1 Peter 1:22-2:3

Truth in Love Network iconTruth in Love Network

0 views

New Man, New Love 1 Peter 1:22-2:3 (Robert at FBC Newton)

0 comments

1 Peter 1:22-2:3

1 Peter 1:22-2:3

00:12
I was looking for the information up on the screen the title of the sermon is going to be new man New love and it's in first peter chapter
00:20
Uh one starting in verse 22. So if you want to go ahead and turn to first peter chapter 1 verse 22
00:26
We're going to look through uh chapter 2 verse 3 um the uh
00:34
The points of interest, um are are less sermon outline that uh that should be up on the screen, uh pretty soon um
00:43
But they're going to be less less sermon outline And more points of interest to help us study as we look through first peter chapter 1 verse 22 through chapter 2 verse 3 um
00:58
You're not gonna Okay, it's not going to be up there. Okay, and I don't have them written down.
01:06
Uh, so it's okay. Um Okay, cool, so when you see them up there, um, if we can get them up there one of them, uh
01:16
One of them was the imperishability of of love And I got to thinking is that even a word?
01:23
So I looked it up on the internet and it come up on the internet. So Rest assured because it's on the internet, of course, it's true, right?
01:31
It's got to be true. So, uh, we could put the imperishableness of love But I went with the imperishability of love.
01:38
That's that's one of the points of interest Hopefully we'll see that pretty soon Let's go ahead and read our text together if you're there in first peter chapter 1 starting in verse 22
01:48
Since you have In obedience to the truth purify your souls for sincere love of the brethren fervently love one another from the heart
01:59
For you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable that is
02:05
Through the living and abiding word of god for all flesh is like grass and all its glory
02:10
Like the flower of grass the grass withers and the flower falls off but the word of the lord abides forever
02:16
And this is the word Which was preached to you therefore putting aside all malice and all guile and Hypocrisy and envy and all slander like newborn babes long for the pure milk of the word by That by it you may grow and respect salvation
02:32
If you have tasted the kindness of the lord now before we jump into The the what and the how of this text a lot of times we want to do that and if you were with tommy in any of the um
02:47
Wednesday night services earlier in the year Uh, one of the admonitions from tommy was to um, don't jump in to the application first We want to get to the context and learn all that so don't jump to the application first.
03:01
So That's what I had to do going into the text before we jump into the the what is it saying?
03:06
And and how do we apply it? I asked myself the question. Why is why is peter given the message that he's given to us?
03:15
Um And I had to lay a foundation for myself and I wanted to lay a foundation for you
03:20
And I think it will will help us as we begin to to study. Um, Study first peter not just this passage, but the whole of first peter laying down this this foundation of why?
03:32
um So what I did and you probably have done as well If you look at the introduction of peter and you look at the commentaries for peter
03:40
Most of them will tell you that peter was was writing to Christians who were persecuted christians who were suffering so we get that information from from the introduction of the book and from commentaries
03:53
And we'll look at textual evidence for those passages as well. Uh, but also one of the other themes in peter is
04:01
This this idea of of urgency this this idea of Eminence or something is happening soon this timetable language that peter uses
04:12
So there's these two themes writing to persecuted suffering christians and this timetable this eminence
04:19
Urgent type language that's going on And then the message that we read flowing out of those themes from first peter kind of confused me because It doesn't fit the message that he brings doesn't fit with with those two themes um
04:39
It goes against our natural wisdom, uh worldly wisdom worldly understanding
04:45
So what you think might flow from those themes doesn't fit with those themes and I want to cover those things
04:51
So look at the let's look at those verses Of suffering that we see in first peter Uh chapter 2 verses 10 through 12 for once For once we're not a people for you once we're not a people
05:03
But now you are people of god you have not received mercy, but now you have received mercy Beloved I urge you as foreigners as strangers to abstain from fleshly lust which wage again wage war against your soul
05:15
Keep your behavior excellent among the gentiles so that the thing in which they slander you as evildoers they may
05:21
Because of your good deeds as they observe them glorify god in the day of visitation chapter 3 verse 17 and 14
05:29
