Longing for the Lord

“Longing for the Lord”

(1 Peter 2:1-3)

Series: Strength Through Adversity

Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD

Henderson’s First Baptist Church, Henderson

Take your Bibles and open them to 1 Peter, chapter 2 (page 815; YouVersion).

While you’re finding 1 Peter, a couple of prayer requests: do remember to pray for the work that is going on in New York and other areas affected by Hurricane Sandy. Pray for the team from our church who are there helping out with disaster relief. Pray for victims to find strength and hope in the comfort of the Lord.

I also want to remind you to vote in Tuesday’s election. We are Christians and our primary assignment is to proclaim the Gospel. As Christians we should be more concerned about one’s spiritual affiliation than one’s political affiliation. If our neighbors are lost and hell-bound, our chief order of business is to share the Gospel. If the nations remain filled with unreached people groups, our job is to share the Gospel as God builds His one nation, the kingdom of God. God is redeeming a people of every tribe, nation, and tongue. Never forget politics is not our primary concern. Having said that, we are called to be “salt and light.” We influence our society. Christians should vote. And Christians should elect to political office those candidates who best reflect our biblical values. So look for those who do and God will guide you.

But please remember this: God is in control. He knows what He is doing regardless of who sits in the White House. The Bible says our Lord, “upholds all things by the word of His power (Hebrews 1:3).” The Lord our God the Almighty reigns (Revelation 19:6). Hurricanes, elections–our times are in God’s Hands. He is in control.

I want to thank you again for our prayers for the Thailand Mission Team. Our ministry was very effective and the team was very strong over the several days of missional work. Last Sunday morning I was preaching at a church in Laos. And one of the points I made was that we were remembering and praying for our brothers and sisters in Laos. The Bible says, “Pray one for another.” And so I want to encourage you to pray for brothers you have not yet met and sisters you do not yet know. You have many things in common with them and they with you. Most importantly we share a common Lord and Savior. We are all a part of God’s family through the riches of the Gospel. So please continue to pray for the believers in Laos. Many face persecution so pray that their faith may remain strong. And the Team looks forward to sharing more in a worship service sometime after the holidays. Have you found 1 Peter, chapter 2?

Please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word.

1 Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,

2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,

3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

You don’t have to teach an infant how to drink milk. I find that utterly amazing. A baby is born and instinctively knows the mechanics of the thing. The baby is thirsty and its mouth naturally begins to root around for milk. When it finds the milk, everything works. The mouth moves, the milk goes in, the throat swallows, it just works. God, the great Creator and Sustainer, gives newborn babies the natural desire and ability to drink milk. And babies drink the milk and are nourished by the milk. And no one had to teach it to do that.

In this passage of Scripture, God says this is how Christians are to grow. Like a newborn baby we, who are “born again,” are to drink the pure milk of the Word, the Bible. On the one hand, we naturally desire God’s Word. And on the other hand, we sustain that desire as we feed ourselves the Word of God. Just as a newborn baby is first fed by another and then grows to feed itself, so the Christian is spiritually birthed by God and then grows to feed himself by feasting upon the milk of the Word.

Now a newborn baby doesn’t just drink milk for the purpose of mastering the process of milk-drinking. That’s not why the baby was created, simply to master the process of drinking milk. And the Christian does not drink of the milk of the Word for the purpose of mastering the Word. That’s not why the Christian was created, simply to become an expert at reading and studying the Word. The Christian drinks of the Word of the Lord in order to live for and love more the Lord of the Word. Let me say that again: “The Christian drinks of the Word of the Lord in order to live for and love more the Lord of the Word.”

Peter is speaking to a people who, verse 3, “have tasted that the Lord is gracious,” literally, “have tasted that the Lord is good.” What do you do when you taste of something good? Easy question! You want more. You want more and more and more and more and more. You say, “Man, this is good! Give me more!”

You and I were created to know God. When we are re-born, born again, spiritually birthed by God through the power of the Gospel, we “taste of the Lord.” And once having tasted of the Lord, we want more and more and more and more. Think about when you first were saved. Wow! You said, “This is good!” With the Psalmist in Psalm 34:8, you cried, “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him!”

