While you're waiting for me to struggle with this microphone, you can turn to 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2, we'll read the entire chapter. This morning we'll look at the first five verses. Actually, just halfway through verse five that we'll look at this morning. But we will read the entirety of the chapter here.

So 1 Peter 2.

Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 2

Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. Coming to him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 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, but to those who are disobedient, the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.

They stumble, being disobedient to the word to which they also were appointed. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, who once were not a people, but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Beloved, I beg you, as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honourable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation. Therefore, submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether as to the king as supreme or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good.

For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men, as free, not yet using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering, Suffering wrongfully for what credit is it if when you are beaten for your faults you take it patiently?

But when but when you do good and suffer if you take it patiently this is commendable before God For to this you were called because Christ also suffered for us leaving us an example that you should follow his steps Who committed no sin nor was deceit found in his mouth? who, when he was reviled, did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously, who himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness, by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. Let us pray.

Opening Prayer

Our Father in heaven, we do come before you now, and again, Lord, we ask for your Holy Spirit to be poured out among us this morning as we study this passage of scripture together. Lord, how we thank you for your word, how we thank you for the clarity of your word, and the truths contained in your words. So Lord, I pray that you would be glorified this morning among us, that you would be pleased to edify and build up your people here, and that you would be pleased to save sinners. If there are any among us here this morning who have come in and who do not know Christ as the Savior, that today would be the day of salvation.

Lord, we pray that you'd be glorified in all that we say and do here, and we pray this in Christ's name, amen.

Introduction

Well, this passage of scripture is just a continuation of where we left off last week. So if you remember last week, we looked at the concept of brotherly love that we find here at the end of chapter 1, that Peter exhorts his hearers to this brotherly love concept, this concept of their relationship with one another as they are in Christ. So this is not a love for where Jesus tells us to love our neighbor as ourself, which means all men everywhere. but there's a special love that we have for one another as brethren. And so then we continue on here in this section, and he builds on that and shows the purpose of this brotherly love.

Of course, it's just for the unity of the church, but it's also for the building up of the church, the growing of the church here. And that's what he talks about in verse five, that we are living stones and we're being built in this spiritual house, the church. of Jesus Christ is the spiritual house that Christ is building here. So in this section here, then the emphasis is on spiritual growth, our own personal spiritual growth. Now, as we've worked through 1 Peter, I know it's been over probably a course of a year that when I've been preaching here, as we've gone through this section in 1 Peter, but I've often exhorted you, as Peter has, to spiritual growth, that we study these things, the truths of scripture, and how they build us up and they strengthen our faith.

We see that in chapter 1 verse 13, gird up the loins of your mind. So this idea of taking action and using our minds to study the truths of scripture, to understand them, to comprehend them, and how that blesses us individually, as individuals, as we go through the trials of life, the difficulties of life, then having a strong faith and understanding of the truths of the Word. We have this hope that John talked about, you know, this hope that we have, and that's what gets us through the trials of life. But our growth as believers doesn't only bless us personally.

It has, I would say, more of a primary purpose is blessing the Church of Jesus Christ, and it's for the building up of the Church of Christ here. which is the advancement of the kingdom of Christ. So advancing his kingdom. And so we are called to be strong believers and strong Christians here as we are building blocks in the church of Christ. Now, when we come to this and we understand here our responsibility as we're going to go through, it's always important to remind ourselves that Christ is the one building his church.

And I think, you know, We need to remind ourselves of that in Matthew 16, where he tells us that very clearly there, that to Peter. You can turn there if you like, Matthew chapter 16. So this is Jesus and Peter talking there, and Jesus says, you know, who do you say that I am? In verse 15, and Simon Peter answered and said, you are the Christ, the son of the living God.

Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say this to you, that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. So very, very clear here that Christ is the one doing the building. He is the ultimate master builder, as it were.

But yet, we do play a role in that. We're not just passive participants. We play a role. Obviously, we see that in Matthew 28 at the Great Commission, where to go, therefore, and make disciples.

That's what building the church is. That's what advancing the kingdom of Christ is, is making is us making disciples. Christ uses and works through us. So we become the building blocks in the Church of Christ.

That's what Peter says, you know, the living stones, he says here in verse 5. So it's important to understand both aspects of this. Obviously, Christ is doing the building, but as Reformed Christians, as those understanding the absolute sovereignty of God, we always have to ensure that we don't resort to fatalism. That, well, if God is sovereign, he's going to work it all out.

