Sovereign Grace Chapel, located
at 135 Annabel Lane in Beaver, West Virginia, invites you to
listen to a gospel message concerning Jesus Christ our Lord. If you would, and you have your
Bibles, please take this morning your Bibles and turn to 1 Peter
1. 1 Peter chapter 1. I'm going to read just one verse
for now, and that's verse 12. 1 Peter 1 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. When it talks about angels here,
it is talking about those elect angels of God, those angels spoken
of in 1 Timothy 5.21. These angels are not spirit like
God, they are created beings who were created by God. Neither
are they human, as man was created human. But it says here that
they desire to look into these things. They cannot, of course,
because these angels are not human. These angels have never
fallen. There are some angels who have
fallen, those angels who were with Satan when he fell and was
cast out of heaven. These angels do not want to look
into these things, nor can they, as they will never know the communion
of God. Today, I want to look into those
things which the angels desire to look into, but cannot. What
is it that is desirous that would cause them to want to look into? And I want to be sure and be
clear here. The angels here that are desirous
here are not the thing to be admired. It is those things which
they desire to look into that we also want to see. I know a
lot of people like to hold up angels. All angels are created
beings. They all serve God no matter
fallen or elect. So angels are not something to
be desirous of. Thankful, yes, but not admired
or worshiped. Peter was speaking to those of
God's people who had been scattered throughout the regions of Pontus,
Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, it says. Those who
are elect according to God's foreknowledge. those who have
been set apart by His Spirit and who believe the gospel of
His dear Son. We have everything that Peter
says the angels desire to look into right here on this chapter
that is found where our text is found. We have mercy, the
resurrection of Jesus Christ, inheritance, God's power, faith,
salvation. In verse 3, we have mercy. 1 Peter 1 and verse 3 says, blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which hath,
according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a
lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. God the Father, it says here,
who has abundant mercy. Two things to be noted. First,
it is God that has mercy. Since God is the one who has
mercy, he bestows this mercy on some. This mercy is not something
that God gives to all and then whoever is pleased to take it
or use it can have it. He has mercy on whom he will
have mercy. If he has mercy on someone, then
they have it and they know it. Romans 9.15 says, for he saith
to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I
will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. Second
is mercy itself. Mercy implies that someone has
offended. Since God is the one that is
abundant in mercy, we know, along with other scripture, that it
is he that is offended. We also know from Scripture that
it is fallen man who has offended God. If you do not need mercy,
that is, if you do not think you need mercy, then God has
not bestowed mercy on you. Until you find yourself in a
place of needing mercy, you will have none bestowed upon you.
In Mark 2, 17, we read this. When Jesus heard it, he saith
unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician,
but they that are sick, I am not come to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. These who are sick, these whom
have been made sick by God Almighty, look for mercy from God. knowing
they have offended the one self-existent one, the one self-existent God,
and without mercy they will perish forever. They know this to be
true of themselves, even if no one else around them are sick.
These are they which are objects of mercy, this abundant mercy
which God Almighty has, which this God, through mercy, has
begotten them again into a living hope, How did he do that, or
what was the means by which he did this? Next we have, by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ. In verse three it says, hath
begotten us again unto a lively hope, that is a living hope,
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Notice
here in this verse, the method, the reason for this mercy towards
me, It says by, or that is, because of the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead. Some things to note here. For
Jesus Christ to be resurrected, he first had to die. In order
to die, he had to be a man. Why do I say this, that Christ
had to be a man? The scripture teaches us that
everything is brought forth of its own kind. In order for mercy
to be bestowed upon sinful man, a man had to die. Jesus Christ
was that man. He had to be spotless and had
to shed blood. There will be no remission of
sins without blood. We read in Hebrews 9 in verse
22, and almost all things are by the law purged with blood.
and without shedding of blood is no remission. So it is by
the blood of Jesus Christ that anyone's sin will be remitted. But it could not just be any
man's blood. In order for this to happen,
he had to be God. No other would be acceptable.
