You are blessed to live NOW

Scripture Reading

Will you please open in your Bibles with me to 1st Peter, 1st Peter chapter 1. And this morning we're going to be looking at verses 10 through 12. 1st Peter chapter 1, verses 10 through 12. If you're using the provided pew Bibles, the New King James ones in front of you, you'll find that on page 1075. 1 Peter chapter 1, beginning at verse 10.

Brothers and sisters, this is God's word. Of this salvation, the prophets have inquired and searched carefully who prophesied of the grace that would come to you. Searching 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. To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us, they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things which angels desire to look into. Thus ends this portion of the reading of God's word. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever.

Prayer for Illumination

Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. As living, active, sharper than any two edged sword. And so father, we pray now that your spirit would not allow your word to return void. But father, we pray that you would soften our hearts, that we would have ears to hear. Lord, we pray that you would enlighten our eyes that we might see. Lord, we pray that you would please help us. Lord, that these words would not just die upon a page, but that they would become to us precious gold and sweeter than honey. We need your spirit to do these things. So Lord, please help us in Jesus's name. Amen.

Sermon

I don't know about you, But when I go and I read through the Old Testament and I work through the various stories of the Old Testament, I sometimes get discontent and wish that I had been born back then rather than now. There's often, when I'll read through the Old Testament, and I'll read various scenes, I think, man, wouldn't that be cool? Wouldn't that be cool to see things back then? And to be able to experience the things that God put in His Word that they went through?

And I think about things like in Abraham's life. And I think about when God told him, hey Abraham, I want you to go up to Mount Moriah, and I want you to take your son, your only son, and I want you to sacrifice him. And he goes up that mountain. And I wonder what was going through Abraham's mind when he was telling his servants at the base of the mountain, hey, you guys wait here with the donkey.

We're going to go up and we're going to come back to you. What did he mean? How did he know that we are going to go up and we are going to come back? How did he know that? And then I wish I was there when he had put the wood upon his son and he walked up that mountain. How did he have the faith to answer his son Isaac? He says, Dad, I see the fire and I see the sticks, I see the logs, but where's the sacrifice? And Abraham says, God will provide the sacrifice. How did he know that?

And I wish I was there when he took the knife in his hand, and he picked up the knife, and he was about to plunge it down, and an angel stopped him. Don't you wish sometimes you were there? What does God mean when the angel stopped him? And in Genesis 22, 18, God makes him a promise, and he says, in you, or in your seed, will all the nations of the earth be blessed.

Did Abraham understand the fullness of what God was saying there? I'm not sure he did. I think he's probably scratched his head. He believed it because the Lord had said it to him, but he didn't understand the full implications of it. And I think in heaven, there was probably a scene going on where the angels were sitting there going, God, why did you do that? God, what did you mean when you had him take his only son up to the mountain and it seemed like you were about to allow his only son to be sacrificed? I don't know if the Lord gave the angels all the answers. I think he probably told the angels, wait and see, the story gets even better.

And then I think to people like Moses, and I think, man, how cool would it be to see the burning bush and the angel speaking to Moses out of the burning bush? How neat would that be to see the bush that's on fire but it's not consumed? How neat would it be to be one of the Israelites and see the Nile River turn to blood? I read the Old Testament and I think, man, this would be amazing to actually be at the Passover.

To actually see your dad gird up his loins and take his staff. Take the blood and paint it on the door posts and on the lentils of the house. What must it have felt like to have that living faith where you're wondering, is God really going to kill all the first born? And to hear the cries in the middle of the night as the angel of death comes. and wipes out all the firstborn of the Egyptians, everyone who had not put the Passover blood upon their house. What would it have been like to be there? But I'm sure they had questions. I'm sure Moses and the people wondered, how is this blood somehow keeping us safe? What does this mean? This lamb that we're supposed to sacrifice and eat quickly and get out of here as fast as possible. What does that mean?

And I'm sure when God sent that angel of death to go and to kill all the firstborn, I wonder what that scene was like between the angel and God himself. Hold on, you want me to do what against your enemies? So why would you do this? And I think the Lord probably told that angel, just wait, the story gets even better. I'm sure the angel sat there and went, whoa, it gets worse or it gets better than this. How does this happen?