But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed and do not fear their
05:36
Intimidation and do not be in dread but sanctify christ as lord in your hearts always being ready to make a defense to everyone who ask you to give an account for the hope that is in you, but with gentleness and respect and And keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which that you are slandered those who disparage
05:53
Your good behavior in christ will put to shame for it is better If god would should will it so that you suffer for doing what is right rather than doing what is wrong
06:03
Chapter 4 12 through 14 beloved do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you which comes upon you
06:09
For your testing as though something strange were happening to you But to the degree that you will share in the sufferings of christ keep on rejoicing said so the revelation of his glory
06:20
You may also rejoice and be overjoyed if you are insulted for the name of christ You are blessed because of the spirit of glory and the god rest upon you
06:32
Along with the suffering like I said, there's also this theme of Eminence something's happening soon this timetable language and just a few verses of scriptural evidence for that Chapter 1 verse 5 it says revealed in the last time verse 7 at the revelation of jesus christ chapter 1 verse 11 sufferings of christ and the glories to follow chapter 1 verse 13 at the revelation of christ
07:00
Verse 20 in these last times for the sake of you Chapter 2 verse 12 in the day of visitation chapter 4 verse 5 who is ready to judge the living and the dead?
07:11
chapter 4 verse 7 and and you can circle this one this is um I think this verse and this statement is very rich and I think there's a lot to it and it's for Another time and another discussion but chapter 4 verse 7 says the end of all things is at hand
07:28
You hear that eminence language something's happening soon verse 13 at the revelation of his glory
07:34
You may rejoice chapter 5 verse 1 witness the sufferings of christ and partaker of his glory that is to be revealed
07:42
So we we hear this this message of to a persecuted people to a suffering people
07:48
Then you hear this this theme of a timetable this eminence something's happening soon and it sounds um, it sounds to us like a familiar message
07:57
We hear this message all the time. If you if you've listened to sermons over the years watch videos over the years um
08:04
Read books articles anything that you've looked at over the years It sounds familiar to our to our ears that things are bad and things are getting
08:12
Worse and and suffering for the christian is is coming soon So you should be looking for the suffering you should be looking for other things to come.
08:21
It's a familiar message to us this this theme of Persecuted christian christians and things happening soon this this um theme of a timetable um
08:32
But what usually comes out for us? As we hear those messages as as i've observed is
08:41
When we hear a message of suffering christians and and a timetable things happening soon
08:47
What usually happens in response to that is an inward look? um to ourselves, um, you'll you'll notice that when we hear those messages, uh gun gun cells are up The the ammo shells are empty.
09:02
Uh, some some people build bunkers um, we We ask ourselves the question.
09:08
Am I good? Um is my family good and is my life in order we ask ourselves those questions
09:14
We sometimes stock up with food and water. Um, a lot of people call the this type of person a prepper which
09:22
Preparing for emergencies is good But that's usually our response to this message of pending doom that that's coming
09:30
Is to look inwardly and and prepare inwardly for us and ours But that's not the message that that peter gives to us
09:39
After we see this suffering, uh persecuted christians suffering christians and this this theme of of time
09:45
Uh, we don't see that message flowing out that peter doesn't tell us to look inward peter's message here
09:52
Is a message that flows outward to look to look to others And it's totally contrary to natural wisdom
10:02
Natural wisdom says, you know, if something if suffering is coming if it's going to get bad And it's going to be happening soon.
10:08
We need to prepare for it But that's not peter's message It's it's a message of looking outward and we see that we've already heard.
10:18
Um, Three messages so far from first peter chapter one and in first peter chapter one peter gives us four imperatives imperatives are do this
10:29
And he gives us four imperatives and we've already looked at three of them. Um in in the previous three sermons the the first one was um hope the command to hope the second one was the the command to Be holy and the third one was to conduct yourselves with fear
10:47
And and tommy pastor tommy went through all three of those in in last sunday's sermon To to hope to be holy and conduct ourselves with fear.