We saw this morning in the prayer hour, reading from John Calvin about prayer. It's the same concept. You know, if God is sovereign, we don't resort to fatalism here. God uses means to bring about his purposes, and in the building of the church, he uses believers to do that.

And we see that concept here of this, we can almost imagine it as layers, layers in a wall that are being built upon one on top of another. So if you turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 3, we see that there, 1 Corinthians chapter 3. Again, so this is dealing with this sectarianism that's happening in the church there. You know, one saying, I'm of Apollos, one, you know, I'm of Paul, that type of thing.

Now look at verse 9. Paul says here, we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field. You are God's building.

According to the grace which was given to me as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid. which is Jesus Christ. So we see that concept there of building upon these layers there.

So the apostles, Paul and Apollos there are builders. Turn to Ephesians 2 briefly. We see that one more example there, Ephesians chapter 2, verses 19 to 22. Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

So very clearly there, we see this concept of building blocks, of layers in the Church of Christ as the Church advances through the ages. So that's what the concept that we need to understand that Peter's using here as we work through this passage here.

Sermon Outline Overview

So the passage, I've broken it down in three parts again. So first in verse 1, you have the removal of all hindrances. And then we have the exhortation in verses 2 and 3. And then we have the ultimate purpose of this for the building of the Church of Christ in verses 4 and 5 here.

Removing All Hindrances to Growth

So, he begins then with the removal of all hindrances. So, hindrances to spiritual growth. Like I said, that's the focus in this passage here, that we're growing spiritually there. So, we have to remove what's going to hinder us, and that obviously is sin, an unrepentant sin in our lives. hinders Christian growth.

We see that concept in Hebrews 12 very clearly there, that we are the call to lay aside these weights that are going to slow us down in the race. It's, you know, Paul or the author of Hebrews giving this analogy of someone running a race, but you don't carry extra weight. Well, the sin is the extra weight that's going to slow you down. So we need to cast that aside.

We need to lay it aside here, says Peter. And so laying aside, that doesn't mean trying to put a clean garment. The word has this idea of taking off a garment, a coat or something like that. So it's not trying to just put a clean one over top of the old one that's there, but it's casting aside that old one.

You know, we're not trying, as a Christian, we don't try to cover up cover up a sinful heart and sinful actions with better ones. That's just simply, that's hypocrisy. That's what we talked about last time was that hypocritical love or hypocrisy that we're not supposed to have as believers towards one another, towards anyone for that matter. So we need to get rid of, we need to put off the old man.

Paul uses that saying in Colossians and Ephesians there. So we're getting rid of that old nature. We're killing it. We're mortifying it.

Mortification is the is the word that we talk about sometimes there. And again, these sins here that he lists, this is in the context of brotherly love. So there are these sins towards one another, like I said last time, the horizontal relationships here. Now, it's not that sins toward God don't hinder our Christian growth, but in this context there of brotherly love for the building up and the edifying and the unifying of the church here, these are the sins that we need to we need to get rid of here.

So the attitudes that would hinder our personal growth, hinder the strength and hinder the unity

The Five Vices: Malice to Slander

So he begins then with the first one is malice here. So malice is just, you know, maliciousness, we might say, or a basic attitude of ill will towards others. And it's secretly, what it is, is secretly enjoying someone else's misfortune. When someone else, you know, has something bad happen to them, whatever, you have this feeling that like, oh, that was good.

Because there's something in it that it seems to make us feel better when someone else's having something bad happens to someone. So enjoying someone else's misfortune, again, it goes completely opposite to this love that we're supposed to have of self-sacrifice and serving others and wanting their best. So that's malice. We don't need to worry or to be upset when others have it better than us or something like that.

And again, so when something bad happens to them, we don't want to secretly feel feel a sense of where we enjoy that. So that's malice. Then we have deceit. Deceit is taking advantage of another by cunning and deception for personal gain.

So again, I think it's self-explanatory, but again, it's this me first attitude that we're supposed to lay aside and put off. Hypocrisies then. Hebert, a commentator that I used, he says, hypocrisies are various forms of pretense to which deceit resorts in its endeavor to throw the intended victim off guard. So, it's trying to be...

So, if deceit was to take advantage of another by cunning, well, hypocrisy is a form of pretense, you know, in order to be deceitful. So, you know, pretending to be kind, pretending to be friendly, You know, but it's simply there's a self-interest motivation behind it. Trying to get something for ourselves from the situation. And then we have envies here.

