The Spiritual House (Part B)

You older Christians, be careful when you come in contact with new Christians. Don't expect a newborn Christian to behave as though they've been a Christian for 20 years.

Oh no, they're going to have to suffer a lot before they get to that spot. However, sometimes you meet one that says, I've been a Christian 20, 30 years, whatever. And you just shake your head and you say, well, you haven't learned a thing.

Where have you been? Self-absorbed more than likely. Stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Cross-Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching.

Today, Pastor Rick continues teaching through 1 Peter chapter 1 in his message called, The Spiritual House. Hypocrisy, we all know about that. From the time you're very small, you can identify hypocrisy. Unfortunately, sometimes we find it in our parents. Don't know what to do with it, except we remember.

And be careful there, honor your mother and father. Hypocrisy, pretending to be what you have no intention of actually being. Wearing a mask and wanting others to believe that there's no mask at all, that this is you. Webster's dictionary says this about hypocrisy, a person who puts on a false appearance of true virtue or religion.

It's a false appearance. There's no intention there. It's not someone who's weak and failing who's saying, I love the Lord, I'm going to serve him and obey him and then they fail you. Oh, you're a hypocrite.

No, weak might be the problem. Someone may just have given it their best shot and not met your standard. Well, that doesn't give us ground to say they're a hypocrite. It's when they are fake, through and through, one becomes a hypocrite. And Peter says they're in our churches. Well, there are more of them outside of our churches than there are inside. And so the next time someone says, I don't want to go to church, there are a bunch of hypocrites. Are you kidding me? You can't be that dumb.

How old are you now? There are more hypocrites outside the church than inside the church. Envy is the next one. That is another inward sin that leads to outward sin. In the Greek, it covers a pile of things, spite, jealousy, improper desires, covetousness, resenting the blessings another has because you wanted it.

This is a mean one. Last session in Peter, I mentioned to you that it's very easy or it's easier to applaud someone outside of your field. I'll use myself as an example. Well, because I'm perfect.

Yeah, right. Don't talk to my wife about that. If you were to tell me that you met someone that was one of the greatest pianists or artists or writers, I would be very impressed.

Wow, that's nice. Tell me about it. If you were to say, I went to a church and I found one of the greatest pastors preaching. Wait a minute.

I didn't see you this morning. What are you talking about? See, that's where I should shine brighter than the other guy. Envy, be careful. It will grow like poison ivy. It will take over like wire grass.

Any of you have wire grass? I hate that stuff. Anyway, I probably got it from you. Anyhow, it's always fun to blame others. No, it's not.

Do I have to say no, it's not. Anyway, Matthew 12, verse 34, Jesus speaking. He calls the Pharisees, the religious leaders, the pastors of the time, brood of vipers.

They're just a family of snakes that have poison in them. How can you, being evil, speak good? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. They envied Christ and that was what was in their heart and that's what came out until finally it brought about his crucifixion.

But what helps us lay aside the things on this vice list? Well, Peter's going to tell us in this next verse, verse 2, as newborn babes desire pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby. Reading this, it doesn't read comfortably to me. I mean, you look at verse 1 and he says envy and all evil, lay these aside, evil speaking. And then he says as newborn babes desire pure milk, it just doesn't flow to me. However, I remember that Peter dictated this letter. I think a lot of the commentators and theologians often lose sight of the human element when these documents were put together. So there's Peter and he's not writing this. He is dictating it to Silvanus. We find that at the end of 1 Peter. And so he's talking and he says like newborn babes and Silvanus just captures it like that. He uses a high level Greek, a classical Greek, Silvanus is writing in, and so he's putting Peter's words on the parchment. And so Peter's flowing and he says put away the lying, the envy, as newborn babes desire milk of the word.

He just sort of goes there. Paul, the apostle, notorious for taking rabbit trails in his writings. The ellipsis man, you know, those dot, dot, dot, suspension points when you write.