10:55
And then the last one which is the one we're going to look at today Is is love? And of course, like I said that that kind of contradicts our natural thinking
11:04
Um, so why is peter and this is the foundation that I wanted to lay to help me to understand
11:10
What god is doing what god is saying through peter? Um, why is he giving us this message that kind of contradicts our natural thinking?
11:19
Why is why is peter concerned about our our moral behavior in christ?
11:25
And I think peter gives us those answers And then we'll we'll finish with that foundation.
11:31
Here's the answers from peter Keep your behavior. This is chapter 2 verse 12 Keep your behavior excellent among the gentiles so that in the thing which they slandered you as evil doers
11:41
They may because of your good deeds as they observed them glorify god on the day of visitation
11:48
Chapter 2 verse 15 for such is the will of god that by doing right you silence the ignorance of foolish people
11:57
Chapter 3 verse 18 and 24 christ also suffered for sins once for all time
12:02
The just for the unjust so that he might bring us to god having Having put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit verse 20 once who once were disobedient
12:13
When the patience of god kept waiting in the days of noah during the construction of the ark In which a few that is eight persons were brought safely through the water
12:23
And then lastly chapter 4 verses 8 through 11 above all keep fervent in your love for one another
12:28
Because love covers a multitude of sins Be hospitable to one another without complaint as each one has received a spiritual gift employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the multifaceted grace of god whoever speaks is to do so As one who is speaking actual words of god
12:49
Whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which god supplies so that in all things in all things
12:59
God may be glorified through christ to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever.
13:05
Amen so peter is speaking to us as There's this suffering and then he speaks to us as if there's a through this
13:14
We're going to get through this there's on the other side of this. There's an end game. Um There's a um, uh, that's not all there is to life.
13:24
There's there's more to this life. There's a purpose. It's not meaningless So we can think about that in our own lives in our own suffering.
13:31
It's not meaningless. There's a purpose to it there's on the other side of this that we're looking for and ultimately he says it's for Through jesus christ the glory of god who has glory and dominion forever and ever
13:45
So that's the why That we are to look outward and instead of inward when we hear this message of suffering and pending doom now, let's um get into Get into the text like I said
14:02
We've already looked at three of the four imperatives and today the last imperative or which means to something for us to be doing
14:09
Uh is love Peter is telling us to to love one another from the heart and I think laying that foundation
14:18
Gives us a heart of tenderness As we move forward in obedience to god a tenderness toward obedience
14:26
And in responding to this message from peter Another thing that we we're often tempted to do is as we study the bible and look at the text is to pull one verse
14:41
Out and kind of isolate it and say this is this is what it means And then we make application but going back to what pastor tommy has taught us
14:50
We we don't want to we want to know the context Uh of the message of the whole book and and other parts of the context
14:57
So and I think this is true, especially here in peter in in our text
15:02
That we can pull this verse out And and we can get a message out of it
15:08
But we need to know the greater context of the book to help us understand what peter is talking about And and verse 22 is a prime example and and you guys can respond with with the answer to this
15:19
Look at verse 22. It says since you have an obedience to the truth Purified your souls.
15:24
So what what is that naturally telling us since since who since you?
15:30
In obedience to the truth purified your souls. So who did the purifying? I mean, what does that naturally sound like?
15:39
Do what? Yeah, it sounds like you did it and and we can easily do that Isolate a verse take it out and say this is something that I do.
15:47
This is something that we can do We purify ourselves through obedience to the truth But we as we look at the context we can see that that's not the message of peter
16:00
Look at it says since Since or therefore what? Since we have a faith and hope in in our god we we are obedient to the truth or You have in obedience to the truth purified your soul
16:22
The obedience to the truth is not obedience to the law It's obedience to the gospel because of the word sense or therefore it's pulling off of what we've already learned
16:33
Um, it's the gospel your faith and hope in god And then as a result of that Comes out the the purified heart
16:44
So because of our new birth We have therefore this this pure heart
16:51
And it goes back to to what peter was saying in in verse 12 this gospel that was preached to us
16:56
And then in verse 3 we learned that it was god who caused us to be born again
17:02
So we learned we learned that all this is a result of god doing a work in us That we when we're obedient to the truth
17:11
We are putting our faith and and hope in god, which is something that he works within us
17:27
As we take a look at the text as we go on down And this is this is very powerful and very interesting um
17:36
You see he says for for a sincere the word for there is another idea of resulting in so um this our salvation results in a purified heart
17:51
And then because we have a purified heart that now results in In Our ability to do something else and what is that something else?
