets searched for it, the angels stared at it, and so then the question that Peter's wanting to press is what do you and I do with it?
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What ought we to do with the mystery of the gospel unfolded?
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And in order to have that question properly punch us, I really think it's supposed to kind of hit us with some conviction.
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We're just going to simply move through these two verses and we're going to gather all the little elements that Peter stacks up for us.
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So just a simple exposition through verses 10 through 12.
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What Peter begins with as he enters into this exposition is he's talking about the action, the activity of the prophets of old.
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He uses action terminology, these verbs that he says describe what they did.
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They first inquired, right?
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Inquire means to exert effort to find out and learn.
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So it's not just simply looking at something and wanting to instantly have all the maybe you wanted to have all the info in that moment, but like it actually takes exerted effort.
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You have to search it out diligently in order to understand it more and more.
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To search out carefully, that's the next verb that Peter uses, is the word for investigation, to be a meticulous investigator.
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So the prophets, they were searching out, they were grabbing more information, they were inquiring, they were being meticulous investigators, and all this they did while they prophesied.
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They foretold throughout the centuries in the Old Testament what was going to take place.
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And in this process of investigating and foretelling, they were puzzle piecing it together.
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They wanted to know what and how and when all this would take place.
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And the prophets, they they saw real components.
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By faith, they did indeed trust and look to what is Christ and the mysteries of the gospel that were apprehendable at that time.
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But the fullness was obscured to them in some way.
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They didn't fully understand.
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Right?
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I think about how like we it's cool that we even within our liturgy, right, on a Sunday, we actually move through the Old Testament in order to see how Scripture is proclaiming the gospel everywhere.
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I don't know if you've noticed this, but every time that we've gone through a liturgy on Sunday, the section headers or the scriptures that are underneath the section headers, they've all been from the same book.
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So week one was Hebrews, week two was Ephesians, week three is Romans, and now week four, we have Malachi as our main focus.
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And then we throw in Isaiah 53 for the responsive reading.
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Like these elements trying to help us focus on how the gospel's on display, even from these Old Testament texts.
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And I think about how like it's beautifully on display.
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You get to see a lot.
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We obviously get the privilege of knowing what it's pointing to, but the prophets of old they only saw in part.
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I think of the book of Daniel, right?
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Daniel's given very vivid visions.
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Daniel is given explicit explanation at times to those visions.
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Daniel is even given time indicators.
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And yet the book concludes in Daniel 12, although I heard, I did not understand.
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Then I said, My Lord, what shall be the end of these things?
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And he, the angel speaking to Daniel, said, Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.
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Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.
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But you go your way till the end, for you shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days.
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It's showcasing that the prophets they they spoke, they proclaimed, but did not fully understand, but they were searching out how it all stitched together, just like Daniel is here, and then even that the angel would say, Go your way, know that it will unfold in time, and you will rise to your inheritance.
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Similar language, it's even going on in 1 Peter.
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The New Testament would refer to this culminating salvation that the prophets spoke of as the mysteries of the kingdom, or the mystery of Christ.
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In all the synoptic gospels, Jesus would tell his disciples, as is said in Mark chapter 4, verse 11, to you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, but to those who are outside, all things come in parables.
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Paul would say in Colossians 1 26, the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to his saints.
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Friends, what a prized position we have in the redemptive timeline, right?
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We are recipients of unfolded history, all of history putting on display God's redemptive acts, and we are the recipients.
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We know how everything is pointing to Jesus.
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We know who the serpent crushing seed of Eve is, right?
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That's the first mystery in the Bible.
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Genesis 3.15, who will be the he who will crush the head of the serpent?
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We know it's Jesus.
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We know how Christ has defeated that ancient serpent of old, and then we are equipped now by God's Spirit to live in that inheritance now, to know that by God's Spirit we are more than conquerors.
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While Peter speaks of our prized position in redemptive history, and truly that is the case, right?
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It is a prized and privileged position to live in the new covenant.
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He's also showcasing how the Old and New Testaments are a united whole.
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And really, this is this is elevating the magnitude of our salvation, that there's been one central focus for all of human history, which of course redemptive history has unfolded within.
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It's not a new thing, it's the main thing that God has always been doing.
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And so Peter says in verse 11, they were 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.
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Church, the Old Testament context is not devoid of the Spirit of God.
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We do have a better reality because we don't just have regeneration caused by God's Spirit, but we have permanent indwelling by God's Spirit.
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Right?
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So in the way that the power that was exhibited in the prophets and mighty men of old for just a moment of time, right, we get to have that as a permanent reality, right?
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That's Joel's prophecy.
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You're old and you're young, your men and your women will dream dreams, see visions, right?
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They will all prophesy.
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And so we have a privileged position.
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We've already said that over and over again, but we need to understand that the Old Testament context was not devoid of God's spirit.
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Right?
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The old covenant and the new covenant are the same in substance while being different in their administration.
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And of course, the new covenant is indeed more glorious.
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But God's spirit's always been at work because the triune God is always doing all things.
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And that's not, he's not divided in his work.
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And so, even from the very beginning, right, in Genesis 1-1, we we see a display of the Spirit soon thereafterwards hovering over the face of the waters.
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God's Spirit's always been active, as has always been the Son and of course the Father.
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And so what Peter then does here is verse 11, he's showcasing how the prophets are enabled by God's Spirit.
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And then verse 12, the gospel preachers, they too are enabled by God's Spirit, right?
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So verse 11, the the how they were searching and inquiring the Spirit of Christ who was in them, right?
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And then verse 12, right?
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You now receive this through the preaching of the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.
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Verse 11, prophets enabled by the Spirit.
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Verse 12, gospel preachers enabled by God's Spirit.
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God has been unfolding a triune, redemptive work in all of human history, and you are the recipient of its culmination.
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Verse 12, to them it was revealed that not to themselves, but to us, they were ministering.
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So already here.
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Right?
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Just right here in the beginning of verse 12, the middle of it, the questions begged.
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Do we value this salvation rightly?
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Knowing that we're the recipients of the mysteries of Christ.
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But I think there's there's one more component in order to compel us rightly, and it comes right at the end of verse 12.
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Right.
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And so as it says that the Peter's hears, they have heard and they received through the preaching of the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, and then he ends this way things which angels desire to look into.
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Now I remember when I when I taught this text, I it was about six years ago when I taught through 1 Peter, and I thought that Peter was just emphasizing, right, like how great the mystery is of the gospel.
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That prophets they would search for it, and then the angels, like they tried to look into it, they longed to look into it.
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And so whether you're like the prophets wanted to know, the angels wanted to know, but it's so glorious that nobody knew, and now you get to know.
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That's kind of the point that I thought Peter was making, but it's actually better than that.
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Peter has put both Old Testament prophets and angels in this passage because they are different types of knowers.
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And when we look at them as a whole, we get to see how glorious the gospel is from two extremes.
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So we're gonna be as simple with this as possible because this is not a lesson on angelology, nor is it an episode of Haunted Cosmos.
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It is a lesson in 1 Peter.
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And so we should rightly be careful because though we have good reason to know certain things about angels, we also don't want to just jump into blind speculation.
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So let's start with the fact that what I'm about to share, the idea that angels and humans are different types of knowers, and I'm gonna define what that looks like.
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The reason why I can begin to share that is that it's first grounded grammatically in 1 Peter.
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So this idea that humans and angels, the prophets and the angels, they know in different ways, it's grounded grammatically.
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The terminology that Peter uses for the prophets is inquired, investigated, searched out.
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It's about investigation and discovery.
