In these three verses, Peter gives us a birds eye view of salvation, from the beginning to the end. These scriptures teach that the Old Testament prophets possessed salvation, and tried to find out when the whole of salvation would be fulfilled.

I think it is very interesting that Peter is the one giving the explanation. Jesus showed him that things would continue after his death (John 21:19, II Peter 1:14,15), therefore, Peter knew he was dispensable as far as the gospel was concerned. He understood that the fulness of salvation would come after he was dead and gone. The thing that makes it so interesting that Peter says these things is that he was once so impetuous. He thought everything revolved around him, yet he came to realize that nothing revolved around him, that he was a small cog in a very large machine. He came to realize that everything revolved around God and His plans, and he came to love it all. Before Peter came to the end of his life, he had learned how things and people fit together in God's plan and this had calmed him down considerably.

I think it is also important to note that the Old Testament prophets and the New Testament Apostles are in total agreement.

Verse 10, Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:

I. Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently.

A. The Old Testament prophets possessed salvation, just like we possess salvation.

1. This scripture is not saying that the prophets were lost and was seeking for salvation. It means they, like us, desired to know everything about salvation they could.

2. Note the words "inquired" and "searched diligently".

3. This was not something they thought about from time to time, but it was a consuming fire that burned within them.

4. They would spend their lives looking into the mysteries of salvation and the resulting blessings through eternity.

B. What they were looking for exactly is explained in verse 11.

C. There is implication that there were some things in salvation they did not fully comprehend.

1. This is a very amazing thing to consider concerning the prophets of the Old Testament.

2. Often we think they didn't have to study or learn about the things they prophesied.

3. They were prophets, but they were also men. They had the same necessity to apply the Words of God to their hearts and minds as those who were not prophets.

4. It is the same today with preachers.

a. They are indeed preachers, but they are also men, and as men, they have the necessity of applying the Words of God to their hearts and minds.

b. They have a greater responsibility than those who are not preachers because of the position they hold.

c. When I was working one day with another man, and I mentioned I had to go home and study, he asked me why I had to study. Didn't God give me what I was supposed to preach? I told him God did give me what I was supposed to preach, but the way he gave me messages was through His Word. He thought this was very strange. I guess he thought God would put a funnel in my head, and pour information into the funnel!

II. Who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you.

A. Peter is not saying that the prophets spoke to the exact same people he was writing to.

B. He is saying that the prophets came to know that their generation was not the end of the world, and that they were responsible to teach the next generation the whole truth of the Word of God.

1. Today, we have the responsibility of teaching the whole truth of God's precious Word to the next generation.

2. Do you feel a responsibility of so learning the Word of God that you will be able to teach the whole council of God?

3. One of the great problems of our day is that "Christians" do not feel this responsibility.

Verse 11, Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.

I. Searching.

A. It is very important to understand that the prophets did not understand everything they prophesied about.

1. The prophets simply repeated what God revealed to them.

2. It is amazing that the prophets would be forced to sit down and search out the truth of what they had written! (i.e. their own preaching.)

B. Refer to I Samuel 3:1-21 when the Lord appeared to Samuel.

1. There is no doubt that God spoke in an audible voice, for Samuel thought Eli was calling him.

2. When Samuel revealed the Word of God to Eli, he understood that it was against Eli and his house, but he didn't understand what it all meant, for he was a child.

3. Today, we don't hear the audible voice of God speaking to us. He reveals His will to us as we, like the Old Testament prophets, diligently study and mediate on His revealed Word, the Bible.

C. It is not wrong to search out the details of the prophecies of God.

1. Some people say it is wrong to study the Book of Revelation.

a. They believe God has already shown men all He wants them to know.

b. This is error, for the book of Revelation is the only book that comes with a blessing for reading, hearing, and keeping, Rev. 1:3.

D. Prophets who tried to find out the details of their prophecies.

1. Daniel 7:15,16 - Daniel wanted to know the truth of the four beasts.

2. Daniel 9:1,2 - Daniel studied the writing of the prophets to discover how long Israel would be in Babylonian captivity.

3. Daniel 12:8,9 - Daniel asking "when shall these things be?" He was told he would die, and the things would come to pass at the end of time.

4. Isaiah 53:1 - Isaiah had preached about the graces of God, but nobody had believed. In desperation he cried out to God, "Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?"

