The Good News
Notes
Transcript
Handout
22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; 24 for
“All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.”
And this word is the good news that was preached to you.
There are many remembrances, traditions and monuments that exist to mark an event, life or something that changed the course of history (even if that was a local history).
An example is July 4th, which celebrates the public proclamation of the Declaration of Independence.
Sometimes the monument marks a point of turning in history, it could be a reminder of how something drove a change for good.
It could even be something like a bug.
(SLIDE OF BOLL WEEVIL)
The boll weevil, sometimes referred to as the "Mexican cotton boll weevil" was indigenous to Mexico, but appeared in Alabama in 1915. By 1918 farmers were losing whole crops of cotton. H. M. Sessions saw this as an opportunity to convert the area to peanut farming. In 1916 he convinced C. W. Baston, an indebted farmer, to back his venture. The first crop paid off their debts and was bought by farmers seeking to change to peanut farming. Cotton was grown again, but farmers learned to diversify their crops, a practice which brought new money to Coffee County.
Bon Fleming, a local businessman, came up with the idea to build a statue and helped to finance the cost. As a tribute to how something disastrous can be a catalyst for change, and a reminder of how the people of Enterprise adjusted in the face of adversity, the monument was dedicated on December 11, 1919 at the intersection of College and Main Street, the heart of the town's business district.
This is what is happening here in these verses, Peter is reminding us about what Christ did for us in the Gospel. He is also calling for us to build a monument, but this is not a physical monument. It is a spiritual, eternal monument.
Love One Another Earnestly
Love One Another Earnestly
Our souls purified: this is a past action with continuing results.
14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
Obedience to the truth is referencing our faith in Christ’s atoning work.
16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?
25 Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages 26 but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith—
Living Stones
Living Stones
We are to be living monuments for God. Peter tells us to be living stones.
4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 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.
We will explore this passage further in a few weeks. We must understand how we are living stones offering an acceptable sacrifice.
We do this by having a sincere love for each other.
A sincere love is a love that is not hypocritical.
Peter further defines this sincere love as a love that is:
motivated by noble intentions
-exercised by the will rather than emotion
fervent- in practice
to stretch to the furthest limit of a muscle’s capacity.
A Commandment of Love
A Commandment of Love
Love one another is a direct commandment for believers. It is also a sign of being a disciple of Jesus. (John 13:34-35)
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.
24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
23 And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.
John 13:34-35, 15:12,17; Romans 12:10, 13:8; 2 Corinthians 13:11; Galatians 5:13; Ephesians 4:2; 1 Thessalonians 3:12, 4:9; 2 Thessalonians 1:3; Hebrews 10:24; 1 Peter 1:22, 4:8, 5:14; 1 John 3:11, 23, 4:7, 4:11-12, 2 John 5
The Imperishable Seed
The Imperishable Seed
Small seeds can grow into mighty trees.
Look at this picture: any idea of what type of seed this is?
Here is the full grown version: A giant redwood Sequoia
This is a parallel to our faith. A small seed of faith grows into a powerful, faithful life in Christ.
(MATTHEW HENRY SLIDE)
There is a clear illustration to the Word and seeds.
Luke 8:5-15
A seed grows because it dies, we must die to be born again.
(R.C. SPROUL SLIDE)
Though The Imperishable Word of God
Though The Imperishable Word of God
Peter further uses the idea of an imperishable seed to help to understand the criticality of trusting in the Word.
He uses Isaiah 40 to compare the perishable with the imperishable.
But I want you to notice some other parallels.
3 A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. 5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” 6 A voice says, “Cry!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. 7 The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
The Word of God is eternal, it will remain forever.
We can have a firm standing in the Grace of God because the Word is eternal.
We can trust in the promises of God, regardless of our situation.
In an indescribable act of unmerited grace, he has made you the place where He lives, and in the faithfulness of that grace He will never walk away from you. In your suffering you will again and again fail to say or do the right thing. Under the weight of difficulty, you will lose your way for a while. You will drag yourself out of bed only to have a debilitating day of spiritual struggle. You will get very sad or very mad. One moment you will long for people to be with you and the next moment wish they would leave you alone. You won’t always be comforted by the words of your loved ones, and there will be moments when you will wish they would stop saying the things they say. Sometimes you will rest in God’s rule, and in other times you will be haunted by the future. But in all of the emotional and spiritual ups and downs, on the good days and the bad days, when you fight or succumb one thing is for sure. Your Lord is with you, and there is no struggle without or war within that will ever drive Him away. And His presence guarantees that in your suffering, you will have everything you need.
Paul Tripp