Good morning, folks. You have no idea of how you have ministered to me. As I fellowship with your pastor and with many of you, my heart is truly encouraged. And I thank God for what he's doing among you. And will have been educated concerning how to pray for you.
This morning I come from a familiar passage, 1 Peter chapter 2, the first three verses. And I've entitled a message, Cherishing the Word. Cherishing the word, 1 Peter chapter 2 verses 1 to 3. Please stand with me as I read in your hearing this portion of the infallible and inerrant word of Almighty God. From the New King James Version.
Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the lord is gracious. The word of the lord. Let us pray. Father, please open up our understanding. Illuminate us by the power of your spirit.
Let your anointing beyond both preacher and congregant. Change us all. Conform us to the image of your dear son Jesus. In whose matchless name we pray, amen. You may be seated.
Brothers and sisters, ladies and gentlemen, What is your attitude towards your Bible? Seems rather elementary to come into an established congregation and talk about cherishing the Word. But a lot of us want to be fit and we have succumbed to the advertising around us and bought exercise equipment, put into our homes, that very often serves new purposes like a place to hang our clothes. And In many instances we have Bibles and they're not being used as God intended. What is your attitude towards the Holy Bible?
What part does it play in your life? Is it a necessary part of your daily existence? It's impossible really to discuss holiness without discussing this. Do you trust it? Have you struggled to understand it and apply it?
Is it merely a piece of literature from antiquity that has outlived its usefulness? What is the Holy Scripture to you? One of the marks of a person who is truly saved is a great delight in the Word of God. You're gonna have to question the veracity of your profession if the word of God is not precious to you. True believers love to read it, study it, hear it proclaimed, Meditate on it, memorize it, and share it.
They love it. It is written in John chapter 8 and verse 31 and 32, Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed on him, If you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed. You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. The Old Testament saints also expressed a strong desire for the word of God. Job 23 and verse 12, I have not departed from the commandment of his lips.
I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. The opening psalm, the psalm which is different from all the other psalms. It's really the introduction to the psalms. Psalm number one talks about the godly man whose delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law he meditates day and night. The prophet Jeremiah cherished God's revelation in a difficult time.
In Jeremiah 15 and verse 16, he said, your words were found and I ate them. And your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord God of hosts. In our text, the apostle Peter wanted Christians to be faithful to that same kind of spirit-prompted longing for the Word of God. Therefore, this passage suggests at least four perspectives that, if fully appreciated, will lead to a stronger and more consistent desire for the Word of God. God's Word fights evil.
God's Word fulfills essentials. God's Word facilitates edification and God's Word fosters enjoyment. Now before we get into the meat of these verses, I must examine the importance of the first word of the text. Therefore, if you use the King James, wherefore. The word therefore refers back to chapter 1, especially verses 23 to 25.
And the living and enduring word, the seed which is imperishable, the gospel that produced the new bath. God's word was the source of salvation because his transforming grace worked through the word to create new life. The Word operating not as a perishable natural seed, but as an imperishable divine seed, became the source of believers continued spiritual transformation and growth. The word therefore was a concise reminder to the apostles readers to remember that saving power of God's word in their lives as a basis for ongoing commitment to scripture. An ongoing commitment to scripture as the only power to live the Christian life.
The holiness without it. The holy scripture contains many other reminders and exaltations about this indispensability of the fountain of spiritual life and power. God declared through the prophet Isaiah, where are we? Isaiah chapter 55 verses 10 and 11 For as the rain comes down and the snow from heaven and do not return there, but water the earth and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth. Just like the rain brings forth.
Fruits from the vegetation. So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth. It shall not return to me void but it shall accomplish what I please and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. Oh lord Jesus told the disciples, you are already claimed because of the word which I have spoken to you. John 15, 3.
God's Word is always as powerful in believers' lives, or should be, as when they first believed. All right, let me walk through the text with you now. And the first thing I want to show you is that God's word fights evil. God's word fights evil. There is no fighting evil without the word of God.
