Sermon Title: Breath out – Breath in!
Sermon Text: 1 Peter 2:1-3
Ralf HT Bergmann
Bethel Christian Church
Date: October 29th 2000
Scripture Introduction:
This morning, as we leave the first chapter of 1Peter, we have dealt with the issue of being aliens in our own land. Do we sit still while this is happening or do we take the offensive. What articles can we have in our arsenal that we can employ without compromising our Christian values? What exactly do we consider the spoils of war? Is it our earthly existence that we are protecting or do we have our sights on protecting our citizenship in the kingdom of heaven? I think that we to often get confused on what is important. Are some of the frays that we find ourselves entangled with focusing on a heavenly victory or is the victory an earthly one that we have managed to camouflage as a heavenly crusade? We find ourselves in some dire predicaments from time to time and this is just the tip of the iceberg as far as future persecutions go. We look at the differences in our lives before we chose Jesus and after and although no words come close to describing the situation the comparison between day and night or light and dark seems to fit the bill. All of this talk about a change that takes place brings us to the point of being obedient. Are we obedient children in the eyes of God?
Please join me in the reading of God’s Holy Word!
Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 2:1-3
1 Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, 2 like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, 3 if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.
Introduction:
I’ve given this message the title “Breath out – Breath in!” because of the illustration that the simple act of respiration provides for the change that we make in our lives when we change our ways from the ways of the world to the ways of our Lord. As we exhale, we release from our body carbon dioxide, which in a great concentration creates for us a toxic environment. In effect, this creates the hostile atmosphere, which does little to promote our ongoing existence. When we inhale, we take in the fresh oxygen that our bodies require in order to thrive. When we inhale spiritually, it is like taking in the direction the new direction of our Lord Jesus, which we receive, from the Holy Spirit.
The first thing that we must do is that we must throw out the old. This is probably one of the easiest things to illustrate and yet the hardest to follow through with. If we are putting a new motor in our vehicle before we can proceed, we must take the old motor out. Simple enough. If we are putting in a new kitchen faucet can we accomplish the task without first removing the old? Almost seems like a silly question doesn’t it?
Now let’s look at it from another perspective, let’s look at what God laid out for me one time. What happens when God tells us that we need to go into the full time ministry and that He will provide for all of our needs? This can become a complicated set of instructions for someone who has worked at the same job for 18 years. This is a new way of life for someone who has provided for his family by being in full time employment. So the throwing out of the old for me was to quit the job and look to God for all of our needs. Now this wasn’t so hard at first because Laura was working and took over the insurance through her job. Then the call was further defined, Laura was to give her job up as well.
Now for whatever this is worth to those that feel that they are being asked to take a step of faith, and by that I don’t mean quitting a job or moving to another continent, I have found that for everything that God has directed me to do, He has been faithful to ensure that all was provided. As a family we have not been left wanting for any necessities. Now there have been luxuries that have been forgone. One of the things that we had to give up was our second vehicle. At the time it was not in the budget to have another vehicle, and we were able to sell it and we didn’t loose any money. Now it came to the point where we needed another vehicle and he provided with a vehicle that we could afford at a time where it was needed.
The next thing that we must do is that we must bring in the new. If we are going to break a certain habit, then once it is removed, we must find something to replace the hole that is left behind. I heard an illustration that fits this quite well. In this changing process when we begin trying to live for Christ alone, we begin removing numerous things from our lives. Each item that is removed will leave a void that needs something to fill it. Satan looks at these voids and if there is nothing to smooth them out, the master patcher comes and fills them with something less than desirable. Now here is where we touch on one of my passions. What do we do with a new Christian?
We spend countless of hours in the process of leading someone to the point of making a decision for Christ. We go all over the towns or states and sometimes even the nation to win lost souls for the kingdom of God. What do we do after they have given their hearts to Jesus? They make that decision to remove all the things that the Lord is laying on their hearts and to often we leave them to fend for themselves. Without any encouragement they gradually fall back to the life they once lived before they find themselves more lost then ever, more hopeless than ever. Living in a sinful situation or condition fully knowing that they were abandoned by those who set out to save them. When we encourage others to seek the Lord we had better be prepared to hold their hands as they take those first Christian baby steps, if they fall it is encouragement to go on, not chastisement over the failure that they need to hear.
When do we reach the point where we know we wave we reached the mark? First of all we will never reach that point until the time that we find ourselves in the presence of God for eternity. I think there is a Scripture that sums this up well. In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian Church he details some of the differences between what is temporary and what remains permanent, between how we are able to see things now compared to our abilities in the presence of Jesus for eternity. 1Cor.13:8-13,
8 Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part; 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. 11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. 13 But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.