Envies are feelings of displeasure produced by witnessing or hearing of the advantage or prosperity of others. Again, it's different than jealousy. Jealousy is wanting what someone else has. Envy is wanting someone else to not have what they have.

I think we probably all have Pastor Butler's classic fishing story in our minds right now. I'll save that for him to tell that another day if you're unfamiliar with it, but that's a classic example of envy. Just not wanting someone else to have what they have. Not because you necessarily want it, you just simply don't want them to have it.

So these are things that, and again, these three, if you notice in your Bibles, those three, we have malice, and then we have deceit, hypocrisy, and envy. Those are all sort of coupled together there, and then it ends with all evil speaking. So those three are connected. All of them are connected.

It's all a self-seeking, self-serving interest at the expense of others, not wanting others to do better. And then it concludes with, you know, all evil speaking or slander of every kind. Other translations say, so it's speech that assaults the character of another and usually takes place behind the victim's back. So again, self, you know, we understand what these things are, slander, you know, but again, all these things here, selfish attitudes, putting others down to try and make ourselves feel better, you know, with this me first attitude, you know, at the expense of others.

So we have to just think about this for a second. We're supposed to be growing as Christians, an attitude that puts others down. It does not promote any sort of growth in us. It doesn't make us a better person.

If we're here and we try to push someone else down, we haven't grown anymore. It's very simple. It's a very simple concept. And I think, you know, there's no growth in us.

And even secular personal development gurus will tell you exactly the same thing. You do not advance as a person, as an individual. Your character does not grow in any way with that type of attitudes. We grow through self-sacrifice.

We grow through truly seeking the best in others. Well, so if that's common knowledge just in the secular world, well, how much more than for our spiritual life and our growth in Christian character? You know, that we don't, our growth obviously comes through the, you know, growing in grace and knowledge in the scriptures, but yet our growth in Christian character and this self-sacrifice and putting others first is a means for our growth in that character and it's a means for the strengthening of the church. So, now one thing to notice about these about these vice lists here that he gives, they're all primarily acts of speech for the most part, or they all, you know, include that.

So, you know, he doesn't say, you know, don't steal from your neighbor, don't murder. And generally, it's those things, those are the things that we don't struggle with as much as, you know, with murder and stealing as we would with slander and envy and hypocrisy. You know, and I think Peter, understands here. These are the sins that, as Christians, we have a lot harder time of laying aside and casting off.

And what was true for 1st century Christians is just as true for 21st century Christians here, that we still struggle with these things. Nisbet, another commentator, even the children of the Lord are ready to cleave very close to their unmortified corruptions to forget the necessity of a further degree of mortification than what they had already attained to. So he's speaking of that constant growth and constant mortifying of our sins, and how much we still want to cleave to these things. And these are some of the sins that we often cleave to a lot more than we would, like I said, those bigger sins of stealing and those types of things.

So again, this reminder here, just like we had last week, that we are to have a genuine sincere love for one another, truly desiring the best. John Brown says, Let us never forget that Christianity is the religion of love and the religion of truth. The spirit which the Father has given us is the spirit of meekness and charity. That dove-like spirit dwelt without measure in our head, meaning Christ, and by him is communicated in various degrees to all his members.

Let us remember that the true way to put off malice is to put on charity, and the true way to put on charity is to put on Christ. So is that the mind which was in him may be in us. So that's the heart attitude that we have, as John Brown says here, to put on Christ, and then we put on this charity, and that is how we grow in our Christian character, and of course, as the building blocks in the Church of Christ for that purpose there, and we'll see that more as we get to the end.

The Exhortation: Desire the Pure Milk

So then we have, now we come to the exhortation And in verse 2, so he says as as newborn babes desire the pure milk of the word So so this as newborn babies now, he's not you know, he's not speaking in this instance about about spiritual immaturity We see that in in other places Paul indicts the Corinthians also the author of Hebrews same thing there that you know He says you're like you guys are like babies. You should be an only drink eat milk You should be eaten eating meat at this point You know, so he's speaking of, but that's not what Peter's doing here. Paul's comparing them and saying you're like babies, you're not supposed to be babies anymore, you should have grown up by now. But what Peter, he's comparing here is the desire that babies have for their mother's milk.

