Now, we have two readings.
Now, as I said, we're going to read in Isaiah 40,
and then we'll be back in 1 Peter chapter 1 and into chapter 2,
and we'll see Peter make use of Isaiah 40.
So let's read the first 11 verses of Isaiah 40.
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins.
A voice of one calling,
In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord.
Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low,
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain,
and the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
and all people will see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
A voice says, cry out, and I said, what shall I cry?
All people are like grass,
and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.
The grass withers and the flowers fall
because the breath of the Lord blows on them.
Surely the people are grass,
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God endures forever.
You who bring good news to Zion,
go up on a high mountain.
You who bring good news to Jerusalem,
lift up your voice with a shout.
Lift it up, do not be afraid.
Say to the towns of Judah,
here is your God.
See, the sovereign Lord comes with power,
and he rules with a mighty arm.
See, his reward is with him,
and his recompense accompanies him.
He tends his flock like a shepherd.
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart.
He gently leads those that have young.
And then in 1 Peter,
chapter 1 and at verse 22,
let's again hear God's word together.
Now that you have purified yourselves
by obeying the truth,
so that you have sincere love for each other,
love one another deeply from the heart.
For you have been born again,
not of perishable seed,
but of imperishable,
through the living and enduring word of God.
For all people are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of the Lord endures forever.
And this is the word that was preached to you.
Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice
and all deceit, hypocrisy,
envy and slander of every kind.
Like newborn babies,
crave pure spiritual milk,
so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,
now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
Amen.
Now, let's turn together to 1 Peter,
chapter 1 and into chapter 2.
So our theme, the letter,
1 Peter, the theme is
Stand Firm and Stay Joyful.
Well, here today,
Peter wants to make clear to his readers and to us
that God's word is vital for our faith.
So I have really one aim today,
and it's a bold aim, I think.
And my goal is to transform
our view of Bible reading.
Following Peter in this section,
I want him to help us to see
that God must work through his word
to make us Christians
and to cause us to grow and to be transformed,
that those things do not happen without
God's word, the Bible.
So the Bible is vital.
So I want to see one truth,
that God's word is life-giving,
and we're going to think about that.
I want to see two effects of that
that Peter introduces,
that this new life that comes through hearing
the word about Jesus brings new love,
and it brings new longing.
And then because the Bible is so important,
I want to identify three approaches
to reading God's word.
And all the way along,
recognising this reality,
Bible reading must be a supernatural act.
In other words, God must give us eyes to see,
must give us the ability to see the glory
and the worth and honour of God,
of our Saviour Jesus,
if it is to have its proper effect.
So I want to transform how we think about the Bible
and how we read it.
Let's begin with that one truth then,
God's word is life-giving.
So just to remind ourselves of the context,
the first 12 verses of 1 Peter
have really emphasised
for these struggling, scattered Christians
their new Christian identity.
And then section two,
from verse 13 down to where we've just read,
the emphasis is on be holy,
live out that true identity.
As God has set you apart for him,
live that way.
And to be holy,
Peter now is going to say,
to live those set-apart lives for God,
you need God's word to give life.
God's word is the fuel for that engine
of faith and holiness.
So there are three ways we can think about that.
First of all,
God's word gives life.
verse 23.
For you have been born again,
not of perishable seed,
but of imperishable,
through the living and enduring word of God.
John Piper says,
where God's word is at work,
God is at work.
And here,
Peter says,
you are born again,
as God works new life in you through his word.
It's put slightly differently in verse 22.
Now that you've purified yourselves by obeying the truth,
so that you have sincere love for each other,
love one another deeply from the heart.
God's word of truth has that purifying feature
as it is obeyed.
The language of being washed clean,
the image of having a new heart and new life,
and all that to say that being born again
is a miracle of God.
So we don't cause,
do we,
our own physical birth.
Neither do we cause our own spiritual birth.
Rather,
we need the seed of God's word in us
to bring life,
to bring new life into our hearts.
So you cannot be a Christian
without God's word at work.
And so,
every Christian that you will ever meet,
that I will ever meet,
they have a unique testimony,
a unique story of how God has changed them.
But there is always going to be a common factor.
And let me say,
if you're not a Christian,
it might be an idea,
if you know people who are Christians,
to talk to them,
find out their story.
And the common factor
is that faith comes by hearing God's words,
God's word of salvation.
That's all about Jesus coming as fully God,
fully man,
taking our place,
dying for our sins,
to give forgiveness in new life.
So some people,
they hear that message
through being in church on a Sunday
and the word is preached
and they believe.
That was my story.
Now,
other people,
they will be reading the Bible at home
and the truth will hit them
and transform their lives.
That might be your story.
Others,
I know,
were in a course,
like a Christianity Explored course.