When everything is said and done, love is what survives, the love that our Lord and Savior has for us will withstand anything. What strikes me as interesting in this particular Scripture is the reference to seeing through the mirror, you see in the days of Paul, the mirrors were full of imperfections, when we look at our reflection in the mirror it would be distorted, like our view of what is to be. When we reside in eternity with our Lord and Savior, then our view will be perfected. As a spiritual child, we view things through spiritual childish eyes, as a man we see God through a no longer distorted image. Just as He sees us.
Let us go to the Lord in prayer!
POINT 1:
According to Peter, the very first thing that we must do is we must throw out the old. He tells us in the first verse of this chapter, Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, Since this verse begins with the word therefore, we need to look at what Peter was talking about just prior to this second chapter. The first chapter ended with Peter concluding with these words, And this is the word which was preached to you.
Because of the Word that was preached to us, we need to remove the following items from our lives completely:
· Malice – Which is defined as a disposition to inflict injury; ill will; or a hostile act.
· Deceit – Which is defined as the act of deceiving, fraud or cheating; something that tricks or deceives; tending to deceive.
· Hypocrisy – Which is defined as false pretension to personal qualities or principles not actually possessed.
· Envy – Which is defined as a feeling of mortification or discontent excited by seeing the superiority or prosperity of another person; desires for the possessions or advantages of another; ill-will combined with jealousy.
· Slander – which is defined by defamation by oral utterance, to defame.
How much of these items were in our lives before we came to know Jesus? How much of these still remain. Let’s look at each of these individually and see how much of a hold they have on us or how great a hold they had in the past. If there is something that is causing us pain, we need to remember that as Christian we are not perfect but perfecting, and when there is a change that we need to make that the Holy Spirit has brought to our attention, then without any sense of shame we need to set out to complete what He has pointed out.
Malice is a disposition or a tendency to inflict injury; ill will; or a hostile act. This means of our own we are apt to act this way. When we act without thinking we tend to be more malicious then when we do contemplate our actions. How many times do we act impulsively and through that impulsive behavior, a person gets hurt? Many times people say things to us and we interpret them before we have truly considered what they have said, most of the times it becomes a result of our inability to effectively listen. These are the times when we perhaps hold a grudge or walk away with our noses out of joint. In those cases whose fault was it? Was it the other individual who said what we misinterpreted or was it our fault because we are generally poor listeners? I think we all know the answer to that one, although it is painful to admit. How many people do we know that are just plain mean-spirited when they emerge from bed in the mornings and are described as generally hostile.
There is a solution to this, and that is to give our heart, soul, mind and strength to the Lord. When we love someone, everything that we have is theirs. When that person loves us back, everything that we have given will be handled with love and care. This is how our relationship with our Lord Jesus must be. When we give Him our thoughts, attitudes, prejudices, and wills He takes them and lovingly handles them as He washes their purpose and intent as white as snow. He allows us to think through Him before we act.
Deceit - the act of deceiving, fraud or cheating. This is one of those items that we really think we have beaten when we start to walk with the Lord. I’m going to point out a few areas where I believe we all struggle and some of these little. We claim to be Christian, yet how would we answer the question if we were asked how our prayer life was? What would we say if someone asks how our devotional lives are? As a Christian we are to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. As a Christian we are commanded to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to everyone and everywhere. Do we fit the bill? The worlds definition of a Christian is someone perhaps as liberal as someone who goes to church occasionally. Whose description of a Christian are we fulfilling, that of the world or the expectations of our Lord and Savior. Let us not be deceitful in our walks with God.
Hypocrisy – is a false pretension to personal qualities or principles not actually possessed. The name “hypocrite” brings to mind various thoughts. We think of phonies, people who act one way when deep down they are actually not that way at all. The name actually originated with people who were stage actors. The word was meant as a description of the job of an actor. It is surely much easier to point out the faults in others rather than set a living example of how they should live. Are we guilty of telling others that they should “do as I say and not as I do”? I know in past years I was very guilty of that same thing with my own children.
Envy - is our desires for the possessions or advantages of another. Is it wrong to want what someone else has or to desire to be in the position of another? It all depends on the motive that is behind our desires and the intensity of the way that we wish to pursue it. In the definition that I read earlier, there is a further explanation of envy, and that is it is ill-will combined with jealousy. Do we really want these things? Many times we look at the lifestyle or the freedom of someone that is independently wealthy and unless they are firmly rooted in the Word of God, they are probably less happy then we are. We need to be satisfied in the provision that God makes in each of our lives.
