Long for the Pure Milk of the Word
Today we are in the sixth of fourteen sermons in our series on 1st Peter—and the text that is before us this morning is transition point in Peter’s encouragement to persecuted Christians. It’s also a passage with a lot of Old Testament imagery, allusion, and quotation—all of which is building on what has come before in vv13-25 of chapter 1.
So, in order to better grasp what Peter is teaching us here and why it matters, we’re first going to spend some time getting reoriented to the big picture of the letter—reminding ourselves of Peter’s purpose and audience. Then we’ll look briefly at the Old Testament allusions Peter been weaving through the first chapter and follow them to where they culminate in today’s text. So, I’d encourage you to have your Bible open so that we can examine some of these things together.
OUTLINE
1. Two Encouragements
a. Witness— Second encouragement of the letter in (2:11-4:10), first. Suffering deepens our faith and bears witness to the goodness of Jesus.
b. Identity— The first encouragement of the letter (1:13-2:10), where Peter helps his non-Jewish readers understand the new identity they have in Christ.
2. Two Images (2.4-10)
a. Living Stones
b. Holy Priesthood
3. Two Takeaways (in light of who we are in Christ)
a. Mouth—open your mouth in praise and proclamation
b. Milk – we can only proclaim if we’ve tasted and seen that the Lord is good
It is good to remember that Peter is writing this letter to persecuted Christians in churches across the Roman province of Asia minor. We know from several places in the letter that these Christians are mainly converts to Christianity from paganism, not those who have grown up in Judaism and then come to embrace Jesus as Israel’s Messiah (1.14, 18; 4:3-4). While they are clearly familiar with the Scriptures, one major reason Peter is writing them is to remind them that although God revealed himself to ethnic Israel, his words were written down for them (1.10-12).
As converts from paganism, the recipients of this letter are being harassed by their Greek and Roman neighbors for their faith in Christ—mainly, because they refuse to participate in the kind of practices that their neighbors approve (2:12; 3.9; 4.4-5, 14). In fact, according to 4.4, these neighbors are surprised that the Christians have abandoned their debauched lives and, 4.14. even insult them for following Jesus. Apparently, Peter’s non-Jewish audience is living in a culture of sexual liberation and fleshly indulgence that is not too dissimilar from our own day. Others are hostile towards them because of their allegiance to Jesus.
Two Encouragements
So, Peter is writing to encourage Christians who are facing hostility because of their faith in and obedience to Jesus as Lord.
Faithful Suffering is a Powerful Witness
And encourages them in two ways: In the second part of the letter, beginning in 2:11 and stretching through the chapter 4:10, Peter shows us how suffering provides a powerful witness to the goodness of Jesus. When we live in the power our new life in Christ and do good even when we are mocked and opposed, we show that Jesus is real. We show that we have tasted and seen that the Lord is good. So good, in fact, that Jesus is not only worth dying for, he’s worth living for. And when we live in joyful submission to his Lordship, like Peter tells us in 3:15, we have opportunities to bear witness for hope that is in us.
Peter teaches us that suffering has a way of focusing our hope on the return of Jesus—which is the main message of the last section of the letter, beginning in 4:12. What we believe about the future determines the way we live in the present—and so Peter tells us in 4.12, that when we consider the glory of Jesus’s return, and what we gain in him, we are empowered to live in love even in the face of hostility (4:12-19; 5:10). And as we have seen in 1:6-8, Peter has already given us a preview of this emphasis:
6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
The faith that holds on to Jesus through the fire of opposition, will be praised by our King, himself, when he returns in glory. Jesus will bear witness to the tested genuineness of our faith. That’s pretty hefty encouragement for those who are harassed for following Jesus. What we believe about the future determines the way we live in the present.
So—that’s how Peter encourages us in the second part of the letter: suffering provides a unique way of deepening our faith and bearing witness to the goodness of Jesus. Pastor Kenny is going to unpack this more in next week’s sermon.
A New Identity
But the way Peter encourages non-Jewish believers in the first part of this letter is by reminding them and us of our new identity.
