Intro story- Water line break
This was only made possible because they had a love for the body of Christ
The reason they had a love for the body is because their life had been changed by Jesus
They expected nothing in return
When I offered Jami money he said I don’t need anything
He loves the Lord and is obedient to the truth
Since his life was changed, how could he not take care of people within the church
1 Peter 1:22-2:3
22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth [a]through the Spirit in [b]sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, 23 having been born again, not of [c]corruptible seed but [d]incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides [e]forever, 24 because
“All flesh is as grass,
And all [f]the glory of man as the flower of the grass.
The grass withers,
And its flower falls away,
25 But the [g]word of the Lord endures forever.”
Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.
2 Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, 2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow [h]thereby, 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
Peter is writing to the Christians scattered in Asia Minor that are suffering from religious persecution
He starts off by saying peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ
Clearly showing them the authority he carries to speak to them is From the Lord
He discusses a heavenly inheritance and testing of their faith
He also addresses how as believers we must be holy because God is Holy
Now we get to the portion of scripture that was just read
At first glance it would be easy to read this and just keep moving on through the book of 1 Peter
But if you thoroughly look at Gods word you can always find a lot more than you would expect
At first when I got these scriptures I wasn’t sure what I was going to preach about
But after reading and reading and studying, I realized that if you look close enough you can pull something amazing out of these scriptures
This portion of scripture actually lays out blueprints of how to have a healthy church
Remember the scattered Christians are hearing this and it was peter’s words for them and for us today
He says in verse 22
22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth [a]through the Spirit in [b]sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,
I am first going to focus on
22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth [a]through the Spirit
Now “since” is a very clear cause and effect
Our English translation doesn’t always give original intent
You and I didn’t purify anything, but that’s the way it reads out
That would go against the context of the whole bible
It was not by our doing that we were purified
It is that we were obedient to the truth of the Gospel
We recognized our need for a savior
I know this should go without saying, but the world in which we live has so many false gospel and love only messages, it gives some people a false since of security
You must be born again to be a part of the church
If you attend church but haven’t given your life to the Lord
You are not apart of the body of Christ
You are simply just observing what Christians practice
Christians have recognized their need for a savior
That means we know Jesus gave His life to pay for our sins
God is Holy there is no sin in Him, He is pure
When God encounters sin, that means anything we do that he says don’t do
Or anything we don’t do that he says do
That sin offends the holiness of God
His response to the offense of sin is to respond in judgment and pour out His wrath and separate himself from the sinner
That separation and wrath is hell for eternity to pay the price but even then that debt is never satisfied
The bible says
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
But Jesus came to this world fully man and fully God
He was tempted by sin, in fact satan himself tempted Jesus face to face
And He still never sinned
He then gave himself as a pure sacrifice on the cross
He was the lamb without blemish
He was pure
He was beatin, they mocked Him, they made Him wear a crown of thorns
Then made to carry His own cross
Only to be nailed to that cross to pay our penalty for sin
That anyone who believes in Him will be saved and be able to have a relationship with a Holy God
I encourage you if you are in this room and haven’t excepted Christ, that now is the time
You will then be a part of the Church
Once you have excepted Christ, your soul will be purified
Not by your own doing but by the work of the Holy Spirit
22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth [a]through the Spirit in [b]sincere love of the brethren
There should be an immediate change in your heart and mind
The holy spirit will convict and correct you
But in this change there should be an immediate change with how you view the body of Christ
You should then have a sincere love for the brethren or in other words The Church
I really don’t understand people that claim to be born again, but then have no love for the church
Its opposite of what the word says
Often times its adults that it happens to
Maybe you have received incorrect teaching in the past
Maybe it’s a hardened heart
But it shouldn’t happen
There should be an immediate love
Let me give you some examples
Cylie-She had noticeable change upon salvation, she now sings on the worship team, she is easily correctable
Cameron and kevin- Love the Lord, they want to know everything they can, they want to grow in the things of the Lord
Jose- He just gave his life to the Lord and it was glorious
A noticeable change in an instant
He used to come to youth and sit with airpods in is ears
He hardly smiled and would disappear for worship
Now he sings, claps, and worships. He has had the biggest smile that ive seen on him
And you have ryan- who gave up the plans to go to college on the otherside of the country and put the Lord first in his life
He is hungry for the Lord, he is teachable and even wants to pursue a life of ministry
The Lord changed all of their hearts
The biggest common denominator though, is that they love being around the members of the Church
They are here almost everytime the doors are open
They love the people here
I see them smiling and hugging people
I see them at our events
It is a change that the holy spirit made in them. And they sincerely love the brethren
If you have never felt like this you should probably question your salvation
Examine yourself
2 Corinthians 13:5
5 Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you [a]are disqualified.
If you do not have a love for Gods church
And you come week after week
Don’t want to build relationships with the body
And use the excuse “that’s just the way I am” then you are a liar
1 John 4:20
20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, [a]how can he love God whom he has not seen?
