1 Peter chapter 2. Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, 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. Amen. Amen. You may be seated. Please pray with me. Our Father, we thank you that you have provided good nourishment for us in your word. through Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit. And so we pray, Lord, that we would receive the good things that you have given us, that we indeed would lay aside those things that get in the way of us growing and being nurtured in grace and in godliness. And so give us grace now, not only to taste your kindness, your goodness, your graciousness, but I pray that we would taste and receive into us and crave and delight in this nourishment from your word and through your spirit. And so bless the preaching, the hearing and the living out of your word in the hearts and lives of your people. For we ask it in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. I think what we need to say about this section is Peter is showing us that growth in grace is real. and attainable. Growth in grace is real and attainable even in this day and age when we are bombarded with images that frankly are ungodly and frankly not good for the soul. And so how is it possible for us to shine like lights in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. Well, Peter shows us how that is done. Remember last week we talked about being born again through the miracle seed of the Word of God, born again through the Holy Spirit by the miracle seed of the Word of God. And the reason I bring that up is Peter brings it up. The first word in this chapter is therefore. And remember, Bible students, when the Bible says therefore, you need to think about what the therefore is there for. And the therefore is there to remind us of what's already been said. And so this is a continuing discussion. And so the most recent thing that was said is that we need to love the brethren sincerely and fervently. Why? Because we have been born again, not of imperishable seed, but not of perishable seed, but imperishable. That is, we've been born again through the living and abiding, the enduring forever Word of God. And so if you've been born again, that changes everything. And so now, as those who have this new life, born again or born from above, now what? And that's exactly what Peter is answering and the Holy Spirit is answering today in this passage. And so, therefore, we must lay aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking. And so there's something going on here. There is something that we need to lay aside. And then there's something that we need to take in. There's something we need to reject. And then there's something we need to receive. We need to repent. And we need to believe and receive. And then we need to continue to receive. We need to rely. And so this morning, we're really answering the question, how do we grow in this relationship with the Lord Jesus? How do we grow once we're born again? Then what? And the answer to that is we must crave. the Word of God. Beloved brothers and sisters, children of the living God, we must crave the Word of God. And so I need to tell you this morning, according to the Word, that it's all about desire. It's all about desire. And in a sense, we need to fight desire with desire, because there are bad desires out there, we all know. And we know that those bad desires sometimes lodge themselves in our hearts. And so we need to fight against those desires with heavenly desires. We need to fight against the sinful desire with a desire and a craving for the Word of God. the milk of the word. But the other desires, they need to be cast out first. And so there's something that has to be gotten rid of. And then there's something that needs to be received. And this is the way the scriptures speak throughout. Jeremiah 1.10 says, See, I have this day set over the set you over the nations and over kingdoms to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant. So what is the prophet Jeremiah doing here? He's using two examples from the physical world. One is from the area of construction. Before you build something, a lot of times you have to destroy something so that you have a place where you can build something. And so you dig a hole, and that's destroying the ground. You're digging a hole, and you're going to make a foundation. Maybe you dig down to some bedrock, which is what they did in New York City. They dig down to the rock and then build a building. That's in construction. Sometimes you have a building that's existing, and you've got to tear out what you don't want anymore, and then add what you do want. So you remove, and then you build. Same thing in agriculture. You have to break up the fallow ground, and then you can plant seed. You have to uproot. You have to pull out. You have to remove the weeds and then put the desirable plants or desirable seeds into the ground. It's the same thing spiritually. You have to remove that which is sinful and then plant that which is what God desires. Amen? This is called if we want to borrow Pauline language, putting off and putting on. We put off the old and put on the new. And this is connected to our understanding of our union with the Lord Jesus Christ. We have been united to Christ's death on the negative side, but we've also been united to Christ's life on the positive side. And so what do I mean by that? Well, when Christ died to sin, we also died to sin. And when Christ was raised up to new life in the resurrection, we