Converts to Christianity faced severe hostility from their Greek and Roman neighbors. In first-century Roman culture, it was a personal and sometimes civic offense to abandon native, Roman religion. Trusting in Jesus cost these new Christians a lot: They were being betrayed and falsely accused by their neighbors (2.12), intimidated by the provincial government (2.15) and mistreated by their employers (2.18-20). Some newly converted women were even being disdained by their husbands (3.1-2). Leaving the Roman cult could cost you your livelihood—your family—and sometimes even your life.
And so it was especially important for Gentile Christians to understand that what they stood to lose could not possibly compare with what they gained in Christ—because, by faith in Jesus, they had become his heirs. His story became their story. His family became their family. In Jesus, they were no longer defined by their parentage or performance or popularity—they were identified with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. They had a new identity. Their hope was set on life, everlasting, with him.
So, in 1:13-2:10, Peter shows from the Scriptures that non-Jewish believers have a new hope, a new family, and a new identity as God’s people—they are the true Israel of God. And he does this by taking six Old Testament images and applying them to Gentile believers. We’re going to focus on the last two, but I’ll briefly highlight the first four so that we can see together how this develops in the letter.
Peter began the letter identifying the Gentiles to whom he is writing as (1.1) chosen people living in exile—terms used throughout the Old Testament for God’s people, Israel. Peter is identifying non-Jewish believers in Jesus with the one nation among the peoples of the earth upon whom God chose to set his affections. Peter wants us to see that those who were not part of ethnic Israel have become part of this family through faith in Jesus.
The first image Peter alludes to in 1.14 is the exodus (cf. Ex 12.11): Just as Israel was called to leave their former life in Egypt and set their hope on God’s deliverance to a land of promise, so also we Gentiles are to turn away from the passions of our former ignorance and set our hope fully on the grace that is to be revealed in the appearance of the Lord Jesus.
Next in 1.15-16, Peter says that just as God’s people were called at Sinai to live in holiness throughout their sojourning so also we are called to “be holy as, I, the Lord your God am holy” (Lev 11:44). Third, while Israel was delivered at Passover from the angel of death by the blood of the sacrificial lamb (Ex 12-15), Peter says in 1.19-20 that Gentiles have been delivered from eternal condemnation “with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”
Not only that, but God has poured out through Christ on the Gentiles the New Covenant promise that Jeremiah foretold (Jer 31:33), such that we non-Jewish converts have been given a new heart, as Peter says in 1.23, having been “born again…through living and abiding word of God.”
As we saw in Pastor Jonathan’s message last week, in this new birth we have been saved to love (1.22). And we Gentiles can keep on loving until the end because we’re rooted in a promise that is living and abiding. We can keep on loving because our hope is set on the One who will one day come again in glory to reward the righteous and punish those who have refused the good news.
In other words, Gentile believers in the Lord Jesus have a new identity—we are the chosen people of God. And insomuch as the exodus, sojourn, Passover, and promised new covenant were part of Israel’s story, they are part of ours as well.
The first encouragement—our identity as God’s chosen people—is what gives life to the second encouragement. We can bear witness to Jesus in the midst of suffering because our hope in him is sure. We belong to God.
Two Images
This background will help us make sense of the two Old Testament images in vv4-10: living stones and a holy priesthood.
Living Stones
Not only have we been saved to love through the new birth, we have been united to the Lord Jesus by faith. Look at vv.4-5.
As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 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.
