Craving Gods Word
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Good morning church it is good to back together again, thank you for being here this morning. PLease turn with me in your Bibles this morning to 1 Peter 2. I will begin with verse 1 and read to verse 9.
So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture:
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,
a cornerstone chosen and precious,
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,
“The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,”
and
“A stone of stumbling,
and a rock of offense.”
They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Peter here is using the OT he is teaching these followers of Jesus the key ingredient to a being able to be holy in a time where there are so many things going wrong. There is one thing that needs to be cultivated in every believers life in times of uncertainty and pain.
He tells us what it is in verse 2
The driving command it is:
DESIRE THE PURE MILK OF THE WORD
Everything else in this passage supports this statement, it is the main command of this passage. It is a command to desire scripture.
This is something to begins when a person loves God. I can promise you this if you are loving God fully from your heart you will have a desire a hunger for His word.
Jesus said in
Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”
In that same chapter Jesus said He that is of God not only hears Gods word but keeps Gods word.
Paul expressed this love for Gods word
For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being,
Job said I have treasured His words the words of His mouth more than my food.
Psalm 1 says the Godly man is blessed bc his delight is in GOd word and in His word does He meditate day and night.
Psalm 19 says the word of God is more desirable than Gold yay than much fine gold sweeter than even the drippings of the honeycomb
I delight to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart.”
The biggest chapter about this comes from psalm 119
it starts about loving Gods word in (16-174)
it repeatedly says I love your word
Now you might say ok Kyle I get it but how is this going to help me in troubled times? I have been hurt before Kyle and I read Gods word but it didnt take the pain away.
Let me tell you I learned this first hand for those of you who have been here awhile you know this, when Chandler was born He was sick, HE had pneumonia, they thought he would get better but he became worse and the doctors thought it would be best to fly him to UAB. We left right after the plane took off, and we drove to Birmingham.
I was in the waiting room alot bc the room was small and didn’t have a bed Amy did everything she could to be there and love on him trying to make him well. There was a time when I was exhausted and I began to feel this need to be in Gods word I was crying and I sat down with the very real possiblity that my son might not make it.
I sat down and God lead me to psalm 119. Now at that time I had not been a pastor all that long and to be honest I had not really ever read much of psalm 119.
But I remember sitting there thinking… Lord I need strength I need help.... I began to read “IF I KNEW NOT YOUR PROMISES I WOULD PERISH”
It was then I realized the only thing keeping me going was the hope that was anchored in the person of JEsus Christ.
He taught me that His word could both strenghten me and sustain me during that time.
He can do the same for you, but you need to run to Gods word read it take it in, meditate on it and then seek to apply it to your life.
The writer of psalms was not being forced to do this from the outside it was something that rose from within Him from the inside. Love for scripture delight in scripture a craving for Gods word and to know GOd closely through his word. This is what Peter is commanding us to.
Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—
“LONG FOR” comes from the word epitheo it means to desire or crave.
As a deer pants for flowing streams,
so pants my soul for you, O God.
I long for your salvation, O Lord,
and your law is my delight.
LONG FOR DESIRE CRAVE
Thats strong language We crave alot of things dont we?
Imma tell you right now during the quarantine I LONGED FOR, CRAVED mexican food. I needed some queso in my life amen?
We crave money, we crave acceptance, we crave attention God says none of those things can fix you or satisfy you like my word can so instead crave my word.
There is nothing that can cure your desire for relationship like Gods word, there is nothing that can solve the problems in your marriage family, job, bank account like Gods word.
INTENSE INSATIABLE LONGING PASSION
Peter is demaing that a consuming craving for what … For something that is pure in the midst of impurity in the midst of a world full of corrupt things contaminated things.
Our hearts lusts for these broken things these unclean things, these cisterns that cannot hold water.
He calls for this he says guys we have got to fall in love with Gods word again, and if there was anything that was true in America today we need to rediscover the beauty of Gods word. No more watered down messages no more comfort no more ease no more skating around the hard things in the scripture.
