A Living God- A Holy People

1 Peter 1.22-2.3

English Standard Version (Chapter 1)

22- Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,

23- Since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;

24- For “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass.The grass withers,and the flower falls,

25- But the word of the Lord remains forever.”

And this word is the good news that was preached to you. A Living Stone and a Holy People

2.1- So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.

2.2- Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—

2.3-  If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

The Outline

Love One Another

Grounded in Their Conversion

Sealed by the Everlasting Word of God

When a person is first saved, there seems to be an unquenchable thirst for more of God’s Word. An entire new world has been opened up to them, and they can’t seem to get enough of it.

Sound familiar? Been there, done that? What happened to it?

Remember buying a new car? If not brand new- At least new to you?

You’re careful about door dings in store parking lots, refuse to let anyone eat in the car, The dog has to ride in your truck- Not the new car...

Until that fateful moment, you spill the hot mocha all over the center console.... Suddenly all bets are off…The first compromise is to carry a trash bag in the car- At least keep it neat and organized…Then after awhile, the burger bag gets tossed on the back floorboard (Will take it in when we get home)

Our Christian walk can be like that…Stormin’ the Gates of Hell on a daily basis and hours of daily devotions and prayer… To 5 minutes in the morning while you slam down your first bagel and coffee before heading to work- Lather, Rinse, Repeat...

Peter encourages us to NEVER stop craving the Word. As a newborn baby craves Momma’s milk, so must we continue to seek- Chase after the freshness of the Word of God.

So what do we do with that?

The first thing Peter mentions is to never stop loving your fellow believer.

BROTHERLY LOVE-

Philia or Philadel-Phia.

Sound familiar- Philadelphia- The City of Brotherly Love

To love as one loves a sibling.

It’s become out of style now, but in the Christian Church everyone was referred to as “Brother...” or “Sister...”

Raised in Church it took me awhile to realize that Bro. and Sis. Ames’ first names were really Ernest and Margaret.

Peter qualifies this as “Sincere” Brotherly Love

Sincere- Genuine, True and Pure.

Then adds Love one another “Earnestly, from a pure heart.”

Agapos- Love- Pure Clean Innocent (Where we get Agape Love)

Although different words and different meaning, they overlap in their application-

Philadelphia or Sibling love and care grows and matures as the siblings grow up. It is Genuine, True and Pure.

Agapos Love- Is pure Love, it involves faithfulness, commitment, and an act of the will.

In the Christian life the two should overlap- Starting with Philia love for our fellow believers-

And growing and expanding to a larger universal Agapos Love and compassion for the greater community in which we live.

Philia Love- Is why we have Potluck dinners, church work days, Ladies Tea’s and Mens Fishing trips.

Agapos Love- Is why we have Christmas in July, Support various Missionaries, and local Outreaches like Stand at the Crossroads and others.

You could say that Philia love establishes the baseline, while Agapos Love is the never-ending growth, expanding from the base to the ever-expanding outreach of the church- Locally and Globally.

So, where does this all come from? The Zeal, sincerity, the commitment.

V-23 Through the Living and Abiding Word of God.

Isaiah 40.6,8 “The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”

Having been Born Again, not of temporal, perishable seed, but of “Incorruptible, Indestructible, Immortal seed.

Peter’s audience was very familiar with the task of spreading seed every year for a crop. It was tedious back-breaking work that had to be done to get a crop.

And it had to be repeated every year to get a crop- Every year.

My Grandparents on my Mom’s side were Wheat Farmers in NW North Dakota. And although, by the 60’s and 70’s, when I got to vacation with them during the summer, They had all the modern equipment of Grain Trucks, Automatic Thrashing machines and Combines…My Grandpa Peterson started out with horse-drawn equipment- Only a slight improvement over what they had in Peter’s day.

And yet, with all the fancy modern equipment, they still had to go out EVERY YEAR, in the Spring and plant the fields for a crop.

Mankind has yet to invent the Wheat field that will plant and harvest itself.

But the seed Peter is talking about comes from an eternal source- The Living and Abiding Word of God

Once Planted in our hearts, Gods Word cannot be “Un-planted”

This is the “Good News, preached to each of us.

God’s Word sent out will NOT return void-

The Word of God remains FOREVER. And not only remains, BUT Abides with US. As long as we are welcoming in our hearts, God’s Presence abides with us.

Thats What We Do-

HOW DO WE DO THAT

Being Motivated by the Living and Abiding Word of God

1 Pt 2.1

“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.”

To Put Away- is to

Strip away, Stop pretending- get rid of it… ALL OF IT

All Malice, Wickedness, Hateful feelings, Road Rage, discontent with your neighbors, etc. Be done with all of it.

So, Back to the New-Born Christians.

1 Peter 2:2

Like Newborn infants, long for Pure Spiritual milk.

THAT YOU MAY GROW UP INTO SALVATION.

Like Newborn babies are supposed to grow up into mature adult humans, Newborn Christians are also supposed to grow up into mature adult Christians

QUALIFIER.....

Huge qualifier, even!!!

V-3, If indeed, you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Ps 34.8 “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!”

I have been a Chocoholic most of my life. It’s my Mom’s fault-

A special Sunday evening treat, after church was Vanilla pudding (back when you had to actually cook it) with an edge of ‘Nilla wafers, poured over a layer of chocolate chips.

Who can fight such a temptation?? I tasted it and it was good- Been hooked ever since. But yet....

Chocolate chips are no comparison to a simple tasting of the Love/Grace and Mercy of my Lord and Saviour.

Taste and see that the Lord is good. I invite anyone here tonite or on-line listening, who has not made decision to follow Jesus Christ starting now, for the rest of your life- I beg you do not leave the building- or turn off the live stream without making that decision.

If you have let some close to you, here in the Sanctuary or on line, know…It will be the greatest choice you have ever made.