Peter reminds us that Jesus understands the insult of harassment and opposition. Jesus, too, was rejected by men—but such rejection couldn’t touch his identity as the “chosen and precious” one of God. In fact, Peter goes on to show in v6-7 that Jesus’s rejection only further highlights what the prophets foretold—that God’s cornerstone would be rejected by those in authority (v7) and would become a source of offense for those who refused to believe. For those who believe, however, the rejected stone would be the cornerstone where God’s old covenant and new covenant people would meet. That, v6 “whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
That’s how Peter can say in vv4-5 that as we come to him, The Living Stone, by faith, we too are living stones, being built up by God as a spiritual house. Under the Old Covenant, God dwelt among his people in the temple—though only the high priest could enter into his presence, and even then only under very specific circumstances. In his earthly ministry, Jesus warned that that temple in Jerusalem would be destroyed (Mk 13.2) and that rather than dwelling in a building constructed by men, he would inhabit a new temple—the assembly of his people born of the Spirit and united by faith (Jn 17:26). Listen to how Paul describes this reality in Ephesians 2:18-22:
18 For through [Jesus] [Jews and Gentiles] both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you [Gentiles] are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the [Old Covenant] saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
Take a moment to drink that in: If you have believed the gospel and have turned away from yourself to find refuge in Jesus, the promised Spirit of the Lord Jesus dwells enduringly in you. You are a living stone. And the middle passive verb in 1Pet 2.5 says that God is building you up by his Spirit into the very temple in which God’s Spirit dwells.
Friends---look at these stones. There’s no life in these walls. This building was a performance hall before it became our home. It became a church when we moved in. Because you are the living stones. And God is building us. Right now. By his Spirit. We are learning of his love, of his mercy, of his kindness, of his faithfulness, of his steadfastness. We are tasting his goodness. And by his Spirit, we are learning how to love one another. How to bear with one another’s weaknesses. How to support one another in distress. How to comfort one another in grief. How to strengthen one another in adversity. How to see the beauty and goodness and glory of Jesus in all that he has done and made. How to walk in the world in such a way that our lives point to Jesus.
It is an amazing calling, isn’t it? We get to be the place where good things happen to bad people. We get to be where broken people find wholeness, where sorrowing people find comfort, where weary people find rest, where sinners find a Savior. We get to be the place where Jesus gets lifted up and draws all people to himself.
Peter has a word for it in verse 7: Honor: “The honor is for you who believe.”
A Holy Priesthood
And, as if it couldn't get any better—not only are we living stones joined to Christ by faith and built by the Spirit into God’s place of dwelling—we are called to mediate God’s blessing to the world. Look at the second image in v 5, …to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Under the Old Covenant, most of the priesthood’s responsibility was related to regular worship. While their work was often hard—think of the challenges of the sacrificial system—it was joyful work. Priests received and celebrated offerings of thanksgiving when harvests were collected, when babies were dedicated, and when God’s people gathered to remember important events in Israel’s history. They wrote and performed songs of praise. They also were entrusted with the privilege of studying and teaching God’s word. They would travel throughout the tribes instructing God’s people from the Scriptures—helping them taste and see that the Lord is good. They had the exquisite joy of seeing others find hope and life in the God of Israel.
But in the Old Covenant, only one of the twelve tribes of Israel—the tribe of Levi—was set apart for these happy duties. That’s why this text in 1 Peter is so stunning. Now, in Christ, all of God’s people share this priestly identity. The cross and resurrection of Jesus has made it possible for anyone who trusts in him to dwell in the presence of God. The joys of the priesthood are yours.
Peter unpacks this reality more in verse 9:
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.
In Exodus 19:6, God told Moses that the people of Israel were to be a “kingdom of priests” or a “royal” priesthood. As an entire people, they were called to reflect the glory of the Lord to the nations. In other words, as a people, they were to function among the nations as the Levites did among the tribes of Israel. As a nation, Israel was to be a beacon in the dark world of idolatry—showing all the nations that there was no God but YHWH; inviting all peoples to taste and see that the Lord is good. Israel was called to mediate God’s blessing to the world in the same way the priesthood mediated God’s blessing to the 12 tribes. But because of their inability to keep YHWH’s law, Israel largely failed in this glorious calling. Obedience to the truth and sincere, brotherly love, required a new covenant and a new heart.
And this, Peter says in 1.22-23, is what has transpired through the living and abiding word of Christ. We have been “born again”—saved from ourselves by God for others. In the mystery of God’s redemptive purposes, you have been made to fulfill the commission given to God’s people, Israel. And your lives as ambassadors for Jesus’s sake are the “spiritual sacrifices” that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. The church is called and commissioned and transformed and empowered to mediate God’s blessing to the nations.