It's the comparison of the desire, not the comparison of the growth in this instance. So as much as the context is our Christian growth, you know, and what Paul is saying to the Corinthians and Hebrews, we need to take that to account, but it's a different analogy that he's using here. So, you know, like a newborn, you know, they crave their mother's milk, at least when they're awake, you know, they just They want to be nursing. You know, we think of the old saying, you know, eat, sleep, and repeat.

That's what babies do. You know, so it's this constant dependence that they have. And that is, as believers, that's our desire for the Word, for the milk of the Word that he says here. We're supposed to have that desire for our growth, to be constantly dependent, constantly feeding upon the Word of God.

And so he calls it here the pure milk of the word. Now, this is a very interesting and difficult passage in translation. There's various translations translated differently, and especially the word here that is translated of the word in our English Bible or in the New King James, it's the adjective logical. is what it means. So it would say, literally, I guess, would be, desire the pure and logical milk.

Now, again, that's a very wooden, rough translation. So we see that in Romans 12, verse 1, is that that same word is used there. You know, I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice Holy acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. So there it's translated as as reasonable So you can see that a connection to logical in in that instance there So so now it could be in this case.

You're referring to you know to logic reason the use of our mind I think that's that would fit the context Peters in like as I mentioned earlier in verse chapter 1 verse 13 to gird up the loins of our mind to engage our minds as we as we study scripture so that we can learn and grow by it. But there's another, this word is used only in Romans there in the Bible, but there's extra biblical sources that use the word there in a sense of it being used where something is being used metaphorically. So we can almost say, you know, where Peter could say, desire the pure metaphorical milk. So understanding that, you know, he's not speaking of exactly of milk, but it's, you know, he's referring it to now our source of Christian growth, which happens to be the Word of God.

So, you know, our translations say the same thing. They just, you know, they get their, or it's maybe not exactly what the translation says, but that is the concept here, is that, you know, as a baby desires after milk for their nourishment, you know, believers ought to desire after their own spiritual Nourishment which we know is is the word of God So and and of course the the gospel truth is contained in this in the scriptures and all all that is in there. So This this this word which is the the source of our of our life as Christians We saw that last time having been first chapter 123 having been born again not of corruptible seed but incorruptible through the Word of God, which lives and abides forever." So that is our source of growth and what we need to desire after that. You know, again, we saw last time that in chapter 1, the Word of God there was the declaration, the proclamation, the gospel message was what brought life to us there.

But again, we don't stop at a simple, basic understanding of the gospel. We continue to go on to study all the truths contained in the Bible. there, and it's, you know, that is the appointed means that God has given for our spiritual growth. So, and again, when I say gospel, this whole context here, as I've tried to point out as we've gone through 1 Peter, it's the gospel of our salvation, it's these concepts that we need to understand and study, it's everything that's contained within our You know our our salvation the all the truth surrounding that the the you know, the the inheritance the the hope of glory that we have, you know, so things to things to think about and study about, you know, like our salvation, where we were, what we once were, what we've been saved out of, things like justification, how that works, was I, you know, was I really that bad, was I, you know, is Christ that, Christ is that amazing, God's grace is so amazing, all these things that we need to study, the nature of God himself, who is God, you know, that we're instructed to to live in the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

Then we come and we study who is God. These are all these concepts that are in the Word that we need to examine and study, and that is how we grow as Christians and how we become stronger Christians and that solid building block in the Church of Christ. So, and then one other thing I just want to point out here, he says to desire the pure milk of the word. So, you know, or unadulterated, some translations translate it that.

You know, so this is the truth that we find in scripture. but pure and unadulterated, not partial truths that might sound good at first, but lead us into error. We need to understand, and this is why doctrine is so important, that we have the solid truths to stand on, truths that aren't going to lead us into errors, truths that are going to help us get us through the trials of life. You know, we see that in Ephesians 4. You know, if we're carried about by every wind of doctrine, you know, we're going to be tossed to and fro.

You know, so we want to ensure that as we study the Word, we're studying truth, pure truth, what is truth. And that's why systematic theology is so important. Systematic theology is that, you know, how the truths of God's Word fit together and work together. We don't want to have you know, truths that take us off, that don't, you know, truths, you know, what we think might be true, takes us off in a direction that doesn't fit in with the rest of the Scripture.

So, these are important things for our Christian growth. But, you know, when I say that, now, the best part is, is that we're not on our own in this. We don't have to try and come up, develop our own systematic theologies. We have fantastic systematic theologies.

