Okay, 1 Peter chapter 2. And we'll look at the first six
verses. This salvation that we read about in the Word of God
is called so great salvation. And it's the great salvation
that every sinner is in desperate need of and it's all found in
a person, in the Lord Jesus Christ. And we know As believers, the
Word of God teaches us that salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is
all of the Lord. It's His doing. He performed
all things for us. And this salvation that we read
about is described in the Word of God as a work done for us. A work done for us. Turn one
page, 1 Peter 3, 18. It's described as Christ doing
a work for us. 1 Peter 3.18, for Christ also
has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he
might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but
quickened by the Spirit. So there's that work of Christ
done for us, and we call that the work of justification. What
Christ has done for us, cleansing us with his blood. But the work
of salvation is also described as the work of God done in us,
in us. For example, Philippians 1.6,
God who had begun a good work in you will perform it. It's God who works in you both
to will, excuse me, both to will and to do of his good pleasure,
Christ in you, is a hope of glory. And we call that the work of,
the work that he does in us, we call that the work of sanctification.
Now in the work of sanctification, the flesh is never sanctified,
it's the new man in Christ, the spirit is sanctified in Christ. So we see that work done for
us and that work done in us. That being so, that shuts out
all creature merit. It's what he has done for us
and what he has done in us. So we know that again teaches
that salvation is all he's doing. Peter in these verses continues
to describe the new spiritual desire and appetite of a believer
planted in him by the Spirit of God. Remember in chapter one,
verse 23, He says, being born again, being born again, not
of a corruptible seed, but of an incorruptible by the word
of God, which liveth and abideth forever. So those who are born
of the Spirit of God, they have a new nature, they have a new
appetite, they have new desires. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things have become new. Now, that being so, chapter two,
verse one, wherefore, laying aside, because we've been made
new creatures in Christ, because he has done a work of grace in
our heart, here's what this warfare is about that we struggle with
each and every day. Laying aside. Notice he doesn't
say we've laid it aside. He said we're working on this,
we're laying it aside. And he mentions malice, guile,
hypocrisy, envies, and all evil speaking, laying aside or casting
off those things that are contrary to the way of grace. Now, we've
seen this before. If you turn over here to 1 Peter
chapter 2, verse 11, he said, Dearly beloved, I beseech you
as strangers and pilgrims, that you abstain from fleshly lusts
which war against the soul." So laying aside those things,
turn back to Hebrews, the book of Hebrews chapter 12. You remember
this. He uses this statement in scripture,
the Holy Spirit does, several times about laying aside. Hebrews chapter 12, look at verse
1, We are encompassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses.
Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which does so easily
beset us, and let us run with patience the race that's set
before us, looking. We look unto the Lord Jesus Christ. It's always coming to him, looking
to him who's the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy
that was set before him, endured the cross despite the shame and
sat down on the right hand of God. Again, if you look in James
chapter 1, James chapter 1, we see similar language that the
Holy Spirit uses in instructing us. James chapter 1 verse 21,
wherefore lay apart all Filthiness, superfluity of naughtiness, receive
with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls,
and be ye doers of the word, not hearers only deceiving yourselves. So lay aside, laying aside these
things, which does so easily, easily beset us. So Paul put it this way when
he writes to the church of Ephesus. The church of Colossi let's turn
and read that turn to Ephesians chapter 4 talking about Ephesians
chapter 4 look verse 20 But if you but you have not so learned
Christ so verse 21 if so be that you've heard him and Have been
taught by him as the truth is in Jesus Ephesians 4 21 that
you put off concerning the former conversation, the old man, which
is corrupt according to deceitful lust, and be renewed in the spirit
of your mind, that you put on the new man, which after God
is created in righteousness and true holiness, wherefore putting
away lying, speaking every man the truth with his neighbor,
for we are members one of another. And he gives a list of several
things that that we need to work on putting off the old man and
putting on that new man created in righteousness in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, this is a continuing battle
that believers have. We have a continual battle with
our fallen, sinful nature. We still have that Adam nature.