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The terminology that Peter uses for the angels is desire to look into.
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The word actually means to bend over.
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It's like you've, you know, you got something or like you're hunched over, just trying to stare at it, to get a better look, to look into it.
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In other words, it's not about investigation, it's about beholding.
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So we have prophets inquired, investigated, searched out, discovered, angels behold.
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They're bent over as it would be so, to look into the the glory of the gospel.
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So it's it's here grammatically, but then secondly, it's grounded metaphysically.
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See, humans and angels are different types of knowers because we can see the difference in their makeup.
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Like how are they how are they created?
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Humans are body, soul, composite beings.
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We were created to know things, therefore, through sense perception, through sight and smell and taste and touch and audible cues, right?
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We we then through those particulars that we then take in through sense perception, we kind of stitch them together internally into these more comprehensive, more universal understandings of whatever the things are that we're we're taking in.
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Angels are not body-soul composite beings.
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And thereby they do not have physical sense perception.
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They don't have eyes and mouths and ears like we do, in which they're using those organs to piece together components to then stitch them together.
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No, angels, being pure spirit, are created by God with intrinsic knowledge.
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They therefore don't learn things discursively, but they simply behold the fullness of the knowledge that they are given.
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And of course, there's dynamics between the ranks of angels and what they are gifted with that knowledge, but they go from universals to particulars instead of us, which go from particulars to universals.
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So, in other words, the idea is that humans learn, angels know.
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We think step by step, angels comprehend in one simple act.
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So, in other words, the angels are not searching for something that's obscured, like the prophets are.
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No, instead they what's the word again?
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They bend over, right?
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They hold, they stare at it.
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Not because they're trying to figure something out, but because they actually rightly know its value.
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Right?
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They're fixated on the glory.
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And they're because the gospel, the mysteries of the gospel declare the glory of God, right?
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The and the unfolding of the purpose of the triune God in human history, right, because it reveals God in such a way, they they they extol the Lord for all eternity.
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Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.
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They they're just fixated on it.
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Peter's showing us two types of knowers and what then the implication is of such knowledge.
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Right.
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So, in other words, you could be a prophet of old and want more and more to comprehend it better, or you could be an angel and you still will just want to keep beholding it.
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It's not just that the prophets didn't know, and now you know, and so now it's like old news.
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No, the angels stare at it.
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That's how glorious the gospel is.
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Which so then that brings us back full circle.
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I mentioned that this is the point Peter's wanting to present here, and I think it's supposed to land with some conviction.
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The idea is that the prophets search, the angels stare, but you give up and look away.
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Right?
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The prophets couldn't get enough of it because they were trying to puzzle piece it together.
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The angels can't get enough of it because they value it rightly, but you don't value it in the same way.
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You give up and you look away.
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How dare we get bored with the things of God?
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How dare we think that we've plunged the depths of Scripture, that there's nothing left to behold?
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Because even if that was the case, if we actually knew every single thing, then like the angels, we would stare.
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We would just want to take it in all the more.
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How dare we fail to worship throughout our weeks, being caught up in anxiousness and whatever other fatigue we have, knowing good and well that if we just simply look to our God, that if we tried to apprehend the mystery of the gospel just one degree more, everything would be right.
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We would give praise, we'd be satisfied with God's face instead of just seeking his hand, we would be good.
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How dare we be disgrunted, discontent, and grumble.
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And praise be to God, who atones for even these sins, the sins of discontentment, of anxiousness, of failure to give praise.
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Lord, grow us to be better beholders.
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And really, I think that's where the application's going, right?
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If we've been giving something that's truly inexhaustible to behold, and if the the right, the prophets, they were they were serving not themselves but us, right?
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We've got this heritage that we've received.
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So if we've got something inexhaustible, it's a rich heritage, it was meant for us, we should see our privileged position in the redemptive timeline.
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Then the question is, what will you do with what has been entrusted?
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If the prophets searched and the angels stare, what will you and I do?
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So I've I've got three things for us.
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I think this helps us get in a good direction.
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And let's start with just the concept of searching and staring.
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I think that we should first fixate on its facets.
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Fixate on its facets.
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Right?
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Uh I I like that because um it's not just because, you know, as a pastor, you're like supposed to alliterate or something, but I I use facets intentionally because I think about like a gemstone, a diamond, and how that that gemstone is one gemstone, but then you can rotate it around and take in all this different glory that is received from different angles.
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Like we should preoccupy ourselves with all aspects of looking at the glory of the gospel to through reading, through memorization, through studying, through even plunging ourselves into heady topics, like even angelology and trying to figure out those things out.
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Like we want to take these things in to understand the glory of what God has unfolded in redemptive history.
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Uh, my my family and I, we we recently took a trip down to grandma's house.
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Well, my grandma, great grandma for the girls.
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And my girls discovered the glory of the kaleidoscope.
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Because grandma's always had one.
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I remember looking through it every single time I go to her house.
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Um, my dad probably knows the history behind like how that kaleidoscope even ended up in the house.
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But uh after that trip, when they got home, uh then my mom, their grandma, their Gigi, ended up getting both of them a kaleidoscope.
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And so when you when you look at a kaleidoscope, right, you've got the the there's three different components that can change the whole array.
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It's the it's the cylinder, the tumbler, the the rotating aspects on the backside, right?
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That's got the gemstones, whatever it is.
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My girls, it's it is a tumbler.
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It's got like loose elements in there.
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And so you got really like an infinite amount of different uh arrangements for it.
00:19:08.240 --> 00:19:15.359
But you've got the the end of the cylinder, and then you have the level of lighting, and then you have the angle of that lighting.
00:19:15.519 --> 00:19:18.799
All three of those things are gonna change how the kaleidoscope works.
00:19:18.880 --> 00:19:22.480
And so you'll just sit there for hours, especially as a kid, right?
00:19:22.640 --> 00:19:26.880
Just like rotating through it and taking in all the different aspects.
00:19:27.119 --> 00:19:30.240
We should be that captivated by God's word.
00:19:30.960 --> 00:19:32.640
Like let's let's run it back.
00:19:32.799 --> 00:19:37.519
Run 1 Peter back again, run Malachi back again, let's go back through Isaiah 53.
00:19:37.599 --> 00:19:41.920
Let's see all these prophetic instances that reveal the mysteries of Christ, right?
00:19:42.079 --> 00:19:43.839
We should be captivated by God's word.
00:19:44.079 --> 00:19:48.720
And as we plunge into it, we're gonna see more and more depths to be discovered.
00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:52.880
A hymn that speaks of these depths is it's one of my favorites.
00:19:53.039 --> 00:19:59.519
It's uh, well, it's one of the first hymns I ever actually, other than like kind of the classic ones that we learned, that I even got to have an appreciation for it.
00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:02.160
It was um, I think Michael and I discovered it at the same time.
00:20:02.240 --> 00:20:07.279
It's because originally when we heard it, it was from a contemporary band, Ascend the Hill.
00:20:07.440 --> 00:20:08.720
And so they did a hymns album.
00:20:08.799 --> 00:20:15.359
So if you want to listen to a cool rendition, Ascend the Hill, their hymns album, the the song, the hymn is the love of God.
00:20:15.519 --> 00:20:19.119
I'm gonna read verse one and then parts of verse three.
00:20:19.599 --> 00:20:24.960
Verse one the love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell.
00:20:25.519 --> 00:20:30.160
It goes beyond the highest star and reaches to the lowest hell.
00:20:30.480 --> 00:20:36.960
Right, the the love of God is like no pen can tell of it, it goes beyond the stars, it goes deeper than the lowest hell, and then verse three.
