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Good evening to everyone. You 
can turn in your Bibles with me to 1 Peter. The book of 1 
Peter. I'm going to read the entirety 
of chapter 1, and then we're going to have a look specifically 
at verses 22 to 25. So this is 1 Peter, chapter 1, 
the Word of God. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, 
to the pilgrims of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, 
Asia, and Bithynia. Elect according to the foreknowledge 
of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience 
and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace to you and 
peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to His abundant mercy, 
has begotten us again to a living hope, through the resurrection 
of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible 
and undefiled, and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven 
for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith, for 
salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you 
greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you 
have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness 
of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, 
though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, 
and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom, having not 
seen, you love. Though now you do not see him, 
yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of 
glory, receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your 
souls. Of this salvation the prophets 
have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that 
would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, 
the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when he 
testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that 
would follow. To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, 
but to us, they were ministering the things which now have been 
reported to you through those who have preached the gospel 
to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things which angels 
desire to look into. Therefore, gird up the loins 
of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace 
that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 
As obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts 
as in your ignorance, but as he who called you as holy, you 
also be holy in all your conduct. Because it is written, Be holy, 
for I am holy. And if you call on the Father, 
who without partiality judges according to each one's work, 
conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in 
fear, knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things 
like silver or gold from your aimless conduct received by tradition 
from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as 
of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained 
before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these 
last times for you, who through him believe in God, who raised 
him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and 
hope are in God. Since you have purified your 
souls in obeying the truth, through the Spirit, in sincere love of 
the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, 
having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible, 
through the word of God, which lives and abides forever. Because 
all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower 
of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower 
falls away, but the word of the Lord endures forever. Now this 
is the word which by the gospel was preached to you. Amen. Well, 
let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you 
for your Word. We rejoice in the revelation 
of Jesus Christ to us in your Word. We do pray that you'd help 
us now in this act of preaching, this central act of worship, 
that you'd help us to be empowered by your Spirit, be illumined 
by your Spirit, to receive the words that you have for us here. 
And we pray that we would know more of our God, that we would 
know more of our Christ. We pray that you would help us 
in this act to worship Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And Lord 
God, that in all these things, all these acts of worship, you 
would be honored and glorified. So do be with us now. Help your 
people here to be edified. Might sinners even be saved? 
And might we all leave this place? Because it's possible only with 
you singing the praises of our great God. And we pray in the 
name of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen. Well, just a little bit 
of an introduction to 1 Peter. 1 Peter is writing here to primarily 
a Jewish Christian audience. He's not leaving Gentiles out, 
but the audience is primarily Jewish Christians. We can see 
that in the first set of verses here, to the pilgrims of the 
dispersion, and then naming particular places. To to whom he is writing 
or where he is writing to elect according to the foreknowledge 
of God the Father and sanctification of the spirit for obedience and 
sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ So he's writing to Jewish 
Christians, and he's he's using along the way a lot of Old Testament 
citation and Old Testament allusion In fact, there's a there's a 
large. There's a large Exodus motif being employed here by 
the Apostle Peter. He's bringing together a Exodus 
themes, along with the theme of the suffering servant of Isaiah, 
in order to set forth the Lord Jesus Christ in his glory and 
empower these Christians to live surrounded by a Gentile world, 
to be holy because God is holy, to adorn the gospel of Jesus 
Christ in all things. We see here in the immediate 
context There is an opening up of the Lord Jesus Christ as the 
Paschal Lamb connected to that Exodus motif. We see this language 
of the precious blood of Jesus Christ as a Lamb without blemish 
and without spot. That's the language of Exodus. 