And over those weeks,
as the truth,
the central facts of the Bible
were made clear,
people came to faith
in the Lord Jesus.
Sometimes,
it might be a one-to-one chat
over many years' discussions,
perhaps with a family member
or a friend.
But in every case,
what brings life
is the word
that's all about Jesus.
Jesus.
What is that life-giving word?
It's interesting
the way Peter uses Isaiah 40
to draw attention to it.
So remember when,
often when New Testament writers
use the Old Testament,
they use a verse or two,
but we're intended to think about
the bigger,
wider section.
So what have we read about
in Isaiah 40?
Well,
it's a message to exiles.
It's a message of comfort
to exiles.
And remember,
the people in 1 Peter
are described as God's elect exiles.
And that comfort that comes
is that God's word of promise,
of salvation,
of restoration,
that will be kept.
That beyond the difficulties,
beyond the enemies
that they face,
there is something stronger
and more permanent,
the word of God.
That the Lord was going to come,
that his glory would be revealed,
that he would come
bringing salvation,
that he would be that shepherd
who would care for them.
And Peter is announcing
to his audience
and by extension to us,
that promise,
that comfort is fulfilled
in the coming of Jesus.
So the life-giving word
is the message of the gospel,
the message which is all about Jesus,
who is the word of God.
So God's word gives us life.
God's word is our food.
Peter says this as well.
Chapter 2, verse 2,
he continues the new birth image.
Like newborn babies,
crave pure spiritual milk
so that by it you may grow up
in your salvation.
So when a baby is born,
what does it need
and what will it scream for?
For food, for milk.
And Peter says,
as Christians,
we need a constant supply
of spiritual milk
in order to grow.
That we don't cause ourselves
to grow.
And spiritually,
we need the work of God
by his word
if we are to have
spiritual growth and maturity.
And notice that Peter says
spiritual growth
is necessary for salvation.
So we need to grow and develop.
But there's good news.
We grow in obedience
with the grace that God supplies.
So we're not left to our own devices
to try and grow in obedience.
Rather, God supplies grace.
God gives his word.
God gives his spirit
so that we might grow.
I'm sure we've heard
the expression,
you are what you eat.
Well, if we apply that to the church,
the message is that Christians
must be Bible people.
We must be consuming God's word,
digging deep into it
so that it would become who we are.
Or as Edmund Clowney,
another Bible teacher,
says Christians must be addicted
to the Bible.
That's a striking image, isn't it?
Here's the one addiction
that is both good and life-giving.
We must be addicted to the Bible.
So God's word,
it gives life and it is our food.
God's word also brings fellowship.
That's one aspect of life,
brings fellowship.
Verse 3,
continuing the thought of verse 2,
now that you have tasted
that the Lord is good.
So they've tasted the Lord's goodness,
personal experience of the living God,
relationship with God,
knowing Jesus as Lord and Saviour.
What's the sweetness in the Bible?
It's that we get to know
and enjoy God and his words.
Again, to borrow from Edmund Clowney,
coming to the words,
coming to the Bible,
is coming to the Lord's.
We read the Bible
to know God better.
Think about that.
Think about God's grace
in this book.
This is God's revelation to us.
You want to hear God speak?
Then we do that
when we read the Bible.
But think about it too
in terms of an invitation.
This is an invitation to us
as sinful people
to enjoy hearing from God,
being in the presence of God,
receiving life from God.
It's a wonderful invitation.
So when it comes to Bible reading,
we're not reading
to tick a box
in our daily Bible reading planner.
We're not reading the Bible
to learn some morality,
to become a better version of ourself.
We're not doing it simply
to explore its doctrine or truth.
God's desire in his word
is to reveal his love to us,
to reveal his character to us,
to reveal his saving grace,
to show us the wonder of Jesus
so that we would enjoy him more.
So two implications to recognise
in the fact that God's word
is life-giving.
One, we must be a Bible teaching,
a Bible-believing church
here in Becloot.
The Bible must be central
to our public worship
and central to our private worship as well.
Whenever we gather,
we want to be in God's word.
Another implication of that
is we must submit to all of its truth.
We must hear the whole counsel,
the whole wisdom of God
and be willing to submit to it.
We want to be a people
who delight in the gospel.
We see it as truly good news for us
and we must be those
who would teach it to others,
whether that's formally, officially,
or whether that's in our families,
parents.
Are we passing our faith
on to our children?
Are we reading the Bible
with our children?
Whenever we share our faith
with others,
as we tell them about Jesus,
we're finding a way
of sharing the word with them.
So we must be a Bible teaching
and believing church.