Jesus Christ was not God and man. He is the God-man. He is God manifest in the flesh. Jesus Christ is the perfect spotless
Lamb of God and it was He and He only that could have shed
blood for the remission of sin. He did this and He finished the
work. There is no more work for salvation
to be done. There is work that God performs
because of this salvation, which leads me to the next point. Next
we have inheritance, verses three and four. According to his abundant
mercy hath begotten us again into a lively hope by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead, verse four. to an inheritance
incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved
in heaven for you. Those for whom mercy has been
bestowed by Jesus Christ are those who are begotten unto a
living hope Jesus Christ being raised from the dead, then those
who are in Jesus Christ were also risen, but not just risen,
but risen to something. What is that something? An incorruptible
inheritance that will not be defiled or go away, which is
waiting for us. Those who are in Jesus Christ
are kept unto this. That is, they are kept unto eternal
life, that glorified body, and life with Christ. So how is this
done? How is it that we are kept so
that we will one day see this inheritance? By the power of
God. Verse five. Who are kept by the
power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed
in the last time. by the power of God through faith,
or that is, believing Jesus Christ, who is God. We are kept unto
that salvation, that life in Christ wherein this mortal shall
put on immortality. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 54 reads,
So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and
this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought
to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. That life which is in Jesus Christ
the Lord, that is that which will be revealed in the last
time. There will come a time when we, that is God's elect,
will experience immortality. For now we see through a glass
darkly, but then we will see him face to face. That is when
we will be able to truly worship that one who redeemed us from
the curse of the law. We will then be free from sin
completely. What else does it go on to say
in this passage? Verses six through nine, we read,
wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be,
you're in heaviness through manifold temptations, that the trial of
your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth,
though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and
honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. whom having
not seen ye love, in whom though now ye see him not, yet believing,
ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving
the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. So we greatly rejoice in all
of that, although now for a season we might be in heaviness, though
through many temptations, or that is, trials. This being the
trial of our faith, which is given us in Christ Jesus. This
faith allowing us to be able to believe Jesus Christ. The
end of this faith, or that is the result of this faith, being
you knowing your salvation, which is Jesus Christ the Lord. Salvation
by the preaching of the gospel is knowing Jesus Christ the Lord
did all the work to gain or get my salvation. Salvation is not
doing, salvation is done. Done in and by the Lord Jesus
Christ. Verses 10 and 11, 10 through
11. Of which salvation the prophets
have inquired and searched diligently who prophesied of the grace that
should come unto you. 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. Even the prophets who we read
in the Old Testament, they testified of things and they searched diligently
to look into these things, the things we have now been talking
about already. So what exactly can we say that
these angels desire to look into? If I can narrow it down into
one word, it would be this. Redemption towards a creation
of God by God himself. God condescending to this earth
being made flesh, but yet fully God. He suffered the shame of
the cross and ultimately the death of the cross. God bethanked,
that is not all. He was also resurrected. Christ
being raised from the dead, all those in Him were raised to eternal
life with Him. So Christ being raised, He sat
down at the right hand of God the Father, victorious and accepted. He now sits making intercession
for us, for His elect. His intercessory work is such
that there is none that will lay anything to the charge of
God's elect. No charge will be laid to them
because Jesus Christ, the perfect, spotless lamb, is seated at the
right hand of God with us seated with him. Turn with me to Romans
8, Romans 8. Romans 8, and I wanna read 28
through 39. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called,
them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we say then to these
things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather,
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from
the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress
or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? As it is written,
for thy sake we are killed all the day long. We are counted
as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are
more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded
that neither death nor life nor angels, nor principalities, nor
powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor
depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. These angels know nothing of
this because the elect angels never fail. not the elect angels,
and that is who we are talking about. The fallen angels are
called demons. These elect angels do not know
what it is to experience the grace of God as God's elect do. They are not a man, so not being
a man, they have never fallen from communion with God. Neither
are they spirit as God, so they do not know what it is for a
holy God to be made flesh, being made sin, die, and be resurrected. There are some men who will never
know the communion of God because they will not in time bow down
in belief to Jesus Christ the Lord. They will forever know
the forsaking of God. To have communion God, you must
believe that he is. Hebrews 11, six says. But without
faith, it is impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God
must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him. Not believing Jesus Christ is
