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Sermon or Lesson: 1 Peter 1:10-12 (NIV based)
[Lesson Questions included]
TITLE: Completed Full Revelation, For Grace And Salvation From God
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BACKGROUND:
- - Under direct authorization from Jesus Christ, Peter is writing this letter to convey instructions from God to true believers, who, in this case, were suffering persecution for their faith in Christ.
(v.1)
- - God selects specific persons to become true believers.
(v.1)
- - And God spiritually cleanses true believers and sanctifies or sets them apart for His holy purposes.
(v.2)
- - In His abundant mercy, God also gives believers spiritual and physical regenerating resurrection, an unfading inheritance in heaven, and a security guarantee on them taking hands-on possession of salvation in heaven.
(vv.3-5)
- - Because of and through this establishing, assisting, empowering, and guaranteeing from God, true believers are to live in righteousness in every area of their life, even when they are under persecution for the faith.
(v.2)
- - God intends that believers maintain a mindset in which they greatly rejoice about the future blessings that are coming for them, which will sustain believers as they endure trials and suffering in the present during this life.
(v.6)
- - Through the proving of our faith within adverse trials, we true believers will be prepared to give tremendous praise, glory, and honor to God and to Jesus Christ when He is revealed at His second coming.
(v.7)
- - Persecution and adversities in our life are designed and intended by God to develop and strengthen our faith, which will produce the outcomes that God will bless us for greatly.
(vv.8-9)
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READ: 1 Peter 1:10-12, with vv.8-9 for context
[Lesson Question: Pull together the various truths in verses 10-12 to formulate the approach that God has used in history to reveal the grace and salvation that was to come to us humans.
Also, determine and cite some of the major "glories" that correspond to the "gospel". (vv.11,12)]
SECTION POINT
: God has now provided completed revelation about the grace and salvation that has come through Jesus
Christ.
- - In this section of verses starting in verse 10, the topic shifts slightly to now specifically referring to "salvation", which can be simply defined as 'specific humans being rescued and brought out of heading for eternal punishment in hell, to instead now heading for eternal life with God in heaven'.
- - This section of verses is giving historical background information and review of the role that Old Testament prophets played in disclosing the grace and salvation that they were prophesying would come.
(see vv.10-12)
- - The Spirit of Christ was giving revelation to prophets during Old Testament times as to this coming grace and salvation, but that revelation was limited, in particular not specifying "the time and circumstances" of the coming of this grace and salvation.
(vv.10-11)
- - So the prophets "searched intently and with the greatest care", "investigating and seeking" to "find out" and determine the details about this coming grace and salvation that were not being revealed to them by the Spirit of Christ.
(v.11, Strong's #2045)
- - The Spirit of Christ did give some explanatory information in the revelation to the prophets in regard to this coming grace and salvation, predicting "the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow".
(v.11)
- - Jesus Christ and the suffering actions that He took while on this earth about 2,000 years ago were and are the means by which God provides the only way that humans can acquire salvation.
(v.11)
- - Within this process of the Spirit of Christ giving revelation to the prophets about this coming grace and salvation through Jesus Christ, understanding "was revealed to [those prophets] that they were not serving themselves", that these revelations were not primarily ministering to them or to people that lived before the arrival of Christ, but instead these revelations were designed to minister to people that live during and after the arrival of Christ.
(v.12)
- - The revelations to the prophets about this coming grace and salvation through Jesus Christ were given as an advance preview, a partial disclosure of what was to come - what God was going to do to provide a remedy for the predicament that all humans are born into because of the sins they commit.
- - This advance preview and partial disclosure was subsequently filled in or made complete "by the Holy Spirit", who was "sent from heaven".
(v.12)
- - The Holy Spirit supplied the understanding to the disciples of Jesus, thus completing the prior partial revelations that were given to the prophets in the Old Testament times.
- - The completed revelations and information about this grace and salvation that had come through Jesus Christ were now being preached in fullness of content, being called "the gospel" or "good news".
(v.12, Strong's #2097)
[Note: This next section below contains the crucial elements of the gospel, which you are going to next present to your listeners and give them an opportunity to place their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation.