Similar to or in a greater in a much greater way if the exodus 
of the Old Testament was a physical and a national redemption of 
Israel from out of bondage in Egypt and a setting forth to 
them of the future inheritance that they would gain in the promised 
land here Peter is drawing attention to Jesus Christ as the as that 
paschal exodus lamb but connected to a new exodus and Where he 
brings these who were out in the bondage in bondage to sin 
in slavery to sin He brings them by virtue of the perfection of 
redemption From out of that bondage and he sets before them the inheritance 
that we read here in this doxology there's this language of an inheritance 
as we see in verse 3 blessed be the God and Father and Our 
Lord Jesus Christ who according to his abundant mercy has begotten 
us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ 
from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and 
that does not fade away the the previous inheritance of the Old 
Testament was one that was perishable It was one that would fade away 
yet this Exodus wrought by the Lord Jesus Christ and the inheritance 
granted is one that is imperishable and we'll see that a little bit 
with respect to our text this evening, which is verses 22 through 
25. And here we have something of 
the Apostle Peter speaking regarding the love that we are to have 
with one another, to and with one another. There's an admonition 
given here unto a fervent love with a pure heart, that we as 
Christians are not to be found as those who hate each other, 
but as those who love each other. In opposition to the world around 
us, in opposition to those outside of Christ, it is to be a mark 
of the Christian that they do love one another. And in the 
midst of doing this, the Apostle Peter brings forth something 
with regards to the eternality, the unchangeableness, the abidingness 
of the living word, which we'll take occasion to consider as 
well. So let's look at this then, at 
these verses, 22 through 25, and we're just gonna notice three 
things along the way. Those three things are the exhortation 
to Christian love, the foundation for Christian love, and the motivation 
for Christian love. Notice first, an exhortation 
to Christian love. And the first thing that we see 
here in verse 22 is the reason behind Christian love. We see 
this in the language, since you have purified your souls in obeying 
the truth. This is the reason behind Christian 
love. This language of sins is, you 
know, given the reason that, or given the fact that, given 
the fact that you have purified your souls in obeying the truth, 
and the exhortation follows upon the heels of that. So this is 
the reason behind Christian love. Now, we want to jettison from 
our contemplations a couple things that this doesn't mean because 
when we just when we look at that this with fresh eyes and 
you know without perhaps our our the the weight of christian 
theology coming um instead of before us coming behind us we 
read this and we might think okay what what is peter saying 
since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth now 
Is Peter saying here that by the natural man's obedience to 
something, whether it is the gospel summons or the law of 
God, can the natural man somehow purify his heart by obeying the 
truth? And of course the answer is no. 
A natural man does not have it in him to purify his own heart. It is only God who can purify 
the heart through Jesus Christ, the Savior, and the shedding 
of that Savior's precious blood. So it certainly doesn't have 
in view the natural man being able to purify his heart by obedience 
to the truth. It also certainly doesn't have 
in view obedience to the law as that which purifies the heart. We're not to read this as to 
purify the soul. We're not to read this that obeying 
the truth has something to do with the law of God, and then 
that purifying the souls is the result of having obeyed that 
law. What we are to see here, there is a bookend of statements 
here by the Apostle that helps us understand what's in view. 
Notice if we back up to verse 20. He indeed, speaking of Christ, 
was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest 
in these last times for you, notice, who through him believe 
in God. And then if we were to push forward 
to verse 6 of chapter 2, therefore it is also contained in the scripture, 
Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, 
and he who believes on him will by no means be put to shame. 
Therefore, to you who believe, he is precious. So, these bookends 
help us, so does the weight of Christian theology, the biblical 
revelation to salvation by the Triune God, who saves without 
a helper. It informs us that what's in 
view here with the language, since you have purified your 
souls in obeying the truth, is that by virtue of our faith in 
Christ, we avail of His shed blood, that shed blood which 
purifies the soul. And so, since we have, we could 
say, been purified by God, through faith, by virtue of the shed 
blood of Jesus Christ. Notice in the introduction here 
to the recipients of this particular letter, if we read it again at 
the outset of the letter. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, 
to the pilgrims of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, 
Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the 
Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, and now notice, for 
obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. So that's 
in view with regards to the purification of the soul, the sprinkling of 
the blood of Jesus Christ. And just a point of theology 
here, when we read for obedience and sprinkling, I believe we're 
supposed to see they're not our obedience, that we've been sanctified 
so that we would be obedient, though that is a truth. But here, 
obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ captures 
those two things in justification. the imputed righteousness of 
the Lord Jesus Christ, and the shedding of blood for the forgiveness 
of sins. But back to our text here, so 
the reason behind Christian love is the availing of the shed blood 
of Christ through faith. Augustine writes this, and he's 
writing against the notion that it is somehow the natural man 
that exercised obedience and then has his soul purified. And 
he's citing John 18.37, everyone who is of the truth, hears my 
voice. But it is not all to whom it 
is given of the truth to hear, that is, to obey the truth and 
to believe in the truth, while in no case certainly is there 
any preceding of merit, lest grace should cease to be grace. 