00:20:37.279 --> 00:20:47.359
Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made, were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade?
00:20:47.599 --> 00:20:56.559
To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry, nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky.
00:20:56.880 --> 00:20:58.559
How vivid is that imagery?
00:20:58.720 --> 00:20:58.960
Right?
00:20:59.039 --> 00:21:24.480
If we converted the ocean to ink, made you all in this room, plus every person on the planet a professional scribe, took every stock in hands that became a pen, dipped it in the ocean, and wrote on the canvas of the very sky itself, we would drain the ocean dry, and then the fullness that's been described still is not the actual fullness of what God has done and what his love is on display.
00:21:25.039 --> 00:21:27.680
Isn't that how the Gospel of John ends?
00:21:28.160 --> 00:21:28.559
Right?
00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:38.480
The that the like the the Lord Jesus did many more things not recorded in this book, and I believe that if they were recorded, that not all the books on the earth would be able to contain them.
00:21:38.640 --> 00:21:42.559
Or that's the Zach paraphrase, but that's the end of the Gospel of John, right?
00:21:42.640 --> 00:21:55.920
There's there's a limitless plunging through the different facets of the mysteries of the gospel, and we should be focused on doing so, so that it would then lead to the second component that we would then cultivate contentment.
00:21:56.160 --> 00:21:59.519
So we'd fixate on the facets of the mystery of God's word.
00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:01.519
Then we would cultivate contentment.
00:22:01.599 --> 00:22:04.480
It's a natural extension of point number one.
00:22:04.880 --> 00:22:13.920
As we meditate on God's word, we should find particulars that we get to embed within our mind and our hearts that way we would draw contentment from God's word.
00:22:14.240 --> 00:22:23.279
That in a season of want, we would sit with our God through song, through memorization, through whatever means enables us to seek God's face, right?
00:22:23.440 --> 00:22:26.559
So that way we would just simply sit and be with Him.
00:22:27.039 --> 00:22:34.240
Contentment comes from those moments that after fixating on the facets, we can then say, hey, this verse I need in this moment.
00:22:34.480 --> 00:22:41.759
And might I recommend for those that maybe you're still gun shy on trying to commit to memorization because you feel like you're really bad at it.
00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:45.599
If you feel like you're bad at memorization, you actually ought to do it all the more.
00:22:46.079 --> 00:22:59.440
First, probably because you're actually not as bad as it as you think it is, you are, but also when you are doing memorization and it's keeping you stalled out on certain verses, you'll find that chewing on those verses for extra lengths of time is actually really important.
00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:08.240
That the Lord needs you to stay in that passage until you then emerge out the other side to another passage that you need in another due season.
00:23:08.880 --> 00:23:11.839
Let us be content in God's word.
00:23:12.480 --> 00:23:22.880
And third, which I think is really just kind of a microcosm of being able to share the mysteries of the gospel with others, but I think it's important because it's what we should be prioritizing as families.
00:23:23.039 --> 00:23:28.079
It's teaching our scriptures or teaching our children the scriptures diligently.
00:23:28.640 --> 00:23:31.440
Teach our children the scriptures diligently.
00:23:31.759 --> 00:23:34.400
Really, this is supposed to be whole life instruction.
00:23:34.559 --> 00:23:34.720
Right?
00:23:34.880 --> 00:23:36.799
Deuteronomy six, six through nine.
00:23:36.960 --> 00:23:46.559
And these words which I command you today shall be in your hearts, you shall teach them diligently to your children, you shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
00:23:46.720 --> 00:23:51.440
You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
00:23:51.680 --> 00:23:55.279
You shall write them on the doorpost of your house and on your gates.
00:23:55.839 --> 00:24:03.680
Right, knowledge of the Lord and sharing the goodness of who he is and the what we've heard about our God, it's it's it's an over and over again reality, right?
00:24:03.759 --> 00:24:08.000
It's while we're while we rise up, while we lie down as we go about, right?
00:24:08.079 --> 00:24:12.400
It's supposed to guard our our thoughts, our our actions, right, forehead and hand, right?
00:24:12.480 --> 00:24:14.960
It's supposed to be a part of the fabric of our house.
00:24:15.119 --> 00:24:17.279
It's it's a it's it's all-encompassing.
00:24:17.440 --> 00:24:26.880
Really, you should see this and realize that you don't actually complete Deuteronomy 6, 6 through 9 by just simply, you know, revering the Lord and worship on one day a week.
00:24:27.039 --> 00:24:30.400
It's something that we actually need to be dedicated to taking our children through.
00:24:30.640 --> 00:24:47.039
And so I'm going to focus on teaching our children and just the idea of like how to help give good resources for that, because once again, that's one of the main ways that we kind of prove a training ground for being able to extend the mystery of the gospel to others and being able to even know it in some really deep and exhaustive ways.
00:24:47.200 --> 00:24:51.279
I think teaching our children the scriptures, it begins well with good resources.
00:24:51.759 --> 00:24:57.039
Truly, obviously, right, you if you just had the word of the Lord and you're committed to going back to it regularly, it would be good.
00:24:57.200 --> 00:25:00.319
But um, sometimes it helps to have some bonus resources.
00:25:00.480 --> 00:25:22.720
So I think things like acrostic books, right, that that give core terminology or even like books that go through, you know, uh story summaries through scripture and things like that, they they are great because they then create little knowledge hooks by which you can then share or hang the whole story of the gospel onto those different knowledge hooks that are made through those different resources.
00:25:22.960 --> 00:25:30.400
And if your children have those good resources throughout their days, then family worship becomes so much more potent.
00:25:30.559 --> 00:25:41.519
So family worship is the dedicated practice of in at some point in the day, right, mornings, evenings, whenever it is, to sit down together to read, pray, and sing, to be focused on God's word as a family.
00:25:41.759 --> 00:25:46.880
And and a family worship is one of our commitments for our vows of membership for at Providence.
00:25:46.960 --> 00:25:52.240
And so, in order to kind of focus on it, I actually grabbed uh what's my favorite resource for family worship.
00:25:52.319 --> 00:25:57.200
It is the uh the Joel Beaky, Nick Thompson, it's from Reformation Heritage Books.
00:25:57.279 --> 00:26:00.319
It is the Teach Your Children the Scriptures series.
00:26:00.720 --> 00:26:06.319
And this is fantastic because it overviews the major movement throughout the whole Bible.
00:26:06.480 --> 00:26:12.880
So not every book of the Bible is covered, but you get all the essentials in the Old Testament, and then it throws you into the New Testament.
00:26:12.960 --> 00:26:13.839
There's four volumes.
00:26:13.920 --> 00:26:18.160
There's actually a fifth that's currently underway going through New Testament letters.
00:26:18.319 --> 00:26:20.640
But um, but what it is is it's just like this, right?
00:26:20.799 --> 00:26:34.559
It's just uh two pages, and these pages have review questions from the previous section, a text to read, some follow-up questions, and like a main summary, and and and then a prayer to be able to have in connection with what you just went through.
00:26:34.720 --> 00:26:47.519
I'm actually gonna leave this out if you guys want to look through it, but but we I think it's the best, and and so much so that this is actually, we as a church are committed to making sure that our members, our households will get this resource.
00:26:47.680 --> 00:26:55.440
So whatever volume of this book you need to do family worship with your kids, you can request uh through it's on the resources page of the app.
00:26:55.519 --> 00:26:58.960
But we want to make sure that we we get this to our our members.
