It's good to see you all this morning. Our sermon text is 1 Peter 1, verse 22, through chapter 2, verse 3.
That's page 953 in the Pew Bible.
Sometimes the way in which the New Testament breaks up chapters and verses doesn't always fit with the flow of thought.
So today our sermon text kind of spans the end of chapter 1 and the beginning of chapter 2.
So 1 Peter 1, verse 22, through chapter 2, verse 3.
Let me pray for us, and then I'll read.
Lord, as we have just sung, we pray that you would speak to us through your written word
so that we might see afresh your incarnate word, the Lord Jesus,
and so that we might live the lives of love and holiness and joy that you have called us to and created us for in communion with you.
We pray this in Jesus' name, Father. Amen.
All right, 1 Peter, chapter 1, verse 22.
Peter writes this,
It says,
All right.
So, you probably noticed that the Olympics started this week, right?
Did you catch the opening ceremony on Friday?
It's always fun to watch the different national teams kind of march in to the opening ceremony,
and you get to see the diversity of the country's flags and who gets to be the flag bearers at this particular Olympics.
And, of course, you get to see, most importantly, maybe, the outfits that they've chosen to wear, right?
You know, the U.S. decided to wear these mid-90 throwback parkas.
That was fun the first time around.
Other countries wore something more stylish, you know?
Others were more unique or wore something more particular to their own national culture.
But, you know, each country kind of in their own way saying in that moment on the national stage or on the international stage,
This is us.
This is who we are.
This is how you'll know us.
This is what you'll know us by.
Now, imagine.
Imagine if the church, if our church even, were to march out into the opening ceremony.
What would we be known by?
What would be our distinguishing mark?
What would be our close of choice?
You know, throughout the New Testament, there are a number of things that ought to mark the church.
There are a number of things that ought to be our defining features.
Of course, there's an allegiance to the truth of the gospel, of God's word,
holding Jesus in the highest possible place of honor and worship.
But, you know, along with that and flowing from that,
the distinguishing mark again and again of the church is more than just holding to the truth.
Along with that, the defining feature that we see is love.
The church is the people as we march out into the arena of the nations around us.
The church is meant to be the people that genuinely loves one another.
That's the clothing that we wear.
And in our passage, Peter is reminding us,
and he's calling us again to this central,
essential reality of what it means to be the church.
You see the command right there in the beginning in verse 22.
And this whole paragraph is telling us to love one another.
That's the big idea of this part of 1 Peter.
Love one another.
But sadly, the church isn't always known by that set of clothes, is it?
Some of you maybe have experienced churches where there isn't love,
but hypocrisy and envy and slander and other things like Peter lists in chapter 2, verse 1.
And if that's been your experience, let me say that I'm deeply sorry.
But this isn't how it should be.
And Peter's going to show us here a different way.
He commands us to love one another, but he doesn't leave it there.
He goes on to kind of drill down a little deeper.
And in this text, he's going to show us three things about this love that we should have for one another,
this Christian love.
And first, he's going to show us the nature of this love.
What must our love be like?
That's the first thing he's going to say.
And then second, he's going to show us the ground of this love.
Why should we love like this?
And then third, he's going to show us the growth of this love.
How can we grow and become more and more people who actually do love?
So that's where we're going to head in our sermon this morning.
So let's take a look.
First, Peter shows us the nature of Christian love.
Your love, he says, must look like this.
Listen again to verse 22.
Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love,
love one another earnestly from a pure heart.
So what should our love look like?
You must love one another earnestly, Peter says.
Now notice, Peter's particularly talking here about brotherly love.
That is, the love of Christian brothers and sisters in the church, in the family of God for one another.
Remember last week in verses 13 through 21,
Peter talked primarily about Christians' posture towards the world and toward our old life before we became Christians.
And he said, in that regard, we're meant to be distinct.
So the key word there was holy.
You know, we're pilgrims, we're exiles, we're strangers.