Well, Paul is of some commentators from long ago called him that. He's the ellipsis apostle because he goes down these rabbit trails because as he's writing and things burst into his mind by the Spirit, that's where he goes. And even though at times it's an incomplete thought, that incomplete thought in and of itself is complete. And that is what allows pastors to take a single verse and do a whole sermon on them because the Holy Spirit says I'm not interested in anything short of communicating my will.

I'm not restricted by the rules of grammar or anything else but truth. And when we understand that, then it begins to move. And then we understand that the man writing this letter or dictating it is a man that has suffered like me. It's someone who has faced temptation and faces temptation. It's one that knows what fear is and knows what joy is and knows what disappointment is. You know disappointment, it's a heavy weight sometimes. You love someone and then for whatever reason, maybe they move away or get some whatever and they're just no longer in your life and it's just a disappointment.

I'm not talking about to death or anything like that. And as we grow, we go through these things, they shape our character, we make adjustments and we keep moving forward. Well these writers are men just like that. I point this out because before I was a Christian, I didn't think that. My concept of the Bible were men that just sat down and were full of themselves, writing about what they thought God was. Now there are other religions like that.

I think Islam is like that, for example, and not the only one. But Christianity is not like that. These are men that said, I saw Jesus dead and I saw him alive. You want to kill me for that?

Go right at it. But I am not telling you that I did not see him alive when I did. There's power in the Word of God because there was power in the lives of the women and the men in Scripture whom God records events from their lives. And so he says it's newborn babes.

Now, this is important. You older Christians, be careful when you come in contact with new Christians. Don't expect a newborn Christian to behave as though they've been a Christian for 20 years.

Oh no, they're going to have to suffer a lot before they get to that spot. However, sometimes you meet one that says, I've been a Christian 20, 30 years, whatever. And you just shake your head and you say, well, you haven't learned a thing. Where have you been? Self-absorbed more than likely.

So there is no joy in meeting professed Christians who for years have behaved as unbelievers. And Peter, wanting to intercept these things, he says, as newborn babes desire pure milk of the Word. You can't grow or develop without it. You need nourishment.

All of us do. Now in these days, cow's milk is not the idea here. There just weren't the bottles and the convenience that is around today. In those days, of course, it was the mother's milk or a wet nurse that provided the child with the milk. And that's what is the idea behind the pure milk direct from the source. And Peter says, the Word of God, it nurses us. It nourishes us. It's pure. It comes from the source.

That's where we need to be. Notice that the Bible always comes back to the Scripture. It always comes back to the Word. Never lets the reader get away from the Word. We have sections where there is song and there's poetry, but the Word of God is always the larger shadow in the picture. And so in order to lay these things aside, these vices that he had mentioned, they're going to need not only the Word, but appetite for the Word that you may grow thereby. A church does not grow by addition. It grows by nutrition, said one old saint. I should have taken credit for that.

I had my opportunity there because I said, boy, he's pretty deep. Anyway, that is something that seems to be missed by a lot of folks. People come in to see a small church and they think that the Spirit's not there because of the numbers.

They're looking for addition. It's nutrition that makes the church, and that is a true statement. First Timothy, chapter 4, verse 6. If you instruct the brethren in these things, that's the Word, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. The emphasis of Scripture flows throughout that verse. It is woven into the verse.

Martha, you remember Martha, her sister Mary, her brother Lazarus? She had a mistaken concept about ministry. She thought ministry was defined by activity.

Now, there is activity in ministry for sure. I mean, we do as of the Word. But doing without hearing is not the idea that God has in mind for his people. Mary's concept was on hearing before doing. She did because of what she heard. That shaped her actions, and Martha had it the other way around. So the day came when the Lord brought this out, and he was very gentle with Martha, very gentle.

But he stings her. And you know, it was mentioned to me yesterday, one of the brothers, someone mentioned that I, in speaking, stepped on toes. I have never aimed at anyone's toes.

I have gone for the heart and the head every single time. And so if I stepped on his toes, or anyone, I'm sorry I missed my target. It's like Mickey Mantle. Mickey Mantle was told, don't try to hit a home run every time you're at bat.

