Feasting on His Goodness, Part 2

Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. 1 Peter 2.1 calls us to rid ourselves of five sins from our former lives. These are destructive to others and dead weight in our own lives. But how do we cast off sinful patterns that come so easily to us? Peter answers that question in the next two verses by feasting on the goodness of the Lord. Today's sermon, Feeding on His Goodness, is an encouraging reminder in the battle against sin in the flesh.

Let's listen in. This is the second part of this message, first preached on September 4, 2022. Slander, you don't need to spend a lot of time on these because you're all very familiar with them by experience.

And I am too. We don't have to be taught these things. These are things that come very natural to us.

But these are the things for which Christ died to rescue us from these. Malice is a hateful feeling. It's ill will. Deceit is deliberate dishonesty. That starts very early in these precious little bundles of joy that we give birth to.

It starts very, very early. Deceit. Hypocrisy is wearing a mask. Pretend goodness or love. You put up a front so that others will think well of you, but it doesn't represent reality. Envy is resentful discontent.

Let me put it this way. Envy is me judging what I am. Judging what I need based on what somebody else has. It's the American way. But all humanity suffers from this. Slander is the last one, backbiting to cut someone down behind.

Why would you cut someone else down to make yourself look better? It's all part of being human. And yet these are the things. Listen, this is natural behavior.

But it's not. We have been rescued from this. You know what these are? These five things right here. These are the five things, verse one.

You know what these are? You've heard of the five love languages, right? These are the five hate languages. The five hate languages. And we are very fluent in all of these.

And some of us excel in one or two of them more than others. And what these are, is these are languages that are translated into behaviors that are developed attitudes oozing from the habit of comparison. I use the word gushing. That's too nice of a word.

I want something that's ew, like oozing. These five words that Peter uses here, bad habits, these ooze their attitudes. They ooze from the attitude of comparison. They are the result of, what they translate into is manipulating how people think of you or what they can do for you. Again, this is natural human behavior. It's the desire, it's my inside desire to use people for my passions. This is what he referred to in chapter one, verse 14 about the passions of your former ignorance. This is what it is. It's the characteristic of one who is alienated from God.

This is natural behavior. David Helm puts it this way, the things we are to put away have one thing in common. They all unburst word in chapter two, so, or therefore, depending on which translation you are reading from. I want you to notice something. Notice that the word is not a then, right? It's not then. It's not like we need to form our desires and our appetites, and then after we've done that, then we need to do these things.

This is an outflow. He says having, look at verse 22 of chapter one, having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth. Romans chapter six, we were studying an ABF this morning taught by Nathan Jones. You obeyed from the heart, you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered, you were committed to. This is a replacement. He is calling for a replacement here in that we cast off the old by putting on the new. This is, listen to me please, this is how the grace of God works, and the good news is you can put on the new because you are in Christ. A way to cast off the old is by putting on the new.

There is no other way. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, make no provision for the flesh. Walk in the spirit and you will not gratify the passions of the flesh. John says it this way, whoever abides in him does not sin. Those are two mutually exclusive practices and behaviors. You cannot be doing both at the same time. And so it's a replacement principle that we're seeing here, very common throughout the scriptures.

You put off the old by putting on the new. Let me give you this statement, because many of us might find ourselves struggling. We might find ourselves with what they call a besetting sin, that sin that nags me and I keep finding myself struggling with it. And I get discouraged. Sometimes I get to the point of doubt.

And it's a weight on me that I want to lose it and yet for some reason I find myself hanging onto it. And for somebody it might be the problem of lust. For somebody it might be the problem of impatience. That's mine. I own that. I wrote the book on impatience.

For some it might be anger and often anger and impatience are related with each other. Believe me I know. My mouth has gotten me into trouble a lot of times. My wife has had to call me on it. She took me to lunch one time.

Oh boy, here it comes. And she challenged me. And I had to recognize that my impatience and my anger were affecting our children at home. Thank God for a godly wife. Whatever that weight is, you know what yours is. What are you hanging onto? What is it that you need to shed that keeps you from walking in a God-ward direction?

That keeps you from becoming more and more like Jesus Christ? What is this dead weight that you need to shed? This chain that's still wrapped around your arm, leg, or your mind, or your heart.

What is this chain that you need to shed? Here's a statement. If you're struggling with the weight of bondage, make your way back to his banquet table. Feast on the goodness of God.

Consume his self-disclosure. And go into your closet and commune with your Creator and your Redeemer. Jesus said a very striking statement. John chapter 6 is full of a lot of very striking statements that Jesus made. And even it says in John 6 that after he said these things, a lot of disciples didn't follow him anymore.

Because these are hard things. And he said this is kind of a statement that encapsulates everything he said in John chapter 6. He who feeds on me will live because of me. The idea of feeding on Jesus Christ, he is what you need.

Your highest good and your deepest satisfaction. And when you taste him, truly, there's no going back. And the more you taste him, the more you shed the dead weight that holds you from becoming like him.

If you're struggling with the weight of bondage, make your way back to the banquet table. Because Peter makes it very clear that he develops in us a transformed appetite. An appetite needs to be transformed. We all have appetite.

Often it needs to be transformed for every one of us, spiritually speaking, it does need to be. So he uses a simile here, verse 2, like newborn infants long for the pure spiritual milk or the spiritual milk of the word that by it you may grow up into salvation. It's a simile like newborn infants. For a newborn, mom's milk isn't a side benefit. It's a must have, isn't it? And they let you know it. It's crucial.

Gotta have it. And what Peter is, may make a clarification here, Peter here is not using spiritual milk, he's not using milk as a contrast to steak. That's in a different part of scripture, Hebrews, chapter 5 for example.

He's not making that contrast here. Learn this, this never changes. You need Jesus like a newborn longs for milk.

And that never changes, ever. The pure spiritual milk of the word is how the New King James in the New American Standard translated. It's the word logikos. What is this word?

Logikos. Look at chapter 1, verses 24 and 25, starting at verse 23. Since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.

For all flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers and the flower fades but the word of the Lord remains forever and this word is the good news that was preached to you. We're so glad you've joined us for Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. You can hear this message and others anytime by visiting our website, www.delightingrace.com. You can also check out Pastor Rich's book, Seven Words That Can Change Your Life, where he unpacks from God's Word the very purpose for which you were designed. Seven Words That Can Change Your Life is available wherever books are sold. As always, tune in to Delight in Grace, weekdays at 10 AM.