1 Peter Series No More Pretence

                                                             No More Pretence!!!

1 Peter 2:1-3,11

So get rid of your feelings of hatred. Don’t just pretend to be good! Be done with dishonesty and jealousy and talking about others behind their backs.  Now that you realize how kind the Lord has been to you, put away all evil, deception, envy, and fraud. Long to grow up into the fullness of your salvation; cry for this as a baby cries for his milk…  Dear brothers, you are only visitors here. Since your real home is in heaven, I beg you to keep away from the evil pleasures of this world; they are not for you, for they fight against your very souls. Living Bible

When my wife asks me to take out the garbage, it means exactly that, when the can is full, it needs to be done immediately. As Christians, many of us don’t take out the sinful trash that is in and around us right away. We have a pretence that God understands or we are okay. We don’t listen to God’s word, His written and oral word spoken by the Holy Spirit. We read or hear it, but we don’t act on the immediacy of the Word. We pretend that it can wait till later, believing that God isn’t talking about now, or he is talking to someone else. When Jesus spoke during his time on earth, people understood immediately the authority of His words and when he stressed the importance of following through with His words, he would say, “Let those who have ears let them hear.” This is not just some generic statement for “hey, everybody listen up”, he is calling for people to take careful heed. “He who has ears” is every person, no matter age, ethnicity, language, and occupation. 

Peter had just spoken to the exiled Christians about being strangers to the world, especially to the sinfulness of the world. It is not their home or lifestyle, their citizenship is in a different world, the kingdom of God. (1:17) He exhorted them to love one another deeply from the heart, to obey the Word out of His authority and reverence for His name. Let ‘s begin to look at the text - “So get rid of your feelings of hatred. Don’t just pretend to be good! Be done with dishonesty and jealousy and talking about others behind their backs.  Now that you realize how kind the Lord has been to you, put away all evil, deception, envy, and fraud.”

Peter understood the sinfulness of the human heart, for he came from the same sinful lifestyle and used the same hateful speech towards others, especially the rulers and tax collectors. Peter knew there was no room for this sinfulness in the heart of the believer. The feelings of hatred towards injustice doesn’t have any place in their lives, even when everything they had is now gone and they are living as strangers in another country. Peter was talking to the church, attacking the pretence of believing people who were pretending to be good, while their words from their hearts proved what was really in their hearts. Jesus said it well, “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” Lk. 6:45

The sojourners were probably tempted to use dishonesty in any manner to get something they wanted or needed. And the church had its share of gossiping, backbiting, and slandering in the world they lived in while exiled. Peter admonished them about how kind God was to them. Christ was still with them in the person of the Holy Spirit, and they needed to realize his holiness, and that they couldn’t let the devil’s ways be a part of their lives (evil, deception, envy, and fraud).

Application - It is interesting how there is nothing new under the sun, especially in the church. You ever wonder that God knows the pretense of goodness, the pretense of the church to look good, but inside they are reeking of the stench of sin and death. Jesus was just in his statement against the religious people, “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity.” Peter’s words to the sojourners are applicable to the church today. We must get rid of the trash of the flesh and the devil. There is no place for sinful living on holy ground. 

Paul told the church to examine our hearts and lives, not by our standards but by God’s Word. We must get rid of ungodly conduct, pretending to be righteous, but not living in holiness, as Peter said “But as the One having called you is holy, be holy yourselves also in all your conduct, ... Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect… what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 1:15; 2 Pet. 3:11

Next Peter tells the church to grow up, to grow in the fullness of salvation. The exile church was probably filled with a mixture of maturities in their salvation, and they all need the fullness of the Holy Spirit in maturity, in prayer, in worship, in daily reading of the scripture, in eliminating sinful habits, bonding in fellowship, and obedience to God and his Word. Let’s look at the text, “Long to grow up into the fullness of your salvation; cry for this as a baby cries for his milk…”

