Shabbat Shalom. Please open your Bibles to the first epistle of Peter. Shimon Petros wrote this wonderful epistle to the first century Jewish believers, and we are going to go through this book, and we have had an introduction in our previous meeting. The first two verses of the first epistle of Peter in chapter one, we have read and we have looked at the introduction to the book. Shabbat Shalom. And today, I would like to continue from verse 3 to verse 12, and the passage that we are going to read today, verses 3 to 12, deals with this great salvation which God provided for you and I, for all believers. Now, let me read the text, and please follow me.

1. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus the Messiah, which according to his abundant mercy, has begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah from the dead, 1. To an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, 2. Who are kept by the power of God, through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. 2. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations, 3. That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, 3. Though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus the Messiah.

4. Whom having not seen, ye love, in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, 5. Ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls, 5. Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come 5. Unto you, searching what or what manner of time the spirit of Messiah, which was in them, 6. Which was in them, did signify, when he testified beforehand, of the sufferings of the Messiah and the glory that should follow. 6. Unto whom it was revealed that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things which are now reported unto you, 6.

By them that have preached the gospel unto you, by them that have preached the gospel unto you, with the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven, 7. Which things the angels desire to look into. 7. And I stop here with verse 12 of the first chapter. Now, brothers and sisters, in the introduction of this first letter that has five chapters that Peter wrote, 8. We have already concluded in the previous ministry meeting that Peter was a Jewish believer whom Yeshua called and raised him to be a servant, an apostle, a shaliyah. 8. He was the first one that was called to be a fisher of men, dayag shal anashim, as we say in Hebrew.

9. And now God had raised him and had saved him and brought him to himself, and now he became that apostle of the circumcision, Galatians chapter 2, the one who would minister to the Jewish people. 9. Now, the apostle Paul was the apostle to the uncircumcision, and Peter has a specific ministry to minister to the Hebrew Christians, the Jewish people, to become saved through the knowledge of Yeshua the Messiah. 9. Well, those Hebrew believers were scattered all over because of persecution. 9. We have here these areas, Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, in the first verse of chapter 1. 10. Then we have also looked at verse 2 of this chapter, that they were elect.

Now, a lot of people have a problem with election. Many times in my conversation and in teaching of the Word of God, many, many believers have a problem with the truth of election. Many say, well, if I'm going to get saved, I have to do something about it. It is a little bit of God's work and a little bit of my work, and that makes the possibility for me to get saved, to become a child of God. Well, the Bible teaches us that we have been elected, chosen people. And you notice it says in verse 2, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctification of the Spirit, unto the obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Yeshua the Messiah.

The whole triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit were involved in the salvation of the human race, of mankind, of yours and of mine. And notice it says that we are elect, and those Jewish believers who were scattered needed to understand that they have been chosen by God to be part of the assembly. Not only now that they have been part of the nation of Israel in a physical sense, they were Jewish, they were Hebrews, but now they have been elected by God, the Lord Jesus, to be part of what is known to be the assembly, the church, the ecclesia. And so he said, according to the foreknowledge of God.

Now, I want to emphasize something here with this expression, the foreknowledge of God the Father. What does that mean to be elected according to the foreknowledge of God? It is not here that God knew in eternity past that in time we will love Him and follow Him and accept Him. That is not what we learn here from this expression, the foreknowledge of God. The word to know in the Bible, in Hebrew we call it ladat, is much more than to know about somebody, what He's going to do in the future. The word to know has to do with an intimate relationship. To know, it means really, as we have this in this passage, is to know beforehand, but to know somebody intimately.

In other words, it has to do with election, with choosing someone to have a relationship with God. I'll give you an example. When we read in Amos chapter 3 and verse 2, God said to Israel, only you have I known. What does that mean? You mean you didn't know the other nations of the world? You didn't know about all the rest of the nations of the world? No, of course God knows all. He knows everyone. He created the human race. They all belonged to Him in a sense of the humanity. But there was a special relationship that God had with His people Israel. And that's why He said through Amos, only you, Israel, have I known, have I embraced to become a chosen people.

Do you know, if you read in chapter 4 of the book of Genesis, we read that Adam knew his wife and she gave birth to Cain and Abel. Now, what does that mean? Adam knew his wife. Did he know about her? Did he know something that she had done? No. He knew her intimately, physically, in a unique way. And through this knowledge of the physical relationship, Cain and Abel came into this world. It's not knowing about Eve, it's knowing Eve. It's not knowing about Israel, it's knowing Israel. It's not knowing about the believers, it's electing them and choosing them and bringing them into a relationship with God.

