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[0:00] The Word of Life. The Bible describes itself as the Word of Life.! God's Word is called the Word of Life in Philippians 2 verse 16 and 1 John 1 verse 1.

[0:15] ! The Word of Life, it's God's Word. It brings us the message of eternal life. 1 Peter 1 verses 22 to 25 says, Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart, fervently being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.

[0:46] For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man is as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away, but the Word of the Lord endureth forever.

[1:00] And this is the Word which by the Gospel is preached unto you. Wherefore laying aside all malice and all guile, and hypocrisies and envies and all evil speakings, as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby, if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious, to whom coming as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, ye also as lively stones are built up, a spiritual house, and holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

[1:43] Now there's a few word pictures here in these words that we've just read through. Firstly, the glory of man is like a flower of grass.

[1:56] Verse 24, it says, For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away, but the word of the Lord endureth forever.

[2:12] All flesh is as grass, all the glory of man as the flower of grass. What a picture of man's frailty. Now the Bible says of men that all have sinned, and all have come short of the glory of God.

[2:24] It says in Isaiah 64, 6, that we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.

[2:35] We do all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities like the wind have taken us away. Without the word of life, we are dead.

[2:46] We are lost. We are destined to become like a dried up withered flower, like a faded leaf. The word of the Lord endureth forever.

[2:57] This is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. This word is alive. It's life-giving. Life comes from this life-giving word. The word of life.

[3:09] Number two, we see another word picture of newborn babes. As newborn babes, it says. Verse two. As newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.

[3:21] If so be ye have tasted, that the Lord is gracious, to whom coming as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious. The apostle compares us to babes.

[3:34] As babes, as babies. Babes need nourishment and nurture, care and compassion. Babes are helpless and needy. They are dependent and defenseless.

[3:45] The word is life. The word gives us a taste of the Lord and his graciousness. The word brings us his truth, his salvation. It teaches us to come unto him.

[3:57] And the word tells us of God's great grace. The word helps us to grow. Take every opportunity to feed upon God's word. Take it in. Let it feed your spirit.

[4:09] Let it feed your spiritual life. Take a healthy diet. Get a healthy dose of it. Be like a baby and drink it in. As a newborn baby represents life.

[4:21] Another word picture, another picture of life is as living stones. We see that there in verse 5. Ye also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

[4:39] Here Peter compares the believers to being stones, living, alive, full of life. The word imparts life to that which is dead, a stone. God's word of salvation brings life into deadness.

[4:53] And we become stones, stones that are built up together, it says, a spiritual house, a family, a spiritual people. We can be holy. We can offer up spiritual sacrifices and offer acceptable lives.

[5:09] We can be accepted in the beloved as well. We accept Christ as saviour and God accepts us. He doesn't leave us as we are. He changes us and transforms us.

[5:21] He shapes us and fits us to be together as his dwelling place. And the living God comes and lives within us. He chooses to dwell in earthen vessels such as we.

[5:34] There's a story told of a heavy bronze bell that had sunk into a river in China and various engineers were attempting to raise it, but it was futile.

[5:45] Then a man approached them asking, if I raise the bell, may I have it for my church? And the reply was, yes, since we have to leave it, it is yours. He then had his assistants gather an immense number of bamboo rods, hollow, light and practically unsinkable, and taken down by divers, they were fastened one by one to the bell.

[6:08] And after many had been fastened, the bell began to move. And when the last one had been added, the buoyancy of the accumulated rods was so great, the enormous bronze bell was brought to the surface.

[6:21] Now, some thought bamboo rods were too small and insignificant to move a huge bell. But enough of them working together made a difference.

[6:32] And it's the same with the church, really. You may think that you are irrelevant in the big scheme of things, but God wants you to share the gifts that he has given to you. If we fail to exercise our unique gifts, we not only fail God, but we fail the body.

[6:49] When joined together with other believers in him, we will make a difference. It's like it says, And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee, nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.

[7:02] Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary. 1 Corinthians 12, 21 to 22. You can make a difference.

[7:15] Our lives can make a difference. The fact is that God can do a lot with a little. God is looking for that one who can make his or her mark. Will you be that one person?

[7:29] Another word pictures, fourthly, that we are as strangers and pilgrims. 1 Peter 2, verse 11, it says, Dearly beloved, I beseech you, as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.

[7:49] Probably one of the hardest things for a believer to be classed as a stranger, isn't it? A pilgrim. Foreigners, temporary residents. This life isn't all there is.

[8:00] That's the reality. Are we living for Christ? 1 John 5, 19, it says, And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. This old world, its way of living, it's opposed to God's ways.

[8:15] Worldly entertainment, worldly music, worldly art, worldly fashion, worldly philosophies, worldly thinking. The Bible says that this whole world is under the control of the evil one.

[8:29] And it says, Do not love the world, or anything in the world. 1 John 2, 15-17, Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

[8:44] For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof.

[8:56] But he that doeth the will of God, abideth for ever. Do we practice things that really are inconsistent with our Christian profession?

[9:08]  Let's consider how we can live as strangers and pilgrims to the glory of God.