The flesh is still flesh, but we have been given in the new
birth a new nature. The nature of God. The nature
of Christ. That's what the new birth is
about. Therefore, there is a warfare between the flesh and the spirit. Paul talks about that in Galatians
chapter 5. About the flesh, lust against
the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. These two are contrary
one to another so that you cannot do the things you would. I would
never sin again. I would completely believe him
and never have any doubts. But there is that battle. There
is that conflict. Now, he mentions five things
here in verse one. I'm not going to dwell too much
on them. It's pretty much self-explanatory. The Spirit of God that we need
to be aware of teaches us that we should be laying aside if
there's something that we need to work on. All of us do. Malice. That is, ill will, ill
feelings toward others. Now, what is natural to the flesh? Hate, malice, ill will. It's only by the spirit of God.
As he says there, the love of God is machete brought in our
heart by the Holy Spirit. You remember back in chapter
one, verse 22, he said, obeying the truth of the spirit, unto
unfeigned love of the brethren, see that you love one another
with a pure heart fervently." Now the fruit of the Spirit is
love. But we also have the works of the flesh, which is hate.
So we need to be aware of that. Whenever you find yourself having
ill feelings toward others, know it's that old sinful nature that's
still in you. Be aware of it and ask God to
suppress that. And then he mentions their guile,
or deceit, or using fraud to obtain our goals and ambitions.
God's people are honest people. We need to work on being honest
with all men. And then he mentions hypocrisies,
speaking with our lips what's not in our heart. We call that
self-righteousness, don't we? I was listening to a message
by Brother Mahan this morning. And he said self-righteousness
is one of the oldest sins since Adam fell. What was the first
thing that Adam did after he fell? Tried to hide himself behind
fig leaves. Self-righteousness. And that's
something we need to be aware of and suppress it, laying it
aside. And then in these, that's jealousy. You remember 1 Corinthians chapter
13. It says, love envies not. Love envies not. Love seeks the
best for others. You want the best for your children,
don't you? Why? You love them. You love
them. And we need to work on seeking that for all people. All people. Don't be envious. Jealousy. What's that one scripture
I'm thinking about? Jealousy is crueler than the
grave? Jealousy just eats you up. Let off those things. Put those things away. And then
evil speaking. James had a lot to say about
that, didn't he? He said, the tongue is deadly,
and the tongue is full of deadly poison. So we need to work on,
be careful. Be careful what you say. Be careful
what you say. especially around, not so much
around believers, but be careful what you say around unbelievers. So this is something God says
that we need to work on every day, laying aside these things
that would hinder our spiritual growth. Verse two, as newborn
babes. Now that's what happens when
God, when God in mercy regenerates us. There's a new creature born,
a new man born within us. Something that was not there
before, created in Christ Jesus, a new nature, a new man, a new
man. The outward man dies daily, the
inward man is renewed day by day. So then laying aside the
flesh and now desire or desiring the sincere milk of the word.
Now this only happens by his grace. This only happens by God
doing a work of grace in us that we have a desire for the truth. A desire to hear the truth, a
desire to read the truth, a desire to believe the gospel. That's
not there naturally. The only desire we have naturally
is loving darkness and hating God. It's only the new man in
Christ, as were made new creatures in Christ, that we have a desire
as newly born babies desire the sincere milk of the word. Now,
I remember I was in the delivery room with all three of, when
my dear wife gave birth to our three children, And I remember
when our daughter was born, when they brought the baby in
for her to nurse, and that baby, that newborn baby, you lay that
newborn baby up against mama's milk, and that mouth starts,
That's a desire, a desire and a hunger for that milk, the milk. And they say, the doctors say
the mother's milk, the mother's milk is the best for the baby.
Everything God designed and mama's milk for that baby is what that
baby needs. So, and that's the analogy he
uses here, as newborn babes, Their desire is for the milk
of the word. Now what is the milk of the word?
What would you say is the milk of the word? Christ. The Lord
Jesus Christ. He's called the water of life.
He's called the bread of life. The word is called the meat.
And He is our milk. The Lord Jesus Christ is everything
to us. We feed upon Him. Except you
eat my flesh and drink my blood. He said you have no life in you.
We feed upon the Lord Jesus Christ, his person and his work. We feed
upon him as, and that's a desire. That's a desire that we don't
have naturally. That's a desire that God must
put in us, that we desire and thirst after the milk of the
word, the purity of the word, which is Christ. In the beginning
was the word, the word was with God and the word was God. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
word, the word, the sincere milk of the word. This is how, this
is how we grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now let me show you scripture on that. Turn over to 2 Peter
3, the last verse. 2 Peter 3, the last verse. But grow in grace and in the
knowledge of our Lord Jesus, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory, both now and
forever. Amen. So how do we grow in grace
as newborn babes, as young men, and then as elders? And that's
talking about both women and men. We grow in grace and in
the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. But how do we grow? We
grow as we feed upon Christ. We grow as we see more of him.