One of the clearest verses that we often read in Scripture about election is Ephesians chapter 1 and verses 3 and 4, in which the Apostle Paul said to the Ephesians, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, in Christos, in the Messiah, according, listen beloved brothers and sisters, as he has chosen us, elected us, in him, in the Messiah, before the foundation of the world. That's what election means. Now you might not understand it, and I might not understand it, but that's what God said, and that's what the Bible said. And Peter said to those Hebrew believers who were scattered now because of their faith in the Messiah, persecuted by their own nation, by their own brethren, and he's saying to them, you know, brethren, you are scattered, yes, but you have been elected according as God has foreknown you, chosen you, and sanctified you by the Spirit of God, that's the involvement of the Holy Spirit of God, unto the obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Yeshua the Messiah.

In other words, the Spirit of God, Rua HaKodesh, stirred us up in time, and brought us to accept the work of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, and the blood of the Messiah that had been shed for us. So what we have here in verse 2, when it's come to this election, we have the involvement of all the triune God, the three persons of the Godhead are involved in salvation. This is amazing truth to grasp and to understand. I thought all along that I chose God, that I wanted God, but the natural man does not want God. God is the one that drew us to himself. The natural man reject the things of God.

The natural man do not want God. It is God who have elected us and have chosen us, and in time, by the power of the Spirit of God, brought us to the knowledge of Yeshua the Messiah. So now we are moving on. After we talked about this introduction to the book now, in verses 3 to 12, he is now explaining to these Hebrew believers about God's great salvation. The Hebrew word for salvation is Yeshua, God's great salvation, God's great Yeshua. And he is looking at that in three aspects. He is looking at that, first of all, in a future point of view. And then in verses 6 to 9, he is looking at that in the present experience of the believer.

And in verses 10 to 12, he is looking at the past, how the past prophets of Israel were pointing to the salvation that God would provide in the coming day. So let's just look at these verses, if you may, please, with me. Let's begin with verses 3, 4, and 5. And here we see God's great salvation is pure and it is eternal. It's not only a temporary thing. It is eternal for those that have trusted Yeshua the Messiah. Look at it. He began, first of all, in verse 3. And he's talking about the believers. You and I, in the context, he's the early Hebrew Christians. And he is saying that the believers are born again by the resurrection of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah.

Notice he says in verse 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, which according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus the Messiah from the dead. The first thing here, in that portion of God's great salvation, that it is pure and it is eternal, the apostle Peter tells us that every believer is born again. Now, years ago, when a preacher used to preach the message of the gospel, when he finished to do his preaching, he was preaching about John chapter 3. Ye must be born again. And somebody asked him, Why do you preach all the time?

Ye must be born again. And the preacher said to him, You know why? Because you must be born again. If you are not born again, you have this old birth that we were all born through the Adamic nature, through Adam and Eve. We all have this human nature, this birth that is here below, the natural birth, which gave us a nature that is sinful, and God demands justice, and this sin nature will have to be judged. So Peter is saying to these Hebrew believers, look at this, how blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah, which is according to his mercy.

He has been so merciful and gracious to you, brethren Hebrew believers, to you and I today. In that, listen, he has begotten us again. That word begotten us again, simply means that he gave us new birth, new life, that was based upon the resurrection of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah to a living hope. He gave us a lively hope. You see, when we were born at our first birth, when we were born from our parents, you know what we see? The life journey is limited. We live life and maybe 20, 30, 40, 50, maybe 100 years of age, and the time come to pass that we have to leave this world and to go to where we came from.

No hope in this. When you really look at this, you know when I look at my mother today, 91 years old, that one day I needed to hold her hand to get help to feed me, and I look at her today, and I need to feed her, and I need to take care of her. What happened to this woman that one day was so strong and able to take care of her children and provide for them and serve them and work for them and do so much to take care of them? Where is that person who was born at her first birth? What happened to her?

Well, you see, there is no hope beyond here, beyond certain years. We all look forward to live a long life, but life ends here in this world for the natural man. But here, beloved brothers and sisters, the apostle Shimon Petros, who ministered to first century Jewish believers, and through his word, we are being ministered to today in the reading of the scripture, he's saying to them, listen, it is God, the Father, who had mercy upon you and I, the Father of our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. He beget us, gave us new birth, new life, and new hope on the basis of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah.

What he's really saying, that now, because of the finished work of Yeshua, and because his resurrection, and trusting in his finished work, the believer in Yeshua, the Messiah, had a hope, a living hope, not a hope that is temporary, but a living hope, because now he had given to us a new birth, and a new life, because of our faith in Yeshua, the Messiah. Now, turn for a moment with me to the Gospel of John, please, to chapter 3, and we read this verse often, many times in our study, and we know this verse very well, but I still would like to point this out. In John chapter 3, in verse 3, the Lord Yeshua have a discussion with Nicodemus, Nakdimon.

