`1Title: Crave

Text: I Peter 2:1-3

FCF: We often struggle craving lesser things rather than God Himself.

Prop: Because we have experienced God’s kindness, we must crave only Him.

Scripture Intro:

[Slide 1] Turn in your bible to I Peter chapter 2.

Last week Peter gave his third command in response to the central role God plays in our Great salvation. Peter now wants to give them a fourth command. A command that is perplexing. The other commands; setting our hope in future grace, being holy in fear and reverence, and loving sincerely from a pure heart are challenging and difficult commands – this fourth command is challenging but for a different reason. Peter will command his audience to desire something. And we are left to wonder – how do we change what we want? How do we want something more?

I am in I Peter chapter 2 and I’ll begin reading in verse 1. I’ll be reading from the NET which you can follow in the pew bible on page 1365, or in whatever version you prefer.

Transition:

We have got some interesting and even awkward things to discuss in the coming verses. I hope that you will roll with me as we dive in.

I.) Because we have experienced God’s kindness, we must put away our old lives of sin.

a. [Slide 2] 1 – So get rid of

i. Peter is still applying the text of the first chapter of his letter.

ii. In that first chapter he put God at the center of the redemption of His people.

iii. God predetermined, sustains, reveals and fulfills his redemptive work for those who are His chosen people.

iv. In response to this great salvation, his audience must set their hope in the future grace revealed by the coming of Christ, be holy as God is holy out of fear and reverence, and love one another intensely with a pure heart.

v. In short, Peter tells his audience that it is because God has done all in their salvation that they must continue to respond as they did with that initial gospel call. They purified their own souls by obeying the truth. They are new birthed by the incorruptible seed of the truth of the gospel.

vi. And since they are born anew, there are some things that Peter will call his audience to set aside.

vii. Getting rid of here means to lay aside, discard, or take off. As if these were clothes that they wore and must be removed.

viii. But what must they lay aside?

b. [Slide 3] All evil

i. In order for us to make sense of each of these discarded items, we must stretch our minds toward the context of Peter’s audience.

ii. Remember, they were being publicly mistreated by those who were their family and friends, because they had been converted.

iii. Because they now lived differently, their friends and family have responded in slander and suspicion. In essence they are raising public awareness about these Christians – but not in a good way.

iv. Another key contextual note we need before moving forward here, is that Peter is in the midst of transitioning to his audience’s outward testimony. How they should treat those outsiders who are doing and saying these things.

v. This means that although Peter is coming out of a context of brotherly love with other believers, these attitudes and actions should not be applied to only the body of Christ. In fact, it seems that Peter means that these attributes ought to be put off in regard to all human contact.

vi. All evil means depravity, badness, trouble, malignity, evil.

vii. Given the situation his audience was in, they may be tempted to retaliate against their pagan friends and family with some kind of wicked scheme or plan of their own. They may even be tempted to unify as a church to hurt or harm their pagan neighbors.

viii. Afterall, they were God’s chosen people and there was no reason for them to be mistreated in this way. So why not fight back? Why not fight fire with fire?

ix. Peter says lay aside all evil.

x. It is not appropriate for God’s people to retaliate. Instead, they should be characterized by love for one another – which will extend to loving even their enemies.

c. [Slide 4] And all deceit

i. Ah here is a difficult one.

ii. Peter says to lay aside all guile. All tricks. All traps. All lies.

iii. They may be tempted to hide, lie, or otherwise craftily schmooze or flatter those who seek them harm and in so doing spare themselves some of the greater pains and persecutions.

iv. It is not within a Christian’s prerogative to manipulate outsiders to spare themselves suspicion and slander.

v. They may also lie, flatter, or manipulate one another to excuse times they succumb to temptation of their former ignorant ways.

vi. Instead, their yes must be yes and their no, no. They must be what God has called them to be. And that is expanded on in the next item to lay aside.

d. [Slide 5] And hypocrisy

i. Not only must they lay aside crafty words and trickery to manipulate the perception of themselves to outsiders – but they also must not conform to the world while among them.

ii. Whereas guile would be giving half lies and crafty words to keep their identity hidden, hypocrisy would be to pretend to be like the outsiders in activity.

iii. Another crafty trick to avoid persecution – well when I am with my old friends and family, I’ll just do what they do and blend in.