We desire more of him. When Paul left those elders at
Ephesus, he said, I commend you to God and the word of his grace,
which is able to build you up. So I commend you to God and to
the word of his grace. So desire the sincere milk of
the word that you might grow thereby. Our Lord prayed in John
17. Father, sanctify them through
thy truth. Thy word is truth. So desire
the word of the truth, the word of truth. If the spirit that
quickeneth the flesh profiteth nothing, the Lord said, the word
that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. And then David writes this, through
thy precept I get understanding. His precept is his word. Through
his precept we get understanding, therefore we hate every false
way. The word is a lamp unto our feet,
a light unto our path. The believer feeds on Christ
as we digest and consume the written word, the bread of life. He said, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger and shall never thirst. Coming and believing, coming
to Christ is believing him. It's looking to him. Now look
at verse three. If so be, You have tasted, the
Lord is gracious. We have tasted of his milk in
the word and the water of life. We have thirsted after that and
we've received the water of life. And we know by the revelation
of God given to our heart that the Lord is gracious. Our Lord
is gracious. I think of the psalmist Was it
the Psalmist who said in Psalm 34, 8, taste and see, the Lord
is good. Taste and see, the Lord is good.
That's the experience of our heart. We've tasted. We have
drunk of the milk of the word and eaten of the meat of the
word and received the water of life. And we found out that the
Lord is, he's gracious. He's full of grace and truth. And of his fullness have we all
received. Grace for grace. If you've tasted
of the word of God, you know what? You desire more, don't
you? You desire. When you find a meal
that you like, I tell my wife all the time, fix that again.
I like that. I enjoy that. Fix that again.
So when you find something you like and love, you want more
of it. And that's what believers do
with the word. We desire more. We have tasted of the word of
life, and that is Christ, and we desire more. To know more
of his sovereign character, who he is. To know more of his sovereign
love toward us. God commended his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
I love what 1 John says. Here is love, not that we love
God, but he loved us. And he sent his son to be the
propitiation, the sacrifice for our sin. So as we grow in grace
and the knowledge of Christ from the word, from the written word,
the written word revealed is Christ. To know more of his character,
who he is, to know more of his love toward us, to know more
of his mercy, his sovereign mercy toward us. As Paul said, not
by works of righteousness, which we've done, but according to
his mercy, he saved us. To know more of the power, to
know more of his power to save, he's able to save to the uttermost
all that come to God by him. Those who feed on Christ and
drink up his word, And those who eat the bread of life, they
want more. Their desire is for more. We
sing that song often, more about Jesus, what I know, more of his
saving love to show. I want to know more. And we know
him, but wouldn't you love just to know him a little bit better,
a little more intimate in all of his attributes and all of
his workings and all of his priestly work and all those things? And
then he says, If so be you have tasted, the Lord is gracious."
Oh, He's so gracious toward us. By grace are you saved through
faith. Paul said, I am what I am by the grace of God. We say with
Newton, amazing grace, how sweet the sound. And then look at verse
4, to whom coming. We have a desire of the milk
of the word. And it says, laying aside, and
then it says, to whom coming, present tense. Present tense. We're always coming to Christ. We're always looking to the Lord
Jesus Christ. We're always believing Him. Repentance
and faith is not some isolated experience of the past. Repentance
and faith is an ongoing state of being. I am believing. I am repenting. I am coming. I am looking to the Lord Jesus
Christ. You see what it says there in
verse 4? To whom coming? How do we come to the Lord? How
do we come to the Lord? It's not a physical thing. As
the old preacher said years ago, come to Christ and don't move
a muscle. Come to Christ and don't move a muscle. It's by
faith we look to him. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith. So we come to him by faith. To
whom coming? And we come to him for all of
salvation. He's the living stone. He's disallowed
indeed of men, remember they said, away with him, crucify
him. But, look at this, chosen of God, the Lord Jesus Christ,
is the one chosen, the son of God, and he's precious. He's
precious to the father. The father speaks from heaven,
and what does he say about his son? This is my beloved son,
in whom I am well pleased. He's chosen of God. He's called
down here in verse six, the elect. You see that? Wherefore also
it's contained in the scripture, behold, I lay in Zion a chief
cornerstone, elect and precious, the Lord Jesus Christ, He's chosen
of God, and He's precious to the Father. That means He is
the elect. He is the elect. You know, I've
said this before, I don't know if you remember it or not. The
first time that word is used in Scripture, Isaiah 42 verse
1, where it says, God said, Behold My servant, My elect, in whom
My soul delighteth. He shall not fail or be discouraged. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ
is the elect. We're chosen in Him. Election
is a person, Christ. We're chosen in Him. As Paul
said, God has blessed us with all spiritual blessing in the
heavenly, then Christ, according as He has chosen us in Him. Don't forget that, it's in Him.