We have fantastic creeds and confessions that are, that, you know, the church councils that happened, you know, in the early, Centuries and you know on Trinity Christology these things we have it all there. So we don't need we're not on our own We're not trying to reinvent things here But we have these these blessings from God that we can use to in our study to ensure that the truths that we are That we are taking in and studying are in fact truth is containing God's Word we also have you know the the in Ephesians for the the the godly men the pastors and teachers and evangelists that God has Christ has gifted to the church, you know, so We come to church to listen to these men so that we can grow thereby. These men are specifically for our growth and for the edification of the body of Christ, Paul tells us in Ephesians 4. So again, we're not on our own in this.

That's not what I'm trying to say, but we come, for one, the use of the means in terms of church. We come and we gather and we study and we hear and we engage our minds and we get these truths into us so that we understand and we become solid building blocks in the Church of Christ. And, of course, there's that personal individual benefit as well, as I mentioned, as we saw in chapter 1 of Peter. So, that is...we're called to desire after these things, and then the goal of that is that you may grow thereby.

And there's a textual variant there. Many other translations will say that you may grow in or unto your salvation. So, you know, it's not implying that spiritual growth produces salvation, but it's growing in this knowledge of all that's contained in our salvation. Growth in the knowledge—this is Nisbet again—growth in the knowledge of Christian truth is that on which spiritual growth depends.

So, growth in the knowledge of Christian truth is that on which spiritual growth depends. The great influential principles of saving truth are few and simple, And some are apt to think that they are easily and soon fully learned, but this is a dangerous mistake. That's a very important and good observation that the great influential principles of saving truth are few and simple, and some are apt to think that they are easily and soon fully learned, but this is a dangerous mistake. So we need to be continuing to have that desire to grow in the things of the Lord.

Self-Examination: Do We Have This Desire

So I think this is a time where we can examine ourselves. Do we have that desire? Do we have that desire like a newborn desires its mother's milk? Do we have that desire to learn about our Savior and learn about everything that's included in our salvation?

I think so often when we're just saved and we use the term on fire, we're on fire. We're hungry. We're learning as much as we can't stop learning. But there's times when that seems to go away, or at least it ebbs and it flows. somewhat, you know, well, what changed there?

Was it because the truth changed? Well, of course not. You know, it's us. Often we become sluggish and we just don't give it the energy or give it the time to do these things, you know.

So, you know, we need to have this desire. Well, what's the best way to cultivate the desire in us? Well, it just comes with simply doing it. you know, wetting our appetite and we get that taste for it. You know, so it could be as simple as just, you know, just read your Bible every day.

Take advantage of things like church attendance and the various things that the church, you know, in our church there's really no excuse for a lack of growth. There's so many things here now through the summer, that's obviously less, but there's theology studies, There's Bible studies, there's confession studies, there's many things to come and grow. So take advantage of these things. Use them to grow.

And we start to get that taste and that desire again to grow. So are we increasing in our understanding of the scriptures? Like the writer of Hebrews says, careful to not get caught up in strange doctrines that don't profit those who hold to them. So we need to be working on these things, studying ingesting the scriptures, putting off that old man, putting on the new man, the new man who's being renewed in knowledge according to the image of him who created him, Colossians 3.10.

So again, things to ask ourselves. Are we glorying in tribulation? Are we rejoicing in the midst of trials as we saw in chapter one there? These are all things that will evidence, do we have this joy, and this desire for the things of God.

So now, obviously, I think we all probably think we fall short and feel like we're falling short. But again, that is the Christian life is one of continual progress. It's not of immediate perfection. So we press on in this.

If we feel like we're not growing as we ought or we don't have this desire as we ought, well, we can praise God for for grace, we can praise God, you know, that we can press on as we work to grow. Again, it's not like we're all expected to read volumes of systematic theologies and things like that. You know, that's not what God requests or requires from us, you know, that we're doing that. But he just tells us that we're not to be stagnant in In our growth, you know, we're you know, there's there's I understand you're a you know a busy mom a busy dad hard Hard-working dad, you know, you finally get the kids to bed At night, the last thing you want to do is is pick up a theology book The last thing you have energy for is to pick up a theology book, you know So that's not what we're what I'm trying to say here is that we know we need to be reading systematic theologies in those those types of things.

But at least, you know, the pure milk of the word, as Peter says here, that's our source. So, you know, just make the time to read our Bibles and to pray and come to church. You know, these are the things that they do wonders for our souls. Spiritual growth is so important.