And God wants us to be beautifully distinct in all that we do.
But here, in our text this morning, Peter's talking about our posture not towards the world,
not towards our former lives, but toward fellow believers, toward one another.
And the key word here is love.
And that love, he says, must be earnest.
And that word earnestly here is a great word.
You know, it means more than just doing something with deep feeling.
It means doing something with deep constancy.
The word earnest here carries the idea of something being stretched out, like a piece of cloth.
Our love should be a strenuous love, Peter says.
A constant, an intentional love.
A love that stretches us.
You know, this is the kind of love that a husband or a wife shows when after a long day of work,
you listen.
You really listen to how your spouse's day was.
And that's a love that stretches you when all you want to do is get home and relax and retreat and veg out.
But instead, you turn toward each other and you give each other your best.
That's the kind of stretching love that Peter's talking about.
You know, this is the kind of love that decides to send a text to a struggling Christian friend in your small group.
It's the kind of stretching love that invites them to coffee,
even though you're not really sure what you can do to help,
but still you stretch yourself and you spend some time with them.
And maybe you offer to pray or offer to listen,
and offer just to be present with them as they walk through trials.
You know, this is the kind of stretching love
that leads you to do something bold and fearless and courageous,
like assisting with a children's class on Sundays.
Even though you're not sure kids are your thing,
and even though it means you might have to stick around for the second service.
It stretches you a little bit.
Or it leads you to help with youth group,
even though teenagers sort of intimidate you.
Or it leads you to help with a mentoring program through Bridges of Hope,
even though you're not sure what it might look like to come alongside a kid who has a different background than you.
This is the stretching love that leads you maybe to host a small group,
even though it means giving up one whole night a week to open up your home.
Even though your home might be a little messier than you'd like in the middle of the work week.
This is the stretching love that leads you to introduce yourself to a newcomer on Sundays and welcome them,
even if you're an introvert.
This is the stretching love that leads you to forgive
when a brother or sister in the church has offended or wronged you,
and they ask for your forgiveness.
This is the stretching kind of love that leads you to open up about your weaknesses,
to a trusted Christian friend or two,
asking for prayer and help.
This earnest, stretching love, this is the kind of love that shows up,
even when it's costly, even when it's inconvenient,
even when it's a bit outside your comfort zone.
Peter says, love one another earnestly, brothers and sisters.
And notice, notice that this earnest love, it isn't optional.
It's not just kind of for advanced Christians or really serious Christians.
This is the kind of love for all Christians that we should all show.
Now, how do we know that?
How do we know that this isn't optional love, but love for all Christians?
Because in the first part of this verse, verse 22,
Peter is describing our conversion.
He's talking there about what's true of every Christian.
After all, he says, you've obeyed the truth.
And for Peter, the truth here is the truth of the gospel.
And to obey the truth of the gospel is to believe it, to receive it,
to center your life around Jesus as Lord.
And he says, by obeying the truth, by submitting to the claims of the gospel,
your soul's been purified.
You've been cleansed.
You've been made new.
That's what's true of every Christian.
But then he says, what's all of that for?
What's the point of our conversion?
Well, it's for, Peter says, sincere brotherly love.
So this sincere, earnest, stretching love, it isn't optional for Christians.
It's the whole point.
You know, after all, the reason you kind of pump up your bike tires
after it's been sitting in the garage all winter isn't so that you can put the bike back in the garage
to just gather dust, right?
No.
You pump the air back into the tire so you can go out
and so you can experience the joy of riding again, right?
And our conversion is like that.
God's aim in saving us is to create a community that loves one another
and in loving one another to display his love to the world
so that when we march out among the nations,
they see a little picture of the love of God
and how we love one another.
So this is the nature of what our love must look like.
We must love one another earnestly with a love that stretches us.
But as we turn to the second point of our passage then,
we have to admit that this kind of love is a real challenge, isn't it?
By definition, a love that stretches us doesn't come easily.
And part of the reason it doesn't come easily is because, well, think about it.