evidence that you have not been given faith by God. If you die
in this state, you will die on your sins. That is what Christ
says. This is Christ speaking in John
8 and verse 24. I said therefore unto you that
ye shall die in your sins, for if ye believe not that I am he,
ye shall die in your sins. Believing in God is the work
of God himself. John 6 29 says, Jesus answered
and said unto them, this is the work of God, that ye believe
on him whom he hath sent. Faith comes from God. It is he
that must give this faith. Ephesians 2.8 says, for by grace
are ye saved through faith, and that is not of yourselves, it
is the gift of God. That is the grace, the salvation,
and the faith are all the gift of God. He must give it or you
will not have it. If you are not given this, then
you will not believe Jesus Christ. But on the other hand, you have
God's elect, those chosen in Christ who have been shown mercy,
These will in time be brought to a place where they will bow
down to Jesus Christ the Lord, believing him. They will always
know the communion of God and never will they know the forsaking
of God. Hebrews 13, five says, let your conversation be without
covetousness and be content with such things as you have. For
he has said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. Then you have God, who is in
the face of Jesus Christ, the God-man, God manifest in the
flesh. This one who is totally just,
holy, and good. Everything this self-existent
one does is right. Abraham spoke with God concerning
Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 18 and 25, and he says, shall
not the judge of all the earth do right? The answer is rhetorical. God always does right because
he is righteousness personified. This holy one who knows the shame
and guilt of sin, he knows what it is to be sin because he was
made sin for us. Second Corinthians 521 reads
this way. For he hath made him to be sin
for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. He knows the forsaking of a God
because of that sin. He was forsaken of the father
at Calvary. Matthew 27, 46 we read, and about
the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli,
lama sabachthani. That is to say, my God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me? But it is this Jesus Christ the
Lord who completed and secured his people's salvation, those
for whom it was said that he shall save his people from their
sin. It was this place of being made sin for us that he had his
face set like a flint towards. He was going to fulfill the Father's
will, who is rich in mercy, and he did. In John 19 and 30 we
read, When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said,
it is finished. And he bowed his head and gave
up the ghost. The cry from the Lord Jesus Christ
on the tree was that salvation is finished, paid for, complete. Him having died on the tree and
then being raised after three days, he ascended on high to
forever make intercession for those for whom he died. He is
truly able to be touched with the feelings of our infirmities.
It is this God, this man who makes intercession for his people. It is said of him in Hebrews
4.15, for we have not a high priest which cannot be touched
with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted
like as we are, yet without sin. The things these angels desire
to look into are the things done by a sovereign, almighty, merciful
God. This one who did not have to
do what he did, but he purposed to do everything that was done
just this way in order to give glory to himself. You will glorify
this one, this one pearl of great price, this one that is greater
than Solomon, This one who is the savior of fallen, sinful
man. The one spoken of in Isaiah,
and if you will, turn with me to Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53. And we'll begin in verse three. Isaiah 53 and verse three. He is despised and rejected of
men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and we hid as it
were our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed
him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows. We did esteem him, stricken,
spent of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him. And with his stripes, we are
healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his
own way. And the Lord hath laid on him
the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted. Yet he opened not his mouth.
He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before
her shearers is done. So he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and
from judgment. And who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the
land of the living. For the transgression of my people
was he stricken. And he made his grave with the
wicked and with the rich in his death, because he had done no
violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased
the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief when
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin. He shall see his seed,
he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand. He shall see the travail of his
soul, and shall be satisfied, that is, God the Father will
be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. This is Jesus Christ being made
sin for us right here. It talks about it in Isaiah,
and then we read about it in the New Testament in 1 Corinthians,
2 Corinthians 5.21. This is redemption. This is that one word that I
can use to explain what these angels desire to look into. This is redemption, and this
is the Redeemer who secured it. Jesus Christ the Lord, God manifest
in the flesh. This is what the angels desire
to look into. They would like to be able to
see what this mercy looks like from a holy just God. There are
those of sinful man that are unable to find grace in the eyes
of the Lord just as Noah did. It is day for whom this one merciful
God died. for and rose again so that they
might inherit eternal life. That is eternal life to have
communion with Jesus Christ the Lord, God manifest in the flesh. What is it that you desire to
look into? At 12 noon, you can hear another
one of a portion of our Sunday morning messages. Please tune
in at 12 noon to 1230 and listen to one of our messages. Or you
can come here and be with us to hear the gospel as well. Just
past Little Beaver State Park on Annabel Lane. Come hear the
gospel preached.