This is a sermon that continues in our Devotional: Becoming a People of Overflow, SURPRISE! 1 Peter You can watch more here.
Growing in salvation
There I was. It was 4 a.m., and I am sitting up in my bed, tears streaming down my face. Save me Jesus. One more time,
please save me…
I Knew Jesus as a young child, attending a Baptist Church pretty regularly. I said the prayer to receive Him at a Bible
camp one year.
Somehow, over the years, I started putting Jesus on the back burner. It was like, “I know you are there Jesus, but I am
just doing my own thing right now.”
One compromise at a time, one mistake at a time, one giving in to the darkness at a time, and at 22 years old I hit rock
bottom. Financially, emotionally, spiritually.
We can say a prayer to receive Christ and know that our eternal destiny is secure. But what kind of life we have
between now and when we die depends on how much we walk with Jesus in this life. You don’t have to die to get a
glimpse of Heaven. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true.
1 Peter 2:2
2 like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, 3 if you
have tasted the kindness of the Lord.
There used to be a commercial that said, “Got Milk?” Well, we are going to use that for an activity today.
I will ask, “Got Milk?” I want you to say, “I have the Living Word!”
Then I’ll ask, “What will you do with it?” And you can say, “I’m growing in my salvation!”
Sometimes when we talk about spiritual growth, the mind of the flesh wants to tell us we need to do more to
make God happy. I want to remind you that Salvation is a gift. Think of it this way:
You won the lottery and have 20 million dollars. You must learn to live differently now, right? In a good way. You
need to research investments, decide what you are going to do with the prize so to speak, and you may need to hire
security. Because it is a positive thing, you are willing to live differently.
Well, Jesus took all of our sin, shame, ugliness, rebellion, and traded us for forgiveness, God’s favor on our
life, eternal life, and Spiritual power in the Heavenly realm. Our Salvation is more precious than gold.
The Apostle Peter is going to show us how to grow in the precious gift of Salvation, what it means, and most
of all, a mission that is at stake. Not in the life to come, but here and now.
Stretching to Love deeply-
Read 1 Peter:22.
22 Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one
another from the heart,
Obedience to the Truth is referring to the Salvation we just talked about. We have an obedience to the Truth because
we believe.
Purified. Remember when we had to boil the water in Austin a few years ago? It needed to be purified to
remove anything harmful before we could use it. Well, our scars, bruises, cuts that we have experienced over the
years may have created some bitterness in us that needs healing. The Word of God needs to purify us so that we can
sincerely love each other. Is there something in your soul that needs purifying today? May the Word and the Spirit
heal you for love.
Who is the best martial arts actor of all time? Well, when I was 8 years old, there was a movie called
Bloodsport. I must have watched it 500 times. I thought Jean Claude Van Damme was the real deal. I admired him so
much that I wanted to learn to do the splits like he did. I stretched every day. It wasn’t the most comfortable, and yes
even painful at times. One day, I was able to go all the way to the ground. I was so excited and called all my friends.
Have you ever been in a sport or something that required you to stretch yourself to the limit? Then you know
how it feels.
When Peter says to fervently love one another he used a word that means stretch or strain. What would
it look like if our church was willing to stretch ourselves for the sake of loving deeply? Just like it took
commitment, discomfort, perseverance, and yes, even pain, I’m guessing we’ll have to risk some of those things
to achieve deeper love.
So, are you willing to stretch?
Let’s push ourselves to limit when it comes to loving each other.
Got Milk? (I have the Living word) And what will you do? (I’m growing in my Salvation)
So why does Peter tell us to love? Why is loving each other so vital?
Born Again-
1 Peter 23-25
23 for you have been born again not of a seed which is perishable but imperishable, [that is], through the living and
enduring word of God. 24 For,"ALL FLESH IS LIKE GRASS, AND ALL ITS GLORY LIKE THE FLOWER OF GRASS. THE GRASS
WITHERS, AND THE FLOWER FALLS OFF, 25BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURES FOREVER." And this is the word
which was preached to you.
Peter is telling us that we are not the dying flesh, but one with the eternal Spirit. Jesus points to this Truth when He
says, whoever tries to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life will find it. You can cling to the dying flesh,
get the best doctors, cosmetic surgery, take the best supplements, but eventually the flesh will perish.
The author of Hebrews tells us that the fear of death is the root of many bondages. Phobias, anxieties, etc.
When we embrace our eternal life, we are freed from these bondages.
The Apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 2:20 that “I have been crucified with Christ, and the life that I now live is not
me that lives, but Christ in me.” I believe this should be our goal when it comes to growing in salvation. We have
completely lost the perishable self and are completely devoted to walking in the Spirit. Walking in love. Because if there
is no me to serve anymore, I must serve you, right?
Have you ever seen a butterfly being born? Or born again so to speak. When we moved to Austin 3 years ago, we
moved in with Ruthie’s parents. To say that Ruthie’s Mom has a green thumb would be an understatement. Well, she
had some milkweed plants where Monarch Caterpillars love to eat the leaves, get very fat, and spin their cocoons. One
spring, we had the privilege of watching several cocoons open. So, we learned a lot about butterflies during that time.
What was interesting to me is that when the butterfly emerges from the cocoon, it must find a safe place to hide for 24
hours while its wings dry and get strong enough to fly. So it is extremely vulnerable following its rebirth, so to speak.
Similarly, when we are born again, after we receive Jesus, we are going through a transformation process. We too can
be vulnerable, so we need a safe place to hide. And where should we hide? We hide ourselves in the Word of Truth.
Under the Wings of the Almighty. Where do you seek shelter?