And Mickey Mantle said, every time I got up to bat, I tried to knock that thing out of the park. That's preaching. Whether you are sharing the gospel with someone, we are going in for the kill of the enemy.

Not, oh, let's just see if we can make them comfortable. Well, Jesus does this. He gives us an example. He does it, but he doesn't do it with brutality. That won't stop people from charging you with brutality for speaking the truth.

But make sure we are innocent as best as possible. Luke 10. Now it happened as they went that he entered a certain village. And a certain woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she approached him and said, Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore, tell her to help me. And Jesus answered and said to her, Martha, Martha. See, he's just getting her ready. But he's gently doing it. And he says, you are worried and troubled about many things, but one thing is needed. Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.

Right between the eyes. And she got it. She learned her lesson.

We never hear her complaining again. But you see, she was distracted by much serving. If you can't sit under the word, you want to be a busybody in the church, it's not good.

And that's why we try to keep a ratio here, so that you don't hide behind serving. You sit with a heart, and the head can be ministered to through the washing and regeneration of the word. You say, well, I've been sitting under the word, and I'm not any better off than I was. Well, a statement like that proves you might be right.

Or, maybe you're just a little thick in the head, and you don't notice that you have grown, you have done well, that you are doing better. Learn to thank the Lord for his patience, and his gentleness, and his determination to never give up on us. 1 Timothy 4, Paul writes to Timothy, till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. It's the word of God.

I mean, you don't exhort without the word of God. And the doctrine and the reading is the scripture. Throughout the Bible, God insists on his word, that it be exalted, and that it be pursued.

Peter emphasizes it seven times in his two letters, and we're going to take all seven of them. 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 23, having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible through the word of God, which lives and abides forever. 1 Timothy 1 25, but the word of the Lord endures forever. Now, this is the word which, by the gospel, was preached to you. You know, we don't sing people into salvation. Well, maybe little kids, it's a big part in a little child's life. You know, you sing to a little child that the love songs of the Lord, that's very important, very helpful.

But as adults, we have to use the word. 1 Peter chapter 2, of course, our text, I won't take that one off for time's sake, as newborn babes. 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 8, they stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed. 1 Peter 3 1, wives, likewise be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they without a word may be won by the conduct of their wives. 2 Peter 1, verse 19, and so we have the prophetic word. That's prophecy, confirmed, that's fulfillment of prophecy, which you do well to heed. I love that part.

You did be good for you to listen to this. As a light that shines in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. You see, we are supposed to be this temple, this shining light.

We are supposed to be part of this process, not walking around, as A.W. Tojo said, acting as though we've been baptized in lemon juice, some in vinegar. It's hard, I mean, things will steal our joy, but they don't have to steal our faith to. 2 Peter 3 5, for they willfully forget that by the word of God the heavens were formed of old, and the earth standing out of water, in the water.

It's just powerful. It's the word of God that formed physical creation, because it is the mind of God, it is the will of God. And so we move to this very important point, so vital is scripture. Satan is committed to distracting the ministry of the word, distracting us from the ministry of the word, especially in the local churches. If the local churches are cut off from scripture, pretty soon everyone's going to be cut off from scripture.

And we know we've got little petri dishes of this all around the world, all throughout history. We know what happens when the local church abandons the word of God. Acts 20 verse 27, Paul writes to them, while he's speaking to them, this is the Ephesian elders, he's talking to them, and Luke makes sure he gets this down. He says, Paul, to the Ephesians, for I have not shunned to declare to you the entire counsel of God. I have not held it back. I don't care what I faced, that's what he said, I have not shunned.

There were times when I could have backed down and I did not. I gave you the scripture, popular or not. Verse 3 now of Peter, chapter 2. So he goes on, after telling them, I forgot what he said, and I look back up, oh yeah, desiring the milk, we're back into the word. If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. Well, to taste is to experience, to live through.

