Preached Sunday, October 14, 2012 from 1 Peter 2:1-3
Theme: We are to crave the pure milk of the word so that we’ll grow in Christ.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
I’m going to begin this morning’s message, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, by telling you what I hope you’ll do as a result of it. Ordinarily, I save the final, practical appeal for the end. But I’m giving it to you now at the beginning.
My hope and prayer is that you will be convinced that the holy Scriptures have been given to us by God as the necessary food for the nourishment of our souls and for the growth of our relationship with Jesus Christ; and that you place a high priority on spending quality time, every day, in reading and studying God’s word.
So; that’s where I’m hoping for us to end up together. And now, to help us get there, I ask you to turn with me to the New Testament book of 1 Peter; and to what the apostle Peter had to say about the value of God’s word in our lives.
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The apostle Peter wrote this letter to some fellow Christians who were suffering persecution for their faith in Jesus. He wanted to encourage them not to lose heart. And so, after reminding them of the greatness of their salvation in Christ in the first half of chapter 1, he went on to encourage them to be steadfast in this great salvation by which they had been saved.
I’d like to read what he wrote in 1 Peter 1:13-25. And as I read these words to you, I ask that you listen carefully to the two great things that he stresses in these persecuted Christians: (1) the brand new life that God has brought about in them through Jesus, and (2) the types of things that they must do to make progress and grow in that new life. He writes;
Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God (1 Peter 1:13-21).
In this context, he goes on to speak of the work that the word of God had already done in them. He writes;
Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because
“All flesh is as grass,
And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass.
The grass withers,
And its flower falls away,
But the word of the Lord endures forever.”
Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you (1:22-25).
So; you can see pretty clearly that God had brought about a great change in them. They had been “born again” unto new life. That new life was something that was brought about in them by God Himself through the preaching of the word. And now that they have been given new life, Peter was giving them specific instructions concerning what they must do to maintain that new life and cause it to grow.
I wish we had time to talk about all those instructions concerning the new life God had brought about in them through Christ. And even more, I wish we had time to talk about the new life itself! What a wonderful thing it is that God has done for us! We were dead in trespasses and sins; and yet, He has raised us from the dead and made us alive in Christ! Just as Peter says in 1 Peter 1:3, God “has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead . . .” I hope, dear brothers and sisters, that we never get over the fact that we are given a completely new life in Christ—and that, as far as God Himself is concerned—our past life of sin is gone, we have been wonderfully born again, and we now live as His beloved sons and daughters in a glorious new life that will never end! This new life is a precious thing that is worth our every effort to protect and nurture.
But this morning, I’m asking that you look very specifically at the instructions concerning this new life that are found in 1 Peter 2:1-3;
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 (2:1-3).
On the day that we heard the gospel and believed, you and I were given new life in Jesus Christ. That new life is something that only God Himself could bring about in us by His grace. We could no more make ourselves “born again” than we could have made ourselves born the first time. We could no more raise ourselves from spiritual death and make ourselves alive in Christ than a dead man could raise himself to life from the grave. This new life is God’s doing; and we will forever praise Him for it!
But now that this new life has been given to us and is ours, we have an active part to play in its growth and development. We are very young in respect to this new life. And just as would be true of us when we were tiny, new-born babies, we need to take in necessary nourishment; so we’ll grow up and make progress in this new life, and do all the other things the apostle Peter said that we are to do.
To put it simply, we need to drink our milk. That necessary milk is the word of God. And so, this morning’s passage teaches us that we are to crave the pure milk of the word so that we’ll grow in Christ.
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Now; look at the very first few words of verse one. In the translation I’m using, they read, “Therefore, laying aside . . .” Those first few words tell us that, as a result of our having been given new life in Christ, we are to now “lay aside” or “rid” ourselves of certain aspects of the old life that still cling to us. Just like the old, ragged, filthy clothes of what we once were, we are to take these sinful habits and practices off and cast them away.
And this is an important point for us to begin with; because the failure to do this is what has led many professing Christians—even Christians who hear lots of sermons and Bible lessons, and who read their Bibles frequently—to fail to grow from the word as they should. It’s because they have continued to hold on to some attitudes and practices that keep God’s word from doing the work in them that it is intended to do.
So; when it comes to craving the pure milk of God’s word, look first at . . .
1. WHAT WE MUST LAY ASIDE FOR IT (v. 1).
Peter writes, “Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking . . .” It’s important to understand how these things hinder God’s word in our lives; so let’s consider them one by one.