And you began to grow in your relationship with God. You began to know Him more and more as you studied His Word. You desired, He fed. You desired, He fed. You were not studying the Word simply to study the Word. You were studying the Word of the Lord that you would know better the Lord of the Word.

So Peter here is reminding Christians, many of whom would have been Christians for some 30 years, he is reminding them to continue to long for the Lord. You were created to have relationship with God, to long for Him, to learn from Him, to grow in Him, to glorify Him. That’s your purpose in life whether you are a doctor, a mechanic, a clerk, or a teacher. You were created to glorify Him. And, to quote another, “God is most glorified in you when you are most satisfied in Him.”

I want to talk about longing for the Lord. How do we sustain a longing for the Lord? How do we keep up the matter of living for Him and longing for Him? Number one:

Rid Yourself of Sin (1)

Peter begins chapter 2, verse 1, with “therefore” and this points back to what he has just been talking about. And he was just talking about how Christians were, “born again…through the Word of God (1Peter 1:23),” the word–verse 25–”the word which by the gospel was preached to you (1Peter 1:25).”

So the same Word that gives life–giving us salvation, end of chapter 1–is the same Word that grows life–the beginning of chapter 2. The same Word of God that births us, is the same Word of God that grows us. Desire the pure milk of the Word that you may grow thereby. Now back to verse 1:

1 Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,

So, since you are, “born again…through the Word of God which lives and abides forever…the Word which by the Gospel was preached to you,” then–therefore, “lay aside” these things, lay aside these sins. There are five of them here in verse 1: malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking.

Peter says, you will “lay aside” these things. It’s the same word as in Ephesians 4:22, where Paul says, “Put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man…” Or as the writer of Hebrews says in Hebrews 12:1, “Lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us.”

It’s a decisive act. We must daily, daily, rid ourselves of these sins. It’s an act of the will. “Do it,” says Peter. Lay aside, put off, rid yourself of, these sins. One at a time:

“Malice” or evil, or wickedness. Rid yourself of all actions that are harmful to others.

“Deceit” is to harm another person by trickery or falsehood. In your business, are you ever tempted to deceive? To blur the lines of ethical standards? Rid yourself of that sin.

“Hypocrisy” is to mask evil on the inside by outward displays of righteousness. It’s the same word used to describe our Lord’s rebuke of the hypocritical Pharisees. He said, “Outwardly [you] appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness (Matthew 23:28).” Rid yourself of the sin of hypocrisy.

“Envy” is fundamentally an inability to rejoice when others are blessed. Guilty? Can you not rejoice when another gets a promotion, or experiences some measure of success? Don’t do that. Christians don’t live that way. Rid yourself of the sin of envy. Note the genuine freedom you feel when you can rejoice in the successes of others.

“Evil speaking” is any word spoken in such a way as to tear down rather than to build up. Don’t ever talk negatively about another person, especially a fellow brother or sister. Remember that in the previous passage, Peter says Christians are to, “love one another fervently with a pure heart (1Peter 1:22).” We cannot love one another fervently if we are tearing others down by our words. Live by Ephesians 4:29, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.”

How do you long for the Lord? You rid yourself of sin. Secondly:

II. Feed Yourself with the Word (2)

Verse 2 goes hand-in-hand with verse 1. You can’t just do verse 1 without also doing verse 2. That’s why the word there in verse 1 is a participle, “Laying aside.” It suggests you’re also going to do something else. And you are, verse 2, “desiring the pure milk of the Word.” So, “Laying aside these sins, also desire the pure milk of the Word.” You’ve got to do both. Sin keeps you from the Word and the Word keeps you from sin. So do both: Rid yourself of sin AND Feed yourself with the Word.

2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,

Babies “take in” the nourishment of milk. Christians “take in” the nourishment of God’s Word whether we are listening to it or whether we are reading it. We are to long for it, the word desire refers to an intense, personal longing. We long for the milk of God’s Word the way a newborn baby longs for milk.