Nakdimon was a ruler among our nation, Israel, and Yeshua received him when he came to him by night, and he said to him, of course, in chapter 3, he came to Yeshua by night, in verse 2, he says to him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher that come from God, for no man can do these miracles which you are doing except God be with him. So now notice the discussion here in verses 3 on, to verse 7, Yeshua answered him and he said, verily, verily, I say unto you, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Now Nicodemus didn't ask him about the new birth, he just asked him, listen, Rabbi, boy, you have done so many miracles and you must be a man that came from God.

but Yeshua knew that ruler of our people Israel, he must have been an old man and he said to him, you know, you are getting up in age, but I want to tell you, Nakdimon, Nicodemus, verily, verily, I say unto you, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. to be born again, lehivaled mechadash in Hebrew, you must be born again, born from above. So Nicodemus answered him, he said, how can a man be born when he's old? Can he enter his second time into his mother womb and be born? And then Yeshua explained to him, what is that new birth?

Yeshua said unto him, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God, that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Marvel not when I say unto thee, ye must be born again. You see, he's explaining to him what it is to be born of the flesh and what it is to be born of the spirit of God. You know, we were all born by nature to our parents, but being born by nature to our parents only gave us or we have inherited a sin nature.

And sin nature, the wages of sin is death. And that's why there is no hope for the unbeliever beyond the grave. Only for the unbeliever, for the one who is not saved, his hope is only as long as this life lasts for him or for her. And that's why Nakdimon had to learn that which is born of the flesh is flesh. And that which is born of the ruach, of the spirit, is a spirit. And don't marvel when I tell unto you, you must be born again. Now, notice, he doesn't say you should, he doesn't say you ought to be born again, but he says you must.

Because being born of the spirit of God gives one eternal relationship with God. Not a temporary relationship, but an eternal relationship with God. And so, he's saying in verse 3, the believers in 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 3, by the mercy of God have begotten us again, gave us new birth unto a living hope. That word in verse 3, lively hope, supposed to be living hope. It's not a dead hope. It is a living hope. A hope that is beyond the grave. An eternal hope the believer has because he's trusted in the Lord. And you know, it says here at the end of verse 3, 1 Peter 1, 3, it says, by the resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah from the dead.

That is very important. Now, if Yeshua would not have been resurrected from among the dead, we would have no hope. Because he would be living here a life, a long life, and then it will end. No hope. Because he was a godly man, sinless man, he never sinned, and therefore it was not necessary for him to die. He would walk and go to heaven as a perfect man. But he had to die that you and I will have a hope. He had to die that you and I will have a future. And that's why the word by the resurrection, it is very important because Romans tells us in Romans chapter 4, Paul said the end of the chapter, the last verse, he was delivered never for our offenses, Romans 4 and verse 25, but he was raised for our justification.

You see what happened? God delivered him into judgment because of our offenses and our sins, but God raised him as a token of his satisfaction with the work of our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, on the cross, and he raised him from among the dead to give us justification. So you and I will be declared righteous because of the righteous work of Yeshua, the Messiah. So, it is important to be born again, to be born from above, to be born of the Holy Spirit of God. there are many verses that we can look into. If you turn to verse 23, in the same chapter, he is saying, being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God which liveth and abideth forever.

The word of God have been affecting the conscience of man in the power of the Spirit of God and gives us new birth, new life, where the Spirit of God now residing in the believer. And so, brothers and sisters, this great salvation that is pure and that is eternal, first of all, giving us new life, new birth, being born again, the believer are born again on the basis of the resurrection of Yeshua, the Messiah. But notice now verse 4, the believers really have inherited a unique inheritance, inheritance. You know, every one of us who has children, when we're going to leave this scene, when we're going to leave this world, we're going to leave what we earn or what we gain in this world as an inheritance to our children.

This is natural. It is very common, very natural. People who leave this scene leave all what they have and their children inherit all what their parents have left for them. Now you see, whatever we leave for our children and for our families is temporary, is limited, is really shallow and only here down in this world. But look at the believer now in verse 4. The believer's inheritance are so unique, Peter is saying. It's not only that which is here in this world, but the inheritance of the believer are eternal. And he says in verse 4, you now have been born again to a living hope by the resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah from the dead.

This is verse 3 now verse 4 to an inheritance and he tells us four things about the inheritance of the believer. Number one, it is incorruptible. Number two, it is undefiled. Number three, it does not fade away. And number four, it reserve for us in heaven. Now notice those four things. All our inheritance that we get here from our family from our parents and so on are really often time fading away. But the inheritance that we as believers have because of the work of the Messiah are eternal. And that's why I said that in verses 3, 4, and 5 the great salvation is not only pure but it is eternal because he is saying now in verse 4 an inheritance incorruptible.

You know, everything in this world is corrupted. Would God start with men mess it up? Whether it is Israel our nation, God have given us such a blessing to the nation, we messed it up as a nation. The church, God have given us so much truth and so many things here, we messed it up. Everything that God provides here in this world, the human race messed it up, corrupted it. Now look at this, he says, incorruptible. you can't corrupt what God is going to give to the believer. Incorruption, not limited, not able to get corrupted, notice also undefiled. How much defilement is existing here in this world?

