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Proverbs 5:13-23
13 I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers,
Nor inclined my ear to those who instructed me!
14 I was on the verge of total ruin, In the
midst of the assembly and congregation."
15 Drink water from your own cistern, And
running water from your own well.
16 Should your fountains be dispersed abroad,
Streams of water in the streets?
17 Let them be only your own, And not for
strangers with you.
18 Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice
with the wife of your youth.
19 As a
loving deer and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; And
always be enraptured with her love.
20 For why should you, my son, be enraptured by
an immoral woman, And be embraced in the arms of a seductress?
21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, And He ponders all his paths.
22 His own iniquities entrap the wicked man, And he is caught in the cords of
his sin.
23 He shall die for lack of instruction, And in
the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.
Father God, call those that think they
know you and touch their hearts with the Gospel. Let their hearts be softened
and changed via a Spiritual Birth, in
Jesus
name we pray, Amen!
Book of I Peter 2:1-10
NKJV
Keep in mind that this book of Peter’s
was written for believers that were scattered abroad and were enduring
persecution for their belief in Jesus. In this lesson Peter is giving
encouragement to remain faithful to the teachings of the Gospel. He reminds
them and us to remember how we were before being saved and to continue in the
new life of grace that God has given us when we became His child.
To remain in God’s Grace can be
difficult because of the sin nature within us. Based on verse one, these
believers were falling back into their old lifestyle, therefore Peter is
jogging their memory to get them to remain faithful. Without any further delay,
let’s get started.
1
Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all
evil speaking,
Peter is telling the
recipients of his letter to stop doing and acting as heathens, like they once
were. They aren’t to be conducting their lives in a manner as described in this
verse. They are supposed to be a role model of Jesus to those around them.
Based on what this verse tells us, they had fallen back into their old way of
living; hate, lying, proclaiming the truth but not living it, desiring worldly
things, and gossiping and or speaking vengeful things.
Therefore,
laying aside all malice; Definition
of malice is extreme hatred of heart; a disposition to injure others without
cause, from mere personal gratification or from a spirit of revenge; unprovoked
malignity or spite. Synonyms; ill
will, spite, spitefulness; animosity, enmity; malevolence; venom, hate, hatred;
bitterness, rancor.
All
deceit: Definition of
deceit; the act or practice of deceiving; concealment or distortion of the
truth for the purpose of misleading; duplicity; fraud; cheating. Synonyms; deception,
dissimulation, deceit, guile, hypocrisy, duplicity, fraud, trickery.
Hypocrisy;
Definition of
hypocrisy; a pretense of having a virtuous character, moral or religious
beliefs or principles, etc. that one does not really possess. Synonyms;
insincerity, double standard, two faced.
Envy;
Definition of envy; a
feeling of discontent or covetousness with regard to another's advantages,
success, possessions, etc. Synonyms; jealousy, wanting, desire, craving, greed,
resentment.
And
all evil speaking; These
believers were not speaking the love and goodness that Jesus is and Peter is
calling them out.
2 as
newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,
As
newborn babes; What
this phrase is referring to is being Born Again; having a Spiritual Birth and
becoming a child of God. John
3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he
cannot see the kingdom of God." John 3:5-7 Jesus
answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless
one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is
born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said
to you, 'You must be born again.'
Desire
the pure milk of the word; Just
as a newborn baby needs milk to sustain physical life and grow, a Born Again
individual needs God’s Word (milk) to sustain spiritual life and grow. His
Bible is our spiritual food for eternal life with Him in Heaven.
That
you may grow thereby; We
need to feed upon God’s Word daily to grow strong in the Lord. His word guides
us down the path of life while we are here on earth so that we will be worthy
to enter into Heaven through those pearly gates.
As human beings we need to
read and study the Bible on a daily basis so that we don’t wander away from
Jesus. We don’t want to be like the wandering Israelites that kept slipping
back into their old ways and murmuring and complaining. We need to know what
the Bible teaches and not what we think it says. If a newborn baby doesn’t
receive milk they will physically die. If a new Born Again Saint doesn’t
receive spiritual food they will fall back into their old ways and die
spiritually.