It's, you know, it's for our benefit. Of course, it enables us to get through the hard days, but it's for the benefit of others. It's our responsibility. that we are these building blocks, that we are strong building blocks, solid building blocks in the Church of Christ. You know, we think of our children, our grandchildren, whatever it may be, whoever's in our life that we have an influence on, we ought to be a strong building block to provide them the next layer above us in the Church of Christ, a solid foundation, a solid support to be on there.

And then we can encourage them to be strong building blocks. So that is the purpose there of our growth. We'll examine that in a bit more detail briefly here. But now we have the incentive for this, or maybe incentive is the wrong word, but this past experience of our salvation.

The Incentive: Tasting God's Grace

He says here, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. I think he probably has Psalm 34 verse 8 in his mind. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in him.

That's the incentive. That's what gets us going. The first taste of the grace of God, of his mercy, that we can be reconciled to him through the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what gets us going.

And then we have this, hopefully, this hunger that continues and that we continue to have this this desire again. Here, note the connection between tasting and this metaphor of milk that he's using there. So, it's the same thing. You've tasted.

I don't have, obviously, experience with nursing infants, but I have it, at least in the animal world, with calves, for example, would be a good one. They don't really want to drink until they get a taste of that milk, that first taste of milk, and then they drink like crazy. Well, that's what we need to We need to be, as believers, you know, we have this first taste of the grace of God that ignites our hunger and this desire after these things. So, you know, Peter doesn't want us, he doesn't want us to lose that, you know, but he wants us, you know, we just can't get enough.

We want to keep studying, keep, you know, like Isaiah says here, that with joy we draw water at the well of salvation, you know, that we continue at that well, drinking these things in. And like verse 4 says here, he's precious. So we have this taste of the preciousness of Christ. When we're first saved, he's so precious.

His blood is precious, as Peter says in verse 19 of chapter 1. So we need to strive that we never lose and allow that preciousness of Christ to dissipate in our lives. And that's what Peter's intent is here. you know, that he's trying to encourage them to be constantly reminded of the blood of Christ, of the goodness of God, so that it never loses that preciousness. So that ought to be our response to the grace of God, you know, that's the natural response.

If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious, well then you'll have this hunger, you ought to have this hunger, this desire. And again, like I said, you know, we all fall short and we all feel like we don't have what we should, but at least that we ought to be you know, dutiful in cultivating that, in using the means that God has given.

Christ the Living Stone and Foundation

So, now in verse 4, it says, coming to Him as a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but precious by God. So, Christ is the foundation upon which the Church is built here. So, now as we get more into this building, analogy here. We saw already in the verses I quoted at the very beginning, Christ being the chief cornerstone.

He's the foundation of the church, the apostles built upon that, and then the church continues to build upon that. So Christ is that foundation. We saw in Matthew 16, upon this rock I will build my church. What is that rock that Jesus is referencing?

I think we're probably familiar with the John Owen quote there. It's not the person of Peter who confessed Christ, but the person of Christ who Peter confessed. So Christ is that foundation of the church. Christ is rejected by men here, he says.

So again, this could be a specific reference to the Jews of Jesus' day who crucified him, and probably even more directly, the Pharisees. The ones they were supposed to be, the leaders of Israel, they were supposed to be the ones leading and promoting the spiritual growth in the Israelites. You know, they were the ones who were supposed to understand the Scriptures and realize Jesus was the Messiah, if they would have interpreted the Scriptures rightly. But, you know, instead, they were looking for an earthly kingdom.

They were looking for a national kingdom, and they rejected the Messiah. They rejected Christ. You know, so, you know, they were... You know, they...

Sorry. So, they were... They should have been the ones teaching the people about the true nature of the Messiah, through which they would have become part of the true people of God, that true spiritual kingdom, that true heavenly spiritual house that Peter says here. They should have been teaching the people about that, but rather they were focused just simply on national Israel, Israel as a nation.

And Jewish law, Jewish customs, they even engaged in mission work to try to bring people into the Jewish nation of Israel, not into the kingdom of the Messiah, the spiritual kingdom. And Jesus indicts them for that. He says, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you travel land and sea to win one proselyte. And when he has won, proselyte means someone who's converted to Judaism, and when he has won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

So they were rejecting Christ. They thought that the Messiah was going to come and save them from their enemies and make them the greatest nation in the world, like they were in David's time. But the Bible is so clear that, you know, as Peter says, Christ didn't come to set up a national kingdom. Christ came to set up a spiritual kingdom.