And we too here in this world often time are defiling ourselves because we still have this sin nature within us. but what God has given to the born again believer, he giving him an inheritance that is incorruptible but also undefiled. You know why? Because it has to do with the one who gave it, our blessed Lord Yeshua the Messiah. We read in other passages about him, he's undefiled, he's separate from sinners. Such a great high priest. The book of Hebrews teaches this to us. Notice the third thing, it says that this inheritance is not fading away. You know, things in this world they fade away.

We have it for a while and then they fade and they're gone and we don't see it anymore. But the inheritance that the believer have will never fade. You know, even clothes that we wear, shoes that we buy here in this world, after a while you look at the same shirt that we're wearing for the last year, it doesn't look quite the same. The shoes that we used to wear, they are not as they used to be when we first bought it. The cars that we drive, you know, when I first came to this country and we drove a car for some reason after one winter, everything is rusty on the side.

Salt and sand and by the time you drive it a year or two you find out, boy, what happened to the whole side of the car? It's these holes and it faded away, rotten, and it's no longer the same like it used to be before. Why? Because everything here in this world is going to fade away. But the believer's inheritance because of the finished work of the Messiah is incorruptible, it is undefiled, it will never fade away and notice that the last one in verse 4, it's reserved for us in heaven, not here. Now, remember who he's writing to. He's writing to Jewish believers and all their hopes were in the land of Israel, in the city of Jerusalem, in the temple, in the hope that they have had, in the promises that God had given to our forefathers, but now, because they believed in Jesus, the Messiah, they lost their possessions, they have been scattered around various areas such as Asia, Mino, and Galatia, Pontius, Cappadocia, and all the area that we have in verse 1 and they seem to lose all their inheritance.

God gave our forefathers inheritance to every tribe, Reuven, Shimon, Levi, Yehudah, and so on. Levites didn't have an inheritance, but all the tribes had a possession in the land and now they don't have it. So what they will do? So Peter, Shimon, Petrus telling them, listen, the inheritance that you have as a believer, as a born-again person, is incorruptible, undefiled, fade not away, but reserved for you not here, but in heaven. You remember what Yeshua said? In my Father's house there are many mansions. If it were not so, he says, John 14, I would have told you, but I go to prepare a place for you.

And if I go to prepare a place for you, he said to these first believers in the upper room in Jerusalem, he says, if I go, I'll come again, that I may receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you will be also. You know, brothers and sisters, the lesson here, you know, we live good, praise God for where we are, but even if we have lost of all things, there is reserve serve for the believer in heaven, an inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled, that it will never, never fade away. Wonderful. And those believers needed this encouragement, like you and I need this encouragement today.

Now notice in verse 5, he's still talking about this great salvation, which is pure and eternal. And you remember, he's talking about this salvation that is yet to come, it's future, it is eternal, and then he says now in verse 5, that the believers are kept by God's power unto this great salvation, that it is eternal, and it is in a future sense, because he says in verse 5, who are kept by the power of God through the faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Now I want you to notice that it's used the word who are kept by the power of God. Now sometimes believers who are not instructed as far as the scripture is concerned, they think that they have to keep themselves.

You know, we are unable to keep ourselves. It is God who keeps us. It is God who keeps us for himself. This truth is the truth of eternal security. This is what we have here in verse 5, who are kept by the power of God. It's not that we keep ourselves. You know, sometimes people think that they can jump out of the hands of the Lord and get unsaved. And then later on become believers again and get saved again. And then, oh, all of a sudden they get unsaved. Oh, and then again they get saved. And they are like unsaved and saved and unsaved as if salvation depended upon their performance.

Praise God, it's not so because most of us will be lost today if we need to keep ourselves. Now, we are taught that we are to keep ourselves in the love of God. We are responsible to be under the umbrella of the love of God, close to him, to enjoy fellowship with him. But our salvation, we are kept by the strength, by the power of God, not by our own power. And that's why he says here we are kept by the power of God through faith and notice the word salvation, Yeshua, unto the Yeshua, the salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time, in the latter time.

Now, Peter wrote that 2,000 years ago. For you and I, we are 2,000 years closer to the soon coming time in which we're going to be taken out of here and be with our Lord forever. But as far as God's concern, we are not the one who keeping ourselves, we are kept by the power of God. Notice, if you turn to the book of Jude, and Jude said, Judah in Hebrew, in verse 24 and verse 25, the last verses of the book, he said, now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy to the only wise God our Savior be glory and majesty, dominion and power both now and forever.

Amen. So, brothers and sisters, in the first five verses, really, we have the great salvation of God provided for us, for the believer, which is pure and it is eternal. That is very encouraging for the first century believers. now let's move on in our chapter. From verse 6 to 9, we have this great salvation looked at from the present aspect. This great salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time that we have in verse 5, now from verse 6, 7, 8, and 9, this great salvation gives joy now to the believer in the midst of suffering and in the midst of trial. Now, most believers who walk with the Lord can say that there is not such a thing without experiencing trials in our lives.

