“as
newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow
thereby” 1 Peter 2:2 NKJV
Do
you have a favorite pastor? Have you, in
the course of your Christian life, encountered a teacher that seemed to have a
charismatic aura that drew people in?
I’m sure that most of us have, and in my own life I would easily name
several whom I have enjoyed learning from immensely. Yet I think most of us would agree that it is
all too easy, especially in the church today, to focus on the teacher rather than
the message. Peter’s standing in the
church Jesus created, and his importance to the development and direction it
went is universally acknowledged. Yet as
such, especially in light of where many believe the church today is headed, I
think it important if not essential that we look to the very first sermon ever
taught to see what God instructed Peter to teach.
“But
Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of
Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my
words.” Acts 2:14 NKJV
Did
you notice that the first thing Peter says is that the people are to focus on
his words, and not on himself? “heed
my words” Not listen to me, but
listen to the message. One of the most
encouraging things I sometimes hear is that while many large, popular churches
today are described by their “followers” in terms referring to the preacher who
leads them, there are others in the body who choose to describe their churches in relation to
the doctrine taught, and the if the “words” follow what the Bible has to
say. In his first sermon to the church,
Peter makes it abundantly clear what that message and those words are supposed
to be.
“Men of
Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by
miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you
yourselves also know—“Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and
foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put
to death; “whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death,
because it was not possible that He should be held by it.” Acts 2:22-24
NKJV
The
first words to the church, and the most important message to mankind from God
was this; Jesus is my Son. This
was the message Jesus shared during His ministry and the reason He was
crucified.
“The
Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die,
because He made Himself the Son of God.”
John 19:7 NKJV
Of
course, as the perfect Son of God, Jesus was qualified to become the Savior of
the world, and by His death the price for our salvation was paid. The Father then proved His point by raising
Jesus from the dead in the ultimate sign of His power and Jesus’ position as
His Son, confirming all that Jesus had taught in His time on this earth.
“Therefore
let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom
you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” Now when they heard this, they were cut to
the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren,
what shall we do?” Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of
you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you
shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Acts 2:37-38 NKJV
This
is what we call the gospel, and it is the foundation of the church as it was
created on the day of Pentecost.
Unfortunately, confirming the prophecy of the Laodicean church model in
Revelation 3, you will never hear this message taught in the majority of
churches today. So what should we as
believers strive for in light of what we see the church becoming, and what we
find in this first message to the church by Peter? My thought is that we should simply follow
the example of those first believers and imitate what they did after hearing
this message of the Gospel of Christ.
“And
they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the
breaking of bread, and in prayers.”
Acts 2:42 NKJV
Peter’s
charge to the church in his letter to fellow believers was to “desire
the pure milk of the word”. In
essence, he was saying that in order to grow, the first thing we need to do is
learn. The early church learned by
continuing “steadfastly” in what they had been taught. The “apostles’ doctrine” was the gospel
message taught by Jesus. The Word of God
is the manual for life that we as believers need to focus on, and the doctrine
or teaching that it contains should always be the focus of our attention. Sadly, the desire to abandon that doctrine as
Jesus and the apostles taught was clearly anticipated and predicted.
“For
the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to
their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for
themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be
turned aside to fables.” 2 Timothy
4:3 NKJV
So
obviously, in order to learn we must also hear sound doctrine. We must always compare what we hear, with
what the Word of God has to say, in order to know if the doctrine we are being
taught is what Jesus and His apostles taught or something man has decided
should replace it. The power of the Word
comes from the text, not from the preacher.
Unfortunately, in the church today, people focus more on the one doing
the talking rather than the words which are being spoken. It’s my personal belief that anyone who
chooses to teach should never forget that they are simply the waiter serving
the food and not the chef who cooked it.
“How
then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they
believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a
preacher?” Romans 10:14 NKJV
To
grow we must learn, to learn we must hear, and in order to hear, those early
believers committed themselves “steadfastly” to seek out the proper
food or doctrine. I titled this study
“you are what you eat”, and I think it goes without saying that we all know or
have experienced what happens when we choose not to eat right. The word for steadfast in the Greek literally means “to stick and not move”, obviously describing a commitment to
examine their spiritual food. Using the
analogy of food, we all as believers should ask ourselves if we are being fed a
nutritious healthy meal or a calorie laded sweet dessert. What would the state of the church be today
if everyone demanded the proper food as described here in Acts? I think we would all agree it would be a lot
healthier and obviously look much different.
“For we
have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence
steadfast to the end,” Hebrews
3:14 NKJV
I
would like to suggest that if you commit yourself to eating the proper
spiritual food you will get to know God better, know yourself better, and live
life better. Spending time in God’s Word
has unfathomable benefits for our spiritual health, and we should never
compromise on “the pure milk of the word”. Never forget, as believers we are what we eat.
“Your
word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalm 119:105 NKJV
Keep
watching.