00:26:59.119 --> 00:27:13.279
It's really, really, really helpful to give a full spectrum summary of the story of scripture so our children would be able to really understand their privileged position of seeing the mysteries of the gospel unfold for them.
00:27:13.519 --> 00:27:18.880
And once again, I think that helps with then just knowing scriptures better to then extend beyond our households.
00:27:19.039 --> 00:27:26.799
But it must begin that our households are oriented towards the mysteries of the gospel, so we would be able to be prepared to share them outside the home.
00:27:27.119 --> 00:27:28.720
So, church, here's the deal, right?
00:27:28.799 --> 00:27:40.000
This is we should realize our privileged status, that the prophets of old, they they search diligently, the angels, they stare at it, they just behold it because they can't get enough of it.
00:27:40.160 --> 00:27:42.400
And now that's what we're to do as well.
00:27:42.559 --> 00:27:45.200
As would we join with the prophets of old, right?
00:27:45.279 --> 00:27:51.440
Would we, in the intentions of our heart, would we be searching and then rejoicing that the mystery of the gospel has unfolded?
00:27:51.680 --> 00:27:59.279
Would we join with the angels in whatever way is appropriate for us as not angels, to stare at the gospel and to take it all in?
00:27:59.519 --> 00:28:14.799
Would we realize that we are blessed in receiving the mysteries of Christ and that we now have a privileged position to be able to really sit ourselves, our lives in the midst of that mystery of the gospel unfolded and to live out of it?
00:28:15.039 --> 00:28:15.680
Amen?
00:28:16.319 --> 00:28:16.799
Amen.
00:28:16.960 --> 00:28:18.079
Let's pray.
00:28:19.039 --> 00:28:32.400
Dear God, we pray that you would be with us, that you would enable us to be able to really treasure the prized position that we have in redemptive history, to be able to understand the mysteries of the gospel unfolded.
00:28:32.640 --> 00:28:46.720
Lord, would you help us as individuals to focus, to fix our, fixate on the facets of the mystery of the gospel, to be, to derive our contentment as we search out your word, to be able to extend this to our households and those outside of our household.
00:28:46.880 --> 00:28:48.000
Lord, would you be with us?
00:28:48.160 --> 00:28:48.960
Would you equip us?
00:28:49.039 --> 00:28:50.160
Would you enable us?
00:28:50.480 --> 00:29:04.240
We recognize that we need more and more of your spirit within us to enable us in order to rightly apprehend how great and what a treasure it is that we have your word on full display in redemptive history in this moment.
00:29:04.319 --> 00:29:15.279
And so, Lord, would you be with us now as we get to reflect on your word, as we get to continue to read from it, as we sing it, and as we prepare to come to the Lord's table, as we celebrate the mystery of the gospel unfolded for us?
00:29:15.440 --> 00:29:17.200
Would you be with us and would you guide us?
00:29:17.279 --> 00:29:18.400
In Jesus' name we pray.
00:29:18.640 --> 00:29:19.200
Amen.
00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:04.240
Today we conclude the first major section in Peter's letter.
00:00:04.480 --> 00:00:10.720
Peter has been focused solely on our salvation, this glorious inheritance that we have.
00:00:11.039 --> 00:00:18.000
And really, I guess we could say that Peter's always focused on our salvation, but this is definitely the first major movement in his letter.
00:00:18.079 --> 00:00:23.440
It's really wanting our minds wrapped around how glorious our inheritance actually is.
00:00:23.679 --> 00:00:29.359
In fact, he's really had three main components to this first element in his letter.
00:00:29.760 --> 00:00:34.159
Two weeks ago was talking about the substance of our salvation.
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Our salvation is what he would call an incorruptible inheritance.
00:00:38.960 --> 00:00:43.600
And he would say, okay, there's 11 aspects to how great this salvation is.
00:00:43.759 --> 00:00:46.399
It is first the work of the triune God.
00:00:46.640 --> 00:01:00.640
It is by the abundant mercy of God the Father, who has begotten us, to a living hope in Jesus' resurrection, to an inheritance, that's the word he uses for salvation, and we talked about the nuance of what inheritance means.
00:01:00.799 --> 00:01:10.879
It is decreed by divine law, it is incorruptible, eighth, it is undefiled, ninth, unfading, reserved in heaven, eleven, as we are actively kept by God.
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11 aspects about how great our salvation is.
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Last week's focus was then the second movement, which was saying that we, while we are waiting for the full culmination of that salvation, we are being perfected.
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We're being prepared through trials to be perfected by those trials to be further prepared for our ultimate salvation.
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In other words, trials are not juxtaposed against the glory.
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No, trials get us to the glory.
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They're actually only ever necessary, as Peter would say in verse 6 of chapter 1.
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They're the refining fires of God's presence.
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They're the grounds by which faith, hope, and love are cultivated so that way we would receive the end of our faith, the very salvation of our souls.
00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:09.520
Peter now concludes with really what is just kind of him wanting to cap everything off and show that the timeless splendor of the gospel, the timeless splendor of our salvation, our glorious inheritance.
00:02:09.680 --> 00:02:11.759
And so he's going to talk about two different people groups.
00:02:11.919 --> 00:02:21.520
He's going to say that this glorious salvation was foretold by the prophets who searched it out diligently, and it's the focus of angels who look at it intently.
00:02:21.680 --> 00:02:29.199
So the prophets searched for it, the angels stared at it, and so then the question that Peter's wanting to press is what do you and I do with it?
00:02:29.439 --> 00:02:33.919
What ought we to do with the mystery of the gospel unfolded?
00:02:34.080 --> 00:02:38.879
And in order to have that question properly punch us, I really think it's supposed to kind of hit us with some conviction.
00:02:39.039 --> 00:02:45.680
We're just going to simply move through these two verses and we're going to gather all the little elements that Peter stacks up for us.
00:02:45.759 --> 00:02:49.599
So just a simple exposition through verses 10 through 12.
00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:58.080
What Peter begins with as he enters into this exposition is he's talking about the action, the activity of the prophets of old.
00:02:58.159 --> 00:03:02.400
He uses action terminology, these verbs that he says describe what they did.
00:03:02.560 --> 00:03:04.560
They first inquired, right?
00:03:04.719 --> 00:03:08.879
Inquire means to exert effort to find out and learn.
00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:18.560
So it's not just simply looking at something and wanting to instantly have all the maybe you wanted to have all the info in that moment, but like it actually takes exerted effort.
00:03:18.719 --> 00:03:21.919
You have to search it out diligently in order to understand it more and more.
00:03:22.159 --> 00:03:30.719
To search out carefully, that's the next verb that Peter uses, is the word for investigation, to be a meticulous investigator.
00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:40.479
So the prophets, they were searching out, they were grabbing more information, they were inquiring, they were being meticulous investigators, and all this they did while they prophesied.
00:03:40.879 --> 00:03:45.599
They foretold throughout the centuries in the Old Testament what was going to take place.
00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:51.199
And in this process of investigating and foretelling, they were puzzle piecing it together.
00:03:51.280 --> 00:03:56.240
They wanted to know what and how and when all this would take place.
00:03:56.800 --> 00:03:59.520
And the prophets, they they saw real components.
00:03:59.599 --> 00:04:07.120
By faith, they did indeed trust and look to what is Christ and the mysteries of the gospel that were apprehendable at that time.
00:04:07.280 --> 00:04:10.240
But the fullness was obscured to them in some way.
00:04:10.400 --> 00:04:11.840
They didn't fully understand.
00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:12.240
Right?