Look at verse one. Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking. There is an interesting relationship between fighting sin and feasting on the word of God. Fighting sin increases your appetite for the word of God. Ignoring the word of God increases your appetite for sin.
It's as simple as that. Striving to eliminate sin is prerequisite to sustaining the desire for the Word of God. Clinging to sin drives one in the opposite direction from the truth that exposes and confronts sin and demands righteousness. When the Apostle Peter used the term laying aside, he was using, according to the scholars of the Greek text, an imperative participle to command his readers to get rid of the sins in their lives. The scholars point out that the verb rendered laying or putting aside applied to Any kind of rejection and sometimes referred especially to stripping off soiled garments.
Stripping off soiled garments. If there is a genuine and true transformation in someone's life, the word of God will be welcomed in the fight against the sin. The true believer should be putting aside all, the text says all doesn't it? Huh, does it? All, all, Notice the word all is used here three times to emphasize totality.
Putting aside all sins that are a hindrance to fully desiring God's word. In this verse, malice is the first category of sin listed. The word malice is used in our English language to refer to the desire to harm someone else. That was malicious, we say. However, the scholars of the Greek text tell us that the word that is translated here is an all-inclusive word for sin referring to general wickedness and baseness.
We are to strip it off. It doesn't matter how long it takes, it has to go. Strip it off. The next word is deceit. The language scholars tell us that the term here literally refers to bait.
Bait. Or fish hook. It denotes guile, dishonesty, falsehood, treachery. This makes us sick to our stomachs, not just when we see it in others, but especially when we see it in ourselves. We are to strip it off.
The next word is hypocrisy, which originally identified an actor who wore a mask. It refers to spiritual insincerity and pretense. The word describes any behavior that is not genuine or consistent with what one really believes or says he believes. We have to strip it off. The next word is envy.
And this defines the attitude of those who resent the prosperity of others. He just can't stand it when other people do well. We have to strip it off, he says. Strip it off. Lay aside.
The last term is evil speaking or slander. This refers to the whispers and taddles reported behind someone's back in gossip and backbiting. It refers essentially to defamation of character. Murder with words. He says strip it off.
Strip that off. Now of course, we must understand that the apostles list of specific sins is not exhaustive, but certainly is representative of evil. In fact, the first term, all malice, could encompass all the sins so that his readers were called to confession and repentance. This clears the way for an unhindered desire for the truth of God. Please understand what's going on.
The pursuit of sin kills the desire for the word. And the pursuit of the word kills the desire for sin. If you're determined to accommodate your sin, you will marginalize the word of God. It's as simple as that. If you're determined to compromise your integrity, you will ignore biblical counsel.
If you're determined to hold on to your personal idols, you will spin the truth into a lie. If you're determined to ignore your guilt and failure, you will hate those who proclaim the truth. If you're determined to parade your self-righteousness, you will stare out of the light of God's word. That's all there is to it. God's word fights evil.
Secondly, God's word fulfills essentials. God's word fulfills essentials. I'm looking at the first part of verse 2, where it says, as newborn babes desire the pure milk of the word. Stop there. It fulfills essentials.
Here's a question. Is our scripture intake a survival issue? Oh my goodness, we're going to need a paradigm shift here. We're going to need to think about this a little differently. Is our scripture intake, oh I'm so happy that you'll come on a Saturday morning to take in some more scripture.
Is our scripture intake a survival issue? How badly do we need it? Beloved, true believers need God's word, God's truth, like a baby needs milk. That's the point. It is essential.
The Apostle Peter compares the strengths of that longing for divine revelation to the singular and dominant desire of newborn babies for their mother's milk. Even though our culture likes to feed babies with a bottle of cow's milk. It is never better than that of the baby's mother. For cow's milk was made by God primarily for calves. Baby cows.
Thank God we can harness it. We love milk. But please understand that when a baby is born, they're crying out for their mother's milk. The Apostle Peter emphasized that this is especially the case of newborn babes. An infant that has just emerged from its mother's womb cries out for her milk.