It takes time and it takes energy and it takes resources.
And, well, I'm just not sure I have enough time or energy or resources to do something like that.
After all, I have a lot of things to do.
I have good things.
I have important things and not a lot of time to do it.
So I can't really stretch like this.
I think we all feel like that, don't we?
So does Peter have anything to say to us about that?
Well, he does actually.
In verses 23 through 25, he moves from telling us about the nature of love to a second point where he tells us about the ground of this love.
Where does this love come from?
Why are we able to love like this?
Look again in our text, picking up at the end of verse 22.
Love one another earnestly from a pure heart since, because you've 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 its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers.
The flower falls.
But the word of the Lord remains forever.
And this word is the good news that was preached to you.
So what is the ground of our love for one another?
Where does this earnest, stretching love come from?
It comes from the fact, Peter says, that we've been born again by God's imperishable word.
Notice how Peter emphasizes again and again the constancy, the permanence of God's word here.
God's word, he says, is imperishable.
It remains forever.
In a world where nothing lasts and everything fades, God's word is living and abiding.
It goes on.
It gives life and it never goes away.
And then Peter quotes Isaiah 40.
And we read Isaiah 40 earlier in the service.
And in the context, what's Isaiah talking about?
Isaiah is talking about the Old Testament return from exile.
God's people had been trampled by nations, seemingly more powerful, seemingly more permanent than they were.
But Isaiah says, don't you see?
Don't you see that all flesh is like grass and all its glory like a flower of grass?
Consider these great nations, he says.
All their armies, all their monuments, all their rulers.
Consider their glory, the wealth that they amass, the power that they wield.
Do you see it?
It's ultimately like the grass of the field.
The sun rises, a season passes, and it withers and fades.
All that glory.
It's like a meadow flower.
Beautiful for a day.
But gone the next.
And Isaiah was right.
Babylon withered and fell.
Persia withered and fell.
Alexander's Greece withered and fell.
Rome withered and fell.
Everything moves from life to death.
From order to decay.
Everything is perishable and destined for dust.
Except one.
God is the one true living and abiding one.
Who never changes and never fades.
And therefore the word of this God must also be living and abiding, remaining forever.
To the Old Testament exiles, this meant that God's promise of return and restoration would stand.
His promise to bring them home would remain.
Even if the mightiest nations seemed at present to rule the day.
The word of God would stand and it would all fade.
But you know, as New Testament believers, we see the even greater promise.
Because Peter says, this word, this is the good news that's been preached to you, Christians.
The message of the apostles that they had heard and received.
The good news about Jesus.
This is the fullness of God's living and abiding word.
What the prophets foresaw was not just a word that brought a mere return from political or geographical exile.
The word of the gospel has brought life from death.
This word, Peter says, it's the thing that's made you born anew.
You've come alive.
And what is this gospel?
What is this message that the apostles proclaim that the prophets foresaw?
What is this message that the church continues to proclaim?
On the authority of the apostles' words preserved for us in Scripture?
What is this good news?
That can make us born again.
Come alive.
Well, friends, this is the good news.
And you see it throughout all the pages of Scripture and all the pages of the New Testament.
The good news that there's one God who made us all.
One God who's holy and just and good.
And this God made us humans in his image to love and obey him.
But instead of loving God and obeying him and loving one another,
instead we rebelled.
And we decided to make ourselves kings.
And to pretend that we could save ourselves.
And in rebelling against the living God,
we of course fell under the sentence of death.
But God in his love saw us,
his sinful image bearers,
languishing under the sentence of death.
And rather than destroying us in his justice,
he became one of us in the incarnation.
In Jesus, God took on a fully human nature.
And after living a perfect life in our place,
the life that we should have lived,
he loved us in the most sincere and earnest way imaginable.
In love, Jesus was literally stretched on a cross.
And he died the death that we deserve to die.
