Word of Salvation – May 2017

 

Why Live A Holy Life?

By John Westendorp

Text: 1Peter 1:10-16

 

Theme: Our salvation predicted by prophets, preached by apostles, looked into by angels changes our lives.

 

Introd:  Over Easter, in Sydney, we bought some bedroom furniture for my step-son from IKEA.

IKEA specialise in flat-pack furniture.  The bedside table came as a flat box.  So did the desk.

What is exciting is to see how all the various parts come together and make up the one item of furniture.

The top, the sides & legs; the screws & dooverlackies… together they make a lovely piece of furniture.

 

Well, Peter has presented us with an exciting package too…
He mentions that package in the verse before our text… vs.9 – it’s the “salvation package”.
In the opening verses he shows us the various parts that make up this package.
Take a look at the various bits and pieces that make up this “salvation package”.

Peter began unpacking the pieces of this parcel back in vs. 1 where he speaks of “God’s elect”.
Or in the words of vs.2: “chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father”.
Vs. 2 also speaks of the sanctifying work of the Spirit by which we are made obedient to Jesus.
In vs.2 another piece in the “salvation package” is being sprinkled clean by Jesus’ blood.

In vs.3 we are told of the radical way God changed us… “He gave us a new birth”.
In vs.4 we are told that this makes us heirs of an inheritance that can never perish.
In vs.5 the “salvation package” includes us being shielded… or protected… by God’s power.

Verse 6 – all this is reason for great joy… even though life may still be tough.
In fact, vs. 7 reminds us that part of the deal is that our faith will be tested by trials.
Verse 8 shows that people like this love Christ…  and are filled with glorious joy.

 

Peter is writing about this “salvation package” to encourage people who are doing it tough.

He’s reminds them of this wonderful gift of God called ‘salvation’ to encourage them.

But he’s not quite finished with it yet… he now comes at this salvation from another angle.

He does that by relating it to three different groups: prophets… apostles… and angels.

 

A]        PREDICTED BY THE PROPHETS.

 

1.         First the prophets.

This salvation that you and I enjoy is something the ancient prophets already predicted.

God had an amazing marketing strategy for this “gift pack”.
This ‘salvation package’ was ‘advertised’ (as it were) thousands of years before it was available.
The O.T. prophets already spoke about it over and over.

So in a sense there’s nothing new about it.  Moses already knew about it.  So did David.
Isaiah wrote about it… and Daniel… and Amos.
Through the Holy Spirit’s guidance they predicted the coming of Jesus and His saving work.

 

That reminds us not to dismiss the O.T.  Peter shows us that the O.T. too is about Jesus.
The prophets there spoke concerning our wonderful salvation.
So even when we read the OT we are learning about our Saviour Jesus.

 

2.         Actually, our salvation was of intense interest to these prophets.

First, Peter says they ‘searched intently’.  They put this whole matter under scrutiny.
There were investigations into the things God’s Spirit revealed to them.

 

A second expression is even more telling: ‘they searched… with great care’.
Here Peter uses a word originally used of a dog sniffing something out with its nose.
Almost as if these O.T. prophets were doing some detective work.

And thirdly Peter adds, ‘trying to find out the time and circumstances…’
IOW they weren’t checking all this out because they didn’t believe God.
They just wanted to know when God was going to do it and through whom.

 

Interestingly, some religions claim that their sacred books dropped straight out of heaven.
Well, that’s not how we Christians got our Bible.
Prophets weren’t just mere pens in God’s hand. God used the enquiring minds of the prophets.
They were very curious about the salvation that is now ours.

 

3.         The final thing Peter says about the prophets is that it they were not serving themselves.

That’s surprising: “It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you…”

 

Think about that…. Isaiah – 2½ thousand years ago – wrote for your benefit.  For mine.
He often pictures the awesome end-result of our salvation package.  Think of Isaiah 55.
            “You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace;
            The mountains and hills will burst into song before you,
            And all the trees of the field will clap their hands…”

Peter says: Isaiah wrote that to serve you.
It was so that we might be encouraged.  It is to give you hope and joy in times of trouble.

 

B]        ANNOUNCED BY THE APOSTLES.

 

1.         The second group Peter relates this “salvation package” to is the apostles and their successors.

Salvation in Jesus Christ is now a fact.
Good Friday and Easter are history.  A cross has stood on Mt. Calvary.
Angels came and rolled a stone away from a tomb.

 

What the prophets never fully understood, the apostles had seen unfold before their very eyes.
Peter, James and John were eye-witnesses who explained the message of the prophets.
They told people: Those OT promises of salvation have now been fulfilled in Jesus.

 

And that, friends, is the essence of all Christian preaching.
It is proclaiming the good news that there is salvation in Jesus… and in Jesus alone.
            Preaching is not first of all teaching people some morals.
            Preaching is not the pastor sharing some wisdom with the congregation.
            Preaching is first of all holding up Jesus and proclaiming salvation in Him.