Christ says, everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice. 
And in this way he is not of the truth simply because he heareth 
his voice, but only on this account he heareth because he is of the 
truth. That is, because this is a gift 
bestowed on him of the truth. And what else is this but that 
by Christ's gracious bestowal he believeth on Christ. And so 
again, in view here, the reason behind Christian love is our 
availing of the shed blood of of Jesus Christ through faith. Now, in addition to this, the 
reason behind Christian love, we also see here the operation 
empowering Christian love. So when we are called to exercise 
love to one another as Christians, what is the operation empowering 
Christian love? Notice, after we see the reason 
for it, we read, since you have purified your souls in obeying 
the truth through the Spirit, This is a repeated language in 
the Bible with regards to Christians. When they're engaging in those 
things, those exploits for God, we do things through the Spirit. 
We do things in the Spirit. We do things by the Spirit. As Christians, we are the blessed 
undeserved beneficiaries of the gift of the Holy Spirit as we 
go about this lower Christian walk. doing those things by faith 
in order to bring honor to God. We always do these things by 
the Spirit. We do them through the Spirit. 
He is the one who empowers us. And Peter is introducing this 
exhortation in order to bring them confidence, and in order 
to bring them to the point where they know that when they are 
exercising love to a brother, They need not worry because they 
will have the Spirit with them. That stirs up good things for 
their fellows. Since you have purified your 
souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit. And then we see here 
the sober vantage point for Christian love. in sincere love of the 
brethren. This is something that's very 
important to see here is that, you know, unlike what can go 
on around us and before us and surrounding us, though it can 
creep into the Christian church as well, we are to be marked 
by a sincerity that is a lack of hypocrisy when it comes to 
our posture towards the brethren. This language of sincerity is 
capturing something where the Christian is absent of hypocrisy 
in his walk before the world, but certainly in his walk towards 
the brethren. So this is this sober vantage 
point behind Christian love. And then comes the exhortation 
proper. So reading it again, since you 
have purified your souls in obeying the truth, through the spirit 
and sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with 
a pure heart." So this is the exhortation proper here. Love 
one another fervently with a pure heart. Now, it ought not be the 
case that Christians should have to be reminded, but by virtue 
of remaining corruption, the apostles in the scriptures and 
preachers in subsequent generations by virtue of that often have 
to call us to certain things, because we can fall away, we 
can become unmindful, we can forget. And so this exhortation 
comes to remind that it is the Christian's case to love one 
another fervently and with a pure heart. And this language of fervency 
is something that marks the Christian in their particular community 
as unique from any other community, because we are a community of 
those purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ, empowered by 
the Spirit, we have this vehement, this strong, this intense love 
for one another. We have been made, we have been 
brought to that position and that subsequent action by virtue 
of the perfection of the power of the triune God and the saving 
excellencies of Jesus Christ, and we are to therefore exercise 
that love with a fervency that is unmatched in the world. The 
language here of one man is such that he describes this fervency 
of love and then gives a particular metaphor of where it seems to 
come from. This is Poole. Fervently or vehemently and intensely, 
strongly, the word seems to be a metaphor taken from a bow. 
which the more it is bent, with the greater force it sends forth 
the arrow. So love, the more fervent and 
strong it is, the more abundantly it puts forth itself for the 
benefit of others." And that's hopefully how we can see the 
If we apply that metaphor when we approach the activity of loving 
one another, an archer, we are like archers pulling a bow back, 
bending it to the fullness of its force, so that that love, 
the more fervent and strong it is, the abundantly it puts forth 
that love to the benefit of others. And what is Christian love? When we think of Christian love, 
You know, perhaps, perhaps, you know, we might think of a number 
of things, but, you know, if you were quickly asked the question, 
caught off guard with the question, what is Christian love, what 
would come to your mind and what would you say? You know, sometimes 
we can think of love, generally speaking, or specific acts of 
love. You know, what does it mean? 