Believers in Yeshua the Messiah are going to experience tribulations and trials. So, in verses 6 to verse 9, Peter emphasizing that in view of what we know that is going to happen in the future, God's great salvation gives us now presently joy in the midst of sufferings. And so, he says in verse 6 and 7 that the believers who know the future and waiting for him rejoicing in the time when they are going through trial. It says in verse 6, wherein you greatly rejoice though now for a season if need be ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations, manifold trials, that the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perishes though it be tried with fire might be found unto the praise and the honor and the glory at the appearing of Yeshua the Messiah.

These two verses, verses 6 verse 7, he is emphasizing trials. Who of us can say that we didn't have trials in our lives? Now, we have no idea what those first century believers had to go through. Especially being under the Roman occupation of the country of Israel, the whole world was under the Roman influence, the Romans have persecuted the first century believers. How many believers, how many Christians, a messianic people have lost their lives under Nero and have lost their lives under all those governors and the Romans who believed that Caesar is their God and not Yeshua. And many Christians, many believers have suffered under the Roman Empire.

And so, those believers that suffered need encouragement because when they suffer, what do you think? When we go through suffering, we're inclined to think of ourselves and not of the Lord and we get discouraged. And here, he's telling them, listen, you somehow successfully with the help of the Lord have rejoiced greatly, notice verse 6, though now you're going through manifold testing. You know, God is going to test us. He's always going to test us. He's going to send trials in order to test us in our lives because he want to train us. He want to draw us closer to him because when we're going to get to heaven, we have all these inheritance, we'll never have to go through trials.

And sometime, we truthfully asking the question, God, why this thing happened to me in my life? Why is it, God, that I have so many issues, so many problems in my life? You know, trials are needful in the life of the believer. We need some time to go through trials and testing because testing helps us to mature and keep us closer to the Lord. There are two verses in the Psalms, Psalm 119, the psalm is said in verse 67, before I was afflicted, I went astray. You know that affliction is bringing us closer to the Lord? What happens when we get problems? We all of a sudden turn to God for help.

Oh, Lord, help me. But when we don't have afflictions and trials in our life, we tend to be driven further and further and further from the Lord. So affliction, trials, are being sent to us and the Bible shows us that they are needful for the believers. The psalmist says, Psalm 1967, before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now have I kept thy word? Verse 67. In verse 71, he said, it is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes. None of us would say, oh God, please send me more problems in my life. None of us will ask God for that, right?

But afflictions and trials are needful in the life of the believers. They refine us. They shape us. They mold us. You show me a man or woman that have gone through trials in their lives and I'll show you a man or woman who are testimony to the person of Yeshua, the Messiah. Trials are needful, though we don't like them, they are needful. You know what else about trials? There are also many types of trials. You notice he says here in verse 6, he says, wherein ye greatly rejoiced though now for a season if need be ye are in heaviness through manifold temptation. The word for manifold simply mean different types of trials.

There are all kind of trials that a believer go through. Sometimes it is sickness, sometimes it is death of a family member, sometimes it is a loss of jobs and loss of all kind of things, trials, sometimes it is hatred by neighbors and by others. You know, trials are coming in many forms and shapes in the life of the believers. So they are needful, but they are also different, very different. To one is one thing, to another it is another. So trials are not only needful, but they are manifold, they are different for each believer. Thirdly, we learn in these verses, the trials are sometimes heavy, hard a time.

You notice it says in verse 6 again, if need be, you are in heaviness, in heaviness through manifold testing. Some of the trials are heavy, are hard to bear. And you think about the apostle Paul, what he has experienced, he gave us a list of his suffering in 2 Corinthians in chapter 11, he says, in stripe, verse 23, above measure, in prisons, beyond more frequently, in death often, of the Jews five times I receive thirty-nine stripes, thrice I was bitten with rods, once I was stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, and a night and a day I have been in the deep, in journeying often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by my own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, the apostle Paul, Shaul, has suffered in so many ways in his life, many heavy, heavy trials and tribulations that he had gone through, in weariness, in watching, in fasting, in cold and in nakedness, what an experience he had gone through, and you and I too, in some small measure, trials are not only needful and also manifold, but they are heavy at times, and it's not easy, we need the grace of God.

Fourthly, in these verses 6 and 7, trials are really controlled by God. God allows trials to come into our life, you know, sometimes God will send to us problems, and you remember Abraham, an example, Abraham Avinu, our father Abraham, if you would ask Abraham, what did you think at the time when God asked you to offer your own son, whom you love, Isaac, Yitzchak, what would Abraham say? God, what you are asking me to do, take now thy son, thine only one, whom you love, Isaac, and offer him, upon the altar, on Mount Moriah, when I'm going to show you as a sacrifice, can you imagine when you have to take your own son, to take fire, to take wood, to take knife, and you have to get ready to kill him in obedience to God?

Who would do it? But Abraham trusted God, and God helped him, and so God is in control, because when the time come, and God told Abraham, no, don't touch the land, and God provided a way of escape, there is a verse in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 13 that says, there has no trial taken you, but such is it common unto men, but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted, or be tested, above that ye are able, but will with the testing, also will make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. So, verses 6 and 7, listen, what he tells us, specifically in verse 7, that the trial of your faith be much more precious than of gold, that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found to the praise and honor and the glory at the appearing of Yeshua the Messiah.

