Sermon Tone Analysis

The Text

1 Peter 2:1-

The immediate context for this passage is quotation by Peter from concerning the nature of flesh, and nature of God.

The Word of the Lord stands forever.

Everything else fades.

When the elements of this world are separated, only the Word will remain.

All reality will conform to the eternal.

With this in mind, we should be compelled to respond in a certain way.

Thus our text today starts with a therefore statement.

Because we know the Word of the Lord stands forever and everything not found in the Word is fading away like grass, therefore we engage in the sanctifying act of spiritual growth.

Putting away as in taking off clothing.

How do we purify ourselves?

By drinking long and lovingly of the spiritual milk provided for us in abundance.

So Peter is saying, take off or empty yourselves of these impure things, and be filled with this pure thing.

I have a newborn currently.

He has one job.

Eat.

His other activities are simply byproducts of his main purpose.

Eating.

Westminster Catechism says that the chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.

True.

But the chief end of a baby is to drink milk and enjoy it forever.

In all seriousness though he is glorifying God when he drinks milk because he is doing what God made him to do.

Every second of his day revolves around his opportunities to fill his little stomach with rich, protein infused mother’s milk.

Do you know what happens when he doesn’t get milk?

Holler.

Clamor.

Scream.

And he is looking for the genuine article.

I cannot provide any sort of substitute for what he desires.

Mother’s milk has every bit of nutrition needed to carry him through the day.

Peter knew what he was doing when he offered up this analogy for spiritual growth and sustenance.

So what is the spiritual milk?

Intro to acrostic poem 22 stanzas literary masterpiece

Throughout scripture we are given the picture of God’s word being a sustaining soul food.

God fed the Israelites with manna to fill their stomachs, but He was teaching them to depend on Him for all things.

Peter is quoting here in vs 3

Psalm 34:8-10

Have you tasted and seen whether the Lord is good?

Just like with manna, soul feeding is something that requires daily attention.

Oftentimes we fall into the trap of eating once a week.

Imagine the physical pain and ultimate malnutrition that would occur if you tried to eat a 14,000 calorie steak dinner every Sunday.

You tell yourself, “well it’s healthy to eat 2000 calories a day so I’ll just cram it in one sitting and call it good.

Not only would your body not be able to process the 14,000 calories, but you would be absolutely starving by the time Sunday rolled around again.

We do this spiritually.

And even more disturbing is the quality of the family meal that is served to many Christians.

The shift from preaching the Gospel to whipping up spiritual experience in so many pulpits has resulted in men and women not even trying to survive on a steak dinner, they are trying to survive on pedialyte once a week.

Spiritually speaking, this is the family meal.

We come together to sing, confess, commune, and submit our hearts and minds to the word of God.

A very necessary element of the Christian faith.

But God didn’t make us to eat once a week did he?

Not physically or spiritually.

And Peter uses the analogy of infants and milk.

Do you know how many times a week my son eats?

42

What if you fed your soul with the word of God 42 times in one week?

It would be transformational.

You would experience a spiritual growth spurt.

Living Stones

“Imagine only eating once a week on Sunday.

But instead of a steak dinner you drink a pedialite and hope you live even 1 more day.

“

Living Stones

In verse 4 we move on to this talk about living stones.

There is a tie in between verses 2 and 4 and 5.

“that by it you may grow up” and “as you come to Him.” “being built up”

Living Stones

Every aspect of being a living stone, is entirely dependent on, and for the glory of, the cornerstone.

Peter draws on old testament truths from Isaiah and Psalms to paint a picture of a cornerstone in Zion.

1 Peter 2:6

Herein lies our responsibility as Christians.

Most people in the secularized Western world would tell you that Jesus and His actions were confined to a remote part of Palestine 2000 years ago and have no bearing on the world we live in today.

The truth is that every man and woman MUST be confronted with the cornerstone.

3 Choices.

1. Shatter your leg bones in defiance to the truth because the cornerstone wasn’t where YOU wanted it to be.

2. Mock at the foolishness of a crucified God and a resurrected body and turn away.

3. Or build.

Build as high as you can fathom because the cornerstone is the perfect base.

1 Peter 2:

Jump to

1st cor 1:22

The first category is occupied by Jews, and people who have flirted with Christ but were not wedded to Him.

Jews smacked their shins against the cornerstone because He did not conform to the desires they had for the Messiah.

And there are those among the Jewish faith who remain this way to this day.

Similarly, there is a category of Gentiles who also stumble and fall when they encounter the cornerstone.

These are those who have come to God, and found that He does not fit in their box of what they want Him to be like, and so they say something to the tune of “The God I worship would never xyz...” And they turn away to worship the idol of self.

This group is polished atheism.

Atheism is a theology.

A belief that God does not exist is a belief about God.

The stars do not disappear when the blind look at the sky.

The 2 issues that typically are focused on by atheists and those who flirted with Christ, are...

Suffering

Hell

Next we have those who consider Christ crucified to be foolishness.

This is actually just another variation of a theological belief system.

If there’s a God, he wouldn’t do that.

This group is occupied by deists, polytheists, and atheists.

The deist says, god isn’t interested in the affairs of men.

The polytheist scoffs at the idea of an all powerful god who lays down his rights.

And the atheist hates the concept of a personal god who would condescend to us, because from the atheist perspective we do not need to be condescended to.

C.S. Lewis perfectly pinned the underlying issue with all of these people in his book “The Great Divorce.

“

Those who have rejected Christ as cornerstone, will not enter heaven, because they do not want to be there.