Interesting Peter uses the simile as a baby cries for his milk. How the exiled church needed to have the cravings of a baby. They need to yearn and pursue for more of God’s spiritual gifts, “Pursue [this] love [with eagerness, make it your goal], yet earnestly desire and cultivate the spiritual gifts [to be used by believers for the benefit of the church], but especially that you may prophesy [to foretell the future, to speak a new message from God to the people].” AMP. 1 Cor. 14:1

Application - Revivals were foremented and commenced with the teaching and preaching of pursuing more of God. Peter was trying to light the fire to burn off the dross of sinfulness. He wanted the church to pursue more of God, to hunger for righteousness, to desire the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Today, we need to pursue God more than we have ever before. Where is the hunger for God’s spiritual gifts, the longing to grow in maturity, in praying, in giving all of ourselves to worshiping God, to the reading and studying of the Word of God, the bonding in fellowship with God and each other, and the obedience to the commands and statutes of God’s word, not mere hearers but doers. 

Last, Peter begs the believers to understand all that is in this world will be destroyed, either by time, natural deterioration, or finally by fire. Peter understood how all that he had owned or thought was importance in this world was not proclaiming the kingdom of God. He possibly remembered Jesus’ teaching in the parable rich fool (Lk. 12:13-21). Let's look again at the text, “Dear brothers, you are only visitors here. Since your real home is in heaven, I beg you to keep away from the evil pleasures of this world; they are not for you, for they fight against your very souls.” 

Peter knew that the draw to wealth and security in the wealth of this world was fleeting, and the exiled church now understood their own losses of worldly wealth. Wealth was like a fickle mistress, trying to seduce and then leaving them poor and broken (the prodigal son). No matter which city or country they were exiled, it was not their home. The draw of evil pleasures was a ploy the Devil tried on Jesus (Lk. 4:8-10) and Jesus' response was “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.” Peter knew all about being tempted and sifted by Satan. He knew that the only way to fight against this desire for wealth, prosperity, and worldly pleasures was the Word of God and true worship of our Lord. The enemy of our souls is prowling like a lion to devour all who will fall away from God by pursuing this world.

  Application - Like the exile church, this world is not our home. We should not be building our own kingdoms, but proclaiming His Kingdom. While we are in this world, we are not residents but visitors. We have a home and a city built by Jesus in his Kingdom.

And again as Peter stated “keep away from the evil pleasures of this world; they are not for you, for they fight against your very souls.” I have seen many seniors downsize from big spacious homes to small homes or apartments, as they understand that the allure of material wealth will not fulfill them in their pursuit of following God.

I leave the ABC’s of salvation for any who have not yet turned their lives over to Christ for salvation.

A - Admit that you are a sinner. This is where that godly sorrow leads to genuine repentance for sinning against a righteous God and there is a change of heart, we change our mind and God changes our hearts and regenerates us from the inside out. Romans 3:10 - As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one." Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (We are all born sinners which is why we must be born spiritually in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven). Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The bad news is that the wages of sin is death, in other words our sin means that we have been given a death sentence, we have the death penalty hanging over our heads, that's the bad news. But here's the good news: The good news is that the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Ephesians 2:8-9 - For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.

 B - Believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and that God raised Jesus from the dead. This is trusting with all of your heart that Jesus Christ is who he said he was. Romans 10:9-10 - That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 

C - Call upon the name of the Lord. Every single person who ever lived since Adam will bend their knee and confess with their mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, the Lord of lords and the King of kings. Romans 14:11 - For it is written: "As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God." Don't wait until later — do this now. Romans 10:13 - For "whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." "O God, I am a sinner. I'm sorry for my sin. I want to turn from my sin. I believe Jesus Christ is Your Son; I believe that He died on the cross for my sin and that He was buried and You raised Him to life. I have decided to place my faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior, trusting only in His shed blood as sufficient to save my soul and to take me to heaven. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for saving me. Amen."

Please share this with someone this week, the Lord knows that we and they need it. And If you want more lessons go to http://pmdinhisservice.blogspot.com

Until next week, In His Service Mike Davis