5. Simeon, Luke 2:25-32 Simeon had no doubt prayed, asking God when the promised Messiah should come. It was revealed to him that he would not die until the Messiah appeared.

II. What were they searching for?

A. "Search what" - I believe this is referring to the search for the characteristics of the coming messiah.

1. There was certainly a lot of controversy about the coming messiah.

a. John 3:1,2 - Nicodemus, an honest Pharisee, didn't understand who Christ was.

b. John 7:10-12 - The Jewish people didn't know whether Jesus was a good man or a deceiver.

c. John 7:25-27 - The Jewish people didn't understand who Christ was.

d. Acts 8:34 - The eunuch asked Philip the meaning of Isaiah 53:7. Note he had just been to Jerusalem and didn't find any answers that satisfied him. The Pharisees simply didn't have the answers.

2. Only a personal study of the prophecies would clear up that controversy.

3. This is still true today. There is a lot of controversy about the meaning of scripture. Only a personal study of those scriptures will clear up that controversy.

4. The Pharisees, as a group, had concluded that the Messiah and the king was the same person.

a. They were looking for God Himself to come down from heaven and establish Israel as a world power.

b. They didn't believe God would appear in the form of a man.

c. They didn't see any need of a redeemer, for they didn't believe they needed one.

d. In order for them to believe in the Messiah as they did, they were forced to disregard a great mass of scripture that talked about the suffering messiah. See Ps. 22, and Isaiah 53.

B. Searching for the time.

1. They longed for the time when they would lay down their sinful natures and bodies and serve the Lord without the ties of sinfulness

2. Acts 1:6 - The disciples ask, "...Lord wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?"

3. Matt. 24:3 - The disciples ask, "...when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of they coming and of the end of the world?"

4. It is not wrong to search the scriptures seeking for answers. It is wrong to be like the Pharisees and be so dogmatic in our beliefs that even the scriptures (God's own words and works) won't change our minds.

III. Spirit of Christ.

A. It is very doubtful the prophets knew it was the spirit of Christ in them, for they didn't even know His name and were forced to search out his characteristics. They didn't know they had an indwelling presence of God, probably calling it the Spirit of God.

1. Even though the prophets didn't know they had the Spirit of Christ, Peter knew it was the spirit of Christ, for he had studied what they wrote and it was revealed to the Apostles when Christ came and fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament.

2. Rom. 8:9, "...if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." This is the only other time in the Bible the phrase, "Spirit of Christ" is found.

3. These two scriptures show that the Old Testament saints had the indwelling of the Holy Spirit just like the New Testament saints. When the New Testament saints received the filling of the Holy Spirit it was not an inward indwelling, but an outward manifestation.

B. I believe it is clear from the following scriptures that the Holy Spirit indwell the Old Testament saints.

1. Heb. 1:1-3. God spoke to the prophets in time past, but has spoken through Jesus Christ, who is God (verse 3).

2. John 1:9, The light of Jesus Christ lights every man in the world. Those saved by grace (regardless of when they lived) have a special inner light called the Spirit of God.

B. The Spirit of Christ in the Old Testament shows:

1. Jesus Christ existence did not begin when He was conceived in his mothers womb, for he existed in the heart of the Old Testament saints.

2. The doctrine of the Trinity was not completely unknown to the Old Testament. The prophets knew there was a God, and they knew they were looking for a coming Messiah, God's representative, and that they had an indwelling Spirit.

3. The indwelling Spirit of Christ in the prophets is the Holy Spirit for he does the same work as the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit doesn't speak of himself, but testifies of Christ, John 15:26.

C. Signify - or spoke in dark sayings and signs.

1. There was no deliberate attempt by God to hide who He is or who the coming Messiah is.

2. If humans didn't have a sinful nature, the things revealed by the Holy Spirit wouldn't be in dark sayings and signs.

IV. There are two things the Spirit of Christ testified (signified) of:

A. The sufferings of Christ.

1. I believe we have in the Old Testament all the prophecies concerning the sufferings of Christ.

2. See Psalms 22 and Isaiah 53.

B. The glory that should follow.

1. The Pharisees choose not to see the suffering Messiah, but instead saw only the glory they (Israel) would enjoy when God established them as a world ruler.