Do we send each other flowers? Send each other chocolates. Do 
we write each other a letter a day? Do we text each other, 
you know morning noon and night? Do we invite you know invite 
people over for muffin parties? What what does Christian love 
look like? Well, I think biblically speaking. 
We're supposed to we're supposed to consider two things at least 
the character of love and the what love is properly in its 
demonstration and activity. And for the character of love, 
you can turn with me to 1 Corinthians. Now, you're probably familiar 
with this passage, 1 Corinthians 13. It's often a passage that's 
read at weddings when the minister, the wedding officiant, is marrying 
the husband and the wife. This is often something that's 
read. this particular verse in 1 Corinthians 13. It's not, of 
course, a wedding verse, properly speaking, but a verse that sets 
forth for us the character of Christian love. Not properly 
a definition of it, but what does love look like amongst Christians? Notice in 1 Corinthians 13 verse 
4, love suffers long and is kind, love does not envy, love does 
not parade itself, is not puffed up, does not behave rudely, does 
not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil, does not rejoice 
in iniquity but rejoices in the truth, bears all things, believes 
all things, hopes all things, endures all things, love never 
fails. In receiving this exhortation 
tonight by virtue of the exhortation originally written by Peter, 
if you're to entertain the question, what does Christian love look 
like? And if you're to seek to answer that question, I've perhaps 
been lapsing or I haven't exercised the Christian love as I ought 
to. What ought that to look like? 
What is that in demonstration? What is the character of Christian 
love? We see it here. And I think, 
you know, it's a wonderful list of things, and we're certainly 
not going to open up each one, but just the first one, love 
suffers long and is kind. I was thinking today about the 
Christians' approach to other Christians sinning, and the context 
of the church. Christians in view of our other 
brothers and sisters in the church sinning. And I often, you know, 
I was thinking that of all people in the world, It ought to be 
Christians who have the most patience in the face of sin not 
entertaining it not entertaining it or facilitating it and not 
thinking it a light thing and just, you know, just, you know, 
sitting there and taking it, but knowing our own frames, knowing 
who we were before Amazing Grace came, knowing who we are now, 
after Amazing Grace, with that remaining corruption, we are 
to be such who suffer long and are kind. in the face of those 
who are struggling, in the face of those who are stumbling, in 
the face of those who are seeking to be repentant, but nevertheless 
perhaps are struggling along in a particular manner of sin. Christians are not to be the 
most impatient. We're certainly to be the most 
patient. And it's a wonderful list of 
things here that characterize what love is to look like for 
us. It does not rejoice in iniquity, 
but rejoices in truth, bears all things, believes all things, 
hopes all things, endures all things. The steadfastness of 
a Christian in love or the long-suffering nature of the Christian in exercising 
Christian love is to be exemplary. And if we think about the fact 
that the God of heaven and earth has long-suffering for his people. We see that throughout the Bible, 
the long-suffering nature of our triune God. The perfection 
of his goodness exercised in this long-suffering reality with 
his people. We sin every day against him, 
and yet he is long-suffering. We are to be like our God. As 
Peter says, we are to be holy as God is holy, and to exercise 
a long-suffering love towards our brothers and sisters in Christ. 
So, 1 Corinthians 13, 4-8 can give us, it does give us, the 
character of love, how it is demonstrated, what it looks like, 
and we have a definition in Romans 13 of what Christian love is. 
You can turn to Romans 13 with me. When we're thinking about 
Christian love, we can think about the character by which 
it is exercised. 1 Corinthians 13, 4-8. And then, love as the fulfillment 
of the law of God in Romans 13. When you get to Romans 13, you 
can turn to verse 8. Romans 13, verse 8. except to love one another, for 
he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, 
you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall 
not steal, you shall not bear false witness, you shall not 
covet, and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up 
in this saying, namely, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. 
Love does no harm to a neighbor, therefore love is the fulfillment 
of the law. Now, this might sound... Little it shouldn't but it kind 
of does it at the outset or or superficially it shouldn't sound 
rote or mechanical or dry Love is the fulfillment of the law. 