The Holy Spirit would have changed you
But instead you are just a leach sucking off of the blood of the body of Christ
And you are doing nobody any good
Now im not saying this so you can turn this into a social media post to get push back
Don’t post that, this is for the church and the world wont understand
Im actually going to hammer on social media for a minute
Maybe even ruffle some feathers, who knows
I think social media is one off the most divisive tools that is used to divide the body
If your intent to post is to see how much push back you can get then you are wrong
You need to check your heart and find out what the intent of your post is
I know there are people that don’t care if people get offended
In fact for myself, im not easily offended
It takes a lot for me
But you should care to some extent
There should never be pointless arguments over posts made when it comes to biblical things
Now im not saying to care about how the one or two people that jump on every post to argue
There will always be those people
Im saying you should care about the people within the walls of the church
Our local body
Ive seen posts where people argue over theological points that aren’t even salvation issues
You might not think it hurts anyone but it does
It can drive a wedge in the relationship
Then what happens is other people read the argument and either on purpose or subconsciously they pick a side
Even if a small wedge it is still a divide
A better way would contact the person, schedule a time to meet and discuss it in person
This way there is emotion and context involved
Think about the people within the body and keep them safe
How are you going to fervently love your brother if you cant even use self control in what you post
Also there are some things during sermons that you shouldn’t post
Use discernment, sometimes its for the body and not the world
Post scripture, post gospel messages, but the word we get for the church is not for the world
At the end of the day it is your page just make sure you are posting in a sincere love
A fervent love with a pure heart
22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth [a]through the Spirit in [b]sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart
A healthy church must love fervently
Peter already said when we were purified we have sincere love,
but now he raises the bar and challenges the church to fervently love
This fervent love means an out stretched love
Think of it as the farthest extent your muscles can stretch before they snap
This is the love we should have
We should love people that are opposite of us
And never expect anything from them
It is a love that we must consciously work on
Story-colin
This isn’t a boast in myself
It took work on both of our parts
I encourage you find someone opposite of you this week and spend time with them
Get to know them, love them
Love one another
Jesus gave this command to the disciples
John 13:33-35
33 Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come,’ so now I say to you. 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
This hours before jesus was to be betrayed
Jesus could’ve said this to a church of 3000 people or in our case a church of 250
But He didn’t Jesus said it to 11 disciples
Who were all opposites
You have peter who speaks fast and reacts just as quick
But then you have John who thinks thing through, he wants to understand and be correct
Then you have simon who wants nothing to do with the roman empire because how they oppress the jews
But on the other side of the table you have matthew who worked for rome as a tax collector
Who oppressed his own people
You have luke, a physician and james who was a fisherman
A small room full of people that were all opposite
You can easily find someone to love in a large group
But a small close group not as easy
It takes work but its worth it
1 peter 1:23-25
23 having been born again, not of [c]corruptible seed but [d]incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides [e]forever, 24 because
“All flesh is as grass,
And all [f]the glory of man as the flower of the grass.
The grass withers,
And its flower falls away,
25 But the [g]word of the Lord endures forever.”
Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.
If you want to be healthy you must have a correct view of the bible
Peter is making a comparison between corruptible and incorruptible seed
The flesh is as grass, it fades away its here for just an instant
Flowers bring joy for a season
They are nice to look at they smell good, but they all wither away
But the [g]word of the Lord endures forever.”
Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.
The bible is constant
It convicts and corrects, it teaches and encourages
It should be our main source for growth
It is never outdated, the bible is timeless
From the beginning to the end it is 100 percent accurate
There will never be any new revelation
God said everything He wanted to say in the bible
If someone says they have a new revelation run
The bible says there is nothing new under the sun
From genesis to revelation the word of God is pure and Holy
It is not just a mans writing
They are the very words of God
And if you argue that then you must seek God
Ask the Holy Spirit to realign your thoughts and heart according to His word
You must have a correct biblical view to be healthy
If you cant believe some of it then you cant believe any of it
And if you cant agree with the bible
It makes since on why people slander, gossip, and backbite
Because its not as real to them as they think
They don’t mind destroying the body
But Peter says
Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,
He didn’t say lay down some, he said lay down all
If you look at these sins you can see that he doesn’t address all sin at this point
In context to what he is saying he is specifically talking about sins that will destroy the body from within
We have seen people come and go and take people with them cause turmoil then leave
Because they didn’t truly believe the scripture
If they did they wouldn’t allow this in their life
We must rid ourselves of these to have a healthy body
Malice-the intention or desire to do evil
Deceit-Any practice that is deceiving by concealing or misrepresenting the truth
That means all lying, if you manipulate people you are practicing deceit
Hypocrisy-claiming to have a moral standard but you do not practice it yourself
Envy-Being discontent with what you have and wanting someone elses possession
The lord has given you what He has given you, be grateful
All evil speaking includes gossip and slander
Stop talking behind peoples backs in hopes that it makes them look bad
Or to draw them to your side in an argument
Keep it to yourself
The name devil means the slanderer
If you are in the body and don’t feel bad about slandering the brethren
Then you are kin to the slanderer
You are a child of the devil
Put off these things in your life if you want the body to be healthy
1peter 2:2-3
as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow [h]thereby, 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
If you want a healthy church you must desire the pure milk of the word
Peter isn’t saying that these Christians are baby Christians
But they should still desire the pure milk of the word
Desiring the pure milk keeps us grounded in our faith
It keeps our eyes focused on Christ and what He has done
We should also desire meat of the word
But there needs to be a balance
Ive seen plenty of people leave church because “theres not enough meat”
But its clear to desire milk
This keeps you from becoming arrogant
You should want biblical knowledge and meat
But when you get it don’t begin to lose sight of the gospel
Don’t start using scripture as a weapon against other believers who may not know as much as you
Use it as a tool to help teach them
Stay grounded, stay focused on the cross
I will end with this story or parallel if you will
Meat and milk
I love meat
1 peter 2:3
if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious
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