18:01
And it sounds like yeah, it sounds like he's repeating himself here But there's there's more to his message that I want to explain to you
18:10
Than than more than just repetition So we have the ability therefore as a result of our salvation To to love and he says a sincere love of the brethren and then here he repeats himself fervently love one another the word sincere there and it was it was very interesting that um rob
18:31
Chose the the verses that he did This morning because this is it ties right into this this passage right here this sincere
18:39
Love and if you remember the first verse that was read, um It said without a um without hypocrisy and that's the word that is used here
18:49
When you see the word sincere it means Not a hypocrite. So it's the negative form of of hypocrisy and When we look at that word we remember that um, or we learned that it was
19:08
It was for an actor who would wear a mask And the implication here when it says peter wants them to have a sincere a non -hypocritical love of the brethren he wanted
19:25
He wanted them to have a um Uh the excuse me the implication
19:32
When he says sincere love of the brethren, there was the implication that formally they they had a love of the brethren
19:41
But it but it was a hypocritical love of the brethren so he's telling them I want you to have a a non -hypocritical love of the brethren
19:50
Okay not only do we learn that it's a It comes from the understanding of an actor wearing a mask
20:00
But also has the implication of likeness and it doesn't mean that um,
20:05
I I like something I like your new car I like your um, When I was walking into church this morning, um,
20:12
I saw alvin pull up and I saw the tires on his truck I was like, I like those tires on this truck. It was pretty cool.
20:18
So it's not that kind of like So the implication of this word sincere not hypocritical
20:25
Is this idea of like or or sameness? So when they would have a hypocritical love for one another what they would have is
20:34
They would They would love you because you're like me Does that make sense?
20:41
You are the same. You're the same race as me. So therefore I love you You are the same
20:46
Socio -economic status as me. So therefore I love you So that likeness is sameness and that's the kind of love and peter touches on their their past later on in the book
20:58
He he talks about their former life as as hanging out with the gentiles and the sins that they committed
21:03
With them that they once loved and so some of the love that they had this non
21:08
Non -hypocrite or this hypocritical non -sincere love that they had was one that where they wanted to go back and hang out with their former gentile friends that kind of sameness
21:20
And that's what he was preaching against But the word that he uses there for love of the brethren you you may be familiar with it
21:30
In this text it's either filet or philadelphia And we're probably most familiar with the word phileo, right?
21:37
And this is the word that he uses and he uses a different word in the next phrase
21:42
But if you're like me if you think about the word phileo in the same sentence with peter
21:49
What does that bring you back to what conversation does that bring you back to that? He had in his past?
21:56
Yes, peter, do you love me the conversation with jesus peter? Do you love me and jesus says peter?
22:02
Do you love or agape me and peter says yes lord, you know, I phileo you and that was the conversation that he had with jesus now
22:10
I can't help but think because Peter is using those words here and it's peter. I can't help but think that maybe he's drawing from that conversation with jesus
22:20
We just don't know but it but it kind of makes sense because he uses both words here
22:27
He wants them to have a sincere or non -hypocritical phileo love of the brethren in in other words stated more greatly
22:38
I want you to have an agape love So maybe he learned from something from that conversation.
22:46
He wants you to have a an agape love for the brethren And just to flesh out that last statement fervently means to be outstretched
22:55
So like we were talking about before this love that we have for one another is going out
23:01
It's not inward. It's going out. So it's fervently means outstretched And then agape love, of course is the love of god and then from the heart
23:10
And in in the better translation, it says out of a clean heart Which goes back to the purification that we received
23:19
At the beginning beginning of verse 22 since you have purified your souls out of this clean heart
23:28
Agape one another I want to take it a a little bit further.