3 if indeed
you have tasted that the Lord is
gracious.
What Peter is saying here
is, now that you have had a taste of the Lord's kindness and found it gracious,
then continue to grow and mature as a child of God and not of the world/Satan.
When a person has a
Spiritual Birth they will experience a change in their beliefs, old habits die
like using God’s name in every other sentence because the Holy Spirit will
convict the person that it is offensive to God, materialistic desires will die
and be replaced with needs, love for neighbors will take place, etc. Paul tells
us our old nature will die and we will be renewed; Romans 6:6 knowing
this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we
should no longer be slaves of sin. Ephesians 4:22-24
that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows
corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,
23 and be renewed in the spirit of your
mind, 24
and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true
righteousness and holiness.
4 Coming to
Him as to a living stone,
rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious,
In these next few verses
Peter refers back to OT Scripture in order to get his Jewish listeners
attention. He is letting them know that he isn’t making up what he is preaching
to them, it had all been prophesized. He is describing the church as God's
spiritual temple. Psalm 118:22; Isaiah 8:14; Isaiah 28:16. Peter's listeners would understand the
living stones to be Israel; Peter applies the image of "cornerstone"
to Christ. Peter showed that the church does not cancel the Jewish heritage but
fulfills it.
Coming
to Him as to a living stone; We have to keep in mind who Peter is
talking to and that they had accepted Jesus as the Messiah, but had reverted
back to some of their old habits. Peter is referring to individuals that were
saved, then and now, and is calling them living stones, which is the church of
Jesus Christ. Why living stones? Well a stone will be around forever and living
is referring to eternal life in God’s Kingdom.
Rejected
indeed by men; We all
know how Jesus was rejected 2,000 years ago and as a result of that He
sacrificed His life on the altar of the Cross for us so that we can repent and
believe and be saved. Most people even today reject Jesus either through
ignorance or their rational of what a good person is. Just last week I had the
opportunity to witness to a person, but as soon as I mentioned Jesus and the
Bible has the answer to her fear of death, she had to go, in other words she
rejected Jesus. She didn’t want to hear what the Word of God has to say about
death and that actually the Bible gives us assurance of Heaven after physical
death, if we are saved.
But
chosen by God and precious; This phrase is referring to Jesus and
there is nothing more precious than Jesus in our life.
5 you also,
as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to
offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
You
also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house; As children of God (Born Again) we are
being built up through the process of sanctification. With the Holy Spirit
residing within the heart of a saved person, the Holy Spirit brings conviction
upon the individual when they do wrong or think about doing wrong. This
sanctification process starts when someone accepts Jesus as their Saviour and
continues till the day they die. This is how a spiritual house it built within
a person.
A
holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through
Jesus Christ; In
God’s eyes we are a holy priesthood when we have that Spiritual Birth. Living
by faith in Jesus and His death and resurrection, God sees His Son Jesus when
He looks at us.
What are the
"spiritual sacrifices" that we offer to God? When sacrificing an
animal according to God's law, a priest would kill the animal, cut it in
pieces, and place it on the altar. Sacrifice was important, but even in the Old
Testament God made it clear that obedience from the heart was much more
important (1 Samuel 15:22; Psalm 40:6;
Amos 5:21-24). God wants us, his "holy
priests," to offer ourselves as living and spiritual sacrifices by being
obedient/faithful to His Word. Daily we must lay aside our own desires and
follow him, putting all our energy and resources at his disposal, and trusting
him to guide us. We must always keep our focus on the Cross of Christ.
6 Therefore
it is also contained in the Scripture, "BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A CHIEF
CORNERSTONE, ELECT, PRECIOUS, AND HE WHO BELIEVES ON HIM WILL BY NO MEANS BE
PUT TO SHAME."
This quotation is taken
from Isaiah 28:16.
Therefore
it is also contained in the Scripture, "BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION; Generally Zion is often referred to as
Jerusalem (Psalm 51:18),
and sometimes God's chosen Israel (Psalm 87:5). In the New Testament it is used
sometimes to denote the Church of God (Hebrews 12:22), and sometimes the heavenly city (Revelation
14:1).