And they long to know what was God doing on the earth with these people? And then I think, man, how cool would it have been to be with Moses and to go to Mount Sinai. How neat would that have been to stand at the base of the mountain and to see the smoke descend. When you read the Old Testament, you go to Exodus 19, do you see the flashes of lightning? Do you feel the ground rumbling underneath your feet? I wish I could have been there sometimes and think, God, why did you put me here today?

As Moses went up into the mountain, and as he went up there, and the angels ministered to him, and opened up a glimpse of heaven to him, and they showed him, here's what the pattern of the tabernacle is going to be like. Here's what the Aaronic priesthood and all their clothing is going to be like. And he got this glimmer and glimpse into heaven, and he comes back down and they make all the stuff.

I think, man, that would have been cool. Man, it would have been amazing to actually see them start putting up the curtains. And to know that there was really an acacia ark that was built. And on top of that acacia ark that there were cherubim made out of gold with outstretched wings towards each other. And that really God had done these things.

And how amazing would it have been even if you weren't allowed to be a priest. Or if you weren't allowed to be Moses. If you could just sit in the congregation and stand from your tent and look at the tabernacle and see the Shekinah glory of God descend from heaven and fill the tabernacle. How cool would that have been? But what did it all mean? What did the cherubim mean? What did the ark mean? What did the sacrifices mean? What did all this mean? I'm sure Moses said, well, I kind of got a glimpse of this in heaven. I can explain it some, but not all of it.

I'm sure the angels in heaven wondered as well, Lord, why all the sacrifices? How does the sacrifices of bulls and goats, Lord, how is that ever going to take away their sin? You know that they're sinful. You said that all the way back in Genesis chapter 6, that even the thoughts and inclinations of their heart were only evil continually. And you can imagine these amazing beings, these angels in heaven wondering, why the sacrifices? How does this fix the problem? And the Lord, answering the angels in heaven who want to know, saying, just wait and you will find out. The story is even better than this.

And then I sit there and I long, as I continue to work through the Old Testament, I think about David. We tell these Bible stories to our kids and we think about what it would have been like to be there on two different sides of a valley. And you have the Philistines on one side and the army of God on the other side. You have the champion from Gath of the Philistines, Goliath, come out. And you see a shepherd boy come out with a sling. Zealous for God. And you wish you could be there as David picked up the rocks out of the brook.

What type of rocks? How heavy were they? What would the battle have been like? Sometimes I wish I had been born back then and I could see God's hand powerfully moving, raising up a king. I wish I was there in Jesse's tent when Samuel brought in David from the flock, caring for the sheep. What was the picture like when he took that oil and anointed him? made Him the Messiah, the Anointed One of His people, what would the smells have been like? What would it have looked like? And I'm sure David wondered himself, what does all this mean? What does all this mean? What does it mean that I am the Anointed of God? I wish I was there. when I read through the psalms and I get the psalms that David wrote.

And you know what this is like, right? You've got the normal psalm. At the top of the psalm, it says, you know, like, a miktam of David, or some other weird Hebrew word that even people who know Hebrew are like, we don't know what that song is because it's been lost by time. We know the words of the song, but we don't know the tune.

I wish I could be there sometimes at the tabernacle and hear the chief musician and hear the sons of Asaph singing these songs to the tunes that they were written to. But even David didn't understand sometimes the things that he was writing. He would go to places like Psalm 22, where the prophet king David himself picks up his pen and he starts writing psalms. I have to imagine that he would scratch his head.

When he starts writing in Psalm 22, and he says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me? And from the words of my groaning, oh my God, I cry in the daytime, but you do not hear. And in the night season, am not silent. Did David know the depths of his words? My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? How could David know when he picks up his pen and writes in Psalm chapter 16, verses 9 through 11? How could he understand the words that he wrote?

Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices. My flesh also will reap in hope. For you will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption. David knew he was gonna die. So how can David, I wish I could ask David, David, did you know what you were writing when you said you will not abandon my soul in Sheol, you will not allow your Holy One to see corruption? Did you understand what you were writing, David? Sometimes I wish I was there so I could ask him. I wish I was there to ask him, how much did you know Or how much did you scratch your head and just take it for God's word and believe it?