2. Phil. 2:5-11 - God will exalt Christ because of His being willing to suffer.

Verse 12, Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

I. The Old Testament Ministry. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things.

A. There are two categories of people in the Old Testament.

1. Those who do not understand that the world revolves around them. An example of these people are the Pharisees, who believed they were "God's gift to the earth!"

2. Those who understand that there are others in the world except them. This is that group of people who have humbled themselves before the Lord, realizing they are nothing but sinners saved by grace.

B. The prophets are in the latter category, for they understood through a study of the scriptures that other people would be involved in the ministry of God. Below is a list of Old Testament scriptures that teach the bringing in of the Gentiles.

1. Gen. 22:18, "And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice."

2. Ps. 22:18, "All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee."

3. Ps. 86:9, "All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name."

4. Is. 9:2, "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined."

5. Is. 49:6, "And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth."

6. Is. 55:5, "Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee."

7. Is. 60:3, "And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising."

8. Dan 7:13,14, "I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed."

9. Hosea 2:23, "And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God."

10. Mal. 1:11, "For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts."

11. The fulfillment of the Old Testament scriptures is in Eph. 3:6, "That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:"

C. Examples of prophets who understood that their prophecies wouldn't come to pass during their lifetime.

1. We have already talked about Daniel who knew that he must die before the prophecies revealed to him came to pass, Daniel 12:9.

2. Moses - Deut 4:25, "When thou shalt beget children, and children's children, and ye shall have remained long in the land,..."

3. Jeremiah - Jeremiah 25:25 - Jeremiah knew that Israel would go into Babylonian captivity and remain there for 70 years. This means he would die before Israel ever came out of captivity.

4. Joel - Joel 2:28, "And it shall to come to pass afterward,...". 3:1, "For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,"

5. Micah - Micah 4:1, "But in the last days it shall come to pass,..."

6. Zechariah - Zechariah 14:1, "Behold, the day of the LORD cometh,..."

7. Malachi - Malachi 3:1, "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me..." 4:1, "For, behold, the day cometh..."

II. The New Testament Ministry. Which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven.

A. Now reported unto you.

1. The only way we learn anything is when we are told.

2. The word "report" indicates that true preachers only declare what is in the Bible.

3. They don't make up exciting stories to "tickle the ears of the listeners", but declare only what is in God's Word.

B. Preached the gospel.

1. This is the most important message.

2. I Cor. 2:1-5 - Paul said he preached only Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He preached in the demonstration and power of God.

C. With the Holy Ghost.

1. I Cor. 2:5 - Paul preached with the power of God.

2. All other preaching is completely vain.

D. Sent down from heaven.

1. This is not talking about the indwelling Holy Spirit of the saved person.

2. It is talking about the Holy Ghost sent from heaven to the local church.

a. John 14:16, Jesus promised another comforter which would come and teach all things (verse 26).

b. It was promised in Acts 1:8 that the Holy Spirit would give the early church the necessary power to go into all the world and be witnesses of the gospel.

c. In Acts 2, the Holy Spirit revealed His presence with power and 3,000 souls were added to the church.

d. The Holy Spirit continues with the Lord's true local churches, giving them grace and strength to witness about God's Christ.

E. If there is anything that will give us peace it is to realize that we are not the end of all things. We are simply "pawns" in the great plan of God. He can use us any way He so desires to accomplish His plans. Whatever He does is very good, and if He chooses to use us in a way we had rather He not, let us willingly submit to Him. If he chooses to wait a little while before returning, let us willingly submit to that, knowing that others will be brought into the fold because of His continuing grace.

III. The Angelic Ministry. Which things the angels desire to look into. There are at least three categories of investigators into salvation.

A. The Old Testament prophets.

B. The New Testament apostles and saints.

C. The heavenly beings called Angels.

1. Exodus 25:20 and 37:9 gives a symbol of angelic beings in the form of Cherubims which are on either end of the mercy seat facing each other with their faces looking toward the mercy seat. The angels desire to understand the shed blood of Christ which provides mercy for the fallen sinner.

2. I Cor 11:10 - Women, who are in submission to their own husbands ought to wear a covering because the angels are looking in on our church services.

3. The word "desire" means "with passion".