23:34
We know that this hypocritical love As stated was to love
23:40
Those that were like me and this non -hypocritical love This agape love can be taken in one of two ways and I think both of them correct
23:49
Are are correct and you can take it either way So this agape love that god wants us to have for one another
23:58
Kind of looks like this one of two ways Because jesus is precious to me
24:05
And I love jesus And jesus loves you I'm going to do likewise
24:12
I'm going to love you because jesus loves you you are precious to jesus
24:17
So therefore you are precious to me. That's one way to to look at this agape love and then the second way is
24:29
Because you Are precious to jesus You are precious to me
24:36
So, I hope that makes sense the first one is because you for jesus is precious to me I'm going to love you likewise or because um
24:47
Because you're precious to jesus i'm going to love you and I think either one of those works and is correct
24:53
When we look at the word agape verse 23 as we as we move forward to verse 23
25:04
Verse 23 helps us with a bit more of the context of understanding
25:11
This type of love that peter is is wanting us to have um
25:20
What does peter say if you can remember from chapter one? What what does peter say? About our inheritance and our redemption.
25:29
Do you remember if you go back and look at chapter one? What does he say about our inheritance and our redemption?
25:35
It's imperishable And what does he say here that is imperishable the imperishable seed?
25:49
We were born of a seed that is that is not perishable and we we see that that um imperishableness The undefiled and that will not fade away that inheritance and redemption from verse 4 18 and 23.
26:00
And then what is the contrast? The contrast between this imperishable seed this imperishable faith or or inheritance and redemption
26:10
What does peter contrast that with? his contrast is gold and silver if you look in um maybe verse verse 7 and then verse
26:30
Verse 18 his contrast to this imperishable Faith this imperishable, um inheritance and redemption
26:39
Is gold and silver and it's it's our finest elements gold and silver, but yet they're still
26:46
Perishable and any true true religion or true faith is going to be
26:51
Imperishable any imitation of that may look good on the outside, but it's still going to be perishable a hypocritical love
27:01
Would be like offering gold So if I came to you any one of you and gave you some gold coins or some gold bars you would probably be happy about that because There were something it's going to increase your lifestyle just a little bit if I if I gave you some coins or some gold bars
27:23
But those things are are still perishable, even though they have worldly value and and we they would be received.
27:30
Well Now what does that look like in In relationship to loving one another if I were to offer you gold and silver
27:41
As as love What would that look like?
27:47
That would be a flattery. I would be flattering you maybe for my own sake It would be a selfish love
27:55
Um, it's it's gonna my love's gonna look good to you But the result is or the motivation is
28:00
I want something from you or Or the sameness type love that I was talking about i'm going to love you just because you're the same skin color
28:10
You're the same socio -economic status. You have the same character as I do Um, it's going to look good.
28:16
It's going to feel good, but underneath it's empty and it's perishable That would be offering you gold and silver of of my love the non -hypocritical love
28:28
That that god is calling us to that peter's calling us to here is going to be imperishable In other words, it comes out of a clean pure Redeemed heart and if we're going to discriminate in this world
28:44
The only reason that we need to discriminate Is to discriminate against ourselves for the benefit of someone else
28:52
That's the only discrimination that a christian should have in their heart is a discrimination against their self
28:58
For the benefit of another and I think that is what we learn here as this agape love
29:05
That god would have us to have So what else is imperishable? besides this inheritance
29:13
And redemption and we've already talked about it. It's the seed. It's the seed that um, those things come out of and if The reason that our redemption the reason that our inheritance is imperishable is because this seed itself is imperishable
29:32
And so what is peter teaching us About this seed and I want to compare verse 3 with some of the passages that we're looking at today
29:40
So if you look at verse 3 in chapter 1, it says god calls us to be born again in verse 23
29:47
It says since you have been born again Verse 3 it says to a living hope verse 21 says faith and hope in god
29:56
Verse 3 says through the resurrection of jesus christ verse 23 says through the living and abiding word of god
30:06
And then if you skip down to verse 25 this word and I think in the better translations includes
30:13
The words good news this good news the word Is the seed which is imperishable going back to verse 23
30:21
So the seed is is imperishable and this seed is the word of god is the good news which is
30:29
Imperishable and then within us produces an invincible faith
30:35
And a hope in jesus christ resulting in an imperishable love for one another
30:43
And that's the goal here That's that's what peter is trying to convey to us that the love that we should have for one another comes from imperishable faith
30:54
To an imperishable love for one another if you look at verse 25
31:04
It says the word preached to you And it's in reference to what we just saw or what you see in in verse 24 and 25 this um
31:16
This quotation it may look a little different in your bible It may be more narrow in a different font and it's and it's telling us that it's a reference or it's it's pointing back to A quote from the old testament
31:28
So why is peter quoting the old testament here? What is this message that was that was preached to them or preached to us?