 

2.         This also gives us some helpful handles on Scripture.

For example: It shows us a lovely relationship between old and new testament.
We need to keep them together.  The prophets and the O.T. and the apostles and the N.T.
One of the early church fathers summed it up in a little rhyme:
            The new is in the old contained.
            The old is by the new explained.
The salvation predicted by the prophets… was preached by the apostles.

 

Another insight from these verses is the role of the Holy Spirit in producing the Scriptures.
He was there inspiring the prophets of the Old Testament.
But the Holy Spirit is also the one who inspired the N.T. preachers.
            Peter speaks of those who preach the gospel to you… by the Holy Spirit.
            So it is the Holy Spirit who makes Jesus known to you.

 

3.         Of course, Peter is not giving us here a lecture about the nature of Scripture.

Nor a lecture about the work of the Holy Spirit.

No!  He is writing to encourage troubled Christians… people scattered by persecution.
Many of his readers lived in fear of their lives.  Already many had paid with their lives.
Repeatedly this letter mentions suffering and hardship.

 

So Peter’s intention is to encourage us.
Okay, sometimes things are tough… but hey, we are a people who believe in Jesus.
And the result is the salvation of our souls…. whatever the devil might yet do to us.
            And that gospel gives us our certainty… even when life falls apart at the seams.

 

Perhaps that’s why, in vs.11, Peter sums up the very core of that “salvation package” the way he does.
He mentions the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.
That especially encourages us when the going gets tough.
For Jesus too it wasn’t only just all glory.  No, the suffering came first.
But the glory certainly followed.  And that’s how it’ll be for you and for me.  So be encouraged.

 

C]        ATTENDED TO BY THE ANGELS.

 

1.         There’s one more group that Peter mentions – and that’s the angels.

Angels are constantly in God’s presence and they serve Him day and night.
In so many respects they are better and wiser than we are.
            So why does Peter give a passing mention of angels at this point?
            At the end of vs.12 he slips them in… almost as an aside.  Why?

 

Maybe it’s that context of persecution and hardship that makes Peter think of angels.
The Bible sometimes mentions guardian angels.
            As servants of God they are also ministering spirits committed to our welfare.
            In that sense it’s natural for Peter to mention angels.

 

2.         Peter says that these angels have an intense interest in your salvation.

Salvation was predicted by the prophets and preached to you by the apostles.

And then Peter adds: Even angels long to look into these things.

 

The word Peter uses here for “look” is very telling.
It has the idea of stooping down to examine something.
James uses the word for peering very closely into an old fashioned mirror of polished brass.

 

So the angels long earnestly to stoop down and look intently into these matters of our salvation.
To examine carefully the predictions that even the prophets didn’t fully understand.
To look into the preaching of the gospel in the power of the Spirit by the apostles.
That whole “salvation package”… the angels are intensely curious about it.

 

3.         But isn’t that fascinating?  Angels don’t need to know about salvation.  They’ve never sinned!

Well, okay the evil angels did rebel against God – but they are beyond saving.

The good angels are perfectly happy without salvation.

 

And that’s the big contrast between angels and us, isn’t it?.
That Salvation package is absolutely essential for us.  Without it we are lost forever.
We desperately need this salvation predicted by prophets and preached by apostles.

 

And yet, says Peter, we are the envy of the angels.

Why?  Because we have a song that angels can never, never sing… the song of our salvation.
Furthermore, angels are messengers of God… ministering spirits.
But we are the heirs… heirs of that wonderful inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.
            Sinners saved by Jesus… waiting to take up our glorious inheritance.
            Because you have this wonderful salvation package, you are the envy of the angels.

 

D]        THE CALL TO CHRISTIAN ACTION.

 

1.         This morning the big question is: what difference does this “salvation package” make in your life?

I ask that because at this point the apostle Peter comes with a challenge.

 

Up to this point all he’s only talked about is what God has already done… not what we ought to do.
But now he wants to challenge us  And notice how he does that: He calls us to get ready.
            “Prepare your minds for action…!”..It’s almost like a call to battle stations.

 

BTW did you notice that Peter calls us to prepare our minds? “Prepare your minds for action…!”
I’m not a golfer but I once played a round with a friend who was a pro.
            He gave me some tips as we went… but his first tip was interesting.
            He said: John, golf is a mental game; you win or lose it in your mind. (Ok I lost it there).
But that’s so true in sport: The game begins in our heads… we need a right mental attitude.
The same is true for Christian living.  Begin with a wrong mental attitude and you’re history.

 

2.         Notice that this challenge of Peter’s begins with the word “Therefore…!”

When you see that word in your Bible you should always ask: Wherefore is the therefore there for?