When he wrote to you in 2 Samuel chapter 17, or sorry, 2 Samuel 7, when the Lord himself told him, when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, by the way, that's a way that the Lord is telling him when you die. Hold on, he just said he's not gonna be left abandoned in a shield to the grave. So God's telling him here he's gonna die. I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.

Did David know who the seed was going to be? I wish I was there to ask David, did you understand what he was saying? Did you understand what the Lord was telling you when he said in verse 16, and your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you, your throne shall be established forever? Sometimes I wish I was there to ask David, David, did you know? Did you understand what God was saying that you would have somebody who would sit on your throne who would reign forever? I don't think David knew. I think he took God at face value, that his words were true and whatever God said, somehow they had to be true.

But if I was a Benton type person, I bet there were angels in heaven also wondering God, how are you going to reconcile that? Angels know the way of men. Angels are curious about the things that people do. And angels also know that generations raise up and generations die. And other generations raise up and other generations die. And I'm sure the angels asked the Lord in heaven, how does this happen, Lord?

How do you say he's going to die, but yet somehow he's going to have someone who will live on his throne forever? How are you going to do that? And I'm sure the Lord said, it's not for you to know quite yet. Because the story's even better than that. See, the Lord has a story. He has a plan from the foundations of the world. He knows what he's doing. He's not doing it willy-nilly.

And so sometimes I sit there and I still think as I go through the Old Testament thing, I still wonder if this is the best time to be alive. Right when I'll read through all the bad kings, bad king, bad king, bad king, bad king, bad king in the Old Testament, I sit there and I go, man!

How cool would it have been to finally be there at Hezekiah's day, when Isaiah the prophet is preaching, and you think of the amazing things that's happening. God brings the whole congregation repenting. He restores the temple worship. They celebrate the Passover again. How cool would it have been to be in Isaiah's shoes.

To eat that glimmer of heaven in Isaiah chapter 6. To see the holy, holy, holy God. How amazing would it have been to see the angel fly over to you with a hot coal and put it upon your lips and to take away or purge your iniquity. Wouldn't that make it so much easier to be a Christian if an angel touched you on the lips with a hot coal and said your sin has been taken away from you? Sometimes I wish, I think, man, I wish I was Isaiah. I wish I was born back then. I wish I had that type of experience in my faith with the Lord.

But I'm not sure Isaiah understood everything that the Lord was giving him. I'm sure Isaiah's calling was actually really hard for him as the Lord commissioned him to be a prophet, but then told him, I'm sending you to a people who's not going to hear you and will not believe you. And yet, In Isaiah, we find some of the most amazing passages in the world.

That somehow, God was going to send somebody who would be the root of Jesse, who would reign forever in David's place. That somehow, Isaiah chapter 9 would come true, that God would send someone who would be called Mighty Counselor, Mighty God. Counselor, I'm just gonna read, for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulders, and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. And of the increase of his government and the peace, there will be no end. Upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

I'm sure Isaiah wondered, how? How and in what time would God do this? When would God allow these things to happen? How would he bring it to pass? Who would be this Messiah? Who would be this Prince of Peace? Who would be the one who would bear up even his own people's iniquities? Elder Turner this morning read to us the great Isaiah passage, Isaiah chapter 52, the latter half of that into Isaiah 53. As we work through that passage, I don't think Isaiah fully understood what he was saying. How could he? Isaiah chapter 52.

Behold, your servant shall deal prudently. He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high, just as many were astonished at you. So his visage was marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men. So shall he sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths at him. For what had not been told, they shall see. And what they had not heard, they shall consider. Who is he talking about?

You can imagine Isaiah as he's writing these things, a holy man carried by the Holy Spirit, with the Spirit of Christ in him, writing these things down, wandering, seeking, longing, looking into and trying to figure out, who is this one who's going to come and be marred beyond recognition?