You read that first chapter of Ephesians, everything is in Him.
excepted in the beloved, in whom we have redemption in him. So
he is the chosen of God. He is the elect of God. Believers laying aside things
that are contrary to the gospel, desiring the sincere milk of
the word, tasting, excuse me, tasting of the Lord's goodness
to us, saving faith is always coming to Christ, tasting him
for all of salvation, looking to our blessed Savior, our Lord
Jesus Christ. Saving faith is always confessing
Christ and coming to Christ because he's the living fountain of salvation. This is a record that God had
given to us, eternal life. In this life is in his son. To
whom coming, look at verse four again. to whom coming, as into
a living stone, disallowed of men, disallowed of men, but chosen
of God, chosen of God and precious, precious,
precious to you who believe, as it said down in verse seven,
unto you therefore which believe, he is precious. Now, look at
verse five, you also, You also, you also, because you're on and
in Christ, you also as lively stones or living stones are built
up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God, how? By Jesus Christ. Everything is relative to him,
isn't it? living stones or build up a spiritual house. The church
of Christ is his body. What's through the head is to
the body. Because he is life, we have life
in him. He said, I'm the way, I'm the
truth, I am the life. Because he lives, We live in
him. The Lord has made us by his grace,
by his choice. He's made us sons of God. He's
chosen us unto salvation. You also. We have life because
we are in Christ and we're built up a spiritual house. You remember
the Lord said, I'll build my church and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it. What's true of the head is true
of the body. He's made us kings and priests
unto our God, unto him who loved us and washed us from our sin
in his own body. You also as living stones are
built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual
sacrifices to God by Jesus Christ. Look in chapter two, verse nine. Chapter two, verse nine. He says
again here, but you are a chosen generation, you're a royal priesthood,
you're a holy nation, you're a peculiar people that you should
show forth the praises of him who called you out of darkness
into his marvelous light. You're a what? A chosen generation. You're a what? A holy priesthood,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation. And notice on the word peculiar
there, purchased. You're a purchased people. He
bought us. He bought us with His own blood. He has made us by His grace kings
and priests unto our God and we are accepted in the Beloved. Behold what manner of love the
Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called sons of God. Now look at verse 6. Wherefore
also You also, wherefore also it's contained in the scripture.
And this is given from Isaiah 28, 16. Behold, I lay in Zion
a chief cornerstone. He's elect. Excuse me. He's elect and he's precious. And he that believeth on him
shall not be confounded. Shall not be confounded. It's
only by Christ, whoever lives in intercede for us, that we
worship and are accepted in the beloved. Those resting on Christ
the rock shall never be ashamed or confounded or forced out.
He is the true unfailing refuge that God has provided for us. Now remember Isaiah 28.6. Behold, I lay in Zion for foundation
of stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone. He that believeth
on him shall never be forced out. When Paul writes about it
in Romans chapter 9, he says, whosoever believes on him shall
not be ashamed. Ashamed of Jesus? Can it be?
A mortal man ashamed of these who angels praise, whose glories
last through endless days? And then, here he says, shall
not be confounded. Not be confounded. The Lord Jesus
Christ is rock, our refuge, upon which we rest. We build all of
our hope of salvation upon what? Upon who? It's Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is our
foundation. He that believes on him shall
not be ashamed, confounded, or never be forced out. He says,
I give them eternal life and they shall never perish. Let
me quit with this. Psalm 62, he only is my rock
and my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not
be moved. And God is my salvation, my glory,
the rock of my strength, and my refuge is in God. Trust in
him at all times, ye people. Pour out your heart before him.
God is a refuge for us. We rest the whole of our salvation
upon his person and his work. As Paul said, Christ is all and
in all, and in Him dwells all the fullness of Godhead bodily,
and we are complete, complete in Christ.