31:35
It goes back to verse 10 and 11. It's it's a message that has been preached for a very long time from the prophets
31:41
It's not a new message and peter is referencing back to the old testament And one of the things that i've learned is that even though he calls quotes just a small portion
31:52
Of this old testament passage the quote for them for the original reader was more like Of chapter and verse it was more like a reference
32:03
So the context when when they were to when they heard this reference They would be recalling
32:10
The whole passage And there's more there's more context that we can learn from the whole passage
32:17
That helps us to understand the the boundaries of the context for first peter
32:23
And if you want to i'd love for you to flip back over to isaiah chapter 40 because that's where the reference is from And if you'll just remember as we look at isaiah chapter 40, we're not going to look at the whole thing
32:36
But we're just going to look at verses 1 through 11 just keep in mind That this this small reference to the old testament
32:45
Peter wanted them to be recalling this passage in isaiah chapter 40 the the greater context
32:58
Starting in verse 1 comfort. Oh comfort. My people says your god speak kindly to jerusalem
33:05
And call out to her that her warfare has ended that her iniquity has been removed
33:11
That she has received of the lord's hand double for her sins A voice is calling clear the way of the lord in the wilderness make smooth in the desert a highway for our god
33:25
Let every valley be lifted up in every mountain And he'll be made low and let the rough ground become plain and the rugged terrain a broad valley now
33:36
Who is verse 3 speaking of? A voice calling out in the wilderness
33:41
John the baptist so there's our reference. That's part of our context verse 5 then the glory of the lord will be revealed and if you want to I would
33:52
Circle that part of the verse right there Then the glory of the lord will be revealed because this is part of another part of first peter
33:59
That's going to be coming up later And I think it it gives us a lot of context but chapter verse 5 says then the glory of the lord
34:08
Will be revealed and all flesh will see it together for the mouth of the lord has spoken
34:14
Now who is this referring to after john the baptist the glory of the lord will be revealed Who is this speaking of speaking of jesus?
34:21
So there's more of our context now verses 6 through 8 A voice says call out then he answered.
34:28
What shall I call out? And then here's our reference in first peter all flesh is grass and all its loveliness
34:35
Is like the flower the field the grass withers the flower fades when the breath of the lord blows upon it
34:41
Surely the people are grass the grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our god stands forever
34:51
This this message I think this is what he is wanting us to to learn from this reference This message of jesus is is a sure message a promise of hope that will come to fruition
35:03
This hope comes from outside of this world because everything that was created Will will wither and fall away
35:13
So everything that was created everything in this earth Will wither and fall away so we need something outside of creation something uncreated
35:23
To come in and rescue us, right? So I think that's the reference. I think that's the understanding here now moving on to verse 9
35:34
Get yourself up on a high mountain. Can you just can you just hear this command? Coming from the lord
35:42
Get yourself up on a high mountain. Oh zion you bearer of good news
35:48
Who who in here has experienced the love of christ who has experienced the salvation of christ?
35:54
Are you a bearer of good news? I think this is speaking to to all of us you you bearer of good news
36:04
Lift up your voice Mightily, oh jerusalem bearer of good news
36:10
Lift it up Do not fear say to the cities of judah Here is your god and then in verse 10
36:19
How are we to live? In this world, but not of the world without fear.
