1 Peter 2 Part 1 (Alex Herbers)

Teaching 9.13.11

• 1 Peter 1:23-2:3
  • “For you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.  For ‘ALL FLESH IS LIKE GRASS, AND ALL ITS GLORY LIKE THE  FLOWER OF GRASS. THE GRASS WITHERS, AND THE FLOWER FALLS OFF, BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURES FOREVER.’ And this is the word which was preached to you. Therefore,   all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babies, long  for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have     tasted the kindness of the Lord.”
    • We have eternal glory and are supposed to rule with God
      • How do we do this?
        • Know the Word of God
    • When you look at churches today, you do not think of glory
      • Christianity these days is kind of foamy
    • We need to be “lawyers” for God
      • We need to be prepared and know what we are talking about inside and                                                                  out
  • The glory of humanity = grass of the field
    • He is comparing Rome
    • This is the world of men
      • Nothing here is meaningful, it will die
      • Grass grows, but dies
    • Think of it like sand castle
      • A man puts so much effort into building it with moats, towers, and  everything
      • But he built it well below the tide line
      • The tide comes in and ruins all of his work
    • Is what you are pouring your life into going to last?
      • Will it be like the grass and when the sun comes, it dies?
  • The Word of God is just a book right?
    • We all like to create things
    • God also likes to create things
      • He does not make code or have a brush
      • His work is His word
    • God is powerful!
      • Image you are in complete nothingness
      • God says one word, “Light” and BOOM! An explosion of light
    • These words brought life from death
  • The word of the Lord remains forever
    • It is permanent
    • With Post Modernism, it is whatever you want
      • “Let me have some from Buddha, some from reincarnation…”
      • It does not make sense!
      • This is not a lasting idea
    • The word of God, today, is the same tomorrow, in a year, 10 years, etc.
      • This is a direct line to the truth of the universe
  • 2 Peter 1:21
    • “For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by                                                          the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”
      • Men filled with the Holy Spirit spoke from God
      • The word of God is not based on anything human
      • This is going to be permanent forever
      • There are so many objections to this though
        • “Men wrote it”
          • God is not weak, He is powerful
          • He can totally get His message across
          • “There’s so much history that is inaccurate”
            • People have tried to disprove the Bible
            • But they CANNOT do it
            • “It was not written in English, mistranslation”
              • There is no reason to give this a second thought
              • “It must have been changed throughout life”
                • This does not make any sense
                • Translation works everyday
                • “There are so many copies of it in different languages”
                  • Yes true that there are tons of copies
                  • But with how many copies of the Bible there are and                                                                                                                 how they are all giving the same message
                  • It has to be true!
      • It is the most reliable book in history
    • Christ is good, God is good, and God is loving and caring
      • The taste that the Word of God leaves in our mouths is so sweet
      • We have a book that tells us how things work and how to relate
        • This is written by the person who created everything
      • He gave us this instruction manual… LET’S READ IT!
  • 2 Timothy 3:16
    • “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for                                                             correction, for training in righteousness;
      • It is powerful
      • Scripture is from God’s breath
  • God answers prayers according to His will
    • We need to figure out how God thinks and what He thinks so we can learn to                                                         talk to Him
  • Luke 4
    • Jesus was in the desert and did not eat for days
    • The Devil tried to tempt Him, but He did not listen
    • He believed in God’s word
    • He was using God’s word to battle against the Devil’s temptations
  • Do you like relationships?
    • Yes!
    • God knows relationships are difficult
    • But He wants to help us with our relationships
    • Relationships are amazing things that we as humans have
    • The Bible helps us know how to have and keep these relationships
  • 2 Corinthians 10:5
    • “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the                                                          knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of                                                          Christ,”
      • We destroy every thought against Christ
      • There is a huge conflict between what the world says and what God                                                                             says
  • The Word is the truth of all truths!
  • Putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander
    • All of these things are contrary to a working relationship
    • When you have God in your life, He helps you put these terrible things aside
    • He helps us stop being self-focused and become more self-sacrificing

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