The truth and nothing but the truth of Gods word
whats Peter mean?
Go back to the end of chapter 1
verse 23 begins with the word of God
since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for
“All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
but the word of the Lord remains forever.”
And this word is the good news that was preached to you.
So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.
Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—
He doesnt teach them here to search the word, or to memorize the word, he doesnt say we are to preach the word, he doest tell us to teach the word EVEN THOUGH ALL OF THOSE THINGS ARE ESSENTIAL BUT BENEATH ALL OF THAT WE MUST HAVE A LONGING FOR FOR THE WORD OF GOD
That is the foundation
He uses a picture to describe how we should long for the word like NEWBORN BABIES
How many of yall remember what a baby does when it is hungry ..... I DO
Babies crave milk and only milk, you care about their clothes matching they dont, you care about the color of the blanket they dont
You care about the crib curtains they dont
They dont scream because they wanted to wear the pink shoes and not the white shoes
They scream because they want milk
They are born with one thing on their mind.... milk
You wont forget to feed your new baby because they will let ya know about it if you do.
Do we have anything even remotely close ot that for the word of God?
This is not out of religious duty or legalism, this is something that should rise up out of our hearts like that baby.
(Destin church)
We wanted to go we need to go we desired to wake up early and go because church is where the word of GOd is elevated and lifted up and I can hear the word preach and thats where I wanna be!
But so often the question and I am not judging when I say this but so often the question is.... do you think we should go to church today?
So we look at our own hearts and we see the disconnect.
How do we get out of the Bible?
How do we become numb??
Because we have drifted away from our first love.
(when I first got saved I didnt have to worry about remembering to read.....)
But now after I have been saved for awhile there have been times when I would say my craving for God’s word was up and down but here in this passage Peter gives us the roadmap to get back to being hungry for GOds word.
Remember WHO GAVE YOU LIFE
Remember WHO GAVE YOU LIFE
Now you say where do you get that from well, if you look at the first word of verse 1 he says THEREFORE and anytime you see the word therefore you need to ask yourself what is that word therefore.
That connects this chapter with the last chapter. He says in light of everything I just said, coming off what I have just told you then
Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,
Now apart from the Lord we are unrighteous and filthy we are hopeless and alineated from the life of God.
Then the word of God purified our souls!
The power of the word of God to purify the soul to create a sincere love for our brothers so that we fervently love one another from the heart… to say it another wayyou are regenerated not with seed which is perishable but imperishable that is through the living and enduring word of God.
since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for
“All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
but the word of the Lord remains forever.”
And this word is the good news that was preached to you.
Therefore you remeber it, you remeber where God found you and how He saved you and how He changed you and that miraculous work He did within your heart and your family.
It has that same power still, was your salvation not the biggest moment of your life?
Remember that, the word was the seed that gave you life.
Some sower came along and threw seed into soil prepared by the Spirit of GOd and it bore fruit and out came 30 fold 60 fold 100 fold.
Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.
The word is life giving and life changing the living word is the very breath of God, it is as alive as He is alive.
HIs word generates eternal life through His power
You read this book and you will be givien life by beliving in His name.
Ask yourself how precious it is how poerful it is ask yourself what impact it should make in your life?
It not only does that but it sanctifies.
And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.
It caused you to be saved and now it goes on to perform Gods work in you who already believe.
Do you want the work of God in your life?
DO you want the supernatural working of God in your life?
You cant just the Bible aside without setting aside the work of God.
Theres no magic to this theres no magical moment that is going to catapult you to some other plane....
You have to open it and read.
We say things like go to the Bible with your whole heart and we mean that but what we dont mean is that if your heart is not in reading the Bible you should wait until your heart gets ready to read, no YOU NEED TO PREPARE YOUR HEART TO RECIEVE WHAT GOD HAS FOR YOU!