36:25
How are we to do that verse 10? Behold, the lord god will come with might
36:32
With his arm ruling for him behold his reward is with him and his recompense before him
36:40
We can live in this world, but not of this world without fear because we have a mighty ruler
36:49
We have a mighty ruler that goes before us whom we stand behind And then how can we share the gospel?
36:57
In this world in the midst of all this suffering verse 11 like a shepherd
37:04
He will tend to his flock In his arms, he will gather the lambs and carry them in his bosom
37:12
He will gently lead the nursing ewes How can we share the gospel?
37:19
And and remain faithful and speak with boldness Because we have a shepherd a who a tender shepherd who was there to comfort us
37:30
We have a mighty ruler and a tender shepherd Who goes before us?
37:38
Now moving on to chapter 2 verse 1 therefore
37:46
Therefore what since we have been purified since we have been born again Since we have this this salvation
37:54
Don't pollute yourself Don't let anything else back in since you have been made pure Don't pollute yourself
38:04
And then putting aside is very declarative. It's almost this this should be a once for all ordeal putting aside
38:16
And then this list that peter gives It is nothing less than a continuation of his thought
38:23
On our relationship with one another Look at the list there malice to want to hurt people guile or deceit
38:34
We want we want people to believe things that are not true hypocrisy
38:40
Pretending to be someone you're not Not wanting people to know the the real you envy being jealous of other success
38:51
Slander speaking ill or falsely in order to hurt someone else Don't pollute yourself
39:01
Once you've been purified And then in verse 2, what does he say?
39:07
He says like newborn babes we We have so many people that we can emulate
39:14
We have heroes of the faith in scripture and in our own lives And in in our past that people we can read about so many people that we can want to emulate
39:23
But peter here is telling us to to emulate who? newborn babes
39:30
Why does he want us to to emulate newborn babes because they are they are pure they have not been polluted
39:39
And they hunger they hunger for this milk. Why? Simply because they're hungry
39:46
Hungry There's no hidden agenda with a babe They they cry because they're hungry
39:54
And they want to eat. That's it And this is the emulation that peter is wanting us to to take on for ourselves.
40:03
So therefore in our case in our case as believers our
40:09
If we have a pure desire, it's going to be for the imperishable Invincible all sustainable life -giving on unadulterated unpolluted all sufficient word of god
40:22
That's what's going to flow that's the desire that we're going to have from a purified heart
40:29
Now that next statement he says grow in respect to salvation. This is what
40:34
I thought of we've had a few Baby showers here recently And and I thought about how you you have the expecting mom
40:42
Sitting there and she's opening up her gift and then she opens up the box and then she pulls out she pulls out this onesie and the the her her assistant beside of her says
40:55
Who's that from? Robert tonight Oh typical
41:01
It's a little big don't you think thank you robert Oh, you're welcome And then what would be my response?
41:09
Is the baby can grow into it The baby can grow into it.
41:15
That's that's typical. We give a child a piece of clothing that's too big We always say he can grow into it and in our case the word of god and the gospel is
41:26
Way bigger than we could ever fathom or think It's it's bigger and beyond our understanding.
41:33
We have an eternity to be growing into it But peter is telling us that's our objective
41:40
And the the way that we do that is to be desiring. We should have a diet of nothing else other than the pure milk of the word
41:54
And then this last part He says if Why would peter say if The only reason that I can think of that peter would be saying if If comes from a person
42:10
Who really cares about the souls of other people? If you think about peter
42:17
Other places in his writings. He doesn't mind to repeat himself And in fact in second peter chapter 1 verse 10 peter is bold enough to say to his audience
42:29
Be diligent He says be diligent to make your calling and election sure
42:35
In in our time of easy believism and not wanting to offend other people peter wouldn't make it very long
42:44
He wants them he cares about their soul and he wants them to make their calling and election sure
42:51
Because he wants their relationship with god in the right place. He wants to see them in heaven
42:57
And I think this love that he's wanting us to have He's wanting it to produce the same type of boldness
43:04
That when we speak truth, we speak it in love, but yet we speak truth
43:10
And we want to see souls come to christ. And so therefore we are unashamed to say make your calling and election sure
43:20
Make sure that you're in the faith And so if we have that in mind And how do we respond to peter here in this text when he says if you have tasted the kindness of god
43:33
What would it look like? What would it look like if I had have tasted the kindness of god?