This, what we call the church, a spiritual house, this living organism made up of, you know, it's a superstructure made up of all those whom he has rescued from the kingdom of darkness, all those who believe in Christ.

Purpose: Built as Living Stones

So then we have the We have the purpose, then, of Christian growth here. So, in verse 5, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house. So, you know, as again, as I said, layer upon layer is built on the church. As the church marches through the ages, you know, we all become building blocks in That you know in in that church, we're all we're all a living stone as peter says you're a building block and we're we're built upon Someone else, you know something else in in or another person in that.

Um Another block which has been laid. So so that is why our christian growth is is so Important we need to be a solid building block a strong building block in this in in this organism this this the church because others will be built upon us, you know, we don't so we don't want to be a Marshmallow block in this in the wall because you know when that's just gonna be a shaky foundation for those going on before us those whom we are Have built upon us when when it comes to our children or whoever it may be that we are we are influencing And that's, I think, why the Church as a whole, at least in Western culture right now, the Western side of the Church is so shaky because we've lost that. We're built out of marshmallow blocks. We've lost that commitment to sound doctrine that makes us solid building blocks.

We've lost that commitment to holy living and casting off the old man and these old things. that are part of the old nature and the sins there. They make for soft, I'm going to use the term marshmallow blocks, in the wall of the church. And that's why we find ourselves where we are as a church as a whole right now. We've lost these things.

We can see how important they are for a solid church. So we need to be committed then to growth as Christians, that we become stronger, and stronger so that we become a sure foundation for the ones who come after us and the ones who follow after us. And again, like I said, the easiest example is our children. We teach our children these things.

We need to be strong so we can teach our children so they are strong, so that the wall of the church remains a strong wall. And again, if you don't have children, this still applies to you. I guarantee that you will have You will have other Christians that come to you, they share their struggles, but you need to be that solid foundation of truth so that you can encourage their hearts with. So we need to be constantly growing in our Christian character to be like that.

And I think that's one of the greatest benefits in a church of having older members in the church, members that have walked with the Lord for so many years. In my own personal experience, I'm sure many of you can relate, having these older people who've gone on before you that you can go and you can talk to and they can be such a source of encouragement and a means for building up you because they are strong, solid blocks. They have studied the word. They have studied doctrines.

They have grown in their Life of sanctification, the sins that are hindering are not there as much anymore. So they are these solid building blocks. We can go to them for encouragement, for strengthening. And so in turn, we can become strong building blocks so that others can come to us, be it our children, be it others in the church, be it whoever it may be.

So these are important things. And again, then we can also see here that How important it is to get rid of these these these vices that we saw in verse 1, you know these all these things that You know that are that are self-serving You know if malice malice towards others, you know, it makes it really impossible For more for others to be built upon us then if we have this attitude of malice towards others, you know that you know if people people are people will perceive that they'll perceive if you have if you have ill feelings toward others and And if you're slanderous, whatever it may be, it might not be to them directly, but yet, you know, they'll realize that, oh, that person, I don't feel like I can trust that person. And so, they're not going to come to you and, you know, you will, the wall will stop in a sense, you know, in your case. There will not be a building upon that.

So, we need to, it's very, we can really see then how important it is to rid ourselves of these types of thoughts and actions and to, and to be there in a self-serving way to support them. As I mentioned at the beginning, we've been commissioned by Christ to go and make disciples, but it's not only just going out on a missions trip elsewhere, but we make disciples, and then what do we do? We teach them, and that's part of this. So we need to make sure we know the truth, that we need to teach to others.

We can't miss that teaching part here. And so, you know, this passage will deal with, when we think of the Great Commission, to go and make disciples, that proclamation of the gospel, that this passage deals with, that I won't deal with, not going to look at it this time, but we read it, you know, to proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into marvelous light. But here now, He's just speaking of internally, of strengthening that church and teaching others, you know. I hope we see the importance of this, you know, to have a strong church, not only just locally, you know, it's very practically applied to the local church as well, but universally, the church as a whole.

We see, like I said, the Western church is soft, is shaky right now because we've lost the importance of these things.