That soul and desperate hunger for milk is the newborn's first express longing designed by God to correspond to their greatest need. And it illustrates how strongly believers ought to desire the word of God. It can't be just optional issue. This is desperation. It is singular and relentless Because life depends on it.
The word desire speaks of a strong desire. A craving. A craving. It expresses an intense, recurring, insatiable desire or passion. Its meaning encompasses such things as a strong desire of a husband or a wife or their spouse, the strong physical craving that accompanies extreme hunger, the poignant feelings one has for a deceased loved one, the intense desire of a Christian parent for a spiritually wayward child to repent and return to obedience, or the strong desires believers have for the salvation of the unbelieving family member or close friend, This is the kind of strong, consuming desire believers should have for Scripture.
None of the above are stronger than the baby's desire for that milk. His desire for that milk. Note well that the Apostle Peter compares the object of their craving with sincere or pure milk. Pure milk. I drank some milk this morning that tasted wonderful.
From the Brown Farm. Ah, yes, yes, yes, yes. There was a particular joy in knowing that it was not from a store. Listen to me, folks. He called it sincere or pure milk.
The scholars of the Greek text tell us that the word translated sincere means unadulterated or uncontaminated and often referred to farm products such as grain, wine, vegetable oil, or in this instance, milk. Believers are to crave what is unmixed. We are to crave what is unmixed and pure. That provides real sustenance, namely the pure milk of the word. Don't mess with our milk.
We resent any kind of contaminants from the culture or even from liberal and careless religion. It is very interesting and notable that the Apostle Peter did not command or charge believers to just read the Word. Or to just study the Word or to meditate on the Word or to teach the Word or to just preach the Word or search the Word or even memorize the word. Now, all of the above are essential and there are other passages of scripture that demand them. Okay?
Right here though, the apostles focus is on a more foundational element which believers need before they will pursue all of the above. A deep continuous longing for the Word of God. That's his focus right here. Whether believers are recent converts or more mature in the faith, craving the Word of God is always essential to spiritual nourishment and growth. You know we earlier quoted Job, Job 23 12, where it is stated that he esteemed the words of God's mouth more than his necessary food.
Our Lord Jesus affirmed this when he told Satan in the wilderness. Remember, Matthew chapter four verse four. It is written, man shall not live by bread alone but by what? Every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. He's saying just, like when you're hungry, and he was hungry, and he was tempted.
Just like that hunger, you need bread when you're hungry? You need the word of God. It's that intense. In the view of our postmodern culture's relentless output of informational junk food through radio, television, films, internet, computer games, books, periodicals, and, God forbid, but sometimes even pulpits. All of which causes spiritual malnourishment and dulls appetites for genuine spiritual food.
Believers must commit to regular nourishment from God's word that is unmixed. Just a pure thing. Just give me the word. We must be regularly feeding on the word as an antidote to the poisonous messages we are fed every day. You may not know it, but you're getting a lot of poison all day long.
Sometimes you're not even aware of it. I was on a bus one time, you know, and some really ungodly music was on, you know, I mean, nasty lyrics. And I was just disgusted. Later on in the day I'm in my office and I'm... That music had seeped...
God made music to worship him. Music is powerful. Sometimes it seeps into your spirit and you're not even aware that you held onto it. Wow, I was blown away. But my first reaction was, oh my goodness, this is awful.
But just sitting there, it was coming in. Oh my goodness, you've got to guard what you listen to. Listen, We must regularly feed on the word as an antidote to the poisonous messages that are seeping in every day. We must feed regularly on the word of God as an answer to the lies and the spin of the world and media. We must feed on the word of God as an aid to exposing and deciphering the pseudo-intellectual gibberish.
We must feed on the word of God as an apparatus to extricate the foolishness that has been bound up in our hearts. We must feed on the word of God as an armament in the spiritual warfare. We must feed on the Word of God as an asset in the building of a spiritual edifice to the glory of God. I told you God's word fights evil. Then we said what?