43:42
What does my love look like? If we're testing ourselves to make sure that we're in the faith
43:50
If you flip over to chapter 1 verse 1 my version uses a a word that I wanted to use here and yours yours may use a different word like exile or or sojourner or something like that but but in my text
44:07
In in uh chapter 1 verse 1. It's peter an apostle of jesus christ to those who reside as aliens as aliens
44:18
So what is my love to look like If i'm examining my own heart to to see if i've actually tasted the kindness of god
44:30
My love is going to be an alien love It's going to be a love that this world doesn't recognize
44:38
It's outside of this world because that's where our savior's from he's outside of this world We're in the world but not of the world.
44:45
So our love is going to be An an alien love and it's not a love that is forced by jesus
44:57
It's a love that looks at people differently And loves differently because we've been changed by jesus
45:06
That's the kind of love that we will see in our hearts If we respond to peter's question here if you have been if you have tasted
45:17
The the kindness of god and going back to what we looked at earlier
45:23
An imperishable faith Well love that comes from this world from from the natural man
45:32
It it's going to be like offering our finest materials that's silver or gold
45:38
It may look good. It may taste good. It may smell good and people may love it and it's received
45:43
Well, but in the end When all's said and done, it's still perishable.
45:49
It's going to fade away because it's a part of this creation but an imperishable faith an
45:56
Undefiled religion is going to produce That which is imperishable
46:03
And that's the love that's going to be coming out of us is an imperishable love
46:09
If we have tasted the kindness of the lord then those we come in contact with will know it
46:17
John 3 John 13 verses 34 and 35 I am giving you a new command
46:25
That you love one another Just as I have loved you that you also love one another
46:32
By this all people will know that you are my disciples If you have loved one for another i'm going to end with the gospel
46:47
We need someone we we need the uncreated one The one who is outside of creation to come in and rescue us
46:57
We need that mighty ruler and that tender shepherd why because we have all sinned and we've all fallen short of god's glory
47:06
We need a savior. We need to be rescued And today is that day of salvation
47:14
While it's still called today If anyone here has not responded to the gospel if you've not tasted the kindness of god
47:22
Today is the day of salvation or anybody that watches Now or later if you've not tasted the kindness of god
47:30
We want you to come to christ. We want you to have salvation. We want you to be born again
47:38
And to do that you must repent of your sins And put your faith and trust in jesus christ
47:44
Jesus says i'm the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except by me
47:50
We come to him today. Let's pray Father we thank you for Allowing us to worship together.
47:58
Thank you for your word that is imperishable. That way we can have a a hope to stand on a foundation to stand on with when everything else in this world is shaky and is is falling apart and We didn't we don't know which direction to go we can always know that Standing on the hope of your word standing on your promises and standing on your salvation is a sure thing
48:26
And it will not be taken out from under us Thank you for your love. Thank you for your kindness
48:33
Thank you for your salvation through your son jesus christ We pray all these things in jesus name.
48:39
Amen Amen Are we live?
49:04
Okay, so we um respond to this with our singing the power of the cross
49:14
This is the power of the crossed cross christ became sin for us Took the blame bore the wrath.
49:20
We stand forgiven at the cross On the road
50:17
For us To see the pain
50:49
Every bitter thought every evil deed
50:56
Crowning your blood -stained brow Sin for us
51:19
You bore the wrath we stand forgiven
51:24
At the cross Dead Is See my name
52:35
I am free Death is brushed to death
52:42
Life is mine to live One through your selfless
53:04
Us we stand
53:27
At the cross Let me leave you with this benediction
53:38
For i'm convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height
53:46
Nor depth nor any other creative thing shall be able to separate us from the love of god