A seed never planted, is a seed that will never grow.
(a farmer does not go out and wait until all conditions are perfect to plant his seed he has a deadline, he needs seed in the ground by this date. come what may he has to have the seed in the ground by a certain time.)
You need to constantly realize that all the power is in the Bible and then when your in the Bible the power of GOd transfers to you through the Holy Spirits work.
Eliminate your sin
Eliminate your sin
So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.
Take a look at your life and start shedding things.
this is speaking about like tearing off filthy clothes...
There used to be an old tradition where people would wear old clothes and then be baptized and after they were baptized they would go and put on new clothes and that would mark the shedding off of all that was all and embracing all that was new a custom symbolized this truth.
All of these things need to be thrown off they need to be shed.
They otherwise will spoil your spiritual appetite they are barriers, the stench of the old destorys the sweetness of the new.
be careful not to put back on your grave clothes after Jesus has raised you to new life.
You are able to walk out of that tomb, you are able to walk free of that prison cell. All you have to do is actually believe the battle is won and walk forward.
This goes for all sin
ALL MALICE= evil intent toward people, wickedness
This is this idea that comes from a hate filled heart which says I dont like them and therefore I am going to make life hard for them. We have to fight agains this mindset.
ALL DECIET= DOLOS which was used to refer to bait on a fishhook (explain)
That is a massive sin that is a hidden sin, a secret sin if you will, a little white lie over here, a little bet truth over here IT IS A LIE AND IT IS SIN!
ENVY- Wanting what others have, wanting to be who others are, wanting their status resenting their opportunities which leads to grudges bitterness conflict
Get rid of all that
You start dealing with the wickedness of your own heart and then the hypocrisy goes and then you start
SLANDER - tearing someone down,how you speak about them
Can I just say something when you criticise and judge and speak evil towards someone else you are basically sinning against God by placing yourself above the person you speaking of and then basically saying God didnt do a good enough job on them
This is the opposite of
Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,
Deal with your sin cry out to God to remove it
This true repentance is the work of the Holy Spirit and you have to cry out to Him to do that work in you
so we should rid ourselves of these things
IF you dont have a desire for the word of GOd if you dont regularly attend a church where the word is taught and explained then you need to go back and remember the power it had in your life when you first believed
Admit Your Need
Admit Your Need
LIKE NEWBORN BABIES
He adds newborn but did he really have to?
Of course we would know if this baby was needing milk it was probably a new born, but he adds the word newborn to push us all the way back to the first times we fed that baby.
(Me running into the chair)
It goes right to its mother to get that milk that comes directly from the mother
Milk is neccesarry for survival
Just like the newborn babies need this milk to live so to all believers should be craving the Word of GOd as a the life source for thier being.
Its that singular craving
Mechanisms go off in that babies body alarms are sounded whern they scream for its own survival.
But isnt it so easy for us to go long periods of time without screaming for the word of God?
Its amazing how much junk food you can feed on
U cant feed a baby potato chips
We have a desperate need for GOds word
WE DONT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE BUT BY EVERY WORD OF GOD
Pursue Growth
Pursue Growth
If I were to say every one of you if you are content with where you are spiritually please stand up so we can meet a perfect person.
Im not there yet neither are you neither was Paul
Paul said OH WRETCHED MAN THAT I AM WHO WILL SAVE ME FOR THIS BODY OF DEATH? I HAVE NOT ATTAINED IT, BUT ONE THING I DO I PRESS ON TOWARD THE HIGH CALLING OF CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD
Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—
if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
You must be discontent with where you are spiritually it is the only way you grow
Id love to come up here every Sunday and tell you how wonderful you are but that would be a lie, just as it would be a lie to talk about how wonderful I am and have it altogether no I want you to be discontent pushing for more of Christ. Mac Nolen said this to me one time YOU CAN HAVE AS MUCH OF JESUS AS YOU WANT
