1 Peter 2:1-3

1 Peter 2:1–3 KJV (WS)

Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

Introduction

Foods that contain no significant nutritional value but are high in calories are said to have empty calories.

The average man eats over 900 empty calories a day; while the average woman eats over 600.

Some examples of foods with empty calories are…

carbohydrate-based desserts, such as cakes, cookies, biscuits, donuts, muffins, granola bars, and more

sugary drinks, including soda, energy drinks, and fruit juice

candy bars, chocolate bars, and hard candies

some meats, including bacon, sausages, and hotdogs

some full fat products, such as butter, shortening, and ice-cream

processed oils, such as soybean and canola oil

condiments, such as ketchup and barbecue sauce

fast food, including burgers, wraps, pizza, and more

These are all things that we enjoy.

But, we know that these things are not all good for us.

We now we don’t feel good after eating them too.

We like the initial taste and feel so much though, that we are willing to make a trade.

We will trade a moment of indulgence for something that we know is bad for us long term.

It is very easy for us to be trained to identify foods that are not beneficial to us as foods that we crave.

So many factors affect our eating habits, but a big one is the eating that we saw modeled for us as children.

Once we have tasted these foods, then that craving grows stronger.

It makes it harder for us to deny them even though we know we shouldn’t eat them all the time.

The same is true with our spiritual life.

There are some spiritual foods that we should push away.

Unfortunately, we have seen these foods modeled for us.

Unfortunately, we have tasted these foods and found them to be initially satisfying.

Even though we know that these spiritual foods are bad for us long-term, we continue to go back to them.

Peter tells us to push them away.

You are sitting at the table of life.

These things listed in verse 1 are placed before you.

They are natural.

They are initially satisfying.

We must learn to deny them.

The first of these is the bowl of malice.

Malice is the most general of this list.

It’s almost like talking about wheat to a gluten free person.

Just like wheat is in just about everything, malice is the base ingredient for the rest of the harmful foods.

Malice could be defined as an opposite to grace.

We are expected as recipients of grace to then show grace to others.

Malice defines our actions when we withhold grace.

We may not like to identify it as such, but withholding grace from someone is the equivalent of treating them with ill-will.

This is pretty much our natural bent as sinners.

Pride, selfishness, and malice towards our fellow man.

These things need only a basic understanding of man’s atrocities towards each other to recognize.

But it is not just the Hitlers or the antagonists that are guilty of treating others with malice.

It happens within the Christian community.

It happens within the church as well.

When we withhold grace from each other, we engage in malice.

One author said that malice is the breaking of the second table of the 10 commandments.

Thou shalt not covet, kill, bear false witness.

Those are all acts of malice.

Let’s be honest sometimes malice tastes pretty good, for awhile.

Especially if someone is unlikeable.

Especially if someone has done you wrong.

Peter says we should pass.

The second is a plate of guile.

Guile is a form of malice.

It is translated for the greek word dolon.

Dolon was the old greek word for fish bait.

If I was to say that someone lured me into making a bad deal, you have an image in your mind.

Dolon/guile refers to the act of manipulating others to get what you want.

We are so used to guile that we look for it everywhere.

We treat others with suspicion because we have found people to be untrustworthy.

And yet, we too can be guilty of using guile to get what we want.

For example, someone comes to me and says, Pastor, a lot of folks are saying…

Or, how about blaming the kids for why you can’t come to something, when in reality you just don’t want to go.

Or, a visitor who says, we’ll be back next week.

Or, when we say, I will pray for you when we have no intention of praying.

I really enjoyed your message.

I think we lie more than we care to admit.

We do this, we engage in guile to either get what we want or get out of something we don’t want.

It works.

We can beguile each other.

Our brain learns that this is an effective method of controlling people.

Peter tells us that we should reject this form of behavior.

Third we have a cup of hypocrisy

We must not be too quick to pat ourselves on the back for telling the truth.

Lies are not solely told through words.

If guile is deceitful words, hypocrisy is deceitful actions.

We have a pretty good idea of what hypocrisy looks like.

We dealt a little bit with it when we talked about feigned love.

We are one way with certain people or in certain places.

We are something different when we leave.

We learn this pretty early on too.

Have you ever witnessed a child who acts different around mom vs dad?

I don’t mean like rough housing with da and being sweet with mom.

I do mean when one parent is more lenient than the other.

The kid knows and adjusts their behavior according to what they think they can get away with.

By the time we are adults, we have this behavior down.

Thankfully, hypocrisy is not something that churches deal with.

It is a form of deceit.

It is natural.

It is to be denied.

Fourth, is a handful of envy.

Hypocrisy is a form of guile is a form of malice.

Envy starts a new branch.

If guile is sweet, envy is savory.

How many of you prefer sweet calories?

How many of you prefer savory calories?

Envy raises it’s ugly head when our hypocrisy and guile don’t work.

We don’t get what we want.

Instead, someone that we deem to be unworthy gets a position or a ministry that we desired for ourselves.

This results in jealousy in our hearts.

Jealousy is never static.

If it is not immediately dealt with it will blossom into envy.

Envy is distinguished from jealousy by the inclusion of ill-will towards the person that has experienced the good fortune we wished for ourselves.

…or for someone we prefer.

If we indulge in this vice, we will soon move on to the final food Peter warns us about.

Finally, we are offered a tray of evil speaking.

Evil speaking is just what it sounds like.

Words that we speak about other people that results in running them down.

This is directly related to envy.

Evil speaking is the outward expression of the envy we first tasted in our hearts.

Peter again tells us to just say no.

The Bible always has an alternative to the unhealthy offering of the world.

We should, instead, load up on the right kind of food.

We need a craving for the right kind of food.

That’s what it means to desire this food.

We long for it.

We need it regularly.

If we don’t get enough of it, we start looking for it.

Some have taken Peter’s analogy of a newborn’s hunger to mean that this is a derogatory comment towards his readers.

It is not.

Whether we are beginners or veterans this should be our attitude towards the food that God wants us to feed on.

What is this food?

It’s the same thing that brought us to new life in Christ.

The WORD!

The word was the seed that gave us life; now it is the milk that causes us to grow.

We need an insatiable thirst for God’s word.

Peter calls the word, the sincere milk of the word.

This means that it is pure.

Remember, I said guile was verbal manipulation to get others to do what you want.

The word for guile is the word dolon.

The word for sincere is a-dolon.

In other words, there is no guile in Bible.

God’s not manipulating you with His words.

They are pure, not just accuracy and truth, but also in motivation.

The word of God is a gift of grace.

We know that, because we have already tasted it.

Before you can crave something you have to taste it first.

If you’ve been saved, it’s because you tasted the word of God.

It was efficient for your salvation it is efficient for your growth.

Application

Just like our stomach only has room for so much food; the same is true for our lives.

If I fill up on snacks and junk, then I won’t have the stomach for the nutritious food my body needs to stay healthy.

If I fill up on the things that Peter tells me to get rid of, I won’t have an appetite for what I need the most for spiritual growth, the Bible.

Of course, the reverse is also true.

Fill up on the Bible, and you will find that you won’t be as hungry for the junk food that our sinful nature craves.

Maybe a good reason to start your day by reading the Bible?

All of us need to do an examination of our spiritual pantry.

Is it full of malice?

However you express malice.

Is it full of the pure milk of the word of God?