“Living Hope”

A Sermon Series Through 1 Peter

“Friendship and Spiritual Growth – Both Take Time and Effort”

1 Peter 1:22-2:3

Introduction

The Result of Holiness In the Believer’s Life – Love For Other Christians (vv. 22-25)

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.

1 Peter 1:15 the believer is commanded to be holy. Our holiness is not just for our own sake, but it also affects those around us, specifically the church body that we are to be connected to. Peter is writing multiple churches (Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia) and he tells individuals to be holy – then he shows why this is important – because our personal holiness will affect the effectiveness and potential power of the church.

(v. 22) “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth,” – obedience to God’s Word (the truth) leads to purification of the soul, Then, that purification of the soul leads to further obedience which leads to further purification, etc. Just as sin has devasting consequences, obedience also has healthy consequences. Obedience leads to further obedience. Rebellion and Sin leads to more rebellion and sin. Starve the wolf and eventually it will die. Feed the wolf and it will grow to eventually devour you.

Romans 6:16 “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?”

Obedience Produces Further Holiness In The Life of the Believer.

Obedience to God leads to “a sincere brotherly love,” and “earnestly from a pure heart” The love that Christians have within the same family of God must be genuine and steadfast, “without hypocrisy.” Because they are followers of Jesus, they are obligated to love other Christians. The book was written to multiple churches experiencing hardship due to what he calls “the Dispersion.” In that time of stress, they gather together and what characterizes their meetings? Love.

Love is a characteristic of a Christian, but is there a difference in loving one’s neighbor Matthew 22:39 “. . . You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” – which leads to the parable of the Good Samaritan, and loving your brother (a fellow believer)? (v. 22) “a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,”

Should I love the world the same way I love the Church?

The “pure heart” carries the idea of not being hypocritical, of having a gesture where you turn toward the person, and the action comes “from the heart.” With the neighbor you are to show love (bind their wounds, put them on your donkey, pay for their hospital/in stay – show compassion, a love in action), but with a fellow Christian (a fellow chosen exile) your heart faces them, there is a genuine concern for their welfare (your heart is engaged toward them).

Not a hypocritical love, “The Greek word from which we get our word “hypocrite” was used of an actor on the Greek stage, one who played the part of another. The word means literally, “to judge under,” and was used of someone giving off his judgement from behind a screen or mask. Some of these whom Peter was writing, had put a mask of feigned (false) love over their usual countenances when associating with certain others of their brethren.”[1] “There is always danger that we pretend like an actor instead of having actual affection.”[2]

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 What Is Required to Drop the Mask of Hypocrisy At Church?

5 things required to drop the mask of hypocritical warmth toward other believers. 1) time. Most of us only see each other on Sunday. How many Sundays does it take to develop a friendship? Most people don’t give church enough time for a genuine connection to develop. 2) Not letting your guard down – I want to be known and at the same time I don’t truly open up to people. They only know the false face you present on Sundays. 3) false or unrealistic expectations. You have too high an expectation on how people are going to treat you, or how quickly relationships will form. 4) Doing Ministry Together – the best way to get to know another person (and for them to know you) is to serve in a ministry together. If you want to get to know someone really quick go on a week-long missions trip with them. 5) Small Groups – am I actively involved with a group of people so that I can be known?

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Because God loves Christians (having given His life for them), and as His child and name bearer, we imitate Him in loving (other) Christians. But it is a supernatural love (because they are born again) that the world should look on and marvel, John 13:35 “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

(v. 21) “sincere brotherly love, “love one another earnestly,” In the original language there are two words for love used here, one is “brotherly love” – phile (where we get Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love,) This love is a love of liking. One person likes another person because that person is like himself in the sense that person reflects his own personality, the same likes, the same dislikes, as himself. It is an affection or fondness, a purely human attachment for another person. There is a commonality that connects them together.

