Grow Into Your Calling

Grow Into Your Calling 

1 Peter 2:1-12 - So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

In this series on 1 and 2 Peter, we see Peter pleading with his readers to endure some serious persecution, and how they need to be living in the midst of it.  It becomes a great letter to today’s Church as well, in that while we aren’t going through serious persecution, at least not in America, we should be growing in to the mature men and women of God that we have been called to be. We see in this text that Jesus is quite the divisive figure – as He is the cornerstone on which God will build His Church – or a stumbling block to those who don’t receive His Word.

Main Idea: We need to continue to grow into spiritual maturity.

I: Eat the right foods.

If you have kids, you have probably said the following multiple times, “you have to finish your vegetables!”  Why is that?  Two reasons: first, we know that they are good for you, and our kids need to eat them in order to grow in a healthy way.  Second, they don’t satisfy the taste buds like brownies do.  Man, am I the only one who wished broccoli tasted more like chocolate cake?  I’m guessing we are all there right?  Our taste buds, much like our flesh, desire things that can destroy us and keep us in an unhealthy state.  

1 Peter 2:1-3 - So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

A. Peter is instructing us on our spiritual diet and he begins with a list of things to “put away”.
B. These things will stunt our growth spiritually. He tells us to put away, “malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander”.  Let’s take a minute to look at these words and their definitions:

• “malice” – wickedness/evil
• “deceit” - treachery/cunning/craftiness
• “hypocrisy” - this is what the pharisees were so guilty of and why Jesus called them “whitewashed tombs”.
• “envy” - jealousy
• “slander” - evil speech

C. These are all things that need to be removed from our spiritual diet.
D. Instead – we need to crave spiritual milk.  The idea here is to crave the word like a newborn baby craves milk.
E. Have you tasted and seen that the Lord is good? Once you taste and see that the Lord is good, you want more of it. Once we taste something that is good, we desire more of it.  
F. Remember when you first tasted and saw that the Lord was good?  

Main Idea: We need to continue to grow into spiritual maturity. 

If we want to grow into spiritual maturity, we need to eat the right foods and we must...

II: Stay close to our trainer.

A good trainer does three things – he or she provides a good example with their own lives, they demonstrate proper technique when it comes to exercise, they provide accountability for the trainee.  The trainer is concerned with the development of the trainee.  If you have ever had a trainer, you know that your excitement for seeing them is completely proportionate to how well you have been doing in what they are training you for… In our spiritual growth, we have the ultimate Trainer who provides us with everything we need.  

1 Peter 2:4-8 - As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

A. Like a good trainer, Jesus provides His followers with the best possible example.
B. Peter writes, “As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house…”
C. In other words, by being near to Him, He will influence us to grow in spiritual maturity.  
D. But Christians are referred to as “living stones” and Christ as the “cornerstone” – we are so closely identified with Jesus here.  Our lives ought to be modeled after His life.  If we are going to do this, we need to be in close proximity with Him.
E. This trainer has been rejected by His own people to their own destruction.  We must follow His leading.  This is what Isaiah prophesied about hundreds of years earlier when he wrote; Isaiah 8:11-15 - For the Lord spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”
F. Don’t be surprised that He was rejected, instead cling to Him and praise God that He has revealed Him to us.

Main Idea: We need to continue to grow into spiritual maturity.

We do this by eating the right foods and staying close to our Trainer.  This important because we need to...

III: Be a good example.

Whether you know it or not, people are watching you.  Rodney Atkins wrote a song called “watching you” and in it, there is a verse that a little boy swears in the car and the dad asks, "Where did you learn to talk like that?"  To which the boy said, “I’ve been watching you dad, ain't that cool? I’m your buckaroo, I want to be like you.” Later on at bed time the boy prays “like he is talking to a friend” and the dad asks him “where did you learn to pray like that?”  The boy responds again, “I’ve been watching you dad, ain't that cool? I’m your buckaroo I want to be like you.”

The point, of course, is that our kids are watching us and with that comes a great deal of responsibility.  Friends, as Christians, the world is watching us and with that comes a great deal of responsibility.

1 Peter 2:9-12 - But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

A. You are built different and there are expectations that come along with that.  
B. “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, for his own possession.” So, as part of the Church you have been chosen, given a royal role, part of a separated body to be possessed by the King of kings and the Lord of lords.  Friends, it doesn’t get any better than that.
C. With all of that in mind, we are called to “proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
D. We can’t keep quiet about what He has done for us, nor should we! Our spiritual growth and maturity is all the more important when we realize that there is an audience.  And that audience may see your testimony and come to Christ.  
E. Peter reminds his readers that they have received mercy and our now God’s people.  With that comes different living. And with that comes the opportunity to share the good news with both your actions and your words.
F. When people see your good deeds, God will get glorified because we are His people.  
G. I’m going to conclude with some words of Jesus as recorded by Matthew on the subject: Matthew 5:13-16 - “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Main Idea: We need to continue to grow into spiritual maturity.

Conclusion
Today was all about growing in spiritual maturity and having good spiritual health. Our flesh wants us to do the things that will destroy us, but we need to discipline ourselves to do the things that bring spiritual health.  You already know what those things are: reading your Bible, fellowshipping with other believers, having someone you are accountable to, spending time in prayer etc. the issue likely isn’t ignorance, the issue is discipline…

And the world is watching.

But, have you tasted and seen that the Lord is good?  Have you received His mercy?  Are you a living stone? His holy possession?