Peter Exhorts the Persecuted Believers Volume 8

 Being Born Again to a Living Hope Part 6

1 Peter 1:10-11 Of which salvation the Prophets have enquired 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. KJV Note: NKJV=New King James Version

It is an ever increasing crescendo that the Apostle Peter is manifesting in this beginning of his first letter ✉ to the scattered Jewish converts to our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ. Peter just finished telling them and we true believers today and of every era and generation that we (unlike Peter) have not seen our Lord Jesus in the flesh as he did, yet we love 😍 Him just as much as he does. Knowing that the prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ is being answered in every century since His death on the Cross ➕, as He prayed, "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me." (John 17:20-23) (NKJV). The ever increasing crescendo that Peter continues onward and upward 👆 in this first letter ✉ is that the Prophets of old 🧓, such as Jerimiah, Daniel, Isaiah, Zechariah, Amos, Joel, etc. were so in awe and wonder about the prophecies that were given to them to speak to the children of Israel that they prayed and fasted and dug deep into the Scriptures and their very own prophecies like someone would work hard in digging up precious and valuable elements from the earth like diamonds or gold to understand the nature or the cause or the quality of this grace and what it meant for those who would receive it in the future dispensation, as it is written by Peter the Apostle here, "Of which salvation the Prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:" (1 Peter 1:10) (KJV). The Apostle Peter says here that those Old Testament Prophets searched out and investigated and explored and carfully sought after the meaning of the things which were given to them to speak to the people of Israel. Here is what John Wesley had to say of 1 Peter 1:10, "So far beyond all that was experienced under the Jewish dispensation. The very Prophets who prophesied long ago of the grace of God toward you - Of His abundant, overflowing grace to be bestowed on believers under the Christian dispensation. Inquired - Were earnestly inquisitive. And searched diligently - Like miners searching after precious ore, after the meaning of the prophecies which they delivered." Here also is what Adam Clarke had to say of 1 Peter 1:10, "The incarnation and suffering of Jesus Christ, and the redemption procured by Him for mankind, were made known, in a general way, by the Prophets; but they themselves did not know the time when these things were to take place, nor the people among and by whom He was to suffer, etc.; they therefore inquired accurately or earnestly, and searched diligently, inquiring of others who were then under the same inspiration, and carefully searching the writings of those who had, before their time, spoken of these things. The Prophets plainly saw that the grace which was to come under the Messiah’s Kingdom was vastly superior to any thing that had ever been exhibited under the law; and in consequence they made all possible inquiry, and searched as after grains of gold, hidden among sand or compacted with ore, (for such is the meaning of the original word), in order to ascertain the time, and the signs of that time, in which this wondrous display of God’s love and mercy to man was to take place; but all that God thought fit to instruct them in was what is mentioned." Note: Read Jerimiah 31:33-40.

Next the Apostle Peter declares to us that the Spirit of Christ who has regenerated, redeemed, and resurrected each of we true believers from spiritual death was likewise in the Prophets of Old 🧓 (just as He is in me and every born again true believer) declaring to them the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle Peter says this, "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." (1 Peter 1:11) (KJV). The Apostle Paul also wrote of this reality to the Galatians with these words, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." (Galatians 2:20) (NKJV). The majority of the Jewish people had misunderstood the manner of the coming Messiah and thought He would come the first time to the earth 🌎 as an outward conquering King to defeat, decimate, and destroy the enemy of Israel the Romans, however, those Prophets of old prophesied of Christ sufferings for the sin of humanity, as it is written for us with these words by the Apostle John, "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, 'Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, 'After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.' I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.'" (John 1:29-31) (NKJV) and also these words written by the 📝 writer of Hebrews, "For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another— He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation." (Hebrews 9:24-28) (NKJV). Here is what John Wesley had to say of 1 Peter 1:11, "Searching what time - What particular period. And what manner of time - By what marks to be distinguished. The glories that were to follow - His sufferings; namely, the glory of His resurrection, ascension, exaltation, and the effusion of His Spirit; the glory of the last judgment, and of His Eternal Kingdom; and also the glories of His grace in the hearts and lives of Christians." Here also is what Adam Clarke had to say of 1 Peter 1:11, "Not only the glory of His resurrection, ascension, exaltation, and the effusion of His Spirit; but that grand manifestation of God's infinite love to the world in causing the Gospel of His Son to be everywhere preached, and the glorious moral changes which should take place in the world under that preaching, and the final glorification of all them who had here received the report, and continued faithful unto death. And we may add to this the ineffable glorification of the human nature of Jesus Christ, which, throughout eternity, will be the glorious Head of His glorified body, the Church."

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.


Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…