00:04:12.400 --> 00:04:25.680
I think about how like we it's cool that we even within our liturgy, right, on a Sunday, we actually move through the Old Testament in order to see how Scripture is proclaiming the gospel everywhere.
00:04:26.079 --> 00:04:36.480
I don't know if you've noticed this, but every time that we've gone through a liturgy on Sunday, the section headers or the scriptures that are underneath the section headers, they've all been from the same book.
00:04:36.720 --> 00:04:47.519
So week one was Hebrews, week two was Ephesians, week three is Romans, and now week four, we have Malachi as our main focus.
00:04:47.759 --> 00:04:50.879
And then we throw in Isaiah 53 for the responsive reading.
00:04:50.959 --> 00:04:56.959
Like these elements trying to help us focus on how the gospel's on display, even from these Old Testament texts.
00:04:57.120 --> 00:04:59.360
And I think about how like it's beautifully on display.
00:04:59.439 --> 00:05:00.240
You get to see a lot.
00:05:00.319 --> 00:05:06.399
We obviously get the privilege of knowing what it's pointing to, but the prophets of old they only saw in part.
00:05:07.120 --> 00:05:08.800
I think of the book of Daniel, right?
00:05:08.879 --> 00:05:11.519
Daniel's given very vivid visions.
00:05:11.759 --> 00:05:16.079
Daniel is given explicit explanation at times to those visions.
00:05:16.319 --> 00:05:19.279
Daniel is even given time indicators.
00:05:19.759 --> 00:05:25.680
And yet the book concludes in Daniel 12, although I heard, I did not understand.
00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:29.279
Then I said, My Lord, what shall be the end of these things?
00:05:29.519 --> 00:05:36.000
And he, the angel speaking to Daniel, said, Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.
00:05:36.160 --> 00:05:43.439
Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.
00:05:43.600 --> 00:05:50.720
But you go your way till the end, for you shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days.
00:05:53.759 --> 00:06:09.360
It's showcasing that the prophets they they spoke, they proclaimed, but did not fully understand, but they were searching out how it all stitched together, just like Daniel is here, and then even that the angel would say, Go your way, know that it will unfold in time, and you will rise to your inheritance.
00:06:10.160 --> 00:06:13.199
Similar language, it's even going on in 1 Peter.
00:06:13.600 --> 00:06:23.360
The New Testament would refer to this culminating salvation that the prophets spoke of as the mysteries of the kingdom, or the mystery of Christ.
00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:37.680
In all the synoptic gospels, Jesus would tell his disciples, as is said in Mark chapter 4, verse 11, to you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, but to those who are outside, all things come in parables.
00:06:37.920 --> 00:06:46.639
Paul would say in Colossians 1 26, the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to his saints.
00:06:46.959 --> 00:06:51.600
Friends, what a prized position we have in the redemptive timeline, right?
00:06:51.680 --> 00:06:58.959
We are recipients of unfolded history, all of history putting on display God's redemptive acts, and we are the recipients.
00:06:59.199 --> 00:07:01.920
We know how everything is pointing to Jesus.
00:07:02.160 --> 00:07:05.040
We know who the serpent crushing seed of Eve is, right?
00:07:05.120 --> 00:07:06.879
That's the first mystery in the Bible.
00:07:07.040 --> 00:07:11.040
Genesis 3.15, who will be the he who will crush the head of the serpent?
00:07:11.199 --> 00:07:12.480
We know it's Jesus.
00:07:12.720 --> 00:07:23.519
We know how Christ has defeated that ancient serpent of old, and then we are equipped now by God's Spirit to live in that inheritance now, to know that by God's Spirit we are more than conquerors.
00:07:24.560 --> 00:07:30.240
While Peter speaks of our prized position in redemptive history, and truly that is the case, right?
00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:33.279
It is a prized and privileged position to live in the new covenant.
00:07:33.439 --> 00:07:37.120
He's also showcasing how the Old and New Testaments are a united whole.
00:07:37.360 --> 00:07:47.839
And really, this is this is elevating the magnitude of our salvation, that there's been one central focus for all of human history, which of course redemptive history has unfolded within.
00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:51.360
It's not a new thing, it's the main thing that God has always been doing.
00:07:51.519 --> 00:08:05.600
And so Peter says in verse 11, they were 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.
00:08:06.160 --> 00:08:10.639
Church, the Old Testament context is not devoid of the Spirit of God.
00:08:10.959 --> 00:08:18.560
We do have a better reality because we don't just have regeneration caused by God's Spirit, but we have permanent indwelling by God's Spirit.
00:08:18.720 --> 00:08:18.879
Right?
00:08:19.040 --> 00:08:28.079
So in the way that the power that was exhibited in the prophets and mighty men of old for just a moment of time, right, we get to have that as a permanent reality, right?
00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:29.279
That's Joel's prophecy.
00:08:29.439 --> 00:08:33.360
You're old and you're young, your men and your women will dream dreams, see visions, right?
00:08:33.440 --> 00:08:35.440
They will all prophesy.
00:08:35.679 --> 00:08:38.639
And so we have a privileged position.
00:08:38.720 --> 00:08:45.519
We've already said that over and over again, but we need to understand that the Old Testament context was not devoid of God's spirit.
00:08:46.080 --> 00:08:46.480
Right?
00:08:46.559 --> 00:08:53.440
The old covenant and the new covenant are the same in substance while being different in their administration.
00:08:53.759 --> 00:08:56.320
And of course, the new covenant is indeed more glorious.
00:08:56.480 --> 00:09:02.159
But God's spirit's always been at work because the triune God is always doing all things.
00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:04.879
And that's not, he's not divided in his work.
00:09:05.120 --> 00:09:13.679
And so, even from the very beginning, right, in Genesis 1-1, we we see a display of the Spirit soon thereafterwards hovering over the face of the waters.
00:09:13.840 --> 00:09:18.960
God's Spirit's always been active, as has always been the Son and of course the Father.
00:09:19.200 --> 00:09:25.039
And so what Peter then does here is verse 11, he's showcasing how the prophets are enabled by God's Spirit.
00:09:25.279 --> 00:09:30.720
And then verse 12, the gospel preachers, they too are enabled by God's Spirit, right?
00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:37.120
So verse 11, the the how they were searching and inquiring the Spirit of Christ who was in them, right?
00:09:37.200 --> 00:09:39.440
And then verse 12, right?
00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:45.120
You now receive this through the preaching of the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.
00:09:45.279 --> 00:09:47.519
Verse 11, prophets enabled by the Spirit.
00:09:47.600 --> 00:09:51.600
Verse 12, gospel preachers enabled by God's Spirit.
00:09:51.840 --> 00:09:59.919
God has been unfolding a triune, redemptive work in all of human history, and you are the recipient of its culmination.
00:10:01.279 --> 00:10:07.279
Verse 12, to them it was revealed that not to themselves, but to us, they were ministering.
00:10:08.159 --> 00:10:09.360
So already here.
00:10:10.639 --> 00:10:10.960
Right?
00:10:11.200 --> 00:10:15.759
Just right here in the beginning of verse 12, the middle of it, the questions begged.
00:10:16.080 --> 00:10:18.399
Do we value this salvation rightly?
00:10:19.279 --> 00:10:22.879
Knowing that we're the recipients of the mysteries of Christ.
00:10:23.279 --> 00:10:28.960
But I think there's there's one more component in order to compel us rightly, and it comes right at the end of verse 12.
00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:29.360
Right.
00:10:29.519 --> 00:10:42.320
And so as it says that the Peter's hears, they have heard and they received through the preaching of the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, and then he ends this way things which angels desire to look into.