Do you know that every trial that we're going through, our trials are much more precious than of gold. Now, if you would ask us, humanly speaking, we would say, don't give me the trial, give me the gold. But God said that the gold even that you have, the trial is much more precious than what gold that you have. Why? Because what it says here, it's going to be as testing through the fire, it be found to the praise and the honor and the glory at the appearing of Yeshua the Messiah. You know when Yeshua is going to come and He knows every problem that you and I have gone through, every trial, when He is going to come and when we submitted to Him in those trials, He is going to reward us.

He is going to tell us well done, good and faithful servant. It's for His own glory, it's for His own praise, it's for His own honor at the glory at the appearing when He is going to come to take us to be with Him in glory. He is going to reward us and He is going to get the glory and the honor for every trial that we went through and submitted to the authority of God. That's the way Peter explained this. Now we are still in the portion, verses 6, 7, 8, and 9, in which we are talking about God's great salvation give us today joy in the midst of suffering and tribulation.

He continues now in verse 8 and he says the believers who know the future love and believe now in Yeshua the Messiah even though they haven't seen Him. Do you know that those first century believers that Peter wrote who never seen the Lord? Peter saw Him. He was chosen by Yeshua. He was called to be fisher of men. But the other believers to whom Peter wrote these Hebrew Christians, Messianic Jewish people, they never seen the Lord and yet they loved Him. It says in verse 8 whom having not seen yet ye love. You know why we love the Lord? We never seen Him. We never seen the Lord.

We only hear about Him. We never seen Yeshua at all. 2,000 years passed by since He was here on earth. We have never seen Him with our eyes and yet we love Him. 1 John 4 tells us we love Him because He first loved us. We have been forgiven He has shown His love to us when He died for us on the tree and in response to Him we love Him back. So these first century Hebrew believers have not seen Yeshua at all and yet they loved Him. And it says, in whom whom though now ye see Him not yet you believe and you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.

Even though they have suffered tribulation, even though they have been persecuted, they still loved the one that they just heard about. The gospel has been preached to them by many such as Peter, James, John, and others. And they have heard from these other Hebrew believers that Yeshua was the Messiah. They have accepted the Messiahship of Yeshua. They became born again. They have been persecuted. Never seen Yeshua and yet they loved Him. Whom having not seen, ye love. And that is a question that we need to ask ourselves. Do we love the Lord? Do we realize how much He loved us? For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.

The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of this world. His love to us is supreme. His love to us cannot be compared. The Scripture teaches us that we have been so much loved by the Lord that He was willing to give His life a ransom for many, many verses in the Bible. Paul said in Galatians 2, verse 20, the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. That's why in response we are to love our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. So the believers who know the future love the Messiah even though they haven't seen Him. They believe in the Messiah even though they haven't seen Him here and now even though they are going through trials.

In verse 9, these believers salvation is received already now. They can enjoy it while they are waiting for the future. It says in verse 9, receiving the end of your faith even the salvation of your soul. This is the present salvation, the present Yeshua, the present salvation that we have right now waiting for the day that He is going to come receiving the end of your faith, a result of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. Again, Romans 1, verse 16, I am not ashamed of the gospel of the Messiah, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes, to the Jew first and also to the Gentiles.

Apostle Paul taught it. So, brothers and sisters, we are talking about this great salvation provided for believers in Yeshua the Messiah. We have the future aspect of this salvation, verses 3 to 5. We have the present aspect of this salvation, verses 6 to 9, and now look at the past. In other words, in the past, it was already spoken about by the Hebrew prophets. The last three verses in this ministry meeting is verses 10, 11, and 12. We see this great salvation was already spoken about in the past by the Hebrew prophets. And look at those three verses. Let's go over them. in verse 10, the Hebrew prophets searched. They inquired so much of the Lord to know about that great salvation that God was going to provide.

Again, this is the third time the word salvation is mentioned. This time, the salvation here is looked from the past searching and promises that we have in the Tanakh. It says in verse 10, of which salvation the prophets, this is the Jewish, Hebrew, Israeli prophets, have inquired and searched diligently who prophesied of the grace that should come unto us. When you read the Tanakh, the whole Tanakh, the Old Testament, is filled with promises of God's great salvation. It began with Genesis 3, 15, the first prophetic word given to us in the earlier book of the scripture, where God had promised that of the seed of the woman, there will come that redemption.

That the seed of the woman, he will be bruised, but he's going to die, but he's going to crush and defeat the head of Satan. That is the first promise in the Bible of this great salvation that will be provided for the human race. And so, we see it in scripture, and I can give you many other verses, but the Old Testament Hebrew saints, they were searching. They didn't understand everything, but they were searching. You see, you and I have a lot of truths because we have the New Testament, because we have the Holy Spirit of God indwelling us today. We have a lot of responsibilities because we have so much that they have never had.

