Loving The Brethren-3 Series

LOVING THE BRETHREN-III—1Peter 1:22—2:12

Attention:

It’s Contagious!

Two young brothers called the pastor of a local "corner" church to ask the pastor to come by to pray for his mother who had been very ill with the flu.

The pastor knew the family & was aware they had been attending another church down the road.

So the pastor asked, "Shouldn't you be asking Brother Simon at your church to come by to pray with your mom?"

The young boy replied, "Yeah, but we didn't want to take the chance that he might catch whatever it is that Mom has."

When siblings act for their own ends it may be difficult to love them!

So far in our study of 1Peter we have examined the fact that

Christians are...CONSIDERED ALIEN(:1-2)...

We’ve examined...WHAT’s So GREAT About GOD—(:3-12)

And discovered God’s means of...UNLEASHING Your SPIRITUAL VITALITY/Vigor—(:13-21)

Today we will continue applying the above truths toward LOVING THE BRETHREN(1:22—2:12).

Peter exhorted the aliens to love their brothers & sisters in Christ as they were also loved by God.

Christians are to love as they are loved by God.

How are Christians to live out God’s love?

13 encounters thru which Christians are to live-out God’s love.

We had previously found that

God’s love is lived out thru an encounter with...

1. CLEANSING(:22a)“Purified”

2. OBEDIENCE(:22b)“Obeying”

3. SINCERITY(:22c)“Sincere”

4. EFFORT / INTENTION & DEPTH(:22d)“Fervently with a pure heart”

Purity—Begins with obedience

Obedience—begins with the truth(word & voice)

Sincerity—begins with purity

Fervency—Begins with sincerity

5—God’s love is lived out thru an encounter with...

REBIRTH(:23a)

Explanation:(:23a)

:23—“having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives & abides forever,”

We have encountered this term & concept previously in 1Pet. 1:3

1Pet. 1:3—“Blessed be the God & Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,”

Christians have begun again with a clean slate & new life. They are new creatures in Christ Jesus. They are very different from who they were before being “born again.”

“Born again”—anagennaw—To produce again, be born again, born anew.

Argumentation:

Jn. 3:3, 5-7—“Jesus answered & said to him[Nicodemus], “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.””....“Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water & the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, & that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ “The wind blows where it wishes & you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from & where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.””

2Cor. 5:17—“Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

1Jn. 3:2—“Beloved, now we are children of God, & it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is.”

Gal. 3:1-3—“You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”

Illustration:

At ‘Native Nurseries’ in Tallahassee, they sell & have on display a Monarch Caterpillar ‘cage’/Customers can observe caterpillars in various stages of development/The caterpillars are ‘ground bound’—Slow— circumscribed with alternating white, black, & yellow stripes/After about 2 wks from hatching, the caterpillars are fully grown—about 2” long— & eventually undergo a change/They attach themselves by ‘silk’ they secrete at their rear-end to a leaf or twig on or near milkweed plants(their only food)/Soon, the caterpillar skin splits & is shed to reveal a light green pupa-looking thing, the outside of which will eventually become tough & translucent(a chrysalis—similar to a cocoon)/Inside the chrysalis they totally transform, emerging 10 days later as a seemingly foreign & unrecognizable Butterfly!/These butterflies live for about 6-8 wks in the mean time mating & laying eggs/There are 3 generations but the 4th is special!/These butterflies came about just like the first 3 previous generations, However... these live up to 8 mths by migrating thousands of miles to the south in Mexico, where they ‘hibernate’(~Sept-April)/Then they re-migrate north in spring to mate & lay eggs!—reaching heights that would make your head spin/REBIRTH

Application:

?You encountered REBIRTH?

?You Live Out God’s love?