How does a newborn baby long for milk? How many young mothers are here? Raise your hand if you have an infant in the home or have ever had an infant in the home. Okay, how does a newborn baby long for milk? Desperately, eagerly, frequently. Right?! Same way Christians are to desire the pure milk of the Word. Think of the parallels:

Desperately. A baby cries out for milk. It yells for it. It yearns for it with desperation. Give me or I die! Do you yearn for the Word of God that way? Do you think of God’s Word as that which you must have each and every day or you die? Before you answer too quickly, consider your Sunday evening worship practice. Do you gather with your brothers and sisters for the evening meal of the Word of God?

Eagerly. A baby can’t wait to drink. Is that the way you yearn to open the Word of God? You say, “I can’t wait to drink from the milk of God’s Word.” If you consider the Bible boring or unnecessary, the obvious implication is that you may not be born-again. There is a natural, God-given desire to read the Word of the Lord in order to live for and love more the Lord of the Word.

Frequently. A newborn baby is not satisfied with one meal a day, right mothers?! Gotta eat, gotta eat, gotta eat! Middle of the morning, middle of the day, middle of the night. Gotta eat. Frequently. Our Lord Jesus reminds us in Matthew 4:4, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” Christian, search your heart and examine yourself. How frequently do you hear or read the Word of the Lord that you may know more of the Lord of the Word?

Note the adjective there in verse 2, the word, “pure.” It means unadulterated, uncontaminated, no additives, just pure milk.

Christians are often lured away from the pure milk of the Word to drink-in a Word that contains additives. Some think we need to add to the Word, or “dress it up” to make it look more attractive and appealing. This results in a contaminated Word, an adulterated Word, a Word with harmful additives. And this impure Word is heard from pulpits, Bible studies, televisions, even some Christian radio. It may be found in a popular paperback book, or a bumper sticker.

Peter says, “Desire the PURE milk of the Word that YOU MAY GROW thereby.” There’s an implication here. And the implication is: If you don’t have the PURE milk of the Word, you WILL NOT GROW. Too many professing Christians are feasting upon “Junk food,” spiritual substitutes for the pure milk of the Word. If we try to adorn the Word of God with ornaments and make our worship about the ornaments–whether it’s a worship style or a popular speaker or what have you–then we are getting our sustenance from something other than that which fully nourishes us and feeds our desire for more of the Lord. The reason some professing Christians are not growing is because they are in the habit of feasting upon junk food. It may taste good, but it is hardly nutritious. Desire the pure milk of the Word that you may grow thereby. Drink of the Word of the Lord that you may live for and love more the Lord of the Word.

Rid yourself of sin. Feed yourself with the Word. Thirdly:

3) Delight Yourself in the Lord (3)

Remember: we study the Word of the Lord that we may live for and love more the Lord of the Word. Verse 3:

3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

The “if” there is better translated, “Since” or, “Because.” It’s like a father saying to his son, “If you’re my son, this is what you’ll do.” There’s no doubt he’s his father’s son. It’s just a way for his father to stress something important. So Peter says, “If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious, then this is what you’ll do.”

To “taste” is to know by experience. To “taste” of the Lord is to be born-again. It is a personal experience.

I get some satisfaction out of just looking at food, do you? Just yesterday I told someone as we stood looking at a table of desserts, I said, “I enjoy just looking at this stuff.” But obviously I am not nourished by it because I have not eaten it, I have not taken it in. I have to partake of the food to get nourishment. And a person doesn’t become a Christian just by virtue of saying he is one. He or she must “taste of the Lord.” You must be born again.

So Peter is saying, “Those of you who are born-again, those of you who have, “tasted and you know that the Lord is good,” here’s the deal: You will keep on tasting. You will taste Him–experience Him–more and more as you read and feast upon His Word. You read the Word of the Lord to know the Lord of the Word. Every time you hear His Word or read His Word, you are experiencing deeper fellowship with Jesus. I love that!

1 Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,

2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,

3 Since indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Stand for prayer.

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