The Messiah already came. He finished the work on the tree. He's been resurrected, and he's in heaven, but as far as the early period of human history, the Hebrew prophets did not see what you and I see today, but yet God given enough material to cause them to search, and that's why it says of which salvation the prophets have inquired, and they searched diligently. They were searching, and inquired, and learning, and asking God, and praying, God, when will this thing be? How is this going to work about? When there will be these promises that you gave us in the scripture? When are they going to come to pass?

They were searching, they were inquiring, and they spoke, they prophesied, of the grace that should come unto you. They prophesied, they spoke about the grace. What's the grace? God will provide forgiveness for man through grace in giving the Messiah for the human race. It's so beautiful that we have the Old Testament saints were looking for the future. You know, we read in the same writer, Peter said, knowing this first, 2 Peter 1 verse 20 and 21, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation, for the prophecy came not in all time by the will of men, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

All the prophets, Yeshayahu, Yirmiyahu, Yechezkel, Daniel, all these Hebrew prophets of old, they were moved by Ruach HaKodesh, by the Holy Spirit, and they prophesied. It was not a human opinion, but it was a prophetic word given to us through these men in the past. So they inquired, they searched, and they prophesied, verse 10. And then this great salvation that was already spoken about in verse 11, those Hebrew prophets searched in order that they will find out about the sufferings of the Messiah and the glory that should follow because they didn't understand it. Do you know why today our own rabbis teach that there are two Messiahs?

Why they teach that there are two Messiahs? Because they read a text in the Old Testament, in the Tanakh, that says that the Messiah will suffer. And then they read another text in the Old Testament, and they find out that this text shows us the Messiah will be glorified, and he will receive power and authority, and he will come in his own power, and they see, well, they have a problem to put it together. They have a problem to recognize that the prophets are speaking about one Mashiach who will come twice, once to suffer, and the second time to reign, one to finish the work of redemption, and the second time to rule of a redeemed company.

And so those Old Testament saints, it says in verse 11, they were searching, look at this, they were searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit Messiah, which was in them, did signify, when it testified beforehand, long time ago, of the sufferings of the Messiah, and the glory that should follow. Now, this is a problem that exists today among our people. We're looking for the Mashiach to come, oh, when the Mashiach will come, he will reign, and he will come in power, and he will deliver us from our enemies, and we will be a powerful nation in the coming day. But you know what? It never can happen unless the Messiah first is going to come to suffer.

How can God rule over a sinful world? Sin had to be judged, the Messiah had to suffer. The suffering is necessary in order for salvation to be provided. And so he's saying in verse 11, the Spirit of the Messiah which was in them signified, the Holy Spirit of God, pointed at this Hebrew prophets, to the truths concerning the sufferings of the Messiah, and then the glory that will follow. There is no such a thing as the Messiah wants to reign and to rule in glory unless, first of all, he suffered and he paid the penalty for sin. I mean, there are so many verses, brothers and sisters, that we can read about the sufferings of the Messiah and the glory that should follow.

read Isaiah chapter 53. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way, but the Lord laid upon him, the Messiah, the Messiah, the iniquities of us all. He was bruised for our iniquities. The Bible teaches the suffering of the Messiah. Well, then you read Psalm 22. They pierced my hands and my feet. He suffered unto death when he died on the cross. They pierced him and he died, a substitute, the just for the unjust. Many verses, Isaiah 53, Psalm 22, and other passages, Psalm 69, of the sufferings of the Messiah and oh, how did he suffer for us. But there are other passages in the Tanakh, in the Old Testament, of the glory that should come.

we read today, Psalm 110, in verse 1. Sit down on my right hand, God said, until I'll make thine enemies thy footstool. Yeshua is going to reign, and all his enemies are going to be his footstool in the future day. Psalm 24, who is the king of glory? Open the doors, and let the king of glory come in. He's going to come, and he's going to rule, and he's going to reign, but not before he's going to suffer, and die for the sin question. And so the Old Testament, Hebrew prophets of old, searched. The Spirit of God which was in them, indicated to them how the Messiah will suffer, and then the Messiah will reign.

Now, I want you to turn with me to Luke 24, please. Yeshua himself reminded the believers that these things are prophesied in the Scripture. Notice what he says, verse 25, Yeshua said to those two who went down to Emmaus, you remember, they were so sad because the Messiah died on the Roman cross, and they were so sad because now, as far as they were concerned, everything was over. They thought that he would lead and rule Israel. And then he said to them in verse 25 of Luke 24, he said to them, all fools and slow of heart, to believe all that the prophets have spoken, art not the Messiah to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory?

And beginning with Moshe and all the Nevi'im, the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. You see, he didn't have the New Testament in his hand. He had only the Tanakh, and he told them, look, look what your prophets have spoken concerning me that I had to suffer first, and then I'm going to come in my glory. It had to happen because sin had to be dealt with. Now notice in the same chapter, in verse 40 to 45, it says, and when he had thus spoken, he showed to them his hands and his feet. This is in the upper room in Jerusalem.