And then three days later,
God the Father raised Jesus from the dead,
declaring his conquest of sin and death,
so that all who turn to the Lord Jesus
and who are united to him,
not through good works,
not through trying hard,
but united to him simply through faith,
will be forgiven of their sins
through his sin-bearing death
and given a new spiritual life
through his resurrection.
This is the good news.
This is the gospel.
And Peter's telling us here
that this gospel,
this truth about Jesus Christ
is the imperishable,
living, and abiding word of God
that causes us to be born again.
You know, when you hear the truth about Jesus,
you aren't just hearing
a sort of retelling of historical events.
You're hearing the very word
of the living God.
And it's like a seed, Peter says,
full of power
to wake you up from your sleep,
to bring you from death to life.
And Peter's point here is that
if God's word is imperishable and abiding,
then your rebirth by this word
is likewise imperishable and abiding.
This new place of life
where God has brought you,
you won't fall out of it
and you won't lose it
and it will never end.
We're no longer moving
from life to death
like the grass of the field,
but through the gospel,
we're moving from death
to increasing life.
The spiritual principle
or power inside of us
isn't a principle or power
that runs out or diminishes.
It's always and ever living.
And this is where it all connects
to our call to love one another.
You know, we won't love
one another earnestly.
We won't love one another
in a way that really stretches us
if we think that our lives
are simply like a clock
winding down eventually to run out.
If my days are finite,
I might love those who benefit me.
I might love those who love me,
but I won't love those who stretch me
because life's too short.
But what if God,
through the gospel of his stretching love,
has stamped eternity onto my heart?
What if I'm a part
of his forever kingdom
that never fades?
What if I've been born again
with an imperishable seed?
If that's true,
then why not stretch
like he stretched for me?
Why not love earnestly?
What do I have to fear?
But then you look,
not just at yourself
and your own future
as it stretches out
into the eternity
of God's goodness and love.
Look now at your fellow brothers
and sisters in Christ.
Don't you see?
They too have been born again
by God's imperishable word.
They are going to be your family
forever.
So the love that you show them
isn't some passing act
of kindness
or pity
or charity.
The love that you show
to one another
is another brick
permanently laid
into the kingdom of God
that will never fade.
Look at your fellow church members.
Don't you see how Christ
stretched out
his love over them
on the cross?
Don't you see how treasured
they are in his eyes?
Don't you see
how they will be
his prize
for all eternity?
You know,
we'll stretch out
for our jobs,
we'll stretch out
for our reputations,
we'll stretch out
for material comforts
and security,
but how could we not
stretch out
for the brothers
and sisters
that Jesus purchased
with his own blood?
So this is the ground
of Christian love, friends.
This is where
earnest,
strenuous love
comes from.
It comes from
the deep freedom
and security
of knowing
that you've been born again
to eternal life
by God's eternal word
and knowing
that your brothers
and sisters in Christ
share that same
eternal life with you.
So love earnestly,
Peter says.
Okay.
So Peter's shown us
the nature of this love
and he's shown us
the ground of this love,
but how do we grow in it?
How do we expand it
more and more
in our hearts?
Well, that's where
Peter takes us
in chapter 2,
verses 1 through 3.
He says,
so, okay,
given everything
I've just told you,
so, put away
all your malice
and deceit
and hypocrisy
and envy
and all slander.
Instead,
like newborn infants,
long for the pure
spiritual milk
that by it
you may grow up
into salvation
if indeed
you've tasted
that the Lord is good.
So how do we grow
in this love
for one another?
First, Peter says,
there are some things
you need to put away.
Okay, now that word
put away
is used a lot
in the New Testament
and it's used a lot
to describe
what we should do
with ungodly
or unloving
attitudes or behaviors.
And the sense
of that word
is that
you're kind of
taking off
an old set of clothes.
You're taking off
an old set of clothes
that doesn't fit you anymore,
an old set of clothes
that you don't need.
You take it off
and you put it away.
Now there's something
deep being talked
about here
if we pause
to see it.