It’s a word that links us to what preceded.
And what preceded is Peter’s description of that wonderful “salvation package”.
            All of those things he listed: election, being born again, that inheritance that can’t spoil.
            That salvation package that the prophets searched and that the apostles preached.
            That’s the reason why we prepare our minds for action.

 

This “salvation package” fills us with an inexpressible and glorious joy.

And therefore… because of that: You now prepare your minds for action!

 

Peter is showing us that there is a strong unbreakable connection between religion and ethics.
Faith and behaviour are… as it were… welded together.
And the link that holds the two together here is that word ‘therefore’.
You have been marvellously saved by Jesus… now therefore…!
God has changed you from the inside out… now therefore… go out and show it in your life.

 

3.         So, okay, how do we prepare our minds for action?

Peter tells us that we do that by focusing our eyes heavenward….  in a sober, self-controlled way.

And we are to look there to the grace that will be given us when Jesus comes.
Peter means that this is how you are to prepare your mind for action.
You do it by setting your hope on the good things God will yet do for you in Christ.

 

Go back to that IKEA flat-pack.  You’re struggling with it.  Things are not going well.
Okay, focus on that moment when it all comes together and the project is complete.
So too in the Christian life focus on that moment when your “salvation package” is completed.
Only as you are focused on that do you have the right mental attitude to move ahead.

 

E]        IS A CALL TO OBEDIENCE TO GOD’S WILL.

 

1.         In that context Peter finally get around to talking about our obedience.

But Peter is not actually commanding us to be obedient.  He is simply assuming we will be.
In vs.2 he said that we were chosen for that very purpose: “…for obedience to Jesus Christ”.

 

Obedience to God’s will is so much a part of being a Christian that Peter assumes it to be the case.
You and I don’t need to argue about that do we?
We slip up in our obedience.  We argue about how to be obedient in some situations.
But we all agree: If you call yourself a Christian your life should be marked by obedience.
                            You don’t call yourself a Christian and then brazenly flout God’s laws.

 

2.         Peter is showing us that Christians are different.  Because we have a new mental attitude.

We’ve prepared our minds to want to obey God’s laws.
Peter talks about it in terms of us not wanting to go back to our old ways.
We don’t conform any longer to the old sinful desires.

 

The picture here is of something being pressed into a mould.  Think back to childhood:
As children we sat in the sand pit and we filled different containers with sand.
Then we carefully tipped them up to make a sand sculptures.
The sand was pressed into the mould of the bucket.

 

It’s like that with sinful desires… they are still there… but we don’t let them press us into their mould.

We don’t conform to them… we don’t let them control us.  God’s will now controls us.

 

3.         Peter says that these things belonged to the former way of life.

Before becoming a Christian someone may not even recognise some things as sinful.

And that has been true of so many people.
The gambler who wasted her family’s resources in gaming – but she’s changed by Jesus.
The alcoholic who made life miserable for his family – but he’s transformed by the gospel.

 

Peter says: Those former things we did in ignorance… they now no longer shape and control us.

Again, Peter is showing us that a Christian is a different person.  The gospel changes us.

 

F]        AND TO CONFORM TO GOD’S CHARACTER.

 

1.         Peter sums all of this up by saying that we really need to reflect the character of God.

The “salvation package” produces obedient children who demonstrate holiness in their life.

 

Peter grounds this holiness in the holiness of God: “Just as he who called you is holy, so be holy…”
God is holy… and He calls us to holiness.
IOW  We ought to show the family likeness that is seen in our heavenly Father.

 

Holiness has the basic idea of separation… of being set apart… different.
Okay, holiness includes splendour and glory.  And it is also about purity – moral purity.
God is holy also because He is sinless… and now we are called to reflect that in our lives.

 

2.         Peter says this holiness ought to be there in everything we do.

Be holy in all you do… in all your behaviour… in all your conduct…!

In our age holiness has had a bad press.
Holiness has all the hallmarks of a plaster saint… complete with artificial halo.
We talk about a ‘Holy Joe’ – someone not quite in touch with reality.

 

No!  Peter’s call to holiness is a call to reflect the very character of God.

We are called to reflect the likeness of the one who made us in His image.
And we do that in everything – not just in the way we worship God on a Sunday.
Also in the way we do our work on a Monday… and way we fill our leisure hours on Tuesday.

 

3.         Just to make sure we get the point Peter grounds that in Scripture.

In the O.T. God said it repeatedly to Israel – they needed the reminder.  And so do we.
“Be holy because I the Lord your God am holy”.
Israel was to be different… set apart… to live in harmony with God’s character.

 

So where are you  at when it comes to holiness in your life?
Is holiness just a matter of knowing you’re saved and worshipping God for that on a Sunday?
Or are you working at being different… set apart… separated for the Kingdom of Jesus.
Work at it… and so reflecting to the world the very character of our wonderful God.           Amen.