What better love can we exercise to one another than fulfilling 
the the law of God? The the the second table of the 
law summed up and you shall love your neighbor as yourself This 
manner of love love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love 
is the fulfillment of the law and We can look at this in two 
ways. We can look at this in our actions 
to one another in the local church. The second table of the law of 
God is how we are to function. We're to look at it in the realm 
of sexual immorality. We're to look at it in the realm 
of not being murderously angry at one another or angry simply 
with the brother. We see this with respect to theft, 
though we know that's more than just stealing a brother's Bible. Not bearing false witness, not 
lying, not coveting. These are the things that we 
can exercise to one another with respect to the exercising of 
love. But I think we also ought to 
see the promotion of the entire table of the law as that which 
is love to one another. What do we do in our lower sojourn 
here that could be seen as love to one another? We we point each 
other daily or certainly every Sunday We point each other to 
the one and only living and true God were to have no other gods 
before him We encourage one another in the proper worship of that 
God and we can go through the entirety of the of the law of 
God here, but an active encouragement unto the law's obedience, not 
in order to be saved, but having been sprinkled by the blood of 
the Lord Jesus Christ, we encourage one another, we love one another, 
we point each other to the law of God as that which is the normative 
guide for Christian conduct. So what is love? Can we text 
each other every day? Can we cheers each other with 
orange juice glasses at muffin parties? Absolutely. But the 
exercise of Christian love is seen in that character that we 
beheld in 1 Corinthians 13, and in that proper definition and 
exercise of love that we see in Romans 13. Obedience to the 
law or fulfillment of the law of God. That is how we can love 
one another. And on the point of encouraging 
one another in the proper worship of the triune God, A connected 
manner in which we can love each other is encouraging one another 
in church attendance, encouraging one another in the worship of 
that God, and encouraging one another in the participation 
in the Lord's Supper. bringing each other and holding 
each other accountable in a sense with respect to the proper worship 
of the triune God wherein we receive the blessing of the Holy 
Spirit. What a better thing to encourage 
one another in the things of God that we might avail of the 
things of God. So back to our text, back to 
1 Peter. We've seen the exhortation to Christian love. We want to 
notice now the foundation for Christian love. So we see the 
exhortation proper, love one another fervently with a pure 
heart, and now we see the foundation for Christian love seen here, 
having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible 
through the word of God, which lives and abides forever. The 
first thing that we see here in the foundation for Christian 
love is the power of God in the new birth. Notice the language 
here, having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but 
incorruptible. So the foundation for the exercise 
of Christian love is the reality of regeneration, the reality 
of the effectual calling. We are only Christians, or we 
are Christians first, by having been brought from deadness and 
sin to life in Christ. We're Christians first by having 
been brought by amazing and victorious grace from out of darkness and 
into marvelous light. And Peter here uses the language 
of his master, having been born again. Remember the discussion or the exchange with 
Christ in Nicodemus, where Jesus uses that language. Peter learned 
of his master well, that you must be born again before you 
can see the kingdom of God. Paul uses some language of being 
made alive. We see other language used in 
the scriptures, but what we see here is divine power, the power 
of God, in the new birth, having been born again. He's already 
used this language. Notice in verse 3, once again, 
blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who 
according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living 
hope. That blessed hope that we have 
in God that is unlike any so-called hope in this lower world. It 
is a living hope. He's begotten us again to a living 
hope. And as Peter is using here in 
this epistle, the language of the Old Testament. He uses this 
language here, having been born again. Recall that when Pastor 
Butler was preaching through the gospel, he is preaching through 
the gospel of John, but when he was preaching in John chapter 
3, he made a link between Nicodemus' lack of knowledge connected to 
the lack of appreciating the weight of Ezekiel 36 and the 
announcement of the new covenant. where God would put His Spirit 
within His people and cause them to walk in His statutes. They 
would receive the washing and regeneration of the Holy Spirit. That's the language that we see 
in the Bible with respect to regeneration, the washing and 
renewing of the Holy Spirit. the cleansing, the purification, 
the being made alive, the being born again. It is only possible 
for a Christian, or for one to love another Christian in a manner 
that is Christian, if they have been born again. The power of 
God in the new birth. And this connects Another Old 
Testament connection here is it's connecting the promise of 
the New Covenant to the Christian reality of being born again. 