Peter isn't saying,
look,
just stop doing
all these things.
You're lying,
stop lying.
You're being hypocritical,
stop it.
That's not exactly
what he's saying.
He's saying,
you used to wear
those things.
You used to put them on
because you thought
you needed
to clothe yourself
that way.
But you don't need
to wear those clothes
anymore.
You can take them off
and put them away.
Because think about it.
Think about something
like envy.
Envy, right,
is wanting
what someone else has
and not liking them
for it.
But why do you need
to wear those clothes
of envy?
What was it you wanted
that that person had?
And why did you want
their beauty
or their prestige
or their home life
that they displayed
on social media?
Can you answer
that question?
I envy their
physical appearance
because I see
how other people
look at them.
And I want other people
to look at me that way.
I want someone
to look at me
the way people
look at them.
I want to be seen.
I want to be noticed.
But Peter's saying,
you know, friend,
you can take
that garment
of envy off.
Put it away.
Because there is
one who sees you.
And there is one
who notices you.
There is one
who says,
you're the apple
of my eye
and I'm ravished
by the beauty
that I see in you.
And he's not just anyone.
He's the king
of the universe.
The Lord Jesus
sees you
as his bride
and as his beloved.
He moved heaven
and earth
to get you
and woo you
and win you.
And you're jealous
of her because of him?
Why do you need it anymore?
You don't need envy anymore,
so put it away.
Those clothes
don't fit you anymore.
It's the same
for malice
and deceit
and hypocrisy
and slander.
The reason why
we put on
some of those clothes
might be different,
but in the end,
because of who God is
now for you
in the gospel,
you don't need those anymore.
Those clothes
don't fit.
You used to be
a deceitful person
bending the truth,
telling white lies
because that's how
you used to keep
control of things.
And after all,
if you're not in control,
who is
and who's going
to take care of you?
But look,
there is one
who has ordained
all things
according to the
counsel of his will
and in that
eternal plan,
he loved you
and chose you
before the creation
of the world
and died for you.
And now this great God
is working all things
for your good
to make you
more like his son
so you don't need
to wear those clothes
of deceit anymore
because God's in control
and he loves you.
So this is the first way
we grow,
Peter says.
We put off
and we put away
those practices
that we used to wear
that simply run
counter to love.
But there's a second thing
Peter mentions in verse 2
and this is kind of
the main point
of these first three
verses of chapter 2.
How do we grow up
into this salvation?
How do we grow in love?
Like newborn babies,
Peter says,
long for pure spiritual milk.
Notice that Peter's talking
about our desire here.
He's telling us
to long for something
with a strong desire
He's saying the key
to loving
is more than merely
exercising your will
and it's more than merely
convincing your mind.
It's about stoking
your desire.
Now growing in love,
yes, yes,
growing in love
involves your intellect
and involves your will
but it's not merely
an intellectual exercise.
You can't simply
think yourself
into becoming
a more loving person
and it's not merely
a volitional exercise.
You can't simply
just decide one day
to become a more
loving person.
You've tried that.
It doesn't work.
It has to happen
from the inside out.
We have to long
for something.
Peter says,
we have to long
for something
the way newborns
long for milk.
But what is this milk
that Peter's talking about?
This milk that's
pure and spiritual?
Well,
what's Peter
just been talking about?
He's talking about
God's word,
the good news
that's proclaimed to you.
So you see
what Peter's saying here.
He's saying,
he's saying,
Christians,
the gospel doesn't
just give us birth
spiritually.
The gospel's
what grows us
spiritually too.
It's the deep nourishment
that our hearts need
to change and grow.
as we drink deeply
from the fountain
of God's grace
and his word.
It's not just our minds
getting more information.
It's not just our wills
getting more instruction.
It's our hearts
feasting on what
can truly satisfy.
After all,
Peter says,
haven't you tasted
that the Lord is good?
The Lord who stretched
himself out for you.
Haven't you experienced
his goodness?
