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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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 
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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.