too were raised up to new life. And this is something that we need to know and believe. And so Romans 6 says, knowing that we died with Christ and were raised to new life. And then we need to reckon it as true. And based on that reckoning, we are to present ourselves as those who have died and have been raised to new life. And so, Second Corinthians chapter five puts it this way, and I think this is a good passage to look at. Second Corinthians 5.14, Paul says, for the love of Christ controls us, or constrains us, having concluded this, that one died for all. That is that one is the Lord Jesus Christ. He died for all believers, therefore all died. So when he died, guess what? If you trust him, you died. Amen? And he died for all that they should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died and rose again on their behalf. And so we died, but now, We live, do we live for ourselves? No, we live for him who died and rose again on our behalf. And so we understand that we are united with Christ in his death, and we are united with Christ in his resurrection from the dead. And so we need to understand that something objectively has happened with the cross and the resurrection of Christ. That is our redemption has been accomplished. That's the first part. Now, the second part is that redemption needs to be applied. And that's the work of the Holy Spirit. By the way, I'm referring to a book called Redemption Accomplished and Applied, Westminster Professor, Dr. John Murray, Redemption Accomplished and Applied. If you haven't gotten the book, I urge you to get it and read it. I think I have a copy. You can ask me if I can lay my hands on it, I'll let you borrow it. Or you should get your own copy. And if you have read it, read it again, because it's a blessing. Every time you read it and focus on what the scriptures say about redemption accomplished and applied. So that's objectively, but then there's a subjective aspect. There's a daily aspect. Paul says, I die daily. And Jesus says, if anyone wishes to come after me, let him take up his cross daily. Let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Luke 9, 23. So there's a daily aspect. Daily, we need to die to self and live towards God. Amen? So in first Peter chapter two, it says, laying aside or putting aside all malice. Malice means desiring evil to happen to someone else. Putting aside all guile, guile is deceit. So we don't want to be deceitful. Hypocrisy is play acting. We don't want to pretend that we're something that we're not. Envy is when someone has something good and we don't want them to have it or wish we had it instead. Slander is when you speak evil of another. And these are things that we ought not do and we ought not be as Christians. And these are things that we just need to put aside or lay aside. The Greek here talks about, is used to speak about how people would throw something off or cast off a garment. And so this is kind of the old garment of how we used to be. Maybe filthy rags, cast them off, get rid of them, Peter's saying. And instead, like newborn babes, crave or long for the pure milk of the word that you may grow by it in respect to salvation. And so, I urge you to cast off the old. And Peter, he does the same thing. 1 Peter chapter 4, using this same understanding 1st Peter 4.1. Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of his time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. Amen. So, Let us cast off all, all, all evil desires and actions, and let us instead crave the word of God. Let us crave the word of God. What is the illustration here? The illustration is that of a newborn infant. If you've ever seen a newborn baby, you know You know how that baby craves the milk, and you know that if that baby doesn't get that milk, guess what happens? You'll hear it, because you'll hear that crying. And those cries say, give me milk. I need milk. I want that milk. That's the way we need to be with the Word of God if we're going to grow. in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Crave that milk of the word. Crave that milk of the word. Crave that milk of that word. We need it to grow. Don't crave the false milk of the world. The world will tell you, oh, you don't need that word of God. You need this. You need psychology. You need certain isms, right? Whether it be communism, capitalism, state-ism, socialism, None of those isms are going to save you. None of them are going to nurture you. They're going to leave you spiritually hungry and famished. Amos 8 says, there will be a day when there will be a famine for the word of God. Guess what? We are living in that day when there is a famine for the word of God. But it doesn't need to be that way for God's people because we have the milk. We have the nourishment. We have the bread of the Word of God. And so I urge you to crave, desire greatly, covet, lust after the Word of God. Same language. Same language. We need to fight desire with desire. And we need to crave the pure milk of the word. Isn't it great that God's word is pure? It's not polluted. It's not adulterated. It's exactly what we need. And There's a beautiful song in our hymnal number 153. Maybe we'll sing that next week. But I want to read to you the words and this is coming. really from, it's really a versification of Psalm 19 verses 7 through 11. Most perfect is the law of God restoring those that stray. His testimony is most sure proclaiming wisdom's way. Oh, how love I thy law. Oh, how love I thy law. It is my meditation all the