Application

So, let us then be resolved to grow as as christians that we put off all all sins of ill will towards others we we we go with a with a self-sacrificing um self-sacrificing love for others but that we grow in our knowledge of the of the truths of scripture knowledge of the the faithfulness of god the the gospel the hope that we have all these things that make us uh you know, stronger Christians to be there for the next generations. This morning in our prayer meeting, we prayed for the next generation that's coming up. Well, you know, for that generation to succeed, yes, we need the grace of God by all means, but the means God uses will be the solid and firm foundation of those who have gone on before. And again, as I said, this is a process.

This doesn't mean that, you know, by next Sunday, you all have to read, you know, 16 volumes of John Owen. That's not the... That's not the goal here. It's a process.

You know, sometimes I always think of busy moms, because everybody knows how busy moms are. So that doesn't mean busy moms have to just be studying theology all the time. Busy moms need to be busy moms. They need to take care of those kids.

But what are they doing? That's how they're strengthening and building up that next level in the wall, the next generation of the church. You know, so again, so don't feel like this has to all be done at once. Don't feel like the only way to do it is to read systematic theologies, but rather it's just to have this steady growth in the things of God so that we can be the solid building blocks of the church and resolve to see the blocks that are going to rely on us for support, that they become solid building blocks for the next generation.

And then, of course, we always have to be dependent on the grace of God for this. We never want to, when we, we always got to maintain that balance. As I always try to say, we have to be disciplined. We don't want to resort to fatalism and say Christ is going to build this church.

And that's, and that's, you know, doesn't matter what we do. So we don't want to be, we need to be disciplined. We need to do these things. But we also need to be dependent.

We need to be dependent upon the grace of God for the ability to do this. As they often say, Jesus says, without me, you can do nothing. So let's remember that. Let's be resolved to do this.

But again, let's also remember that this is not connected to our salvation. We don't have to, we don't think, well, if I'm not persevering and knowing so much, well then, you know, then we're questioning our, to the point where we question our salvation. That's not my intent here at all. We can never forget, justification is by faith alone.

The smallest, tiniest little faith is a faith that saves. I can't remember who said it, but a faith is the size of a mustard seed. It may not move mountains, but it does reconcile a sinner to God. So let us never lose sight of that.

We are saved by faith alone, in Christ alone, But yet, from there, we go on and we persevere. Part of this perseverance, sanctification, part of this sanctification, casting off the old, but it's also growing and learning so that we become a solid building block in the Church of Christ. Well, let us close in a word of prayer.

Closing Prayer

Father, we do thank You for Your Word. We do thank You for Your Church. We thank You Lord, that you have promised that you will build the church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. Lord, how encouraging that is when we think of that.

Lord, we know that we feel we fall short in these things all the time. It's our responsibility of of growing your church and being a solid building block in your church, one of those living stones in the wall of the church where we feel we fall short, but how much comfort we take from the fact that you are building your church and it will not fall apart, Lord, but rather it will descend on the gates of Hades and continue to rescue sinners out of that kingdom of darkness and bring them into the into this marvelous light that Peter talks about. So Lord, how we rejoice in that. I pray that you would help us to be resolved, to grow in our Christian character, help us to be resolved to love one another. and to truly desire the best of one another.

Help us to have unity and love for each other in this local church here. Lord, we thank you for that blessing, that you have blessed us so much with the unity and with a strong church here. And Lord, we just thank you for your goodness to us that way. And I pray that you would be with us the rest of this day, and that if it is in your will, Lord, that you bring us back together this evening again to worship you, Again, in our evening service, Lord, we thank you for your son, the Lord Jesus, that without him, we can do nothing.

We thank you for his life, his death, and his resurrection, and that he is the reason, Lord. We come together each Lord's Day to celebrate him and to celebrate his kingship and that he has conquered death. He has conquered all these things, and he is building his kingdom. So, Lord, we rejoice in that.

We pray this all in His most precious name. Amen. Well, we'll stand in closing to sing the doxology, number 568. So you can stand as we sing that together, please. is is Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever.

Amen. You may be seated for a time of meditation.

Scripture References

• Psalm 34:8
• Isaiah 12:3
• Matthew 16:15; 16:18; 23:15; 28:19-20
• John 15:5
• Romans 3:28; 12:1
• 1 Corinthians 3:9
• Ephesians 2:19-22; 4:11-12; 4:14
• Colossians 3:10
• Hebrews 12
• 1 Peter 1:13; 1:19; 1:23; 2:1-5; 2:9
• Jude 24-25