God's word fulfills essentials. Thirdly, God's word facilitates edification. God's word facilitates edification. I'm looking at the second part of verse two where it says that you may grow thereby. That you may grow thereby.
Listen folks it doesn't take very long when you're interacting with a professing believer for you to detect the quality of their biblical intake. It doesn't take long. There is such a thing as a spiritual potbelly. This is when it is obvious that the bulge is not the result of good nutrition but the lack of it. The growth spoken of here is in respect to salvation.
It is always sad to see a human being who is malnourished, weak, and retarded in development. It's far sadder to see believers who are spiritually malnourished and only developed. And so the pot belly is not the result of nutrition but the lack thereof. All believers should be motivated by the opportunity to grow strong and mature in Christ, enjoying greater blessings and usefulness. It is by the intake of the truth that the Holy Spirit grows and matures believers.
The Word will grow true believers into the full final expression of the sanctification aspect of their salvation. The apostle Paul presented a similar exhortation to the Philippians. Where were we? Philippians 2 verses 12 and 13. He says, therefore my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure.
The Apostle Peter's exhortation in our text for believers to grow through the Word strongly implies the necessity of discontent with the present condition of their spiritual development. There's such a thing as a holy discontentment. It also recalls what the Apostle Paul said before his dissatisfaction with the status quo of his life. He wrote to the Philippians, Philippians 3, verse 13 and 14, Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended. But one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Motivation for genuine spiritual growth arises out of a righteous sense of discontent, coupled with a sincere desire to be satisfied with nothing but the Word of God. So while we are satisfied with our Lord Jesus, anybody satisfied with Jesus? Anybody? While we are satisfied with our Lord Jesus, we must be continually dissatisfied with our level of intimacy with Him. While we are satisfied with our changed hearts, we must be craving for more change in our habits.
While we are satisfied with our apprehension of God's truth, we must be determined to see consistent application of the same. While we are satisfied with our celestial destination, we long for clearer, terrestrial direction. Finally, brethren, God's word fosters enjoyment. We've said that it fights evil, it fulfills essentials, it facilitates edification, finally it fosters enjoyment. Oh, hallelujah.
Look at verse three. If indeed you have tasted, the Lord is gracious. Hallelujah. If indeed you have what? Tasted that the Lord is gracious.
Hallelujah. If indeed you have what? Tasted that the Lord is gracious. The apostle Peter's words in this verse reminds us of the Psalmist when he said in Psalm 34 and verse 8, oh taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in him.
Now, we all know that the word if, Look at the verse of our text. It says, if, doesn't it? If indeed you have tasted. We all know that the word if is a conditional participle, introducing the facts or conditions necessary for a proposition to be true. If.
It should logically follow that since true believers have tasted or experienced the kindness, goodness and grace of our Lord in their conversion, They already know how blessed and wonderful it is. Therefore, they should have desired more of that goodness through feeding on the word. True believers ought to regularly survey the blessings of their salvation. Come on. I said regularly.
They ought to remember the many times God has answered their prayers. They ought to remember all the times he has touched their lives with his kindness and mercy. They ought to remember when God rescued them from themselves. They ought to remember when nothing can explain a timely insight but the prompting of the Holy Ghost. We must repeat this point.
The words of the prophet Isaiah. I go back to him. Not Isaiah, Jeremiah. Jeremiah chapter fifteen and verse sixteen where he says your words were found and I did what? I ate them.
And your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart for I am called by your name, O Lord God of hosts. I found them and I ate them. All true believers will affirm with the Psalmist three verses from the longest Psalm. A Psalm that primarily deals with a longing and obedience to the word of, longing for and obedience to the word of God. Psalm 119, I quote to you verses 140 to 142.
Your word is very pure. Therefore your servant loves it. I am small and despised yet I do not forget your precepts. Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness and your law is truth. Believers should love the word so much that even when the messenger is challenged and is even lacking in oratorical skills, they are determined to help him.