It is used here to contrast how a person feels toward fellow Christians, with worldly associates. What is it that attaches two people together in friendship? Salvation should change how we view our worldly associates with the Christians in our lives. There is the saying, “birds of a feather flock together.” The species of birds gather together based on the similarity of character.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6YDhVeW5Kc birds murmuration. The starling is a bird and it was created to fly, so it flocks with other starlings and they fly together in formations called murmurations (named because of the sound of their wings). Scientists don’t know why they do this or even how.

 Christians were saved and set apart to bring Jesus glory with their lives; so they gather together and worship God in formations called churches. Angels look on in astonishment how they have been shown grace, and how these churches bring God glory in their obedience to His Word and their dedication to seeing others saved. In that murmuration of the church our relationships one with another must be pure.

Where the church gets this wrong is that we think the common characteristic is our race (Hispanic church, black church, white church), or socio-economic (rich, middle-class, poor), or culture (cowboy church, etc.) or generational (contemporary or traditional, Gen. x church, etc. ) – no our common bond is a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.

It doesn’t matter where the man next to me is from, what color he is, what team he cheers for, what college he went to (or not), the car he drives, the square footage of his house – none of these things matter – what makes us brothers is that we both have been saved from our sin, we love Jesus and are seeking to be faithful to His Word.

The other word for love is “love one another earnestly” This is a agape love, one that expresses the ideal love, “that is exercised by the will rather than emotion, not determined by beauty or desirability of the object, but by the noble intention of the one who loves. Earnestly, means to stretch to the furthest limit of a muscle’s capacity. To go “all out.” – this kind of love requires serious effort.

Why should we love this way? Because (v. 23) “you have been born again” Because I have been supernaturally saved, born anew, I am therefore able to love another believer with a love that is different than how the world loves.

Then as he is discussing how believers are to have a genuine love for each other, he says, V. 24 “all flesh is like grass,” and them references, 40:6, “The grass withers, and the flower falls, 25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.” These things always follow the same pattern – growth, flowering, and decay. But God’s Word remains unchanged and will exist forever, “the word of the Lord remains forever.”

 To explain why he quoted Isaiah Peter adds, “And this word is the good news that was preached to you.” The word of God that had been preached to them was the gospel, the good news of salvation. The gospel enters the heart, regenerates you, imparted its eternal life to you, overcame what is corruptible and perishing by replacing it with what is incorruptible and remains forever. Let the good news of salvation, do its’ work in you. Let fade what needs to fade, and let bloom what needs to grow in your heart.

 The Result in the Believer’s Life – Love For the Word of God (2:1-3)

2:1 So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.[3]

 So, as you are sincerely showing brotherly love, and love that you choose to show toward another believer (with exertion) – it requires that you put away, “all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.” – Malice is the desire to bring harm to another person, then we are given parts of we may do that (deceit (bait for fish), hypocrisy (lies behind a mask), envy (ill-will at the sight of another’s good fortune), slander (using words to destroy another person), etc.)

If the church is to be unified it must be characterized as a place and people of love and these spiritually immature behaviors (deceit, hypocrisy, malice, etc.) have to diminish. How does a person put away “all malice, envy, hypocrisy, etc.” How does a believer change that part of them that they know is corruptible? It is the Word of God that showed them how to be saved, so it is the Word of God that nourishes our spiritual growth.

(v. 2) “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation,”[4] – The word that is used for pure here is a reference to uncontaminated food. God’s Word has no contaminates, and gives us what we need to grow spiritually. The point is not to compare milk with solid food (like Hebrews 5, or 1 Cor. 3) but to push the believer to the source of spiritual growth (God’s Word), and that we should desire for it to be apart of our lives. So, unlike Paul saying you will move past milk to soild food, Peter is saying the believer should always crave God’s Word. If you are a new convert, or have been a Christian for many years – the same principle applies. God’s Word is the source of spiritual growth.

In Exodus 16:1-4 God has given the people freedom from sin, they have escaped pharaoh’s army, and now they are headed toward the promised land, “And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, 3 and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat (flesh) pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” 4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, . . .” Where do you go, where does your heart long to find subsistence for your soul? Flesh pots or manna? Do you go to what enslaved you for nourishment or the manna provided from heaven?