So, do not hurry through each point in this section, in order to adequately explain the gospel and to give the Holy Spirit time to work in the hearts of your unsaved listeners.]
-- Within the gospel message are eyewitness testimonies about "the glories" of Jesus Christ, "the glories that would follow"
(v.11)
, for examples such as:
- - - - the glory from the many miraculous proofs of His dual nature of simultaneously being fully deity and fully human;
(Philippians 2:6-7)
- - - - the glory from the many proofs and indicators of His absolute perfection of never having committed any sins;
(2 Corinthians 5:21)
- - - - the glory from the many miraculous proofs and indicators that He came from heaven and was sent by the Father;
(Matthew 3:17)
- - - - the glory from the evidences of Him being obedient to the Father unto horrendous torture and death on a cross;
(Philippians 2:8)
- - - - the glory of Him paying the penalty for the sins of those humans who believe in Him;
(John 17:5; 1 Peter 2:24; Romans 3:22-25a)
- - - - the glory of Him demonstrating the extent of the "gracious" love that God has for undeserving sinful humans, who "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God", as quoted from Romans 3:23;
(1 Peter 1:10; Romans 5:8)
- - - - the glory of Him raising from the dead on the third day after His crucifixion on the cross;
(1 Corinthians 15:4-6)
- - - - the glory of His ascension into heaven;
(Acts 1:9-11)
- - - - the glory of Him being the Savior, "that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" in heaven, as quoted from John 3:16.
- - These aspects about grace or undeserved favor and salvation from God and the glories of Jesus Christ, who accomplished the providing of this only way to acquire salvation, "have now been told [to] you".
(1 Peter 1:12)
- - At this exact moment in history, salvation is available and being offered to each of you here now who have not placed your faith in Jesus Christ.
- - For millenniums, "angels [had] longed to look into these things", but now it is revealed to "you", and made available to you.
- - The choice is yours - to respond in faith to this historic completed revelation from God about Jesus Christ for "the salvation of your soul", or to continue living your life without responding agreeably to this historic completed revelation from God.
(v.9)
- - Consider, though, that this completed revelation is now designed and supplied by God to be fully informative and fully convincing for us humans who have lived during the last 2,000 years.
- - Thereby, God has already extended some of His grace or undeserved favor on you by herein today providing you with complete information by means of the gospel and explanation from myself - "those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit" - about how to acquire salvation.
(v.12)
- - So right now, God has supplied you with all the information that you need to acquire the salvation of your soul, He has recruited me to present this information to you, and His Holy Spirit is working in both myself and you to assist you in placing your faith in Jesus Christ.
(2 Corinthians 6:2)
- - Look how easy God has made it for you and other people in this time in history to place your faith in Jesus Christ.
- - God has already poured out some blessings on you as an unbeliever even though technically you are His enemy, in your current state of unbelief.
(Colossians 1:21)
- - Consider how much more blessings God wants to pour out on you if you would respond agreeably to His now-completed revelation.
- - Within the history of the human race, right here and right now God is inviting you personally to place your faith in Jesus Christ.
(PAUSE)
- - So, in the quietness deep down in your spiritual heart, take a few moments to sincerely and earnestly place your faith in Jesus Christ, that He suffered and died on the cross to pay the penalty for
your sins so that you can acquire salvation of your soul.
(PAUSE a few moments)
- - If you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ right now, then turn to a person sitting next to you and honestly say, "Praise the Lord for assisting me in placing my faith in Jesus Christ right now!"
- - And of course, continue to come to these meetings so that you can learn what else God wants to reveal to you through His written Word, the Holy Bible, so that in additional ways He can assist you and pour out other blessings on you.
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BIG IDEA: Through the preaching of the gospel to us humans, God supplies completed revelation about how each of us humans can acquire "the salvation of our soul" through Jesus
Christ.
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IMPLICATIONS AND APPLICATIONS:
- - For those of you who are true believers, do you know what the truths are that comprise the "gospel"?
- - Do you ever present the gospel to an unbeliever?
- - Can you recite from memory each of the comprising truths of the gospel?