00:10:43.279 --> 00:10:54.080
Now I remember when I when I taught this text, I it was about six years ago when I taught through 1 Peter, and I thought that Peter was just emphasizing, right, like how great the mystery is of the gospel.
00:10:54.159 --> 00:10:59.120
That prophets they would search for it, and then the angels, like they tried to look into it, they longed to look into it.
00:10:59.200 --> 00:11:05.360
And so whether you're like the prophets wanted to know, the angels wanted to know, but it's so glorious that nobody knew, and now you get to know.
00:11:05.519 --> 00:11:10.080
That's kind of the point that I thought Peter was making, but it's actually better than that.
00:11:10.559 --> 00:11:20.480
Peter has put both Old Testament prophets and angels in this passage because they are different types of knowers.
00:11:21.279 --> 00:11:27.279
And when we look at them as a whole, we get to see how glorious the gospel is from two extremes.
00:11:27.519 --> 00:11:35.840
So we're gonna be as simple with this as possible because this is not a lesson on angelology, nor is it an episode of Haunted Cosmos.
00:11:36.080 --> 00:11:38.240
It is a lesson in 1 Peter.
00:11:38.320 --> 00:11:45.840
And so we should rightly be careful because though we have good reason to know certain things about angels, we also don't want to just jump into blind speculation.
00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:53.200
So let's start with the fact that what I'm about to share, the idea that angels and humans are different types of knowers, and I'm gonna define what that looks like.
00:11:53.360 --> 00:11:59.600
The reason why I can begin to share that is that it's first grounded grammatically in 1 Peter.
00:12:00.240 --> 00:12:05.759
So this idea that humans and angels, the prophets and the angels, they know in different ways, it's grounded grammatically.
00:12:06.159 --> 00:12:12.879
The terminology that Peter uses for the prophets is inquired, investigated, searched out.
00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:16.000
It's about investigation and discovery.
00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:21.279
The terminology that Peter uses for the angels is desire to look into.
00:12:22.080 --> 00:12:24.000
The word actually means to bend over.
00:12:24.159 --> 00:12:30.080
It's like you've, you know, you got something or like you're hunched over, just trying to stare at it, to get a better look, to look into it.
00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:35.039
In other words, it's not about investigation, it's about beholding.
00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:42.080
So we have prophets inquired, investigated, searched out, discovered, angels behold.
00:12:42.320 --> 00:12:47.519
They're bent over as it would be so, to look into the the glory of the gospel.
00:12:47.759 --> 00:12:51.440
So it's it's here grammatically, but then secondly, it's grounded metaphysically.
00:12:51.600 --> 00:12:56.399
See, humans and angels are different types of knowers because we can see the difference in their makeup.
00:12:56.559 --> 00:12:58.559
Like how are they how are they created?
00:12:58.879 --> 00:13:03.440
Humans are body, soul, composite beings.
00:13:03.840 --> 00:13:12.399
We were created to know things, therefore, through sense perception, through sight and smell and taste and touch and audible cues, right?
00:13:12.559 --> 00:13:26.799
We we then through those particulars that we then take in through sense perception, we kind of stitch them together internally into these more comprehensive, more universal understandings of whatever the things are that we're we're taking in.
00:13:27.279 --> 00:13:31.279
Angels are not body-soul composite beings.
00:13:31.360 --> 00:13:33.919
And thereby they do not have physical sense perception.
00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:40.879
They don't have eyes and mouths and ears like we do, in which they're using those organs to piece together components to then stitch them together.
00:13:41.039 --> 00:13:48.159
No, angels, being pure spirit, are created by God with intrinsic knowledge.
00:13:48.720 --> 00:13:56.240
They therefore don't learn things discursively, but they simply behold the fullness of the knowledge that they are given.
00:13:56.480 --> 00:14:06.559
And of course, there's dynamics between the ranks of angels and what they are gifted with that knowledge, but they go from universals to particulars instead of us, which go from particulars to universals.
00:14:06.639 --> 00:14:11.519
So, in other words, the idea is that humans learn, angels know.
00:14:12.159 --> 00:14:18.799
We think step by step, angels comprehend in one simple act.
00:14:19.440 --> 00:14:24.320
So, in other words, the angels are not searching for something that's obscured, like the prophets are.
00:14:24.480 --> 00:14:26.320
No, instead they what's the word again?
00:14:26.480 --> 00:14:27.759
They bend over, right?
00:14:27.840 --> 00:14:29.440
They hold, they stare at it.
00:14:29.600 --> 00:14:35.279
Not because they're trying to figure something out, but because they actually rightly know its value.
00:14:35.840 --> 00:14:36.159
Right?
00:14:36.240 --> 00:14:38.399
They're fixated on the glory.
00:14:38.799 --> 00:14:43.200
And they're because the gospel, the mysteries of the gospel declare the glory of God, right?
00:14:43.279 --> 00:14:52.639
The and the unfolding of the purpose of the triune God in human history, right, because it reveals God in such a way, they they they extol the Lord for all eternity.
00:14:52.799 --> 00:14:55.200
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.
00:14:55.279 --> 00:14:57.440
They they're just fixated on it.
00:14:58.000 --> 00:15:03.200
Peter's showing us two types of knowers and what then the implication is of such knowledge.
00:15:03.360 --> 00:15:03.600
Right.
00:15:03.679 --> 00:15:12.879
So, in other words, you could be a prophet of old and want more and more to comprehend it better, or you could be an angel and you still will just want to keep beholding it.
00:15:13.120 --> 00:15:17.600
It's not just that the prophets didn't know, and now you know, and so now it's like old news.
00:15:17.759 --> 00:15:19.600
No, the angels stare at it.
00:15:19.679 --> 00:15:22.480
That's how glorious the gospel is.
00:15:23.279 --> 00:15:25.679
Which so then that brings us back full circle.
00:15:25.759 --> 00:15:31.919
I mentioned that this is the point Peter's wanting to present here, and I think it's supposed to land with some conviction.
00:15:32.080 --> 00:15:38.240
The idea is that the prophets search, the angels stare, but you give up and look away.
00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:40.559
Right?
00:15:41.440 --> 00:15:45.440
The prophets couldn't get enough of it because they were trying to puzzle piece it together.
00:15:45.679 --> 00:15:51.840
The angels can't get enough of it because they value it rightly, but you don't value it in the same way.
00:15:52.159 --> 00:15:54.320
You give up and you look away.
00:15:54.799 --> 00:15:58.080
How dare we get bored with the things of God?
00:15:58.799 --> 00:16:02.799
How dare we think that we've plunged the depths of Scripture, that there's nothing left to behold?
00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:08.639
Because even if that was the case, if we actually knew every single thing, then like the angels, we would stare.
00:16:08.799 --> 00:16:10.559
We would just want to take it in all the more.
00:16:10.720 --> 00:16:25.519
How dare we fail to worship throughout our weeks, being caught up in anxiousness and whatever other fatigue we have, knowing good and well that if we just simply look to our God, that if we tried to apprehend the mystery of the gospel just one degree more, everything would be right.
00:16:25.679 --> 00:16:31.600
We would give praise, we'd be satisfied with God's face instead of just seeking his hand, we would be good.
00:16:31.840 --> 00:16:36.559
How dare we be disgrunted, discontent, and grumble.
00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:44.559
And praise be to God, who atones for even these sins, the sins of discontentment, of anxiousness, of failure to give praise.
00:16:45.120 --> 00:16:48.320
Lord, grow us to be better beholders.
