Sunday April 20, 2008

Would You Like to Fully Experience Your Salvation?
1 Peter 2:1-3

I. Introduction

Father and Son Discuss a Haircut

A young boy had just gotten his driving permit. He asked his father if they could discuss his use of the family car.

His father took him into his study and said, "I'll make a deal with you. You bring your grades up, study the Bible a little,
get your hair cut, and then we'll talk about it."

After about a month, the boy came back and again asked his father if they could discuss his use of the car. They again
went into the father's study where the father said, "Son, I've been very proud of you. You have brought your grades up, you've studied the Bible diligently, but you didn't get your hair cut."

The young man replied, "You know, Dad, I've been thinking about that. Samson had long hair, Moses had long hair,
Noah had long hair, and even Jesus had long hair."

"Yes," his father said, "and everywhere they went, they walked."

I would like to begin today by asking you a question.

Would you like to fully experience your salvation?

Week after week we talk about what it means to follow Christ.

We also talk about the “benefits” of following Christ.

What are those benefits?

Are you experiencing these in your life on a consistent basis?

So far we have heard Peter speak about the incredible work of Christ and the salvation this has brought into the
lives of those who believe.

In the midst of that he has given us four strong words of encouragement:

   1. Be hopeful.
   2. Live holy lives.
   3. Fear God.
   4. Love one another.

Now Peter, after speaking of the enduring word of God, shares another word of encouragement and he directly answers
our question for today – Are you experiencing the fullness of your salvation? Listen again:

“So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. 2 Like
newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation.
Cry out for this nourishment, 3 now that you have had a taste of the Lord's kindness.” (1 Peter 2:1-3, NLT)

II. Experiencing the Fullness of Salvation

The exhortation from Peter comes in two ways – first he states what we need to get rid of if we want to grow into a
full experience of our salvation.

Do you want to experience the fullness of your salvation?

Then, “get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech.”

Do not kid yourselves. When we practice evil behavior, lie to others and ourselves, say that we are Christians,
but consistently act contrary to Christ and speak harshly to those around us – we are not going to experience the
fullness of our salvation.

But following Christ is not just about getting rid of things in our lives, and Peter makes this clear when he says, “Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk…Cry out for this nourishment.”

The idea here is different from the words found in Hebrews 5:12-13 where the writer says: “You are like babies who
need milk and cannot eat solid food. 13 For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn't know how
to do what is right.” (NLT)

What Peter is emphasizing is the idea of desire: “Cry out for this nourishment.”

What does Jakobi do when he is hungry? He begins to cry out and he will not stop until he receives what he needs.

This is the kind of desire we need.

And when a baby receives the bottle or is put to the breast, if they are hungry what do they do?

They go to town! They eat like there is no tomorrow!

What is it we are to desire? First, I believe the context makes it clear that we are to desire the Word of God, which
Peter spoke about just before the passage we are looking at today.

Do you want to experience the FULLNESS of your salvation? Then feed yourself with the Word!

“The instructions of the Lord are perfect, reviving the soul. The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy, making
wise the simple. 8 The commandments of the Lord are right, bringing joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are clear, giving insight for living. 9 Reverence for the Lord is pure, lasting forever. The laws of the Lord are
true; each one is fair. 10 They are more desirable than gold, even the finest gold. They are sweeter than honey,
even honey dripping from the comb.” (Psalms 19:7-10, NLT)

May God grant us a desire for His Word!

But, I would add that we are not only to desire the living written Word, but we are to desire the Living Word as
expressed through Jesus Christ Himself.

I think this is what Peter is saying when he writes: “Cry out for this nourishment, 3 now that you have had a taste
of the Lord's kindness.”

Now that you have had a taste of God – do you not want more?

Have you ever tasted something that was so delicious that even if you were not that hungry you just had to eat more?

I think the more we desire God and experience the fullness of our salvation the more we will desire God and experience the fullness of our salvation.

We need this same desire that is expressed by the psalmist who said, “Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth.” (Psalm 73:25, NLT)

Do you want to experience the fullness of your salvation?

Then desire God more than anything else!

III. Application

But let’s try to make this a bit more practical.

How do you cultivate desire? I mean desire doesn’t just happen. How do you cultivate it?

I love Chinese food – where did that desire come from? First, I saw and then I tasted. From that moment I have
always desired Chinese food.

We often think of desire as something negative and it most certainly can be – Eve saw that the fruit was pleasing to
the eye and she desired it.

We see, we touch, we taste, we hear, we smell, and these lead us to desire.

What do the Scriptures say? “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” (Psalm 34:8)

If we are to experience the fullness of our salvation, Peter says we are to crave pure spiritual milk and cry
out for nourishment.

Once we have truly tasted the goodness of the Lord, I believe it is difficult to walk away from the table. Oh, we will
have our ups and downs and the word says that we grow (speaking of a process) into a full experience of our salvation.

How do we do that? What do you do to cultivate your desire for the Lord?