The promise of the New Covenant, not only in Jeremiah, but in 
Jeremiah, this promise that in the future the New Covenant reality 
would be such that everyone in the covenant would be one who 
has been born again of God. So we have this power of God 
in the new birth and then notice we also have the instrumentality 
of God in the new birth. having been born again, not of 
corruptible seed, but incorruptible, through the word of God, which 
lives and abides forever." So this is the instrumentality by 
which the power of God works in order to bring a dead sinner 
to life in Christ. Now, just before we spend a little 
bit on this, going back to corruptible and incorruptible. There's a 
comparison obviously being made there between things that perish 
and things that that don't perish I think what what we're to see 
here that is a connection really between What Christ talks about 
in the gospel of John? and the new birth Natural birth 
and and and spiritual birth corruptible We've already seen used previously 
at verse 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible 
things and here we see that we have not been born again by Corruptible 
seed that what's in view here is obviously divine power the 
power of the spirit in bringing forth dead sinners to life and 
in Christ. There's a distinction being drawn, 
a distinction that will be amplified a little bit when we get to the 
citation of Isaiah chapter 40. But notice again the instrumentality 
of God in the new birth. It is by the Word of God. When we ask how a sinner is ever 
saved, The sinner is always saved by virtue of the power of God 
working through the ministry of the Word. That's how sinners 
are ordinarily saved and brought into the Church of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. The preaching of the Word goes 
forth ordinarily within the context of the Church. It can obtain 
outside of that in the mission field. in the home with a parent 
reading the word to the child and that sort of a thing but 
ordinarily speaking it obtains within the ministry of the church 
and we always have the case that it is the word of God brought 
it is the gospel of Jesus Christ declared and that's joined by 
the power of the Holy Spirit the incorruptible seed working 
with that Word of God that brings forth the sinner from deadness 
and darkness to life and light. And so the instrumentality of 
God in the new birth. And this is why it is so absolutely 
vital that we pray for the ministry of the Word. that we pray for 
the free delivery of the ministry of the word, not only in our 
own nation, but in nations beyond, that the word of God might be 
able to be freely proclaimed, that sinners might hear, and 
that joined by the power of the Holy Spirit, they would be brought 
to that blessed place of owning their Savior. So the foundation 
for Christian love is the new birth wrought through the proclamation 
of the Word. Now, we would want to note, and 
we will shortly, that the Word of God which lives and abides 
forever, because this language is repeated in the citation of 
Isaiah 40, could also have in view, of course, the living word 
as it pertains to Jesus Christ, the mediator of the new covenant. 
So we move on then to, lastly, the motivation for Christian 
love. So we see the exhortation to 
Christian love proper, love one another fervently with a pure 
heart. We see the foundation for Christian 
love being the new birth that is wrought through the proclamation 
of the gospel. And now the motivation for Christian 
love at verse 24. because all flesh is as grass 
and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass the grass 
withers and its flower falls away but the word of the lord 
endures forever now this is the word which by the gospel was 
preached to you we see here first the the passing nature of man 
at least the passing nature of man, all flesh is as grass, and 
all the glory of man as the flower of the grass, the grass withers 
and its flower falls away. We have this brought forth as 
the necessity for what we read previously, the necessity of 
the new birth. There is this because connection, 
in a sense, between the frailty of man, between the sinfulness 
of man, between the passing transient nature of man with respect to 
his sin, and that necessitating the new birth. because all flesh 
is as grass, because the grass withers and the flower falls 
away, we have this reality where this could speak to the necessity 
of the new birth because of the nature of man in his sin and 
in his iniquity. You could also see here, though, 
with regards to flesh, is this Flesh which is as grass and this 
flesh wish or that grass Metaphor is that which fades away. We 
could see that this could connect to what man lusts over worldly 
things in fact previously in the passage Previously in the 
letter here. We see at verse 14 as obedient 
children Not conforming yourselves to the former lusts as in your 
your ignorance You know the things of this lower world will fade 
away The things of our worldly lusts will fade away. The things 
of these lower worldly pleasures will fade away. They're not eternal. 