And while they yet believed not for joy, and they wondered, he said unto them, have ye any meat, and they gave him a piece of broiled fish, of an honeycomb, and he took it, and he did it before them. And look at verse 44 and 45, and he said to them, these are the words which I speak unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, that the Torah, in the prophets, this is the Nevi'im, and in the Psalms, this is the Ketuvim concerning me. Everything in the Tanakh, the law, the prophet, the writing, were pointing to the Messiah, the sufferings of the Messiah, and the glory that should follow.

What that means to us today, that the Messiah is coming one day. He suffered in the past, but he's coming one day to reign and to rule in glory and in power. What a day that will be. Now, finally, brothers and sisters, in connection with this great salvation that God provided, future, present, and past, pointing to it, look at verse 12, this great salvation revealed to the believers already right now, he says in verse 12, unto whom, meaning to this Hebrew Christians that Peter was writing, and to you it was revealed, and not unto them, the Old Testament prophets, the Hebrew prophets, they did not understand it, they did not grasp it fully like you believers today, 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 Spirit sent down from heaven.

in other words, what you and I know today, it is that which the Old Testament Hebrew saints, Hebrew prophets, did not enjoy it in a full sense as you and I are enjoying it today, even though those Hebrew Christians have suffered in the first century, and even some today suffer today, persecuted because of their faith in Yeshua the Messiah, but this great salvation which was spoken about in the past, was revealed to the believers today, and notice it says, through the ones that preach the gospel, in the power of the Holy Spirit, it is the Holy Spirit, that opening our hearts to understand the message of the gospel, otherwise we would never understand it, and

we would never accept it, unless the Spirit of God convicted us, and opened our hearts, and now finally, brothers and sisters, and this, I love this, in the end of verse 12, it says, which things the angels desire to look into, now I was amazed when I read this passage, you know, the angels, you and I don't see angels today, but the angels are in a spirit realm, they desire to see the truth of the salvation provided by the Messiah Yeshua for mankind, you know, the angels are observing things, it's a spiritual realm, you and I don't see angels, but the angels see us, and they desire, notice it says here, they desire to look

into, what they want to see, they look into down, if you will, and what they see, they see a sinner, hopeless individual, is now forgiven, they see the Messiah, Yeshua finish the work on the tree, they see God satisfied, people brought into a relationship with God, the angels look down, and they see that, they desire to look into it, and to see what God had provided through Yeshua, the Messiah, please bear with me, turn to Ephesians, chapter 3, talking about angels, principalities, and power, Ephesians chapter 3, verse 9 and 10, talking about the mystery of the church, it says in verse 9, and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery,

which from the beginning of the world has been hidden God, who created all things by Yeshua, the Messiah, to the intent, listen, that now unto principalities, this is angels, that now unto angels and powers in the heavenly places they might be known by the church, by the assembly, the manifold wisdom of God, you know the principalities and powers, these are angels, how do they know the grace of God?

They know it through the assembly, through the church, through the saved people, and they say what, how can God do that, how did he do it? How is it possible? The angels look down, and they appreciate, they enjoy the desire to look into this mystery of the church, of the body of Messiah, where Jewish people and Gentiles are united together with the Messiah, the head in heaven, it's a mystery that they desire to look into. The final verse is in 1 Corinthians 11, in verse 10, it says there, and you know, sometimes we talk about head covering, you know, and I did not write the Bible, thank God I didn't write the Bible, but God said in his word, listen to these brothers and sisters again, look at the angels, look at 1 Corinthians chapter 11, in verse 10, it says, for this caused a woman to have power over her head because of the angels, now again the angels, 1 Peter 1, the angels, Ephesians 3, the angels, 1 Corinthians chapter 11, the angels, why?

Because the angels look at us as the body of Messiah, and they see how we behave, they see what Christ has done for us. I know the issue of head covering has been conflict among believers over the years, but I'm just bringing it to the surface, and all of us have to make this decision, but I want to be faithful to teach what I understand from the Bible. the head covering of a sister in the assembly is only an outward expression of what really happened positionally, because you and I, as believers, are called the bride of Christ. He is the head, we are his bride, and we are to submit to his authority, and the head covering indicates an outward expression of the order that is existing in the assembly.

Now, somebody can have a head covering and yet not be submissive, so it's not merely the head covering, it's got to be coming from the heart, but angels as well in three passages in Scripture looking into this and seeing the mystery of the assembly, seeing this wonderful, great salvation, looking at us in a practical way and observing to see what God has done in the person and in the work of our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, the God's great salvation. In his future, it's eternal. In its present, we can enjoy it even we go through trial. And in the past, it was prophesied by the early Hebrew prophets that have given to us the word of God, the Tanakh, in the time past.

And how grateful are we to be, brothers and sisters, for the word of God, and for the testimony that we have in the Scripture.