First, the word that’s here translated “malice” is one that speaks of wickedness in general. In fact, it’s the same word that Peter uses just a little later in this letter; when, in verse 16, he urges us to be free in Christ—”yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice” or “evil”. But I think what he particularly has in mind here is a mean-spirited and malicious attitude toward others. Paul used this word in Ephesians 4:31-32 when he wrote;
Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you (Ephesians 4:31-32).
I like what one preacher said—that ‘malice’ is simply the other side of the same coin as ‘the love of self’. If we are focused only on loving ourselves, then we will be malicious toward those who aren’t enamored with us as much as we are. One of the things that we must do in order to obtain the nourishment from God’s word that we constantly need is to lose ‘the love of self’ that used to characterize our old life—and lay aside all the malice toward others that came from it.
“Malice”—loving ourselves so much that we hate others— is a general thing; but then comes some specifics. Peter goes on to mention three things that, I believe, are meant to be taken as attitudes that spring forth from that general attitude of malice. We are to lay aside “all deceit, hypocrisy, envy . . .”
The word for “deceit” is one that speaks of setting a bait to trap something; and it suggests the idea of trying to take advantage of someone through treachery or underhandedness. I think that a good way to think of it is as “manipulation”—where we love ourselves so much that we use power-plays and guilt-trips on other people, and trick them into doing things our way. God’s word cannot do its work in us if we are using other people for selfish ends in that way.
The word translated “hypocrisy” speaks of a different kind of “deceit”—one in which we love ourselves so much that we try to fool people into thinking we’re something that we’re not. The word itself used to refer to a play-actor in the ancient theater—someone who performed behind a mask. It came to refer to the act of pretending to have a holiness in front of other people that we do not have, and of creating an outward impression of ourselves that is contrary to the facts. The word of God deals with us as we really are, and seeks to genuinely change us into what God wants us to be; but it can’t do it’s work in us if we’re not going to be real.
And the word translated “envy” speaks of that burning sense of jealousy against someone else. If we are self-centered and self-focused, then we are going to be envious and jealous of someone who gets what we want. As the apostle James wrote;
. . . if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there (James 3:14-16).
God’s word cannot have its desired impact in us if self-centered envy and jealously are abiding in our hearts.
All those things—malice, and the deceit and hypocrisy and envy that spring from it—can be hidden deep inside us; but they can’t really be hidden for very long. They show themselves by what comes out of our mouths. And so, lastly, Peter tells us that we are to lay aside “all evil speaking” or “all slander”. All the gossip, all the back-biting, all the bad-mouthing of others, all the angry name calling and character assassinations, all the “whisperings” about others that are cleverly disguised as “prayer requests”, all the efforts to elevate ourselves by lowering others—all of these are the old practices of the old life that still remain in us; and they all must go, if we are to gain the benefit from God’s word that we need to have.
Now; after all that, you might be thinking that you have to be perfect before you can even pick up your Bible and read it! But no; that’s not the case. It’s not a matter of cleaning up your act before you can hear the word of God. Rather, it’s a matter of laying aside these things that keep us from humbly receiving the word of God and allowing it to cleanse us. As the apostle James put it;
So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls (James 1:19-21).
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So; one of the things we must do is to get things out of our lives that keep God’s word from having the benefit in us that He wants it to have.
And then, Peter goes on show us . . .
2. HOW EARNESTLY WE MUST DESIRE IT (v. 2a).
He writes; “as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word . . .”
Let’s think first of what it is that we are to desire. In the Bible I’m reading from, it’s translated “the pure milk of the word”. In some other translations, it’s called “pure spiritual milk”—calling it “spiritual” rather than calling it “the word”. But the word that Peter uses is one that means “word-like” or “rational”. Whatever this rational or spiritual “milk” is, we know that it’s what is necessary for the nourishment of God’s new-born spiritual people; so that they become sanctified and strong. And as Jesus once said when He prayed for us to the Father, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth” (John 17:17). Personally, I don’t think there can be any question that the “milk” Peter speaks of is the written word of God. It’s “pure” in that is exactly what is needed—with nothing else included. It’s “pure” because it makes us pure.
Second, think of what we are to be in relation to this thing we are to desire. We are to see ourselves in relation to the word of God as newborn babes would be in relation to their mother’s milk. We need God’s word desperately. We cannot grow without it. We would die if we didn’t get it. We are very, very young in relation to the glorious prospect of what we will be when we are in heavenly glory. We understand so little of what God has done for us or of what He calls us to do. We aren’t strong enough in our own power to live the life God calls us to live. And in our desperate need for the nourishment of our soul, we may eat and drink things that are harmful to us or that can destroy us. We need to be under the nurturing care of the Holy Spirit; and the food that the Spirit gives us in order for us to grow up in Christ is the written word of Scripture.