day. It's beautiful because the precepts of the Lord are right. With joy they fill the heart. The Lord's commands are all pure and clearest light impart. The fear of the Lord is undefiled and ever shall endure. The statutes of the Lord are truth and righteousness most pure. They warn from ways of wickedness, displeasing to the Lord. And in the keeping of his word, there is a great reward. Do you want the reward? The reward doesn't come from men. The reward comes from the Lord. There's a reward just in the reading and the hearing and the applying of God's word. And so it's the pure milk of the word. It's also the spiritual milk of the word, or the logikos word. It's logical. It's the logic of God, the reasonability of God. It's not the reason of man. It's not common sense. It's different from that. You could say a spiritual common sense. And God's word is that way. And so as we understand the truth, we understand the logic of God. Yes, this makes sense. In other words, we said earlier, as we were engaging in our worship, tithes and offerings, we said that he who sows Sparingly shall reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully shall reap bountily. It makes sense. And that's from God's perspective. And so that's what God's word is like. And then there's the question, well, why? Why do we need to crave this word? Well, Peter gives us the answer. He says that By it you may grow with respect to salvation. There's a purpose behind craving God's word, behind longing for the milk of the word. Do you want to grow? Do you want to grow strong in your faith? Or do you want to be tossed back and forth by every wind and wave of doctrine? Do you want to be the spiritual 90 pound weakling that the enemy uses as a punching bag. Do you want that? I don't want that. You probably don't want that. Well, crave God's word. Take it in. Receive it. Keep imbibing the word of God. And just like the baby, you know, a baby when it takes in milk as a newborn it can only take in so much but as it draws more then more is provided and as it draws in more than that still more is provided and so there's a mechanism in the mother to be able to provide enough milk for the baby so the baby can not only survive but thrive and grow and flourish. It's the same for you and me. If we desire more and we grow from that little that we've already desired it increases. And so the more you desire The more you take in, the more you want, and the more you grow. And so it's the same principle of growth. So if you want to grow, and I think you do, I do, crave that word and keep craving it and you will grow. And then lastly, we want to cast off all evil. We want to crave the word. We want to count on the kindness of the Lord count on the kindness of the Lord verse three if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious or that you have tasted the kindness of the Lord the word translated kindness is the or gracious is the word Crestos in the Greek. And the only reason I, I pronounce that word for you, it's, it's kind of a play on words. If you have tasted the Christos, or you have tasted the Christos, the Christ of the Lord. Isn't that beautiful? So God, God uses a pun here. Have you tasted who Jesus is? Have you tasted and seen that the Lord is good from Psalm 34 8 says Oh taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in him. Are you trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. Are you trusting in his sacrifice, his blood poured out to wash away your sin and trusting in his rising again from the dead to give you new life? Taste and see that the Lord is good, that the Lord is gracious, that the Lord is kind to you. and to me. And so we want to behold the goodness or the kindness of the Lord, but we also need to behold the severity. Because if we won't receive the goodness and the kindness of the Lord, then the only thing left for us is to receive his severity. And I urge you to come to Jesus. to forsake the world, to forsake sin, to forsake hell, because with the decision to keep in sin is the decision to go to hell. And I don't want any of you to go there. And so I urge you to repent. I urge you to receive the Lord Jesus Christ and rely on him alone for your salvation. Taste and see the Lord is good. There are things that we taste and see in the world. They taste good in the beginning, but in the end, they are bitter and bitter to the point of death. There's pleasure in sin for a season, Hebrews tells us, but soon that season is over. And then there's literally hell to pay. And so we want to lay aside all those things and come to Jesus instead. Jesus said, if anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, follow me. And Peter is essentially saying the same thing. And part of that following Jesus, part of that coming to Jesus is craving that word. And so I urge you to crave. We must crave the milk of the word of the Lord. Why? That we might grow with respect to salvation. Amen. Let's pray. Thank you, our Father. Thank you that you have given us everything we need for life and godliness. Give us grace, God, to believe that what you say is true and to reject the false falsehoods of the world because there's no other nourishment No other word that can cause us to grow and to flourish and to thrive before you. And so grant, Lord, that we would feed on the Lord Jesus Christ in our hearts by faith with thanksgiving. Let us draw nourishment from that pure milk of your word, that we may grow thereby for your honor and for your glory. And we ask it in Jesus name. Amen.