iv. Or perhaps even – Well, maybe we can make our assembly of believers more like our friends and family who are maligning us. Perhaps we can be a little like them and they will stop assaulting us.

v. Peter says to be what God has made you to be, and not what you were in your former ignorance. Don’t equivocate. Don’t shift. Be what you have been reborn to be.

vi. Don’t pretend to be what you were to get out of this tough spot you are in.

e. [Slide 6] And envy

i. Peter’s audience when seeing the ease of the lives of their friends and family, or perhaps even of other believers in the congregation who do not have it as hard as they do, may be tempted to envy the ease of others.

ii. Indeed, they may be so jealous, not being content with their current trials and persecutions, and not being joyful in suffering for the name of Christ, they may find themselves sinfully longing for the ease of the outsider.

iii. Peter says to lay aside envy. Be content with what God has you in – for there is a purpose in it all and a great reward for enduring.

f. [Slide 7] And all slander

i. Finally, Peter says to lay aside all slander.

ii. In the situation they are in, they may be tempted to publicly slander those who are slandering them.

iii. It is quite childish – but we don’t typically grow up much past 4 years old. We simply learn to hide our selfishness better.

iv. But when we are pressed on every side, when we are squeezed by trial or persecution, that toddler comes out again.

v. You hit me, I’ll hit you back.

vi. They also, to gain a temporary moment of alleviation from ridicule of the pagans, may slander their brothers in Christ in order to deflect the attention to someone else.

vii. Well, Peter says, lay aside all slander. Don’t publicly diminish another simply because you are being publicly shamed.

g. [Slide 8] Passage Truth: Peter reminds his audience of all that he has said so far by the little word “So”. In light of all that we’ve seen about God’s central role in our salvation, and how that necessitates a change in our lives – we must obey some commands. He reminds them the good that God has done for them. Because of that…

h. [Slide 9] Passage Application: They must put away all these rotten filthy clothes of their former life. Although this is not the command of the passage, it certainly is the command’s opposite. They must discard their former ways of dealing with people. Instead, they must embrace a new family ethic. A new kingdom ethic of love.

i. [Slide 10] Broader Biblical Truth: Zooming out to the rest of scripture we find this same concept, basically everywhere. Because God acts and does something to, in, and through us, it leads to by necessity our own action. God gives grace, mercy, kindness, and that is followed naturally and necessarily by man’s hatred of sin and love of God. It is God’s mercy which draws men to repentance.

j. [Slide 11] Broader Biblical Application: So CBC, what we must see from this, is that since God has rebirthed us in Christ and united us to Him, we have a new family, a new background. We are kingdom citizens now – a royal priesthood. This means that all those old ways of living life, all those old ways of treating others, all those old ways of sin – out to be cast aside. They are no longer fit for us to adorn ourselves with. They are the rags of our slavery. We have royal robes to wear now. And so we ought to put away evil, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander. They ought to have no place among us. Because ultimately they are self-powered and wordly ways of trying to alleviate difficulty – we have been freed from the yoke of this.

Transition:

[Slide 12(blank)] So we see here the classic put off, put on principle that is so frequently used by New Testament writers. We are new people in Christ, therefore we put off old ways. But Peter has yet to tell us what we must put on.

II.) Because we have experienced God’s kindness, we must crave God alone.

a. [Slide 13] 2 – And yearn

i. Moving to positive action, Peter tells his audience to yearn, to desire, or to lust after.

ii. This is an interesting command in two respects. First, this word is used often of an evil passion or desire, but doesn’t have to be evil. Indeed, here it must be good. But it means to crave, to earnestly desire, to pant after or thirst for.

iii. It is also interesting that Peter commands an affection. He doesn’t say to do something here. He says to strongly want something.

iv. We are left to wonder how exactly do we want something intensely if we only want it a little or not at all? How do we change our desires? Peter answers these questions as he goes forward.

b. [Slide 14] like newborn infants

i. First, we are to desire like newborn infants. And we can look ahead and grab one more word from the next phrase – milk. Crave like newborn infants crave milk.

ii. Some of you have no doubt met Arthur Bogen. Fewer perhaps have met Elanor McCue.

iii. These two are by far the youngest attendees of our congregation. This is how we grow the church by the way