I mean, you taste something, you've experienced it. Of course, he's quoting Psalm 34. Our Lord, we're told in Hebrews, he, by grace, tasted death for us. For everyone, he says in Hebrews chapter 2, 9. But again, here's the point. Peter is just dictating the letter, and he says that we are to abandon these things, we're to crave the word of God as the little baby does the milk from its mother.

If you're Christians, that's what verse 2-3 is. None of the commentators want to say that. They go on to these long things about, well, if, and I think it's just, I don't know, that makes me sound like I'm the smart one and they're not. It's true. On this one, I think I'm happy with my view. I should put it that way. And if you don't know me and you're visiting here, I am really arrogant.

No, I'm not. That's what allowed me to have fun with it, but anyway, if indeed you've tasted it. It doesn't mean anything else, but that to me is very simple. If you said you believe in Christ, you're going to want the word. Now, you can sink so low under some pressure in life that you struggle. You become depressed and your grief hits you hard and you just got to take a, you know, and God gives us some space there.

But it is because leading up to that moment in life, it's been built up that you have reserves to make it through. Now, verse 4, he says, coming to Him as to a living stone rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious. Best thing I ever did was come to Jesus Christ. The best thing any human being can ever do is come to Jesus Christ. It's not about the best thing I ever did was save my child. No, the best thing you can ever do is get your salvation.

There's nothing higher. John chapter 6, Jesus adds this concerning He doesn't leave us or forsake us. He says, all that the Father gives me will come to me. And the one who comes to me, I will by no means cast out. So while you're casting out these vices, Christ is not going to cast you out. He says that coming to Him as to a living stone. Well, Jesus Christ is a living stone here. There's more to it.

We're just getting to the first part of it. He's not dead. He's a risen, reigning Savior on the throne in heaven. And He will come and take this earth back to Himself and reign here also, but just not yet. But He reigns in the hearts of believers rejected by men, chosen by God, Peter says in verse 4.

Why? What is in Jesus Christ to reject? What is it to not like about Him?

I mean, it doesn't even say, go do your homework and clean up your room. What is it not like about Him? Because He exposed their hypocrisy. How dare anybody? Have you ever exposed somebody's hypocrisy?

Did they love you after that? Because He was not the kind of Messiah they wanted. They had their minds made up what the Messiah should be, just like those who are lost in their sins have made up their minds what God should be like or what Jesus should be like. Never mind what the Bible says about Him. I know more about God than God knows about God. And I think, God, how could a loving God, here they go, blah, blah, blah, blah, shut up. Because you're wrong. We should fine you for talking wrong things about God. You ought to be 85 cents. Say another word.

Ah, 95. Okay, you can have fun in church as long as I'm the one controlling it. Well, the Word says this of Christ in Isaiah 53, there is no beauty in Him that we should desire Him. See, that's the prophetic word. Isaiah long, over 700 years before Christ came, Isaiah said when He comes, His beauty is going to be missed. They're not going to look at Him and say, wow, He's one of us.

Of course, not everybody, but in the big picture. And the beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Christ is the Son of God, God the Son. His splendor is divine. There's never been anybody like Him. There never could be. That's why in the wilderness under those three examinations that are recorded by Satan, it wasn't that, oh, what if Jesus had failed? He couldn't fail. That's the point.

That's what He's showing you. It's impossible for me to fail. Death couldn't even hang around Him.

Sickness could not be in His presence and remain. 1 Timothy 6, this is our King. Paul writes, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has ever seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen. We're so glad you tuned in today to study the book of 1 Peter on Cross Reference Radio. Cross Reference Radio is the daily radio ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel in Mechanicsville, Virginia. And we're blessed to bring you God's word with each broadcast. If you'd like more information about this program or want to listen to additional teachings from Pastor Rick, please visit our website, crossreferenceradio.com. We also encourage you to subscribe to our podcast so you'll never have to miss a program. Just search for Cross Reference Radio in iTunes, Google Play Music, or your favorite podcast app. We hope you'll tune in again next time to join us as we continue our study through the scriptures here on Cross Reference Radio.