Seven Secrets to Sustain Spiritual Life
Notes
Transcript
Preliminary:
Preliminary:
I invite your attention to 1 Peter 2.
The First Epistle of Peter has been described by several titles; “The Epistle of Hope,” “The Epistle of Courage,” and “The Epistle of Hope and Glory.”
Roy. S. Nicholson says, “It could also be called “The Epistle of Holy Living,” for it emphasizes the fact that holiness of life is more important than deliverance from suffering,” (Beacon Bible Commentary vol 10)
1 Peter 2 beginning at verse 1
1 Peter 2 is the start of the “ethical emphasis upon the Christian life” section of this epistle. It shows us that “Holiness is more than a doctrine and an experience; it is a life.”
Read: 1 Peter 2:1-3
Read: 1 Peter 2:1-3
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.
Peter first exhorts those that are in Christ to put off some things. He gives five things that are opposite to the love he talks about in 1 Peter 1:22
22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
He says we need to lay aside all “Malice, Guile, Hypocrisies, Envies, All Evil Speakings”
Lets look at these briefly:
Malice: ill will - the inclination to injure one’s neighbor or to make others suffer - Louw-Nida describes it as, ‘hateful feeling.’
Guile: Deceitful cunning or trickery in order to gain advantage over others.
Hypocrisies: Counterfeit acts in which one pretends to be or do something which he is or does not.
Envies: Jealousies which really are concealed malice, or ill will. “Spite and resentment toward the success or possessions of another.”
Evil Speakings: Malice in words, which insinuates, defames, backbites, and carries injurious tales. abusive words falsely spoken that damage a person’s reputation.
Augustine is quoted to have put it this way: “Malice delights in another's hurt; envy pines at another's good; guile imparts duplicity to the hearts, hypocrisy (or flattery) to the tongue; evil speakings wound another's character.”
Then instead of giving a list of virtues to match the vices he has just mentioned, which was typical for that day, Peter gives us the formula for spiritual growth. Look at this:
2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
Now I want us to notice something - Peter isn’t scolding the people for being infantile
He is admonishing anyone who would remain in Christ that we should have the desire of a new born baby.
A healthy new born baby has a very limited approach to communication - but they have a way of getting across what they want or need.
A healthy infant - will desire food - not not every minute of the day all though it seems like it sometimes looking back - but there are times I can remember Angie saying something like - it’s almost time for the baby to eat - and in just a little bit they were starting to squirm and get fussy and if not fed within a very quick span of time began to cry loudly and get more agitated
Why? There was a desire to eat - it was feed me or I will let you know that I haven’t eaten.
This word “DESIRE” is an interesting word - it means to crave - to look at it as a necessity for survival. An essential to life - a bare necessity
1 Peter Fifth Exhortation: Desire the Word (2:1–3)
When a church yearns for spiritual nourishment, that church will not be involved in bitter disputes with hypocritical showings or deceitful communications.8
1 Peter Fifth Exhortation: Desire the Word (2:1–3)
John Stott said at the Lausanne Conference, “We confess that we have sometimes pursued church growth at the expense of church depth, and divorced evangelism from Christian nurture.”9
E.M. Bounds writes that” Spiritual desire…is the evidence of the new birth....the absence of this holy desire in the heart is presumptive proof, either of a decline in spiritual ecstasy, or that the new birth has never taken place.”
The corpses down at the morgue or waiting for cosmetics in the funeral home are no longer desiring anything in their fleshly bodies - they have passed on to eternity - If there is no desire for the necessities of life - one should call a doctor as there may no longer be life.
SO it is with the spiritual life - if we think we can get by without tending to our spiritual needs - we are fooling ourselves.
Peter says - desire - crave- long for - the sincere milk of the Word - this Peter says will cause you to grow spiritually.
Now in talking about the Sincere Milk of the Word - he is not only talking about reading the Bible but maintaining and cultivating your connection to the Spiritual source.
The Bible leads me to believe that we can be as spiritual as we want to be
Desire the things of God because Peter says - that is how you grow
Samuel Logan Brengle a tremendous Holiness preacher, author, teacher of the past was one time asked what the secret of holy living was. How do I grow spiritually? How do I maintain my spiritual life?
Brengle gave seven secrets to sustain and grow our spiritual life I want to talk about them briefly this morning and encourage you to either write them down, take a mental note of them, or in reality we all know this - but perhaps by stirring your minds by way of remembrance we will be challenged and create desire for the things of God.