And if so,
why are you trying
to find something else
that will make you
a more loving person?
Remember what the
Apostle John says
in his first letter,
we love
because he first
loved us.
The only thing
that will loosen
the grip of fear
or pride
or insecurity
or vanity,
all the things
that keep us
from genuinely
loving one another,
the only thing
that's going to break
those chains
is the love
of the Lord Jesus Christ
in the biblical gospel.
And we have to
keep going back
to it like a newborn
to milk,
hungry to drink
our fill.
But Peter isn't
saying here
that the gospel
is some sort
of simplistic thing.
He's not sort
of saying the gospel
is milk and then
one day you move
on to meat.
No, do you remember
what he said back
in chapter 1,
verse 12?
The gospel's the thing
that angels long
to look into.
It's the very wonder
of heaven.
It's the diamond
that will be turned
and turned
and fresh flashes
of beauty
and light
will continue
to stream forth
and the wonder
will last
for all eternity.
And that's why
Peter says,
long for it now.
Go after it
like a newborn
goes after their bottle.
Because every ray
that flashes forth
from this diamond
has the power
to grow you
into this great salvation.
It's the biblical gospel
that's going to help
you fill out
this new set of clothes
you've been given.
So that's why
when we sing
as a church
we pick songs
that are rich
with God's word.
And that's why
when we preach
we try to turn
this diamond
again and again
and help us see
how the gospel
speaks fresh
to our hearts.
And that's why
we do the Lord's Supper
because Jesus commanded
this in his word
as a means
to experience
the gospel
of his body
broken and bloodshed
for us.
Now how about
during the week
for you?
Are you finding
ways to long
for this pure
spiritual milk?
Are you finding
ways to listen
to read
to meditate
to memorize
God's word
so that the grace
of the gospel
gets down deep?
Now you might not
feel like
you're gazing
in wonder
at a diamond
every time
you sit down
to read your Bible,
right?
My Bible reading
plan right now
has me in the book
of Job.
Sometimes that's
pretty long
it's a long slog
through the book
of Job,
okay?
Like we can all
admit some of
those places.
But be encouraged.
You're still
taking in
the nourishing
milk of the word.
It's growing you
even at times
when you don't
feel it.
Now if you're
struggling how to
figure out
how to do
this on your
own,
how to long
and drink
in the milk
of the word
on your own
during the week,
talk to someone.
Ask for help.
Talk to your
small group leader
or a mature
Christian friend.
Ask them for help
in how you might
long for and drink
in the pure
spiritual milk
of the word.
We all need
help along the way.
Don't be afraid
to ask.
But don't rest
until you've
found a way
to drink,
to let your
desires be filled
by the one
who created
your desires
in the first place,
the Lord Jesus
Christ.
Who indeed
is good.
And here's
what we'll find.
As we keep
coming back
to God's
living and
abiding word,
the written
word of scripture
that proclaims
the saving news
of God's grace,
as we keep
coming back,
we'll grow
in love.
Love not just
for God,
but for one
another.
And the clothes
that we wear
will no longer
be the clothes
of malice
and envy
and deceit,
because we
won't need
those clothes
anymore.
Instead,
as we march
forth among
the nations,
as we live
as the church,
the people
of God,
the clothes
that we wear,
our distinguishing
mark,
will more
and more
be genuine,
earnest love
for one another
and will be
known in the
way Jesus
wanted us
to be known
by our
love.
Let's pray
together.
Father,
we ask that
by your
spirit,
you would
continue to
stoke in us
a longing
for your
word
and help
our hearts
to put
away
the unloving
practices
so that we
might genuinely
and earnestly
love one
another.
God,
we admit
that it's
hard
and we
admit that
we failed,
so would
you forgive
us,
Lord?
But we
also know
that you've
given us
your spirit
to make
it possible,
so help
us to
trust in
that and
in you
and to
go forth
to love.
We pray
this in
Jesus'
name.
Amen.