Obstacles to Growth--1 Peter 2:1-3

Obstacles to Growth

VIDEO—Deeper

A great threat to salvation and to our growth toward salvation (v. 2) is what I would call spiritual fatalism -- the belief or feeling that you are stuck with the way you are -- "this is all I will ever experience of God -- the level of spiritual intensity that I now have is all I can have; others may have strong desires after God and may have deep experiences of personal pleasure in God, but I will never have those because . . . well, just because . . . I am not like that. That's not me."

--spiritual fatalism is a feeling that genetic forces and family forces and the forces of my past experiences and present circumstances are just too strong to allow me to ever change and become more zealous for God

(Tit. 2:14

Titus 2:14 KJV 1900

Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

, or more fervent (Rom. 12:12), or more delighted in God (Psalm 37:4), or more hungry for fellowship with Christ (John 6:35), or more at home with spiritual things (Rom. 8:5), more bold (2 Tim. 1:7), or more constant or joyful (Rom. 12:12) or hopeful (1 Pet. 1:13).

-Spiritual fatalism—could it be that our problem is that we just don’t know want to grow because we don’t see an end, purpose, goal? We are GOAL oriented people and like to accomplish a task and then move on to another.

--spiritual fatalism is tragic in the church.

It leaves people stuck.

It takes away hopes and dreams of change and growth. It squashes the excitement of living -- which is growth.

-So thousands of people live year after year without much passion for God or zeal for his name or joy in his presence or hope in his promises or constancy in his fellowship and feel -- well, that's just the way I am. And they just settle in -- like an adolescent who stops growing and lives with pimples till he's eighty.

**In this text God commands us not to be spiritual fatalists.

Peter says in verse 2: "Like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation."

The word for "long" here is very simply the word

"desire"

-- it's a command to desire. What this means is that if you feel stuck because you don't have the kind of spiritual desires that you should, this text says, You do not need to be stuck! It says, "Get them! -- Get the desires you don't have." If you don't desire the milk of the word, starting desiring it!

Parable of the Soils—Mark 4:3-20

Mark 4:3–8 KJV 1900

Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow: And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred.

Mark 4:14–20 KJV 1900

The sower soweth the word. And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended. And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.

In this parable, we see a set of obstacles to growth in Discipleship—namely, forgetfulness of the liberating Word, external hostility and too great an involvement in the affairs of the world.

Read 1: 22-23

Laying Aside

Put Away

—This verse continues from the last chapter—“wherefore”—since you have been born again, the Christian must lay aside the obstacles—the writer of Hebrews wrote, “since we are compassed about with so great cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us” (Heb 12:1). As one does with worn out clothes, filthy rags, put them off and lay them aside.We have to get rid of the weights if we are to grow-

WHY did Peter begin this chapter with “lay aside” evil attitudes and actions?

Probably because such things destroy love and the responsibility to love one another was the main idea in vs 22-25.

The sins listed below tear at the very social fabric of the church, ripping away threads of love that keep them together.

If we are to taste and experience God’s word, our desire for Him must be greater than our desire for other things. Peter is telling us that we cannot think that these and the word of God can flourish in the same heart. There must be REPENTANCE-

-Malice

— wickedness--a desire to hurt someone with words or deeds; ill will toward one another that destroys the harmony of the community of believers.

-Guile

—a desire to gain some advantage or preserve some position by deceiving others, deliberately misleading; deceitfulness that harms others through trickery or falsehood.

“To catch with bait”

-Hypocrisies

—both to God and man; hypocrisy is to judge behind the screen; the true identity of the person is covered up. Deception!

When one professes that which they don’t have, such as love to God, faith in Christ. Hypocrisy to man is pretense of friendship, loving in word and tongue, not deed, speaking peace with the mouth, but having hatred in the heart--a desire not to be known for what really is.

-Envies

—a desire for some privilege or benefit that belongs to another with resentment that another has it and you don’t. Resentful discontentment.

-Evil Speakings

(slander)—the desire for revenge and self-enhancement, often driven by the deeper desire to deflect attention from our own failings. Backbiting, whisperings, false charges,

-defamation! speaking against others that runs them down.

Desiring The Word

-Vs2 (Read 1:22-23)

-Like newborn babes –“desire” one of the most dangerous symptoms is the loss of appetite

-Desire the sincere milk of the word- the picture is that of the Gospel- sweet, agreeable to taste, easily digested by a regenerate man, nutritious.