 “The goal of every Christian’s life here on earth is to fully mature, becoming the person God intends for each of us to be; simultaneously all believers together are growing into the mature fellowship we ought to be (God’s intended community).”[5]

 The Isaiah passage that Peter quotes shows the life cycle of plants, always following the same patter (growth, flowering, fading, and death). The human life cycle is similar (birth, childhood, young adulthood, middle age, and old age, and eventual death). There is no stopping the natural process. Spiritual growth follows a similar cycle, but it is different – to grow spiritually it takes effort – there must be a longing.

 A five-step plan for what to do when you have your quiet time:

1. Start with prayer. Ask God to prepare you to meet with Him. If there is something in your life that you know displeases Him, confess it. Let Him forgive you so that nothing will hinder your communion together.
2. Read a specific passage of Scripture – perhaps a chapter or two. If you are not very familiar with the Bible, you may wish to start with the New Testament. Many people think that the Gospel of John is a good place to start. Perhaps you would enjoy reading one or two of the Psalms every day.
3. Meditate on it for a while after you have read a passage. Think about what you read, and ask yourself what it means. What does God want you to do? Remember, even though you may not understand all you read in the Bible, you can still obey what you do understand.
4. Write down questions about the passage as you read. It is good to write down the things you learn and the questions you have. Later you can search out the answers from someone who knows the subject or Bible commentaries. You can ask the question, “what did this teach me about God?” and “what did this teach me about myself?”

Write down the big idea and insights. Journaling is simply writing your thoughts and reflections about your life and relationship with the Lord in a notebook. Spend some time writing your thoughts as you spend time with God in His word and prayer. It can be as simple as writing what’s on your heart.

You can write about what God is teaching you in your Bible reading time. You can also write about how you are feeling and struggling with. Develop the habit of writing. This habit reinforces what God is trying to tell you in your mind and heart. I believe it is part of a good quiet time because it is a way for you to remember what God is revealing to you during that time.

5. Finally, respond and take action. Respond with praise and thanksgiving – “I praise you God for…..” Respond in repentance and confession – “I confess my sin of ……” Respond by asking for guidance – “Lord, lead me today by…..” Respond with obedience – “I will obey you in……”

Conclusion

I have discovered that anything that is an “ought” in my life I will always be a failure at, for “ought” is a lousy motivator. Anything that is an “ought” I may in time do. I will do it out of compulsion, guilt, or duty – it will do it begrudgingly but I won’t do it often.

There are many of who understand our salvation to be in terms that Jesus has saved me so that I may serve Him. Didn’t Jesus say, “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” We become disciples of Christ, so that we may become His fishers of men (and we serve, and we work, and we toil).  What we miss is that Jesus’ invitation simply says, “Come, follow me,” – meaning to be in a relationship with Him.  Being a fisher of men was not the purpose of my salvation (it happens, it is an outcome) – but the relationship with Jesus, the following comes first.

We serve, and in our minds we “I ought to have a quiet time” “I ought to spend time with Him” — and we get burn out, and tired, and disillusioned by life, all the while we work, and serve, and toil – and Jesus says, I said “Come and follow me.” Jesus invites us to a relationship first (service comes later as an outflow of the relationship). He simply wants to know you, and for you to know Him. He did not die, so that you can serve Him, he died so that, you can have a relationship with Him. He doesn’t really need our help anyway, He’s God!

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[1] Kenneth W. Wuest, First Peter in the Greek New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan; WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1960) 45.

[2] R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of 1 and 2 Epistles of Peter, the three Epistles of John, and the Epistle of Jude (Minneapolis, Minnesota; Augsburg Publishing House, 1966) 71.

[3] See Psalm 34:8

[4] See also Hebrews 5:11; 1 Cor. 3:1, ff.

[5] Dennis R. Edwards, The Story of God Bible Commentary, 1 Peter (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan Publishing, 2017) 79.