Help him with prayer and encouragement so that nothing stops the flow of the truth. Just bring it on. Bring it on. Feed us. They are determined to keep it coming.
Keep it coming even when the reprobate are mocking for it will not return void. Keep it coming even when it is cutting us, for it is also designed to heal us. Keep it coming even when it is unpopular, for heaven and earth will pass away, but God's Word will abide forever. Keep it coming when we are busy, for slowing down for the truth is always better than rushing into falsehood. Keep it coming even when our flesh resists it, for The last thing a sinner needs is to be left to himself.
Keep the word coming. Keep it coming. In closing, Beloved, your attitude should change this morning concerning the word of God. I'm praying for that. You must ask, How do I anticipate it?
How do I listen to it? How do I study it? How do I meditate on it? How do I memorize it if I do it at all? How do I cherish it?
How do I embrace it? How do I obey it? We live in a generation that says we can Google it, we don't need to memorize anything. You're wrong. You're wrong.
There are times in our life when we're living in the wild west and we need to draw quickly. And you're thinking, oh, we need to draw quickly in an argument. No. You're thinking about other people. I'm thinking about the enemy of your soul.
In the midst and heat of temptation, you're not going to Google it. Because it's not tempting if you don't really want it. Have the trouble is ourselves. Have the trouble is ourselves. And that's why what the tempter is presenting is tempting.
You better have a word to answer him. Oh yes, we do need it in our witnessing and in our engagement with men and women all around, but we need it most of all when the enemy and his demons attack. You can't recall what you didn't memorize. You can't retrieve what hasn't been stored. Believe what hasn't been stored.
That's a lie of the devil that you don't need to memorize. Oh, you better hide his word in your heart. Hide it that you may not sin against him. What about meditation? In our generation, most people don't have any time for meditation.
What meditation? They don't even know what it is. Well, I'll tell you, it's not Bible study and it's certainly not prayer. It's right in the middle. Meditation is talking to yourself.
I told the preachers that yesterday. It's talking to yourself. The Psalmist do it all the time. Read the Psalms. Why art thou cast down, O my soul?
O who? My soul. He's talking to himself. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless his holy name.
Who is he talking to? My soul. He's talking to himself. He's encouraging himself to bless the Lord. I told them yesterday that I told my church, if you don't talk to yourself concerning the word of God, you're the crazy one.
We need to meditate, talk to ourselves about this word. Flesh it out. It's going to take some time. The difference between preachers is the attitude towards the word of God. The difference between believers is the reverence for the word of God.
What is it to you? What is it to you? Is it just another optional tool? Or is it necessary to fight evil, to fulfill essentials, to facilitate edification and to foster your enjoyment? What is it to you?
It should be the lamp onto your feet. What is it to you? It should be the light onto your path. It should be the foundation for your worship. It should be the standard for your service.
It should be the tool for your evangelism. It should be the guide for your fellowship. It should be your only basis for faith and practice. We must agree with the Psalmist in Psalm number 19. He said in verses seven to 11, he wrote, the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.
The testimony of the Lord is what? Sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are what? Right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
The fear of the lord is clean enduring forever. The judgments of the lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea then much fine gold, sweeter also than the honey and the honeycomb. Moreover, by them your servant is won, and in keeping them there is great reward. Lord, please give me a word, lest I starve in my ignorance.
Please give me your word lest I flatter myself with my own intelligence. Please give me your word lest I overestimate my spiritual condition. Please give me your word to fight the evil. Give me a word to facilitate my edification. Give me a word to fulfill the essentials.
Give me a word to foster my enjoyment. Give me a word and cause me to cherish it all my life. Amen. Let us pray. Heavenly father.
It is clear that we worry because we forget your wisdom. It is clear that we're resentful because we forget your mercy. Father, it is clear that we are kavithes because we forget your beauty. Father, we sin because we forget your holiness. Father, we fear because we forget your sovereignty.
Thank you for remembering us. Help us to remember you and what you have written. In Jesus' name, Amen.