00:16:49.759 --> 00:16:52.080
And really, I think that's where the application's going, right?
00:16:52.159 --> 00:17:00.559
If we've been giving something that's truly inexhaustible to behold, and if the the right, the prophets, they were they were serving not themselves but us, right?
00:17:00.639 --> 00:17:02.559
We've got this heritage that we've received.
00:17:02.639 --> 00:17:10.240
So if we've got something inexhaustible, it's a rich heritage, it was meant for us, we should see our privileged position in the redemptive timeline.
00:17:10.319 --> 00:17:14.799
Then the question is, what will you do with what has been entrusted?
00:17:15.119 --> 00:17:20.160
If the prophets searched and the angels stare, what will you and I do?
00:17:20.960 --> 00:17:22.799
So I've I've got three things for us.
00:17:22.960 --> 00:17:25.759
I think this helps us get in a good direction.
00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:28.480
And let's start with just the concept of searching and staring.
00:17:28.559 --> 00:17:31.680
I think that we should first fixate on its facets.
00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:35.039
Fixate on its facets.
00:17:36.240 --> 00:17:36.559
Right?
00:17:36.880 --> 00:17:58.319
Uh I I like that because um it's not just because, you know, as a pastor, you're like supposed to alliterate or something, but I I use facets intentionally because I think about like a gemstone, a diamond, and how that that gemstone is one gemstone, but then you can rotate it around and take in all this different glory that is received from different angles.
00:17:58.799 --> 00:18:11.039
Like we should preoccupy ourselves with all aspects of looking at the glory of the gospel to through reading, through memorization, through studying, through even plunging ourselves into heady topics, like even angelology and trying to figure out those things out.
00:18:11.119 --> 00:18:17.039
Like we want to take these things in to understand the glory of what God has unfolded in redemptive history.
00:18:17.359 --> 00:18:21.920
Uh, my my family and I, we we recently took a trip down to grandma's house.
00:18:22.160 --> 00:18:24.880
Well, my grandma, great grandma for the girls.
00:18:25.039 --> 00:18:28.880
And my girls discovered the glory of the kaleidoscope.
00:18:29.279 --> 00:18:30.880
Because grandma's always had one.
00:18:30.960 --> 00:18:33.680
I remember looking through it every single time I go to her house.
00:18:33.759 --> 00:18:38.400
Um, my dad probably knows the history behind like how that kaleidoscope even ended up in the house.
00:18:38.559 --> 00:18:46.720
But uh after that trip, when they got home, uh then my mom, their grandma, their Gigi, ended up getting both of them a kaleidoscope.
00:18:46.960 --> 00:18:53.839
And so when you when you look at a kaleidoscope, right, you've got the the there's three different components that can change the whole array.
00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:58.640
It's the it's the cylinder, the tumbler, the the rotating aspects on the backside, right?
00:18:58.720 --> 00:19:00.319
That's got the gemstones, whatever it is.
00:19:00.480 --> 00:19:02.160
My girls, it's it is a tumbler.
00:19:02.240 --> 00:19:03.680
It's got like loose elements in there.
00:19:03.759 --> 00:19:08.160
And so you got really like an infinite amount of different uh arrangements for it.
00:19:08.240 --> 00:19:15.359
But you've got the the end of the cylinder, and then you have the level of lighting, and then you have the angle of that lighting.
00:19:15.519 --> 00:19:18.799
All three of those things are gonna change how the kaleidoscope works.
00:19:18.880 --> 00:19:22.480
And so you'll just sit there for hours, especially as a kid, right?
00:19:22.640 --> 00:19:26.880
Just like rotating through it and taking in all the different aspects.
00:19:27.119 --> 00:19:30.240
We should be that captivated by God's word.
00:19:30.960 --> 00:19:32.640
Like let's let's run it back.
00:19:32.799 --> 00:19:37.519
Run 1 Peter back again, run Malachi back again, let's go back through Isaiah 53.
00:19:37.599 --> 00:19:41.920
Let's see all these prophetic instances that reveal the mysteries of Christ, right?
00:19:42.079 --> 00:19:43.839
We should be captivated by God's word.
00:19:44.079 --> 00:19:48.720
And as we plunge into it, we're gonna see more and more depths to be discovered.
00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:52.880
A hymn that speaks of these depths is it's one of my favorites.
00:19:53.039 --> 00:19:59.519
It's uh, well, it's one of the first hymns I ever actually, other than like kind of the classic ones that we learned, that I even got to have an appreciation for it.
00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:02.160
It was um, I think Michael and I discovered it at the same time.
00:20:02.240 --> 00:20:07.279
It's because originally when we heard it, it was from a contemporary band, Ascend the Hill.
00:20:07.440 --> 00:20:08.720
And so they did a hymns album.
00:20:08.799 --> 00:20:15.359
So if you want to listen to a cool rendition, Ascend the Hill, their hymns album, the the song, the hymn is the love of God.
00:20:15.519 --> 00:20:19.119
I'm gonna read verse one and then parts of verse three.
00:20:19.599 --> 00:20:24.960
Verse one the love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell.
00:20:25.519 --> 00:20:30.160
It goes beyond the highest star and reaches to the lowest hell.
00:20:30.480 --> 00:20:36.960
Right, the the love of God is like no pen can tell of it, it goes beyond the stars, it goes deeper than the lowest hell, and then verse three.
00:20:37.279 --> 00:20:47.359
Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made, were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade?
00:20:47.599 --> 00:20:56.559
To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry, nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky.
00:20:56.880 --> 00:20:58.559
How vivid is that imagery?
00:20:58.720 --> 00:20:58.960
Right?
00:20:59.039 --> 00:21:24.480
If we converted the ocean to ink, made you all in this room, plus every person on the planet a professional scribe, took every stock in hands that became a pen, dipped it in the ocean, and wrote on the canvas of the very sky itself, we would drain the ocean dry, and then the fullness that's been described still is not the actual fullness of what God has done and what his love is on display.
00:21:25.039 --> 00:21:27.680
Isn't that how the Gospel of John ends?
00:21:28.160 --> 00:21:28.559
Right?
00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:38.480
The that the like the the Lord Jesus did many more things not recorded in this book, and I believe that if they were recorded, that not all the books on the earth would be able to contain them.
00:21:38.640 --> 00:21:42.559
Or that's the Zach paraphrase, but that's the end of the Gospel of John, right?
00:21:42.640 --> 00:21:55.920
There's there's a limitless plunging through the different facets of the mysteries of the gospel, and we should be focused on doing so, so that it would then lead to the second component that we would then cultivate contentment.
00:21:56.160 --> 00:21:59.519
So we'd fixate on the facets of the mystery of God's word.
00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:01.519
Then we would cultivate contentment.
00:22:01.599 --> 00:22:04.480
It's a natural extension of point number one.
00:22:04.880 --> 00:22:13.920
As we meditate on God's word, we should find particulars that we get to embed within our mind and our hearts that way we would draw contentment from God's word.
00:22:14.240 --> 00:22:23.279
That in a season of want, we would sit with our God through song, through memorization, through whatever means enables us to seek God's face, right?
00:22:23.440 --> 00:22:26.559
So that way we would just simply sit and be with Him.
00:22:27.039 --> 00:22:34.240
Contentment comes from those moments that after fixating on the facets, we can then say, hey, this verse I need in this moment.
00:22:34.480 --> 00:22:41.759
And might I recommend for those that maybe you're still gun shy on trying to commit to memorization because you feel like you're really bad at it.