And secondly,
we must personally
be Bible people.
not just skimming the surface,
not just giving an occasional glance
when it's convenient,
not simply admiring it
from a distance
for its form
or for its poetry,
that we would feast on it,
that we would soak in it,
that we would pray
that it would be for us
the bread of life,
that when people cut us open
aspergencies,
we would bleed Bible,
that we would read
because we want to enjoy
friendship with God.
That like the disciples,
we say to you,
where else would we go?
You alone have the words of life.
So there's that one truth.
God's word is life-giving.
Now let's see that one truth
and how it has its effect.
There's two effects
of God's word described here.
New love and new longing.
So remember our context.
The context is,
how will suffering Christians
live holy lives
and how will God's word
help them in that?
So let's see that connection
between living holy lives,
set apart people for God
and how God's word helps.
Two main commands.
First command in verse 22,
love one another deeply.
Let's read verse 22 again.
Now that you have purified yourselves
by obeying the truth
so that you have sincere love
for each other,
love one another deeply
from the heart.
And his point in this section
all the way from verse 22 to 25
is this.
As people who have been loved by God,
as people who have received God's love
in his sending Jesus
to be their saviour,
people loved by God
should love one another.
So he goes to Isaiah 40.
We thought about Isaiah 40.
Remember Isaiah 40,
promised salvation
has come.
The connection is
that as we have received
this promised salvation
in our lives,
that should fuel then
our love for others.
Peter wants to get at that
in the way that he's already
written.
In the early verses,
he talks about
God's people
having been chosen
according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father.
Our salvation
is not an afterthought.
God,
before we were ever made,
chose to save us
and he chose
to send his son
to be the saviour.
Peter has told us
in verse 18 and 19
that we are redeemed,
that we are set free
from our slavery to sin,
our fear of death
and the judgement of God.
We're redeemed
with the precious blood
of Jesus.
Now we're told
in verse 2
that the Spirit
has sanctified us.
We've got this washing,
we've been set apart
from God
and all of this
is an example
of God's perfect love
that he shows
to his people.
And the Bible then,
it functions as a mirror
in the sense that
the love that we discover,
the love that we enjoy
as we read
is then to be reflected
to those around us
and especially
he has in view
to our brothers and sisters
in the church.
It's a picture of life
in a church.
We are to be a family
that is sharing
God's love
as the one thing
we have in common
is that we
are sinful people
who've been saved
by a loving God
through the precious gift
of his son Jesus
as the sacrifice
to pay for our sin,
to take God's anger
from us
onto himself,
to give us new life.
As we have that
in common,
we should share
that love
with one another.
And this letter
in part is going to say
remember what a powerful
witness that can be
to the world
when they see
the love of the church.
Especially think about it
in our own day,
never mind pandemic,
but think about how
divided
the world is.
And think about how
many people live
very lonely lives.
We offer a community
that is marked by
self-giving,
sacrificial love.
And that's a wonderful thing.
That's an attractive thing.
Peter is saying
how does that love come?
Love for one another?
How does it come?
It comes from hearing
and believing God's word.
How does that love remain?
As we remain
in God's word.
So there's the first command,
love one another deeply.
The second command
is in chapter 2,
verse 2,
long for pure spiritual milk.
But before he gets there,
there's a therefore.
In light of having received
the word of the gospel,
he says,
rid yourselves of.
And then there's that list.
Rid yourself of everything
that's countered,
that's opposed to love.
And so there's that list.
There's malice,
ill will towards someone else,
deceit and hypocrisy,
which is fake love,
false rather than sincere love,
envy and slander,
which ultimately is self-love
because we want the good
for ourselves
over against someone else.
And those qualities
are so destructive
in any community
and they're so destructive
in a church.
And so Peter says,
get rid of those.
Now, how do we get rid of them?
And remember,
we're gospel people.
So he says,
it's not through self-effort
and hard work.
No,
it's a supernatural work of God
through his word.
changing our desires.
Verse three,
we've tasted the Lord is good.
Now we've got a longing for more.
We want more of God,
not more of those unloving ways.
We've received that spiritual milk
that's brought life
and we want to crave it,
to long for it,
that we have a changed appetite.
We recognise that this spiritual milk
is what sustains life.
It's what will bring
spiritual growth.
And so God's word
creates this new longing
within us
and that longing
for what is good
and pure and true
causes us to get rid
of what is false.
Holiness comes
as God's word
transforms
what we long for
so that we get rid
of the old ways
that we put on
the way of love
because our heart
is filled with
what is good
and true.
Now,
pause to reflect.
If you've ever changed
or tried to change your diet,
ease your heart.
We know the answer,
don't we?
Training our bodies
for a new appetite
can be a battle.
We can find that
we can,
you know,
have a will
to read the Bible,
but we can become
distracted so easily.
We can find the time
dragging on.
Now we can find it hard
to maintain our desire.
This new longing
to be in God's word
and to be changed by it,
it's going to take discipline.