Do you see the connection between the intense longing or craving for the "spiritual milk" in verse 2 and the tasting of the kindness of the Lord in verse 3? Put them together: "Long for the spiritual milk, since you've tasted the kindness of the Lord." So it seems to me that the milk is the milk of God's kindness in the Gospel.

BELIEVERS ARE TO LONG FOR THE “PURE SPIRITUAL MILK” SO THAT THEY WILL GROW!

--Where did the readers taste the kindness of the Lord? Peter alludes to Psalm 34:8, “Oh taste and see that the Lord is good: happy are those who take refuge in him”.

The answer is: in the gospel, the word of God (v. 25).

They were born again by that kindness through the word of God. So the spiritual milk is the kindness of the Lord experienced through the word of God. Or you could say, the spiritual milk is the word of God revealing or transmitting the kindness of the Lord."

--You were born again by that word -- namely, by the powerful kindness of God in that word, and now go on longing for that word and for the day by day experience -- tasting -- of the kindness of the Lord through his word.

--If the word of God is powerful enough to create new Christians (through new birth), then the word of God is powerful enough to create desire in languishing Christian souls. Don't be a spiritual fatalist. The power at work within you -- just to bring you to life -- is like the power that raises the dead (Eph. 1:19-20).

“Ye may grow thereby”

ESV-”that by it you may grow up into salvation—Spiritual maturity

-(2b) Salvation is reached by growth. Growth is necessary. We should not be guilty of spiritual fatalism that says, “I can’t grow, or I can’t change, or I don’t need to”.

Life grows—growth is the most unambiguous and decisive sign of life—life and growth go together—wherever there is growth, there is eating.

III.

Foes to Spiritual Growth

1)

Evil nature within us

- only through Christ can the new nature experience victory over the old fleshly nature. The flesh and Spirit are contrary to each other (Gal 5:17)

2)

Evil world about us

- society is contrary to the will of God and makes spiritual growth difficult. The world around us will not encourage us to live holy

3)

Satan Himself

- Satan will do everything he can to keep us from growing—putting off the flesh and spending time in the Word. He will keep you busy to keep you away from worship and fellowship.

4)

Our nature of neglect

- if you are to be healthy, you need a healthy diet—we must not neglect what is absolutely essential for spiritual health

5)

Poor example of others

- be careful not to measure yourself by others—Jesus is our scale to measure by.

IV.

Grow in the Lord

But how can the goodness of the Lord (v. 3) be a reason to long for the words of Scripture (v. 2)?

The connection is more natural than it first appears. Peter is assuming that the words of Scripture are the words of the Lord, so to read or listen to Scripture is to hear the Lord speak, to take his good and nourishing words into one’s heart.

To drink the milk of the Word is to ‘taste’ again and again what he is like, for in the hearing of the Lord’s words believers experience the joy of personal fellowship with the Lord himself.

It is significant that the ‘Lord’ of Psalm 34:8 is here seen to be the one to whom believers come in faith and worship (v. 4), the ‘living stone’ (v. 4), the Lord Jesus Christ (v. 5): thus, the Lord who is the source of spiritual delight for Old Testament saints is now in the New Covenant seen to be the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom our soul delights.

Grudem, W. A. (1988). 1 Peter: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 17, pp. 102–103). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

Take delight in the Lord! Love Him!

Question—“Who is Jesus to You?”

To the artist, He is the One altogether lovely.

To the architect, He is the chief cornerstone.

To the astronomer, He is the Sun of righteousness.

To the baker, He is the living bread.

To the biologist, He is the Life.

To the builder, He is the sure foundation.

To the carpenter, He is the Door.

To the doctor, He is the great Physician.

To the educator, He is the great Teacher.

To the engineer, He is the new and living way.

To the farmer, He is the Sower and the Lord of the harvest.

To the florist, He is the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Valley.

To the geologist, He is the Rock of ages.

To the judge, He is the righteous judge—the judge of all men.

To the juror, He is the faithful and true witness.

To the jeweler, He is the pearl of great price.

To the lawyer, He is the counselor, the lawgiver, and the advocate.

To the newspaperman, He is the good tidings of great joy.

To the oculist, He is the light of the eyes.

To the philanthropist, He is the wisdom of God.

To the preacher, He is the Word of God.

To the sculptor, He is the living Stone.

To the servant, He is the good master.