Who's somehow going to be extolled and exalted above all, establish the kingdom of David, and yet, we're not even going to want to look at him? He's just going to be an average, ordinary dude? You can wonder, Isaiah, how is that going to happen? How is the king going to be despised and rejected by men? How is this king that's coming after David supposed to be a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief? How is he going to bear our griefs and carry our sorrows? How?

You can imagine Isaiah scratching his head as he's writing down verse five, but he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon him and by his stripes we are healed. We all like sheep have gone astray. Each one of us has gone our own way. And yet the Lord has laid on him all of our iniquities.

You can imagine Isaiah writing these things, taking that face value, saying, okay, this is gonna happen. I don't know when and I don't know how, but I know the Lord's gonna do these things. He's gonna bring about somehow this person like what's being told here. But I'm sure the angels in heaven also wondered, God, this is a mystery. How are you gonna pull this off? You see, the angels in heaven, this is compiling. This is getting bigger and bigger and bigger. How is God ever going to pull this off?

And I'm sure they tried to peer into and wonder and ask the Lord, how is He going to do this? And I don't think the Lord gave them answers. I think He said, just wait. Just wait and see. When the fullness of time is right, you will understand. And you'll rejoice.

And then I keep reading through my Old Testament, and I get to the Minor Prophets. And the Minor Prophets are just filled all over the place with all these different messianic passages, all these different places that's talking about some anointed one who's going to finally come and sit on David's throne, who's going to make all things right. And I read through Ezra, and I read through Haggai, and I read through Zechariah, and I see the temple getting rebuilt after this exile, and there's these amazing promises that happen, and sometimes I wish I could have been there.

When the prophet Haggai is saying, don't give up. Keep building the temple. Don't give up. Don't pay attention to those people who are trying to distract you. And Zechariah comes along and he says, that's right. Keep building the temple because the Lord is going to make good on his messianic promises.

And then Zechariah writes something like in Zechariah 12.10. where he tells them again, and I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplication. Then they will look on me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for him as one mourns for his only son and grieve for him as one grieves for a firstborn. How? I'm sure Zachariah, as he wrote this prophecy, wondered, how?

How is the Messiah, the Christ, right? Christos is just a Greek word for the Hebrew Messiah. Both of them just mean an anointed one. Someone who's been poured over with oil or water and set apart for their work. And I'm sure Zachariah thought, how? How does this happen? That there's going to be The house of David. Back in Jerusalem. A spirit of grace. People are going to be praying. But then there's a semicolon. Then they will look on me whom they pierced. How do you pierce the Lord?

I'm sure Zacharias scratched his head. He believed it, took it at face value that the Lord said this, so it must be good. He's going to somehow accomplish this through the Messiah, through his anointed one he would bring. But I'm sure he wondered. He longed to know. He searched it out. How and in what time and what ways? I'm sure the angels in heaven did too. The Lord said, no, just wait. And then you keep walking through the Old Testament and you come to the book of Malachi and there's no answer. That blank page in between Malachi and Matthew is 400 years. 400 years of people wondering and questioning.

When is this going to happen and what time and how is it going to take place? People were longing, their hope was stirred up. It was like a mother who's pregnant and waiting and doesn't know when is this going to happen? When am I finally going to go into labor? When is this finally going to happen? I think that's how all the Jewish people and all of the angels in heaven were wondering, how is God ever going to finally make this happen?

And then the angels announced the answer. You go to Luke chapter 2. Or Luke chapter 1. I wonder what it would have been like in heaven when Gabriel was speaking to the Lord and the Lord gave him a commission to go and to talk to a young woman who wasn't married, had never been with a man, and tells her that she is going to have a child. I wonder what that would have been like for Gabriel when he tells her the answer that they had been waiting for.

As she was standing there before him, Rejoice, highly favored one. The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women. Of all the other women in the world for these thousands and thousands of years of history, wondering what time and when would this happen, the angel Gabriel tells her, it's now, and it's you. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered the manner of greeting this was. And the angel Gabriel said to her, do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son, and his name shall be called Jesus. He will be great, and he will be called the son of the highest. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom there will be no end. Gabriel finally gets to tell Mary, she's the first one, this lowly woman, this is the time, this is the hour, this is the how. The Messiah has finally come. God had a plan the whole time. He knew how He was going to bring it about. It's not the only time the angels looked into these things and wondered, but it even tells us, flip over a page in Luke chapter 2, how they responded to it. Luke chapter 2, beginning at verse 10. I'll start at verse 8 now.