A
CHIEF CORNERSTONE, ELECT, PRECIOUS; This
is referring to Jesus.
AND
HE WHO BELIEVES ON HIM WILL BY NO MEANS BE PUT TO SHAME; This is in reference to being Born
Again and having eternal life. Our faith must be exclusively in the Cross of
Christ.
7
Therefore, to you who believe, He
is precious; but to those who are disobedient, "THE STONE WHICH THE
BUILDERS REJECTED HAS BECOME THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE,"
8 and
"A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE." They stumble, being
disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.
These two verses have to
be read together and when reading pay close attention to the punctuation. These
quotes are taken from Isaiah 8:14 and Psalm 118:22.
Therefore,
to you who believe, He is
precious; Peter is
referring to Born Again Saints here. When a person accepts Jesus, a whole new
life begins for the individual. The old flesh is crucified just as Jesus was
crucified and a new life begins just as Jesus new life began with His
resurrection. When a person fully realizes what Jesus did for them and they
place their faith in Him, He is the most precious eternal life sustaining spiritual
food here on earth.
But
to those who are disobedient; This
phrase goes along with the last part of verse 8, “They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were
appointed”. If you read it and leave out the quotation it makes sense. This
is of course referring to nonbelievers; anyone that rejects Jesus. God’s Word
is an eternal life survival manual for us to live by while we spend a fraction
of our life here on earth, but the vast majority of people reject God’s Word.
THE
STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED HAS BECOME THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE and "A
STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE."; As stated previously Jesus is the
chief cornerstone, He is the one the builders (Pharisees, Scribes, pastors,
priest, etc.) rejected and was and still is a stumbling rock of offense to
many. Just like the person I mentioned earlier that all of a sudden had to go
when I mentioned Jesus name and the Bible.
They
stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed; All are appointed to obey God’s Word. John 3:16 For God so loved the
world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should
not perish but have everlasting life. Those that are disobedient will spend eternity in Hell.
9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the
praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
But
you are a chosen generation; Those that have chosen Jesus are a new
race of people.
A
royal priesthood; A Born
Again Saint becomes a king and priest. Revelation 1:6
A
holy nation; Saints
of the Most High are people of the same nature, the Church.
His
own special people; Each
of God’s Saints are special to Him. We are one body each with a unique purpose
for Him.
That
you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His
marvelous light; Anyone
that is saved praises and thanks God daily for opening their heart to His Word.
It is an absolute miracle to have a change of heart.
10 who once were
not a people but are now the
people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
Oh so true a statement, I
thought I knew God, which I did with my mind and as a history lesson, but I
didn’t know Him with my heart. How thankful I am that God didn’t give up on me
and kept calling until I heard His voice.
Colossians 1:16 For by Him all things were created
that are in heaven and that are on earth,
visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
All
things were created through Him and for Him.
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God,
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, Most assuredly, I say to you,
unless one is
born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
The Lighthouse
Full Gospel Church
Sinners Prayer; Pray this, and if you
believe it with your heart, Jesus will save you!
“Lord
Jesus I know I am a sinner. I confess my
sins to you; I am sorry for my sins; I repent (Meaning, desiring to turn from a
sinful lifestyle.) of all my sins, and I am asking for your forgiveness. I believe that only you can forgive sin. I commit my life to you and ask you to come
into my heart, direct, and take charge of my life. I believe that you died to set me free from
my sinful lifestyle and you rose from the dead to give me eternal life, and
right now you are seated at the Right Hand of God Almighty. I believe you are
the Son of God; the only Way, the only Truth, the only Life, and my Savior.” I believe this and have faith you will make a
new person out of me, by sending the Holy Spirit to dwell in my heart and lead
me in a new life. In Jesus name I pray Amen.”
(John 3:16,17; Romans 3:23; 6:23; 5:8; 10:9-13; Ephesians 2:8-10; 1
John 5:11-14; 1:6-10) (Sin: Rom.
1:22-32; Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 5:3-7)