The first secret is - KEEP IN THE WILL OF GOD -
OBEY HIM
SEEK HIM DAILY -
READ THE BIBLE REGULARLY
NEVER NEGLECT SECRET PRAYER
KEEP TESTIFYING TO THE GRACE BESTOWED UPON YOU
HELP OTHERS
Lets look at these seven secrets to spirituality
Keep in the will of God - As Christians it is so important to remember that we are not our own - we belong to God - every part of us - even our happiness. We don’t make decisions on what brings us greater gain of earthly things - but rather what DOES GOD WANT ME TO DO. Do you realize that before Jesus ever chose his twelve disciples he spent the night in prayer. If the very Son of God thought the decision so important that he had to find the Father’s will on it - should we in our “DESIRE OF THE SINCERE MILK OF THE WORD” be wanting and pursuing what God’s will in our daily life is.
Now I’m not talking about praying to see if you should go to the grocery store - and the park - or if you should walk from the living room to the hallway - but I am talking about those decisions and choices that we make sometimes on a daily basis that can help or hinder our knowledge of the will of God.
OBEY HIM - we must obey God if we are going to grow spiritually. TO the early Apostles who were commanded by the leaders of their day to quit preaching in the name of Jesus - they said “We have to obey God rather than man.” Our obedience will help us grow 1 John 1:7
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
SEEK HIM DAILY - Jesus taught his disciples to pray “Give us this day our daily bread” I see this as an indication that we need to have spiritual food every day - seeking Him having a conversation with Him seeking God’s will, what He wants of us - is there light for me to walk in - Presenting ourselves to him to be moulded and shaped into the image of Christ we are to be.
READ THE BIBLE REGULARLY I hope I don’t have to tell you this - but this is extremely important. Peter said this sincere milk of the Word is how we grow - If you aren’t reading God’s word regularly you are stunting your spiritual growth.
Never neglect secret prayer - Now I suppose this could be connected with seek Him daily - but in reality you should be seeking after God whether you are in your secret place of prayer or not. But spending time alone with God in prayer before Him is so important. This is how we make our supplications, petitions, burdens, concerns, praises, thanksgivings, known to God.
KEEP TESTIFYING TO THE GRACE BESTOWED UPON YOU - this is something that I think modern day Christianity struggles with today. We want to leave it to everyone else - but the problem is there is just one you - not twenty not ten not two. We are taught today in our culture that you are replacable, there is always someone else who can take your place - but can I say that is not true - no one else can give your testimony for you. No one has had the exact same experiences, upbringing, situations, problems, or even God working in your life that you have had - and God doesn’t do and allow those things just to be bottled up inside us - When God does something for us- we should testify to it
Testify to works of grace
Testify to edify the church
testify to share what we are learning in the Word
Testify to what God is showing us in prayer
Sis. Filsingers testimonies are gone we can’t hear them here any longer
Brother and SIster Turner’s testimonies will never be heard in here again
Brother Robert Davolts has been silenced
Brother and SIster Broadway’s
Brother Wayne Laird’s
Brother Addison DeAllie’s
Sue Werle’s
No one can testify for them - nor do they have a chance to testify here anymore
It is up to us here to be brave - be bold - be growing and share your testimony
Don’t leave it up to Sis. Laird and Brother Mark to do all of the testifying and I appreciate their testimonies so much.
As a pastor here is what I’m seeing
Either it’s not thought of until I stand up and ask for testimonies
That means it’s not being thought of before you come to church
You aren’t reading and praying in a way that is feeding your and you’re not growing
The devil has you bound to what others are going to think about what you have to say - what you have to say isn’t important enough to share- Just relegate that to the deli counter - that is baloney.
Your testimony has the potential to change someone else’s life forever - if you will just share it.
That brings us to the last one - 1) Keep in the will of God. 2.) Obey Him 3.) Seek Him Daily 4.) Read the Bible Regularly 5.) Never neglect secret prayer 6.) Keep testifying to the grace bestowed upon you. 7.) HELP OTHERS
That is really connected to all the others - Help others by sharing your story -
Help others financially
Help others with an encouraging word in private
Help others with prayer and a listening ear
Help others in whatever way God would have you help -
Our existence as the Wichita Bible Holiness church depends on individuals growing spiritually - I have given you seven to start with.
Peter exhorts us to 1 Peter 2:2
2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
I want to challenge you to pick at least three of these you are going to work on this week -
which ones will it be?
KEEP IN THE WILL OF GOD -
OBEY HIM
SEEK HIM DAILY -
READ THE BIBLE REGULARLY
NEVER NEGLECT SECRET PRAYER
KEEP TESTIFYING TO THE GRACE BESTOWED UPON YOU
HELP OTHERS
Come next Sunday I might just ask for a report on how you did -
Lets pray
