1 Peter 1:12

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. Not only was the future revealed to them, but also that these revelations were given them mainly, not for themselves, but for our good. This only quickened them in testifying in the Spirit for the partial good of believers of their own generation, and for the full benefit of believers in Gospel times. (Contrast Revelation 22:10.) This was "revealed" to them, lest they should be disheartened in not discovering, with all their inquiry and search, the full particulars of the coming "salvation." To Daniel (Daniel...

12_Unto whom it was revealed _This passage has been strangely perverted by fanatics, so as to exclude the fathers who lived under the law from the hope of eternal salvation. For it does not deny that the prophets usefully ministered to their own age, and edified the church, but teaches us that their ministry is more useful to us, because we are fallen on the ends of the world. We see how highly they extolled the kingdom of Christ, how assiduous they were in adorning it, how diligently they stimulated all to seek it; but they were by death deprived of the privilege of seeing it as it now is. What else then was this, but that they spread the table, that others might afterwards feed on the provisions laid on it. They indeed tasted by faith of those things which the Lord has by their hands transmitted to be enjoyed by us; and they also partook of Christ as the real food of their souls. But w...

10-12 Jesus Christ was the main subject of the prophets' studies. Their inquiry into the sufferings of Christ and the glories that should follow, would lead to a view of the whole gospel, the sum whereof is, That Christ Jesus was delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification. God is pleased to answer our necessities rather than our requests. The doctrine of the prophets, and that of the apostles, exactly agree, as coming from the same Spirit of God. The gospel is the ministration of the Spirit; its success depends upon his operation and blessing. Let us then search diligently those Scriptures which contain the doctrines of salvation....

Verse 12. _UNTO WHOM IT WAS REVEALED_] We may presume that, in a great variety of cases, the prophets did not understand the meaning of their own predictions. They had a general view of God's designs; but of particular circumstances, connected with those great events, they seem to have known nothing, God reserving the explanation of all particulars to the time of the issue of such prophecies. When they wished to find out the times, the seasons, and the circumstances, God gave them to understand that it _was not for themselves, but for us, that they did minister the_ _things which are now reported unto us by the preaching of the_ _Gospel_. This was all the satisfaction they received in consequence of their earnest searching; and this was sufficient to repress all needless curiosity, and to induce them to rest satisfied that the Judge of all the earth would do right. If all succeeding int...

UNTO WHOM IT WAS REVEALED - They were not permitted to know fully the import of the predictions which they were made the instruments of communicating to mankind, but they understood that they were intended for the benefit of future ages. THAT NOT UNTO THEMSELVES - We are not to suppose that they derived no benefit from their own predictions; for, as far as they understood the truth, it was as much adapted to sanctify and comfort them as it is us now: but the meaning is, that their messages had reference mainly to future times, and that the full benefit of them would be experienced only in distant ages. Compare Hebrews 11:39. UNTO US THEY DID MINISTER THE THINGS, WHICH ARE NOW REPORTED UNTO YOU - Not unto us by name, but their ministrations had reference to the times of t

EXPOSITIONS 1 PETER 1:1 PETER. It is the Greek form of the name, which the Lord Jesus himself had given to the great apostle; first, by anticipation, in the spirit of prophecy (John 1:42); and again when the prophecy was already in a measure fulfilled, and Simon was proving himself to be indeed a stone, built upon the Rock of Ages, which is Christ (Matthew 16:18). It was his Christian name; he must have prized that name as the gift of Christ, reminding him always, of his confession and of the Savior's promise, urging him to maintain throughout life that rock-like steadfastness which was indeed characteristic of him, but in which he had more than once very sadly failed. The us

UNTO WHOM IT WAS REVEALED,.... The salvation they searched and inquired into, and the grace of it; the time of its being wrought out, and what sort of times they would be when Christ should come, both to the church, and to the world, among Jews and Gentiles; as also what cruel sufferings the Messiah should undergo, and what great glory should be put upon him afterwards: THAT NOT UNTO THEMSELVES, BUT UNTO US THEY DID MINISTER. The Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, read "unto you"; and so do some copies. Not that they were ignorant of the things they searched into, and were revealed unto them, and they prophesied of; as the Jews sometimes say c of them, "that they prophesied, and knew not what they prophesied of;'' though it is not to be supposed that they had such clear and distinct ideas of things as saints have now under the Gospel dispensation; yet they knew much of the...

1 Peter 1:1. _Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied._ How sweetly the apostle is obeying his Master's command, «When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.» This is the same Peter who once began to sink beneath the waves, yet now he is helping others to stand. This is the very Peter who denied his master, but he begins his Epistle by owning himself to be «an apostle of Jesus Christ.» What wonders the Lord Jesus had wrought for Peter by his grace! It is no marvel, therefore, that he should say to others, «Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.»...

1 PETER 1:12 @evn# pneu,mati {C} On the one hand, the prevailing usage in 1 Peter (as also elsewhere in the New Testament) favors the reading evn, attested by a C K P and most other witnesses. On the other hand, in view of the absence of the word from such early and important witnesses as î72 A B Y 33 _al_ a majority of the Committee thought it necessary to enclose the word within square brackets. [The reading without evn is to be preferred on the basis of (_a_) superior external evidence, (_b_) the tendency of scribes to add evn in conformity to the usual expression elsewhere, and (_c_) the absence of any good rea...

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS I. THE SUFFERING OF BELIEVERS AND EXHORTATIONS TO HOLY LIVING CHAPTER 1:1-21 _ 1. The introduction and doxology (1 Peter 1:1)_ 2. Suffering and the coming glory (1 Peter 1:6) 3. As revealed in the prophets (1 Peter 1:10) 4. Exhortations to holy living (1 Peter 1:13) 1 Peter 1:1 As stated in the introduction, Peter writes to believing Jews in the dispersion throughout the provinces mentioned in the first verse. There is at once pointed out a contrast between them as true bel