And finally, think of how intensely we are to desire it. We are to crave it as much as a hungry newborn craves his or her mother’s milk. Have you ever tried to reason with a newborn when he or she is hungry? Have you ever tried to explain that supper is only fifteen or twenty minutes away; and if they will just be patient, they’ll get fed on schedule? There’s no reasoning with them. They must have their milk now—and they’ll communicate that desire intensely until it is met! And that’s how earnestly—how yearningly—we are to desire God’s word. Peter uses a compound word to describe this. He doesn’t just use the Greek word for “desire”; but rather the word for desire with a suffix to it that intensifies it. It is to “desire upon” an thing! It is to long for it with great longing! And that’s how intensely you and I are to desire the “pure milk of the word”.
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I remember a fellow pastor here in the Portland area once talking about “boredom”. He said that when we are “bored”, it’s like a ‘stomach grumble’ in the human soul. Our soul is craving something. But what’s so sad is that people will often go to all the wrong things to satisfy that hunger. They will go to movies or to television and see things that are not healthy to see. They’ll go to books or magazines or to the Internet and read things that are not healthy to interact with. They’ll go to places or hang around with people that it’s not healthy to be identified with. They’ll talk about things that it is not good for the soul to talk about—all because they are “board”.
Now; please understand. I’m not saying that it’s wrong to go to movies or watch television or read books and magazines or hang around with people. But very often, these are “candy bars” and “Twinkies” to the hungry soul. A steady diet of such things satisfies quickly but then leaves us feeling sick; when what is really needed is the nourishment that comes from God’s sanctifying word. Think of that the next time you feel that ‘grumbling in the soul’. That sense of boredom may be God’s call to us to take up our Bible, go away and meet with Him, and give our soul what it truly craves through the pure milk of the word.
And that leads us, finally, to consider . . .
3. WHY IT MUST BECOME OUR NOURISHMENT (vv. 2b-3).
Peter says that we are to desire the pure milk of the word for a very specific reason, “that you may grow thereby . . .”
Growth is natural for the believer in Christ. It’s not God’s plan for us in Christ to remain in the same level of infancy we were in when we first believed on Him; but that we grow and mature. He wants us to increasingly walk as His Son Jesus Christ walked, and think as He thought, and speak as He spoke, and do as He did. He wants us to grow “to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). And in order for us to mature into the image of God’s Son, our souls need nourishment that God the Father Himself has provided for us. And that nourishment comes from His written word.
Do you want to have a stronger faith? Then you need to be nourished in the Scriptures; because Romans 10:17 says that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Do you want to live a more holy life? Then you need to be nourished in the Scriptures; because Psalm 119:9 says, “How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word.” Do you want to be wise in spiritual matters? then you need to be nourished in the Scriptures; because Paul writes that the Holy Scriptures “are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15).
Growth takes work; but it can be yours. The provision has been made. In fact, you have everything you need in the Scriptures! The apostle Paul wrote;
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
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Now; all of this assumes that you have entered into a relationship with God by faith in His Son. Peter assumes that we truly are ‘in Christ’. He writes in verse 3 that we are to desire the pure milk of the word, that we may grow thereby, “if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious”. If someone has truly believed on Jesus, and if they have truly been given the gracious gift of “new life”—if they truly are God’s “newborn” children—then they will naturally want to grow. If someone has truly tasted of the Lord, and knows of His goodness and graciousness, they will naturally want more and more. The thing about a newborn baby’s capacity for nourishment is that—if things are going as they should—it keeps getting greater and greater; and the craving keeps getting stronger and stronger.
If you find that you have no interest whatsoever in growing in Christ—if you do not desire the pure milk of the word—then I urge you to go back and examine whether or not you have truly even tasted personally of the Lord’s goodness. You may need to examine whether or not you have actually placed your faith in Christ and have entered into a relationship with Him by faith; because it’s natural for His newborns to crave the pure milk of the word and grow. How can one of His children not want the food He provides?
But if you have genuinely placed your faith in Jesus Christ, and truly have been born again unto new life, then—just as I said at the beginning—my hope and prayer is that you will be convinced that the holy Scriptures have been given to us by God as the necessary food for the nourishment of our souls and for the growth of our relationship with Jesus Christ; and that you will prioritize spending quality time, every day, in reading and studying God’s word.
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.
Dear brothers and sisters; drink your milk!