They were in the same country, shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you when you find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger."

And how did the angels respond to this amazing news? And suddenly, There was with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and good will to men. Did you see it? All the angels had been longing, bending over, looking into how is this going to happen? When is the Christ going to come? And now when they announce it, the only thing they can do is praise. Glory to God in the highest, Where the glory of God surrounds them and they are singing because God kept His promises. God is good.

He brought His only begotten Son. He did far better than they could ever ask or imagine. And Jesus fulfilled every single prophecy. He was pierced for their transgressions. They do look upon the one who would bear their griefs. Jesus's throne was established in righteousness. And when he ascended up into heaven, there he sat upon the throne and reigns forever.

You weren't born in the wrong generation. You have a blessing, Christian, that the angels longed for for thousands of years. You live in a time and a place that the prophets would have longed to know the things that you have known. That's even what Jesus tells His disciples. Jesus told His disciples this. Matthew chapter 13, beginning at verse 16, Blessed are your eyes For they see in your ears, for they hear. For assuredly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see and do not see it. And to hear what you hear and did not hear it. The prophets longed to see Jesus. To know how and in what way and when He would do this miraculous work of saving His people and being the King to live forever.

But now I have to step back and ask you, do you rejoice at all? Does it bring you great joy that God kept His promises? Does it bring you great joy even though you have not seen Jesus? Do you love Him? Is He the hope of your heart, the salvation that you long for and that you know. The prophets long to know these things. The angels stooped over, bent over to try to look into them. But my question is, is this salvation yours?

Did Jesus die for you? Do you believe these words are true? Take it at face value that Jesus Christ died for sinners of whom I am the worst. Did he bear your iniquities? Was he sent for you? Does this rejoice you at all? Or is this the most boring story you've ever heard?

All the angels in heaven rejoice, and they continue to rejoice even now. Because Jesus is King, God kept His word. Revelation chapter 5, beginning at verse 11, then I looked and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures and the elders, and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousands, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, you want to know what all the elders in heaven, all the saints in heaven, all the angels in heaven say? Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. First Peter chapter one, verses three through 12 is one sentence. And it begins with one word, blessed or praise.

Do you praise God for the salvation that he has secured for you and is guarding for you in heaven to be revealed at the last great day? Can you rejoice with the angels in heaven today? Do you long to join the thousands and thousands, myriads and myriads of those in heaven worshiping the Lamb who was slain? Is that your heart cry? Brothers and sisters, you weren't born in the wrong generation. You're blessed.

The only thing we're waiting for now is the revelation of Jesus Christ at the last great day. when He will come again to judge the living and the dead. But even in that, we have way more information than the prophets ever had. And we have just as sure of a hope that the God who kept His promises good in the Old Testament is the one who will keep His promises good in the New Covenant. Do you rejoice in Christ? Do you praise God for your salvation? Do you cling to Jesus as the only object of your faith? If so, rejoice. Praise God who has loved you with an eternal love and has kept your inheritance secure in heaven.

Closing Prayer

Let's pray. Lord, we pray. That you would help us. Lord, there are many things that we wish we could see. But Father, we pray that you would fill us with hope. That we would know the things that are coming. And we would have an assurance in our heart that though we cannot see, yet we know. Because you have told us. Lord, some people might have thought this was a strange sermon. Different than normal.

Father, I pray that your Holy Spirit might even soften those who have hard hearts. Lord, and those who doubt, even those who question, Lord, I pray that you would give them a desire to read your word, to search it out for themselves and find out whether these things are so. Lord, and as they read, I pray that your Holy Spirit would continue to press upon their hearts the need to love your son, For Lord, indeed, you have loved us so much that while we were yet sinners, you sent your Son to die for us. And nothing can separate us from your love, which is in Christ Jesus. So, Lord, strengthen our hearts. Humble us of our pride. Grow us in our praise. In Jesus' name we pray.