To God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout the earth, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood:

Grace and peace be yours in abundance. You are invited to come to the Wednesday evening prayer meeting and pray. (8:30 PM EDT Wed., Oct. 3, 2001)

Immediately preceding these three verses, the Holy Spirit of God, speaking through the apostle Peter, has told us that, since we have been born again through the "living and enduring word of God," (1 Peter 1:23) we really have purified ourselves by obeying the truth and really do have sincere love for each other (1:22). These things are facts for God's elect, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God. Now we must love one another deeply, from the heart.

Today's passage is the conclusion of the matter: "Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind." Just as we are now able to love each other deeply and from the heart, we are also able to rid ourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Don't you want to do it? The reason you want to rid yourself of all these evil things is that you are born again. The Holy Spirit has put that desire in your heart.

Milk (v2) is all the nourishment that newborn babies need. It contains all the necessary nutrients for them to grow. The pure spiritual milk that we are told to crave is the living and enduring word of God. It contains everything that we need in order to grow up and become like Jesus -- everything.

"Pure," in the phrase "pure spiritual milk," means not watered down or mixed with anything foreign. These days, the word of God frequently comes with all kinds dilutants and contaminants. Many authors and speakers think that God has left some necessary thing out of his word. They think that they are wiser than he is, and can add what he left out -- or maybe that he deliberately made his word incomplete and expected us to add something to it -- or maybe that the word of God is too strong to be palatable and needs to be diluted. But the word of God is just exactly perfect for us so that we will grow up in salvation. When you read it and study it, meditate on it and talk about it, the Holy Spirit uses it to conform your thinking to the thinking of Christ. Your mind and heart are conformed to the mind and heart of Christ.

What men write about the word of God (as I am writing this now) can be helpful and encouraging, but you need to test everything to be sure that it is pure -- to see whether or not it agrees with what God has written through the apostles and prophets -- to see whether or not it agrees with the words of Jesus. But when you read the bible, you don't need to test anything. It is the word of God and is pure and complete and perfect for your nourishment. It will certainly cause you to grow and become mature. Haven't you tasted that Jesus is good? Peter says that you have. God says that you have.

We are all tested in many ways (James 1:2). We are tested by the world and by the devil. We are tempted to give in to the "flesh" or "sinful nature." The world and the devil try to teach us to act out of malice -- that it is right and just to get revenge -- that we have an obligation to do it. God tells us to forgive, just as through the blood of Christ, he forgave us. The world and the devil teach us to deceive -- that, in order to make anything go your way, it is necessary to manipulate people so as to get them benefit you. Concerning deception, God says that all liars belong in the lake of fire. The world and the devil say that you have to make yourself look better than you really are or no one will accept you, but Jesus said of the wicked, unfaithful servant in the parable (Matt. 24:50,51), "The master will come when he does not expect it and cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites (deceivers), where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (By the way, since God has already accepted you. You don't really need anyone else to accept you.) The world and the devil entice you to envy anyone whom you think has something you need but can't get. Jesus says, "Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things (material needs) will be given to you as well (Matt. 6:33).

Without the word of God you would always give in to all the temptations of the world and the devil. It would hardly even be called giving in. For the most part, you wouldn't even know any better. But with the word of God, even if you give in to a temptation, you know to come to God and that he will forgive you. God's purpose for allowing us to be tested is to teach us to overcome. With the word of God, you will learn.

If you crave the word of God -- if you crave Jesus -- you will grow and become like him. You will become honest and open and sincere. You will trust God more and more to provide. You will begin to know that all that he has for you is good. You will learn not to ignore sins that you have committed -- as though God didn't see, or as though he would forget about them after a while, but to confess them and be cleansed completely through the blood of Jesus. Praise God for his great salvation.

Pray for us to crave and be nourished by the living and enduring word of God, and to know that we are being nourished, and know that we are growing and ridding ourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind -- and to remember that we have tasted that the Lord is good.

Come and let's pray for each other as well as for the whole church. Come and encourage your brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. Love them.

Love in Christ, Dean

PS: If you absolutely can't make it to the prayer meeting, send your prayer requests back to me by e-mail and we'll pray for them.