1 Pet 1_22-2_3 - Keys to Spiritual Growth-pt 2
The Key to Spiritual Growth
Text: 1 Peter 1:22-2:3
I. The Bible and Spiritual Birth
1. Not by perishable seed - 1:23 but imperishable
Examples:
Perishable = Grass and flowers
Imperishable = Word of God - Ps 119:89, 160
(Psa 119:89 NIV) Your word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.
(Psa 119:160 NIV) All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.
II. The Bible and Spiritual Growth
A. Negative - 2:1
“Rid yourselves” = Gr. “apothesthai” = word used for stripping off soiled clothing.
1. Malice = Gr. “kakia” (kakivan Noun: feminine, singular, accusative ) This is the most general word for evil and wickedness. The rest of the list are manifestations of malice. These are all sins of character which will hurt the great characteristic proof of a believer -- love. Their can be no brotherly love, no unity of the body of Christ as long as any of this list is present in the lives of the individuals in the body.
2. Deceit (KJV guile) = Gr. “dolos” (dovlon Noun: masculine, singular, accusative ) trickery or craftiness using devious words and actions to get what you want. This is the vice of the man who’s motives are not pure.
If we are guilty of malice and deceit we will try to hide it which produces hypocrisy..
3. Hypocrisy = Gr. “hupokrisis” (uJpokrivsei" Noun:, feminine, plural, accusative ) William Barclay describes this word as follows: “It is the noun from the verb “hupokrinesthai” which means to answer; a hupokrites began by being an answerer. The next move that the word makes is that it comes to mean an actor, the man who takes part in the question and answer of the stage. It then comes to mean a hypocrite in the bad sense of the word, a man who all the time is acting a part, a man who all the time is concealing his real motives, a man who meets you with a face which is very different from his heart, and with words which are very different from his real feelings. The hypocrite is the man who may well enter the Church from the wrong motives, and whose alleged Christian profession is for his own profit and prestige, and not for the service and for the glory of Christ.” (The Letters of James and Peter, p. 225).
4. Envy = Gr. “phthonos” (fqovnou" Noun: masculine, plural, accusative). This is one of the hardest sins to get rid of. It plagued the apostles. At the Last Supper the disciples were disputing about who should occupy the seats of greatest honor (Luke 22:24). The other ten were envious of James and John, when they requested to sit on Jesus’ right and left in His glory.
Envy can only die when self dies. So long as self remains in one’s heart their will be envy in one’s life. Jesus gave the antidote for envy to the disciples when they were envious of James and John. Jesus said:
(Mark 10:42-45 NIV) ... "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. {43} Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, {44} and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. {45} For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
5. Slander (KJV evil speakings) = Gr. “katalalia” (katalaliav Noun: feminine, plural, accusative ) Slander, gossip or any evil speaking is almost always the fruit of envy in the heart, and it usually takes place when the victim is not there to defend himself.
We all have an insatiable appetite for gossip. Everyone deplores disparaging gossip. Everyone hates it when someone has slandered them. Everyone admits that it is wrong. Yet at the same time almost everyone enjoys hearing disparaging gossip or slander about someone else, especially people in authority (i.e. president, governor, mayor, pastor, teacher, etc.).
All of these sins stem from one = selfishness:
Illustration:
Larry Crabb writes: "None of us is immune to putting self first. I don't think I've learned anything about myself that has more surprised and appalled me than how reflexively I put my own needs first.
"Within days of my brother's death, I spoke at his memorial service. As I prepared my few comments on behalf of our family, I prayed that God would use my stumbling tongue in this difficult situation to encourage others to trust in the goodness of God no matter what might happen in their lives. I wanted to give.
"At one point during my talk, I noticed that a phrase I had just used was especially rich. As any experienced public speaker might do, I paused to let that phrase sink in. During that three- second pause, I heard these words run through my mind, 'I'm doing a pretty good job. That was a good pause.' Immediately, I felt slapped in the face by the realization that at that moment I cared more about how I was performing than about how meaningfully I was ministering.
"That night I wept bitterly. I grieved that even at my brother's funeral I couldn't escape the wretched power of pride. I had come to an audience filled with friends wanting to share our grief, and I wanted them to applaud my speaking ability."
[Finding God by Larry Crabb. Zondervan, 1993. Pages 112-113.]
B. Positive
1. Craving - 2:2
God’s Word has life and gives life. We should crave it just like newborn babies crave milk We should crave the Word because this alone will help us grow. It is sad when believer’s have no appetite for the Word. How do you think God feels when you spend more time reading novels, magazines, newspapers, watching TV, surfing the net, bowling, golfing, fishing, or some other form of entertainment than you do reading the Word?
As we grow the Word of God becomes...
Milk - 1 Cor. 3:2; 1 Thess. 2:7; Heb. 5:12; 6:2
(1 Cor 3:2 NIV) I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.
(1 Th 2:7 NIV) but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children.
(Heb 5:12 NIV) In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!
(Heb 6:2 NIV) instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
Application: Milk Christians Nothing wrong with being a milk Christian as long as you are new in the faith. One of the saddest states is to grow old spiritually but not grow up spiritually.
Solid food (meat) - 1 Cor. 3:1-4; Heb. 5:11-14
(1 Cor 3:1-4 NIV) Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly--mere infants in Christ. {2} I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. {3} You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? {4} For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere men?
(Heb 5:11-14 NIV) We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. {12} In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! {13} Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. {14} But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
Bread - Matt. 4:4
(Mat 4:4 NIV) Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"
Application: The Bible is the stuff of life.
Honey - Ps. 119:103
(Psa 119:103 NIV) How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Application: Bible reading, study, memorization and meditation should be enjoyable.
2. Obedience - 1:22
All sin is ultimately disobedience to God.
The Bible will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from the Bible.
(Psa 119:9-11 NIV) How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. {10} I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. {11} I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
III. The Bible and Spiritual Results
A. Purification - 1:22; Ps. 119:9-11
B. Love - 1:22
By nature we are all selfish. So it takes a miracle for God to give us His kind of love. God purifies our souls (Romans 5:5) and puts His love into our hearts. Love for the brethren is an evidence that one has truly been born again - 1 John 4:7-21.
(Rom 5:5 NIV) And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
(1 John 4:7-21 NIV) Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. {8} Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. {9} This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. {10} This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. {11} Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. {12} No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. {13} We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. {14} And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. {15} If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. {16} And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. {17} In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. {18} There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. {19} We love because he first loved us. {20} If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. {21} And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
The characteristics of divine love
1. Sincere - John 13:34-35; 1 Thess. 4:9-10
(John 13:34-35 NIV) "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. {35} By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
(1 Th 4:9-10 NIV) Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. {10} And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more.
2. Deep (fervent)
Christian love is not a feeling, it is a matter of the will. Christian love is a decision. We decide to love. We also decide not to love. We show others love when we treat them the way God treats us. God forgives us so we forgive others.
3. Genuine - from the heart
Love cannot be manufactured!
Example: The silver-tongued sweet talker.
(Psa 55:21 NIV) His speech is smooth as butter, yet war is in his heart; his words are more soothing than oil, yet they are drawn swords.
Love can only be produced by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God.
C. Unity
When believers are growing in the Word they are peacemakers, not troublemakers.
Conclusion: What must we do with the Word of God?
1. Read it
The Bible: Your Trusted Guide
2. Memorize it
Bible Memorization: Your Secret Weapon
3. Meditate upon it