One thing The Word does to strengthen our wings is it reminds us of who we are in Christ. The difference
between us and the butterfly is that once it leaves its cocoon behind, it never goes back. Michael gave a message a
while back about forgetfulness. He said we don’t have anxiety problems, or addiction problems, we have a forgetfulness
problem. We forget who we are and start acting like caterpillars again. In other words, the flesh that is withering. And
what happens then? We are about to find out in a minute.
So how are your wings doing? Let’s keep our wings strong so we can fly with Jesus.
Got Milk? (I have the Living word!)
What are you going to do with it? (I’m growing in my Salvation!)
So how do we treat each other when we forget that we are children of Heaven?
Long for pure Milk-
There was a Church that used to have a peanut brittle festival every year. Sounds harmless and fun, right? Well, one
family had a special recipe and made the brittle every year. But this year, something was about to get sticky. I don’t
mean the candy either… A new family had just joined the Church and approached the pastor. “We heard about the
peanut brittle festival, and our family has an awesome recipe we would love to share! Would you like for us to provide
the brittle for the festival?” “Why sure?” the pastor exclaims, “I’m always excited to involve a new Church family”.
Well, I don’t know all of the details, but this is how I see it playing out in my imagination.
The original family that usually made the candy got upset. “How dare pastor give away our responsibility! We’ve been
making that peanut brittle for 10 years, and everybody loves it!” So, they proceeded to tell their friends, groups, etc.,
and strife began to stir in peanut brittle paradise. A great division arises, some in favor of the pastor’s decision, some in
favor of keeping the old family in charge. Believe it or not, the Church splits. Not just an argument, a dispute, but splits.
SPLITS…
1 Peter 2:1
1Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, Put off malice and jealousy.
When I first heard the peanut brittle story, I laughed because it was ridiculous. But then I felt sad for that Church.
They were probably reading the same Bible, worshipped together, and believed a lot of the same things we do here. For
me, that’s a wake-up call. Strife is poison for a Church.
I wonder if the outcome of that story would have been different, hypothetically speaking, if the offended people went
straight to the pastor to work things out instead of stirring up strife. If you have an issue with someone, Jesus says in
Matthew 18 to go to that person and talk it out. If you can’t, have an elder or pastor go with you and work it out.
Please do not let strife infect our Church. Thank God we have great bonds here, and don’t deal with a lot of that.
The word “therefore” connects this verse to what he was previously saying. We are all born again of an eternal
Heavenly seed. We are going to be together forever in paradise. Peter is saying that as Heavenly children we shouldn’t
let petty earthly differences cause strife between us.
1 Peter 2:2-3.
2 like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, 3 if you
have tasted the kindness of the Lord.
Out of curiosity, can a parent tell me how often a baby needs feeding? More than once a day I’m guessing.
As infants, we have one duty. To eat. Right? To eat, be healthy, and grow. Peter is telling us to eat like infants and
crave The Word like pure milk. I’m Hungry!!!! Feed me more!! I need to be healthy and grow!!!! We have access to
more information than ever before. We have Bible apps. Bible podcasts. We have preachers on YouTube. Maybe we
could put a picture of a baby bottle on the back of our smartphones to remind us to eat.
So how much have you been eating? Are you feeling malnourished? Let’s crave The Word like infants so we can grow.
Got Milk? (I’ve got the word!)
What are you doing with it? (I’m growing in my Salvation!)
Conclusion:
John 17:22-23
22 The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; 23 I in them
and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them,
even as You have loved Me.
This is part of a beautiful prayer that Jesus prays before He is arrested. It seems that this is coming from the depths of
His soul. This is right before He gets arrested, so if He actually died, I would say it was His dying wish. But He’s not dead,
is He? He’s alive! And where does He live? In us.
Here’s the question. Do we believe this is possible? Do we believe That this prayer from the Lord can happen? I
don’t find anything in John 17 that says this is supposed to happen after He returns. Which leads me to believe…It can
happen now.
It would be easy to say that the world needs to change for things to get better. It’s because of all those bad people over
there. If they would change, then the world will get better. But waiting for the world to change is putting our hope in
the lost. We are the Church. Jesus lives in us. If we can’t get this right, I would say there is no hope for this world. On
the other hand, what if we can get it right? What if we can learn to stretch ourselves to love each other as Jesus calls us
to? Then maybe, just maybe. We can be that hope.
So what is impeding you from growing in your Salvation? What do you need the word to purify you from?
Let’s stretch ourselves to love deeply, and long for Spiritual Milk.
When we commit to growing in our Salvation, we can fulfill our Lord’s prayer and be the hope of the world.
The Cross:
Maybe you are here today and feel the spirit stirring in your soul. Maybe you are saying, I want to be a part of this
mission of love. I want to be a member of the Heavenly family. Open your heart to the grace and Salvation of the Lord.
Be willing to listen and follow Him. Be willing to change. He will bless you and give you new life. Eternal life.
Welcome to the family. Let’s Pray.
North Village Church
This sermon is brought to you by North Village Church, a non-denominational church in Austin. established in 2009 and built around Jesus and Bible teaching.
Are you looking for a church in Austin? At North Village Church we put Jesus at the center of our church family. We worship together every Sunday at 10:30am, encourage Christ centered fellowship through groups, and host special events such as Bible studies and Theological Training, to ensure that we are rooted in in God’s Word. We also serve our local community in association with several Austin based organizations.
North Village Church is made up of professionals, married couples, singles, and families who are wanting to experience the life-transforming power of Jesus. If you are a family with children or teens, we can support you with either or both our Kids Ministry and Youth Ministry.
You are welcome to contact us if you would like more information.
NVC Online
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