Two images: Friends, we are God’s chosen place of dwelling—a spiritual house—joined to Christ Jesus as living stones. And his Spirit dwells in us. And we have been commissioned as a holy priesthood to share the best news in all the world—to welcome anyone who would believe to taste and see that the Lord is good.
Two Takeaways
Mouth
So that’s the first of the two takeaways: Won’t open your mouth so that our neighbors might know?
Missions exists because worship doesn't. And worship is the purpose of the people of God. We are called to (v9) “proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness and into his marvelous light.” We were v10 “once not a people, but now we are God’s people.” We were once those who “had not received mercy, but now we have received mercy.”
Isn’t that stunning? Who are we to receive such grace? This rag tag group of rebels and malcontents are the ones whom Jesus, the Lord of the universe, has chosen to be his family. He’s happily decided for his Spirit to dwell here, among us. It’s crazy. And what is the only fitting response to this reality?
With hearts of profound gratitude and amazement we open our mouths in praise.
1 I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. 2 My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad. 3 Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together! 4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. 5 Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. 6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. 7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. 8 Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
In light of our new hope, our new family, our new identity, how can we not invite others to share our joy? God has chosen to do his work, the happiest work in the world, through you. If we really believe this, it will change everything about us. That’s the first takeaway. That we open our mouth.
Milk
The second takeaway comes from the verses we haven’t looked at, vv1-3. In fact—verse two contains the only command in our entire text. Peter’s Greek is challenging to smoothly translate and the ESV has done a good job making it less awkward in English. But to show how v1 and v2 relate, I’m going to read it the way the grammar is actually structured. We’ll see why this is important in a second:
Like newborn infants, long for the pure milk of the Word, that by it you may grow up into salvation—putting away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander—if, indeed, you have tasted that the Lord is good.
The English adjective “spiritual” is the word logikon in Greek which is from the noun “logos” or “word.” But the phrase “Long for the pure wordy milk” doesn’t really roll off the tongue. Peter uses the usual Greek adjective for “spiritual” in verse 5, but he uses logikon here for a reason. Consider what we’ve seen this morning. Peter has shown us that we have a new hope, a new family, and a new identity. He has walked us from the Reed Sea to the Resurrection, from the Passover to Pentecost, from Egypt to Easter. He has shown us how the Scriptures given to Israel’s prophets in ancient times were written down for us Gentiles.
And his point is that we ought to be just as hungry for the fortifying, satisfying substance of the gospel as babies are for mother’s milk. The only command in our entire text is right here: “long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow up into salvation.” The Word is the way to wonder and worship. The word builds the muscles of our faith, it strengthens our resistance against sin, it fortifies our bones to bear up under suffering. And if we have been saved to love, the way we put away what is opposed to love—all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander—is by drawing our nourishment from the Word who is, himself, the Lord of love.
Therefore, long for the pure milk of the word. Make it the staple of your diet, because it is here where we taste and see that the Lord is good.
Friends, in the midst of harassment and opposition, we have much to be encouraged by. Jesus has shown us his goodness. We have a new hope, a new family, a new identity. We are living stones being built into a spiritual house with Christ Jesus as cornerstone. He has made us a kingdom of priests, commissioned to declare his praises.
As we come to the table consider, finally, what Peter would have us contemplate: We long for the pure milk of the word, if, indeed, (like David in Psalm 34) we have tasted that the Lord is good. We celebrate this table because we know that Jesus has delivered us from every fear, that he has redeemed us from every sin, and that when he comes we won’t be ashamed. But Peter isn’t assuming that everyone has.
The Table
And so if you have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, if you are trusting in the Lord Jesus, you are invited here. But if you haven’t, would you take this time to consider who Jesus is and what he has done for you?
Friend, no matter what you have done, no matter what suffering you have endured, no matter how far you feel from him this morning, he is calling you to find rest in him. He laid down his life in death for your sin. And rose up again in victory over the grave that you might have life. If you don’t yet know him, let the bread and cup pass by. But don’t let this moment pass by. Now is not too late. Put your trust in him. Find refuge in him. His body is true bread. His blood is true drink. Let us serve you.