00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:45.599
If you feel like you're bad at memorization, you actually ought to do it all the more.
00:22:46.079 --> 00:22:59.440
First, probably because you're actually not as bad as it as you think it is, you are, but also when you are doing memorization and it's keeping you stalled out on certain verses, you'll find that chewing on those verses for extra lengths of time is actually really important.
00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:08.240
That the Lord needs you to stay in that passage until you then emerge out the other side to another passage that you need in another due season.
00:23:08.880 --> 00:23:11.839
Let us be content in God's word.
00:23:12.480 --> 00:23:22.880
And third, which I think is really just kind of a microcosm of being able to share the mysteries of the gospel with others, but I think it's important because it's what we should be prioritizing as families.
00:23:23.039 --> 00:23:28.079
It's teaching our scriptures or teaching our children the scriptures diligently.
00:23:28.640 --> 00:23:31.440
Teach our children the scriptures diligently.
00:23:31.759 --> 00:23:34.400
Really, this is supposed to be whole life instruction.
00:23:34.559 --> 00:23:34.720
Right?
00:23:34.880 --> 00:23:36.799
Deuteronomy six, six through nine.
00:23:36.960 --> 00:23:46.559
And these words which I command you today shall be in your hearts, you shall teach them diligently to your children, you shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
00:23:46.720 --> 00:23:51.440
You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
00:23:51.680 --> 00:23:55.279
You shall write them on the doorpost of your house and on your gates.
00:23:55.839 --> 00:24:03.680
Right, knowledge of the Lord and sharing the goodness of who he is and the what we've heard about our God, it's it's it's an over and over again reality, right?
00:24:03.759 --> 00:24:08.000
It's while we're while we rise up, while we lie down as we go about, right?
00:24:08.079 --> 00:24:12.400
It's supposed to guard our our thoughts, our our actions, right, forehead and hand, right?
00:24:12.480 --> 00:24:14.960
It's supposed to be a part of the fabric of our house.
00:24:15.119 --> 00:24:17.279
It's it's a it's it's all-encompassing.
00:24:17.440 --> 00:24:26.880
Really, you should see this and realize that you don't actually complete Deuteronomy 6, 6 through 9 by just simply, you know, revering the Lord and worship on one day a week.
00:24:27.039 --> 00:24:30.400
It's something that we actually need to be dedicated to taking our children through.
00:24:30.640 --> 00:24:47.039
And so I'm going to focus on teaching our children and just the idea of like how to help give good resources for that, because once again, that's one of the main ways that we kind of prove a training ground for being able to extend the mystery of the gospel to others and being able to even know it in some really deep and exhaustive ways.
00:24:47.200 --> 00:24:51.279
I think teaching our children the scriptures, it begins well with good resources.
00:24:51.759 --> 00:24:57.039
Truly, obviously, right, you if you just had the word of the Lord and you're committed to going back to it regularly, it would be good.
00:24:57.200 --> 00:25:00.319
But um, sometimes it helps to have some bonus resources.
00:25:00.480 --> 00:25:22.720
So I think things like acrostic books, right, that that give core terminology or even like books that go through, you know, uh story summaries through scripture and things like that, they they are great because they then create little knowledge hooks by which you can then share or hang the whole story of the gospel onto those different knowledge hooks that are made through those different resources.
00:25:22.960 --> 00:25:30.400
And if your children have those good resources throughout their days, then family worship becomes so much more potent.
00:25:30.559 --> 00:25:41.519
So family worship is the dedicated practice of in at some point in the day, right, mornings, evenings, whenever it is, to sit down together to read, pray, and sing, to be focused on God's word as a family.
00:25:41.759 --> 00:25:46.880
And and a family worship is one of our commitments for our vows of membership for at Providence.
00:25:46.960 --> 00:25:52.240
And so, in order to kind of focus on it, I actually grabbed uh what's my favorite resource for family worship.
00:25:52.319 --> 00:25:57.200
It is the uh the Joel Beaky, Nick Thompson, it's from Reformation Heritage Books.
00:25:57.279 --> 00:26:00.319
It is the Teach Your Children the Scriptures series.
00:26:00.720 --> 00:26:06.319
And this is fantastic because it overviews the major movement throughout the whole Bible.
00:26:06.480 --> 00:26:12.880
So not every book of the Bible is covered, but you get all the essentials in the Old Testament, and then it throws you into the New Testament.
00:26:12.960 --> 00:26:13.839
There's four volumes.
00:26:13.920 --> 00:26:18.160
There's actually a fifth that's currently underway going through New Testament letters.
00:26:18.319 --> 00:26:20.640
But um, but what it is is it's just like this, right?
00:26:20.799 --> 00:26:34.559
It's just uh two pages, and these pages have review questions from the previous section, a text to read, some follow-up questions, and like a main summary, and and and then a prayer to be able to have in connection with what you just went through.
00:26:34.720 --> 00:26:47.519
I'm actually gonna leave this out if you guys want to look through it, but but we I think it's the best, and and so much so that this is actually, we as a church are committed to making sure that our members, our households will get this resource.
00:26:47.680 --> 00:26:55.440
So whatever volume of this book you need to do family worship with your kids, you can request uh through it's on the resources page of the app.
00:26:55.519 --> 00:26:58.960
But we want to make sure that we we get this to our our members.
00:26:59.119 --> 00:27:13.279
It's really, really, really helpful to give a full spectrum summary of the story of scripture so our children would be able to really understand their privileged position of seeing the mysteries of the gospel unfold for them.
00:27:13.519 --> 00:27:18.880
And once again, I think that helps with then just knowing scriptures better to then extend beyond our households.
00:27:19.039 --> 00:27:26.799
But it must begin that our households are oriented towards the mysteries of the gospel, so we would be able to be prepared to share them outside the home.
00:27:27.119 --> 00:27:28.720
So, church, here's the deal, right?
00:27:28.799 --> 00:27:40.000
This is we should realize our privileged status, that the prophets of old, they they search diligently, the angels, they stare at it, they just behold it because they can't get enough of it.
00:27:40.160 --> 00:27:42.400
And now that's what we're to do as well.
00:27:42.559 --> 00:27:45.200
As would we join with the prophets of old, right?
00:27:45.279 --> 00:27:51.440
Would we, in the intentions of our heart, would we be searching and then rejoicing that the mystery of the gospel has unfolded?
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Would we join with the angels in whatever way is appropriate for us as not angels, to stare at the gospel and to take it all in?
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Would we realize that we are blessed in receiving the mysteries of Christ and that we now have a privileged position to be able to really sit ourselves, our lives in the midst of that mystery of the gospel unfolded and to live out of it?
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Amen?
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Amen.
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Let's pray.
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Dear God, we pray that you would be with us, that you would enable us to be able to really treasure the prized position that we have in redemptive history, to be able to understand the mysteries of the gospel unfolded.
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Lord, would you help us as individuals to focus, to fix our, fixate on the facets of the mystery of the gospel, to be, to derive our contentment as we search out your word, to be able to extend this to our households and those outside of our household.
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Lord, would you be with us?
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Would you equip us?
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Would you enable us?
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We recognize that we need more and more of your spirit within us to enable us in order to rightly apprehend how great and what a treasure it is that we have your word on full display in redemptive history in this moment.
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And so, Lord, would you be with us now as we get to reflect on your word, as we get to continue to read from it, as we sing it, and as we prepare to come to the Lord's table, as we celebrate the mystery of the gospel unfolded for us?
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Would you be with us and would you guide us?
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In Jesus' name we pray.
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Amen.