To take time
to be reading thoughtfully.
We're going to face temptation.
There's going to be
more comfortable choices
to switch on the TV
or to go on our phone
rather than make time
to be in God's word.
But we need to pray
that he'd give us that desire
and that he'd give us that will.
Again,
before moving on
to make our last point,
let me just emphasise again
that you and I need
God to do a supernatural work
in us
by his word
if we are
to be transformed.
So,
if you're not a Christian,
God must
open your eyes
to see
your need,
to recognise
that before God
you are a sinner,
that you are
under his judgement,
that you deserve
condemnation.
We all deserve
by nature
condemnation
in hell.
Open your eyes.
God must open your eyes
to see
his great love
that he has sent
Jesus
to be your saviour,
to take your sin,
to face
the just anger of God
in your place,
to remove
your guilt,
to give you forgiveness
and eternal life.
God must
open your eyes
to see
that you must
trust Jesus
as your saviour.
So,
ask him
to do that
for you.
Read and listen,
asking that you
would experience
his power and love
as you do so.
And for those of us
who are Christians,
remember,
God must work
in us
to change
our appetite
for him
and for holiness.
So again,
we must ask him
and we must
work with him
and we must be
resisting that temptation
towards what is
opposed to God
with his help.
Now,
having recognised
with Peter
that God's word
is life-giving,
that from the beginning
to the end
of the Christian life
we need the word
of God,
as we've recognised
that God's word
has transforming power
to shape
our love for others
and our longing
for holiness,
let's think
about three approaches
to God's word
that I hope
we'll all find
helpful.
That as we see
how much we need
the Bible,
that we would also
have a greater longing
to enjoy God
in the Bible
and that these three
approaches might help us.
One,
when we read the Bible,
read humbly.
Remember that
coming to the word,
coming to the Bible
is coming to the Lord.
It's not a casual thing,
it's a remarkable thing.
So we need to pray
to prepare our hearts,
to prepare our minds.
Also,
read humbly,
recognising this privilege,
our creator
has revealed himself,
our creator
invites us in.
This is a gift
of his love
and his grace.
Read humbly,
too,
in being willing
to submit
and to obey,
to recognise
God is God,
Jesus is Lord
and that his word
is true
and must be obeyed
whether we like it or not.
That we would let
the Bible shape us
rather than have us
trying to shape
the Bible
to what is convenient
for us.
Read humbly.
Secondly,
read hopefully.
Pray like the psalmist,
open our eyes
to see wonderful things
in your word.
Pray that before you read.
Pray that as you're reading.
Stop what you're reading.
When the spirit
speaks something to you,
stop and pray about that.
After reading,
pray
so that the truth
wouldn't be lost
in the ether
as soon as we shut
our Bibles.
Read hopefully
with a sense of expectation
because remember,
the spirit who inspired
the Bible,
what does the spirit
want to do?
The spirit wants to show us
more of the glory
of Jesus,
more of the glory
of God our Father.
That's his delight
and so he'll use the word
to do that in us
and for us.
Read hopefully too,
recognising
that by God's grace,
with the help of the spirit,
you can change.
Peter has said
God's word brings new life.
It brings heart change.
It brings appetite change.
It brings moral change.
So we can change.
We don't have to be stuck
in the same patterns,
the same patterns
of sin and disobedience.
So be willing to listen,
be willing to confess sin,
be willing to obey
as we're led by the spirit.
So read humbly
and read hopefully
and thirdly,
read hungrily.
Never outgrow
our most basic need,
that desperate need
we have for God
to speak to us,
for God
to teach us
more of himself
and more of how we are
to live,
to ask God
to lift our eyes
to see the hope
that we have,
the inheritance
that we have,
the identity
that we have
as those
who are
belonging to
God
through the work
of his son,
Jesus.
Read hungrily
and make this
our regular diet.
You know,
as well as I do,
there are not many things
that both taste good
and are good
for us.
It tends to be
very much
an opposite.
If it tastes really good,
it's probably really bad
for us.
Not so with the Bible.
The Bible is the ultimate
example of something
that tastes sweet
and is life-giving.
So let's not
starve ourselves.
let's not
limit ourselves.
Rather,
let's enjoy
God
in his word,
asking him
to change us,
to shape us,
to transform us,
to meet with us
every time we read.
Whoever you are,
wherever you are,
whatever your story
up until this point,
I can say with confidence,
not being able to see
anybody,
you need
to meet with God
as your most basic
and you need
God
to meet with you.
And both of those
happen
through his
living
word.
So let's
take it
and let's
read it
and let's find
life in it
and from it.
Let's find
Jesus,
the one who is
the way
and the truth
and the life
in his word.
it.
So let's
see you
as
people
as
sit
to
and
start
by