Slander – is the defamation by oral utterance. In the world around us today, there are many people who have next to nothing. To soil their name through our words is like taking away the only thing that they have left. Our reputation may be the only thing of lasting value that we may leave behind.
POINT 2: We see the things in our lives which we must sift out, and as we do this we must begin the process of bringing in the new.
Peter writes in the second verse, like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation. This tells us that babies don’t eat steak, they are indifferent to BBQ’s, and even at this point, they haven’t developed a Gerber ‘Steak and Baked Potato’ baby food. At this particular stage in life there is a special diet that they require as their systems develop to full maturity. Now for me this has become a particular passion of mine. As a young Christian, we need to be fed from a special spiritual diet, as a baby Christian we are often not able to fully feed ourselves, there has to be assistance. Without the proper assistance and specifically prepared formula of spiritual formula, the baby Christian dies or at least becomes stunted in their growth.
Without the ability to grow spiritually stronger, the faith atrophies, just as the muscles of a weight lifter without practice. The endurance gone and the strength lessened, the baby Christian becomes tempting prey for the master deceiver and soon falls back to the former ways. Perhaps never to return and finally destined for an eternity in torment. This is absolutely the saddest scenario possible and is almost 100% avoidable.
Let’s look at this same section of Scripture from another angle. We read again, like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation. We look at this Scripture and it isn’t a reference to a specific group, it is for all to follow. Just as a young Christian needs and desires to know more about our Lord and Savior, we are to exhibit the same desire. There is an intensity to that desire when we first discover the wonderful fulfilling life that Christ has for us. We need to maintain that or if that feeling has faded or left us we must rekindle it. What is that continued feeding going to do for us? By it you may grow in respect to salvation. This tells us that it is not God’s desire for us to reach a certain level of understanding and then stop and be satisfied. It tells us that we are to grow! An interesting side-note to this is what is our milk may well be someone else’s steak. As we acquire a certain understanding, we are then prepared to be elevated to the next level. We are responsible for bringing those behind us forward and we are responsible to hear the teachings of those that go on before us.
POINT 3: So how do we know when we have we reached the mark? Peter answers the question with something that we need to consider.
3 if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.
What does Peter mean by this? We need to add a portion of the previous verse to see this Scripture in the context that it is meant to be viewed in.
We are to long for the pure milk of the word, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord. Once we have been touched by the love of our Lord and Savior we will never be satisfied with what we already have. There is that expression of comfort that we feel in His presence that is unlike anything we have ever felt in this world and this is all that we desire from that point forward. Ask anyone that has ever walked away from God’s love and see what they say about the satisfaction they felt in their lives after that point? I knew the Lord and let that relationship slip through my fingers. Part of this was due to the fact that I didn’t have anyone help me with my Christian baby steps. Am I blaming anyone else? Not hardly I was ultimately the one who chose to turn his back on God. I ask you this morning, have you tasted the kindness of the Lord? If you haven’t do you want to?
Conclusion:
Peter brings out many interesting things in this section of Scripture. I look at the illustration of breathing out what we want to get rid of and inhaling the freshness of God’s love. Another example is the way many celebrate the new year. Throwing out the old and turning over a new leaf with the new. The trouble with that method is that most times they don’t have the love and support of their Lord Jesus behind them.
So we must throw out the old.
Is there anything in our lives that we wish to return to that is worth loosing our salvation over? Is there anything in this life that we wish to hang on to if we are seeking our salvation at this moment. So many times we have heard the comparison of worldly wealth to heavenly treasures. Worldly wealth is perishable, it tarnishes, decays and rots. It is like a flower that falls, grass that is burned up and withers, it has a temporary existence.
The obvious step after throwing out the old is that we must bring in the new. I have heard it said that whatever you cut out of your life you had better find something worthwhile to fill in and take its place. Like the example of Satan filling the pothole. If we have some habits that need to be removed, why not fill the time with Godly things. What does God want you to fill that time with? How can we use our skills toward furthering His kingdom rather than advance the ideas of the worldly in our society?
How would you answer the following question? Are you trying to reach the mark the God has set out for you?
If there is something in this message that touched you deeply, perhaps the Holy Spirit is calling you to action or perhaps He is beginning to open your eyes to some form of change that needs to be met. Don’t miss this opportunity.