You know, the dead people in idolatrous generations past who 
were buried with their treasures, they didn't really get to bring 
those with them. They are perishable things, they are corruptible 
things, in contrast to those things that are imperishable, 
in contrast to those things that are incorruptible. Turn to Hebrews 
11 for a moment, because we want to see here perhaps a weight 
of the meaning being, connecting back to when Peter, prior to 
our verse under investigation, spoke concerning the former conduct, 
or spoke concerning the fact that those Christians had not 
been redeemed by corruptible things like silver and gold. Notice in Hebrews 11, We have 
this wonderful language as it pertains to a contrast between 
the treasures of the world, those things that fade away, and those 
treasures of Christ which do not fade away. In Hebrews 11 
at verse 24, speaking of Moses, Paul writes, By faith, Moses, 
when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's 
daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people 
of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the 
reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, 
for he looked to the reward. Isn't that a wonderful testimony, 
a wonderful account of Moses in his particular episode? Choosing rather to suffer affliction 
with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of 
sin. All flesh is as grass, and the glory of man is as the flowers 
of the field. The glories of man, the treasures 
of men, the passing pleasures of sin, the lusts according to 
our previous ignorance, those things fade away. But that which 
does not fade away is seen here, esteeming the reproach of Christ, 
greater riches than the treasures in Egypt. All of the things that 
we can lust over in this lower world fade away, but that one 
thing that we ought to love, that chief object, what should 
be the chief object of our affection, does not fade away. Jesus Christ, 
our Savior. Also, what could be in view here 
too, and not that they're mutually exclusive, is flesh as it pertains 
to the Mosaic institutions. There's a contrast being drawn 
here between that which fades away, the language of the book 
of Hebrews with respect to the Old Covenant, and that which 
endures forever. Notice, for example, in Hebrews 
7. We have this language concerning 
the abiding nature of the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ in Hebrews 
chapter 7 at verse 16, speaking of the priest according to the 
order of Melchizedek who has come, not according to the law 
of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an 
endless life. We see that language being used 
here if you find your way back to the first Peter passage, The 
fleshly commandment could be seen here as all flesh is as 
grass, and then the unchanging priesthood of the Lord Jesus 
Christ, but the word of the Lord endures forever. But all of that 
to say what we have here set before us is the transient nature 
of man, the transient nature of earthly things, the transient 
nature of those things that are of this lower world, which is 
now contrasted with the blessed abiding reality, the unchanging 
nature, Notice again, as he's citing Isaiah 40, "...all flesh 
is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers and its flower 
falls away, but the word of the Lord endures forever." This wonderful 
transition to the abiding nature of a glorious thing. but the 
word of the Lord endures forever." If we connect ourselves to the 
things of this lower world, if we connect ourselves to fleshly 
things, if we connect ourselves to the former lusts as in our 
ignorance, or we should say, in this case, for the demonstration, 
present lusts as in a present ignorance, we will fade away 
along with those worldly and lower things. And this blessed 
contrast then, if we hitch ourselves to, if we're connected to, if 
we find ourselves believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have 
this reality, but the word of the Lord endures forever. And as we move to a close here, 
the unchanging nature of the word is seen. So we have the 
transient nature of man, the passing nature of man, but by 
blessed contrast, the unchanging nature of the word, And we should consider three 
things as we look to close here. And the first is the word as 
it pertains to the person of the son. But the word of the 
Lord endures forever. He is a priest forever, according 
to the order of Melchizedek. We have this bringing out by 
the Apostle Peter of the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb 
without blemish and without spot. And there is an abiding and unchanging 
nature to the redemption wrought by Jesus Christ. In contrast 
to the passing pleasures of sin, we have the abiding pleasure 
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have the abiding excellencies 
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the eternal word with respect 
to his divine person, divine nature, but he is also that priest 
forever according to the order of Melchizedek with regards to 
his mediatorship. The veracity of or the perfection 
of the excellency of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ in our 
redemption abides forever. The word of the Lord endures 
forever. The Apostle Peter finishes off, 
not finishes off, but near the end of this particular epistle, 
in chapter four at verse 11, if anyone speaks, let him speak 