- - Can you present the comprising truths of the gospel in an understandable way?
- - When presenting the gospel, do you include and quote a sin verse, such as Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, or 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9?
- - When presenting the gospel, do you include and quote an 'if/then' salvation verse - 'if you believe, then you will be saved', such as John 3:16, Acts 16:31, Romans 10:9,10, John 1:12-13, or Revelation 3:20?
- - When presenting the gospel, do you include an invitation to receive Christ, if the listening person appears ready?
- - In the invitation to receive Christ, do you generate a sample prayer of commitment for the person to pray, which reiterates to God his/her newly established belief in the key points of the gospel presentation that you just presented to him/her?
- - Upon the person concluding the prayer to receive Christ, do you refrain from the temptation of you declaring that the person is now saved?
- - Within presenting the gospel to a person who is not ready to receive Christ, do you refrain from the temptation of pressuring the person to receive Christ?
- - The point here is that the gospel needs to be presented properly in order for God to be able to use that presentation to move the listening unbeliever into faith in Christ for salvation.
- - And, an improper gospel presentation can easily lead the listening unbeliever into incorrectly believing that he/she has acquired salvation when in fact God has not granted him/her salvation because the gospel presentation was in some way unacceptable to God.
- - Properly presenting the gospel is not difficult to learn, but it is sophisticated enough to require adequate training in order to do it properly, so that God can use it to move the listening unbeliever into faith in Christ for salvation.
- - Are you teachable, willing to be trained in how to properly present the gospel and lead an unbelieving person to faith in Christ for salvation?
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[Additional Lesson Questions to ponder (optional, if time allows):
- - What was God's purpose for disclosing in advance, through prophecies made by prophets during Old Testament times, the future coming activities of Christ to accomplish salvation for those persons who would believe in Him?
- - What is implied about why, at the time of these prophecies, God did not fully disclose and thoroughly explain all information critical to adequately understanding who the Christ (or Messiah) would be and what He would do to accomplish salvation for those persons who would believe in Him?
- - Further, why did God not fully disclose and thoroughly explain in advance to the angels (1 Peter 1:12) all this information about the Christ?
- - Speculate what it must have been like for the Old Testament prophets who were given prophecies to proclaim about the coming of the Messiah, but their information was sketchy and consequently they earnestly desired to know more details.
The prophets did "search intently and with the greatest care", and they were "trying to find out the time and circumstances" when the Messiah would arrive.
But what else might they have probably experienced?
-- What do the contents in verse 11 indicate about the means by which these Old Testament prophets perhaps typically received the prophetic messages they were to proclaim?
Did they receive their messages through an audible voice from heaven? Or through a visit by an angel? Or from being transported into heaven?
Or by a powerfully realistic dream? Or by an awake vision? Or through their utterances while in a trance?
Or within their babbling of nonsensical words? Or by an unattached finger visibly writing on a wall? Or through the alignment of colors in nature, to form an image?
- - - - ANSWER: "The Spirit of Christ in them" (v.11) - suggesting either the prophets experienced a strong non-audible verbal thought in their mind that was not from themselves nor from a demon, or they experienced a collaborative empowering by the Holy Spirit who gently compelled and influenced them as they spoke (cf. 2 Peter 1:20-21).
Either way, though, it is clear from 1 Corinthians 14:32-33a that the prophet always maintained personal control over what words came out of his mouth as he cooperated with the Holy Spirit to intelligibly speak the message he was receiving from the Holy Spirit.]
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Works Cited:
Bible. “The Holy Bible: New International Version.” The Bible Library
CD-ROM. Oklahoma City, OK: Ellis Enterprises, 1988.
“Strong's Greek Dictionary.” The Bible Library CD-ROM. Oklahoma City, OK: Ellis Enterprises, 1988.
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Copyrights:
Scriptures taken from Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®
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Copyright © 2016, 2018 Mel W. Coddington, and permission is hereby granted that this document may be
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File name: 1 Peter1_10-12-SermonOrLesson.___ (.htm, .rtf, .doc, .pdf)
Translation used: NIV, quoted or referred to in various places within this document
Source: www.BelieverAssist.com
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