Milk, Meat or Mush
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Milk, Meat or Mush
Milk, Meat or Mush
1 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,
2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
3 If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Four: Christian Togetherness (1 Peter 1:22–2:10)
It is sad when Christians have no appetite for God’s Word, but must be “fed” religious entertainment instead. As we grow, we discover that the Word is milk for babes, but also strong meat for the mature
Churches are in a place where they are seeking for ways to connect and be relevant enough with the world or the worldly, in order to “minister”, that they have sacrificed meat for milk - but what I am afraid of that in this attempt to be relevant - they have become satisfied with something that is not intended or even desirable...
Milk, Meat or Mush
Milk, Meat or Mush
Pray:
There is nothing wrong with milk...
milk here of course is symbolic and not literal -
it is symbolic of the foundational truths of our faith…
2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Faith:
We (saved)
a. Born into the family of God -
3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?
5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
b. Babie -
babies need milk -
babies desire milk -
c. Believer -
2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
Milk
Meat
Maturity
There is an expectation of growth...
Here in our text - this is not an assessment - but rather an admonition...
We leave it as - all babies desire milk… but what happens when they don’t?
new believers are to desire the sincere milk of the word… but what if they don’t?
The natural God given instinct for survival and sustenance is food -
but what if we are full from eating something else...
Growing up, and even now - I will come home - dinner is ready… Deb is getting things ready to go on the table - and I open the fridge and grab a snack...
Oh - she does not like that...
dinner is ready… you are going to spoil your appetite… (as you can tell that is not the case)...
I remember as a young married man, getting off work - starving - and on the way home - stop and grab a burger & fries… eat that as I was on my way home - I would walk in the door, and dinner was ready… she had a meal planned, prepared and the table was set… she was happy to see me and had thoughtfully prepared a wonderful dinner- and I looked at her and said… Yeah, I’m not hungry… I grabbed a burger on my way home...
can you say, “this is not good”
I have told you before that I am not the sharpest crayon in the box, so this event played it out several other times before I figured out that I was going to eat and be happy about it - even if I wasn’t hungry at all...
but because I had filled my void with something other than what was best for me… there wasn’t room to be hungry for what I should have been hungry for...
Maybe there isn’t a desire for the milk and meat of the word because we have these other things in our lives that we were told to lay aside… so we could desire...
Milk - for the immature...
Meat for the Mature
1 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
Maturity
Lay aside...
Malice - Ka-Kia
the perverting of virtue and moral principles from their purposes to evil ends
evil is called good
good is called evil...
The very foundation of right and wrong / absolutes removed...
Guile - Doe-Lose
shrewdness demonstrated by being skilled at deception and treachery
These 2 attitudes result in Hypocrisies....
Hypocrisies - Hippo- kree-sis
a. Insincerity by virtue of pretending to have qualities or beliefs that you do not really have.
Salvation
Sanctification / separation
Service
sincere love for God
love for the brethren
love for the Cause of Christ -
Expansion of the Kingdom - ministries and expansion of the Church
Jesus said - I will build my church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it...
He builds it -
He uses laborers: -
We are
Sacrifice
Spare time & pocket change...
tip our hat at God...
We say that we are committed followers of Christ -
We say that we love the Savior, bible, souls of men...
But we don’t tithe...
We don’t serve / or we serve because it gives us a sense of being and fulfillment - It’s not about Christ at all - He is just mask under which we serve so we have:
Position
Prestige’ - recognition
power -
These Hypocrisies reveal themselves… they are manifested / revealed - unveiled by:
result in the actions of:
3. Envies - Pa-tho-nos
a. spite and resentment toward the success or possessions of another
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Work of the flesh-
the fleshly will drown out the spiritual...
you feed your flesh and you will not be hungry or desire the sincere milk of the word...
Envy…
4. Evil speakings - Kata-lali-ah
a. abusive words, falsely spoke that damage a person’s reputation
subversive words spoken:
to undermine
to tear down
to malign, destroy, injure
No wonder Peter had to instruct these believers to put away these things...
And these actions and attitudes re-fuel the hypocrisies that will cause us to have no desire for the meat or milk of the word...
Lay these aside...
They have filled a fleshly void that has caused and desensitized us to have the proper appetites that the Lord wants us to have...
when these attitudes and actions are present in our life, there is not a healthy desire for the sincere teachings and applications of the word of God - we have to remove, repent and return to the place of desiring Milk - so we can continue to grow to Meat and maturity
Unfortunately, our:
Churches are weak...
Witness is weak
Desire for the sincere - (unadulterated) milk of the Word… is weak
Meat is choked on -
Baby Believers are deceived and others disenchanted by the unspiritual behavior and attitudes that do not reveal the true growth that is expected that will result in spiritual maturity...
1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
1cor3.
churches are filled with people who are not hungry for the things of God...
they are not looking for milk
they cannot handle meat...
they are apathetic about the things of God - and it is as appealing to them as Mush...
Prayer time is unappealing and unappetizing
bible study, reading… unappealing
Service, sacrifice… take it or leave it...
MUSH...
MILK, MEAT or MUSH...
2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
8 O taste and see that the Lord is good: Blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
8 O taste and see that the Lord is good: Blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
Ps
maybe you are here, and you are a babe in Christ - a new believer - the things of God are all new - and they are exciting to you -
continue to grow, hear, read, study...
Keep growing...
Maybe you are here - and you should be a mature believer… but you have lost ground - you have allowed these things in your life, and now, there is not a true hunger… desire for the word of God and the things of God...
Lay aside...
maybe you are here and as I speak, there is a void in your life, you desire for it to be filled, but you don’t really know what it is that you need -
It is a person -
It is the Person of Christ -
A relationship with the God of Heaven - and it is all through His Son - Jesus Christ...