as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him 
do it with the ability which God supplies, that in all things 
God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong 
the glory, and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. There is obviously 
the abiding nature of the Word of God, the forever nature of 
the Word of God. We also would consider this the, 
but the Word of the Lord endures forever with regards to the inspired 
Word of God. Of course, we have that wonderful 
hymn by Martin Luther, One of the stanzas speaks with regards 
to the language. I always thought this would be 
good for a wonderful verse for the persecuted to lay hold of. The body they may kill, God's 
truth abideth still. We have the abiding nature of 
the Word of God. All flesh is as grass. You know 
the the transient nature of man even of course in our in our 
lower mortal bodies will come to that point of death We have 
the glory set before us the glory of Jesus Christ our Savior We 
can say the persecuted Christian can say under threat of death 
the body they may kill God's truth abideth still and that 
brings us that captures in view certainly the abiding Word as 
it pertains to Jesus Christ, but the inspired Word of God, 
and perhaps more to the point, the promise of God, the unchanging 
promise of God, that in His revelation of Jesus Christ, in His revelation 
of salvation by so glorious a God and so glorious a Savior, That 
promise that everyone who believes on him shall have everlasting 
life is an abiding truth. It's not transient. It doesn't 
ebb and flow, but rather it stands forever. The word of the Lord 
endures forever. Whatever the Lord pleases, he 
does in the earth and in all places. Whatever the Lord speaks, 
he brings to pass. Whatever the Lord purposes, he 
brings to pass. And so when Christians hear the 
promise that whoever believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, they 
shall be saved, that is hope above hopes that we have in our 
God, in a word that endures forever. Whatever the Lord God speaks 
will come to pass. Divine promise, unchanging divine 
promise, the word of God that is the truth of God, which abides 
forever. All words will perish in the 
end, but one word abides, and it is that word which the Lord 
God gives." And this last phrase, hopefully we can see ourselves 
as those who have availed of this blessed reality. Now, this 
is the word by which the gospel was preached to you. You know, 
you can recall perhaps the fact that you one day had heard the 
gospel and had come to the realization that you are now Christ's. You 
were the blessed and undeserved recipient of the proclamation 
of the word, the proclamation of the gospel, by a minister, 
by a parent, by someone, and you were brought from that place 
of former lusts, brought from that place of ignorance, brought 
from that place of corruptible and perishable things, to now 
this place where Jesus Christ is yours, that eternal imperishable, 
that eternal incorruptible, the blessed reality that we have, 
the promise of salvation in Him, that was preached to you, and 
that is an imperishable thing. As we go into this week, we ought 
to be such who contemplate these high and holy things of of glorious 
salvation, having been born again, not by virtue of our actions 
meriting that regeneration, but according to amazing and victorious 
grace, in divine timing, according to divine plan, he brought us 
forth from darkness and deadness to light and life, that we can 
behold our savior, the eternal word, the priest who abides forever, 
that one who has gone before us, Jesus Christ, the righteous 
one, he holds in in our future for us, the inheritance that 
is laid up for us, what a blessed thing as we go into a week where 
we may be surrounded by misery, we may be surrounded by miserable 
people, we may be surrounded by, roundabout by a world that 
hates us, by people who hate us, by those who are opposed 
to the truth, and yet we can lay hold of that imperishable 
truth. We can lay hold of that imperishable 
God, that incorruptible Christ. the power of the Holy Spirit, 
the glory of the gospel, and all of this ought to energize 
us to love one another fervently with a pure heart. From that 
vantage point of so great a salvation, from that vantage point of so 
great a Savior, and from that vantage point of so great a triune 
God, we're to seek, by God's grace, to love one another fervently 
with a pure heart. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, 
we thank you for your truth. We thank you for your word. We 
do pray that you would help us in this church to love one another 
fervently with a pure heart. We pray that we would be those 
who would be long-suffering, who would be kind. We pray we 
would be those who rejoice in the truth, one with each other. Do help us to be unified by your 
spirit in the things of Christ in this local body. We thank 
you for the truth that we have. And we thank you for Jesus Christ, 
our Savior. We thank you for the blessing 
of salvation by so great a God. And we do pray that you'd help 
us to be animated by that same grace that saved us in order 
to serve one another and to bring honor to you in this lower world. 
We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen. We'll 
have a brief time of prayer, and then you're dismissed once 
the piano