Introduction: This Sunday as my family and I gather with the saints, I am teaching from 1 Peter 1. “Looking Back, Looking Forward” is the title.

We are to look back in order to learn from the past. But we are also to look forward–in the sure and certain knowledge that all of history is known to God, and if we are God’s people and are in Christ, we are to be a people of hope.

Text:

¹⁰ Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, ¹¹ inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. ¹² It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. (1 Peter 1:10-12)

Teaching: Peter writes that the prophets of before were “serving not themselves but you” (1 Pt 1:12). That is crucial for us to understand. Peter is saying that those who labored in the faith were not in that labor for their fame, fortune, or aggrandizement. They served the Lord by serving the people.

In other words, we owe a lot to those who labor well. We stand upon their shoulders. They sacrificed on our behalf, even though they may not have known us personally. But because they loved the Lord and the truth, they served faithfully.

Encouragement: Folks, we need to honor those to whom honor is due. Let us look around and see who’s got theological blisters due to hard work. Let us look to those who serve others rather than self. Let us encourage one another in the Lord and in the truth. Because God sees. And we will give an account.