What Does God Expect From A Young Christian? - Frank Brancato

As we begin this morning. The keynote passage for the text

that is on the screen. Really?

Is found in the previous chapter.

There you remember that these were not written with chapter

and verse? They were written as a

continuous letter. So when Peter divinely inspired

by the Holy Spirit wrote. This it was a continuous letter.

So the keynote passage that's found in the previous chapter is

found in First. Peter chapter 1 and verse 23.

1 Peter 1 · chapter mention

Three it really sets the tone, it sets the stage of who Peter

is talking about or talking to. It says having been born again,

not of corruptible seed, but Incorruptible through the word

of God that lives and abides forever.

Let me just say a couple things about being born again.

You know, I realize that it really is a subject or really is

a concept. It's often times misunderstood,

but let me just explain Way to give me about two minutes, I'm

going to explain what it means to be born again.

And it really is very, very simple.

And we go to the words of Jesus, in Matthew chapter 18, it all

Matthew 18 · chapter mention

begins their. You remember, the disciples came

to Jesus and they said, tell us master, who is the greatest in

the kingdom of heaven and Jesus took a little child and he

placed a little child in their midst and he said, except ye be

converted and become Come as little children ye shall not

enter the Kingdom of Heaven. In John chapter 3, again, the

John 3 · chapter mention

words of Jesus, the teachings of Jesus, he's talking to Nicodemus

and he tells Nicodemus, he said, you have to be born again.

Nicodemus says, how is that possible?

How can a man when he is old be born again?

Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be

born? And Jesus says, he that is born

of the flesh is flesh and that, which is born of the spirit is

Spirit. Jesus, then says, you have to be

born of water and the spirit. So all we know so far, Matthew

18. Jesus said, if you want to go to

heaven, you have to become as little children, John chapter 3,

John 3 · chapter mention

if you want to go to heaven, you have to be born again and John

John 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3 tells us. You're born again.

Can you are born of water and the spirit, we all know that's

baptism, but let me give you a passage in Romans chapter 6

Romans 6 · chapter mention

beginning there in verse 3. Paul said know, ye not that so

many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into

his death. Therefore we are buried with him

by baptism into death that like as Christ was raised from the

dead by the glory of the father. Even so we also should walk get

this in. In newness of Life.

Sounds Familiar, doesn't it? Matthew 18, Little Children.

John chapter 3 born again and Romans chapter 6 New Life.

John 3 · chapter mention Romans 6 · chapter mention

It's the same thing. So we're talking about someone

that has been baptized for the remission of their sins but

going back to our passage, Peter says we are born again, not of

corruptible seed, but incorruptible Incorruptible

seed, in other words in Romans chapter 1 and verse 16.

Romans 1 · chapter mention

The Apostle Paul says, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of

Christ for it is the power of God to Salvation for everyone,

who believes for the Jew first. And also, for the Greek, one

more passage along this line, and it's found in Acts chapter 2

Acts 2 · chapter mention

and verse 41, then they, that gladly received his word were

baptized and the same day that Were added unto them about

3,000, Souls. All this is very important in

our introduction, and it's going to be extremely important later

on as we progress through. So Peter says were born again,

how not of corruptible seed, but Incorruptible seed, what is

that? That is the gospel of Christ and

the gospel of Christ is the word of God.

All right, so we're talking about a Christian now, now from

that point forward, though, the Christian has Has a

responsibility. You've heard me in days gone by,

you've heard me say, you have heard me say that the Christian

from the Waters of baptism, has a three-fold responding

obligation. You've heard me say that.

You've also heard me preach on two of them, one is a responding

obligation to God, and that's to live a holy life.

We understand that that's first and foremost, by the way, we

have an obligation to serve God and live a holy life.

Number two, we have a responding.

Action to each other in that. We bear one another's, burdens.

We do that. We help each other in the

struggles. We are to do that and responding

obligation to each other. That means I have a responding

obligation to my father responding obligation to you,

but there's one more. We have a responding obligation

to our self and that is to grow in Christ.

These are things that we have to do in our life.

Let's go back to our passage. Let's go back to 1st, Peter,

chapter 2, and we're going to notice the first two.

And by the way, in this, we have some practical things and Peter

gives us the negative side and these going to give us the

positive side. We're going to begin with the

negative side In this passage and he says says this there for

laying aside all malice, first of all the phrase laying aside

literally means once for all time action.

It doesn't mean cut back. You know, one of the problems is

people trying to quit something you never tried to quit

something. I have I think everyone's had

something in their life, I'm not necessarily saying it was a

vice, but something in their life.

For example that they were trying to quit or do without and

sometimes people say this, well what I'm going to do is I'm just

going to cut back a little at a time and then as I cut back a

little at a time then eventually I won't be doing it anymore.

Okay. That is like a progression.

A little at a time. You know what the problem is,

while you are cutting back, you have not quit, you have it.

It doesn't make any difference. If you went from participating

in something in great magnitude all the way down to a little

bit. You're still doing it.

You still have that problem. You still haven't quit.

Now, I have to say this to. I do believe in Progressive

growth, so please get this down, you're taking notes, write it

down. There's a difference between

growth and doing without things that we have to lay aside big

difference. You know why?

Because growth is always Progressive We talked about that

Paul said until Christ is formed.

In you, meaning, we grow gradually.

Absolutely, but what about things that were in our life?

Now what he's talking about is once we are born again, once we

are a member of the body of Christ, we have specific things

that we must lay aside once and for all once, for all time

action. Now, remember this?

Sometimes people struggle in their spiritual life and

sometimes we always take a better young people in our kids.

And sometimes they struggle in their life and I don't care how

old you are. You can struggle to But

sometimes people struggle because they will not make a

break from their pest. If you had things of your past

that were not right and you participated poorly in your past

with certain people. You may have to cut those people

out of your life. You may have to cut that aspect

of your life out of the way. Okay, not last month but the

February before in Oklahoma City, I preached a sermon

holding the young people's meeting there with Cullen Smith.

One of my topics was living Godly in an ungodly world and

one of the things that I brought out was this, I said, when it

talks about mortifying, the Deeds of the flesh or putting to

death, the Deeds of the flesh, that means that we have to

mortify, or put to death, the sins of our I passed and we do

that once we are born again when we obey the gospel.

What happens though, is this, if you stop participating in a

sinful act that, you know, is wrong and you stop because, you

know, it's wrong. But inside you ruminate on the

joys and pleasures of that sin, right?

All the Happy Times, all the fun memories, right?

If you do that, you have not mortified it.

You have merely internalized, it and it's only a matter of time

before it leaks out. So what does he say?

Later, decide once, and for all time, and now he's going to get

specific malice What do you think about?

When you think about malice? It actually is defined as

wickedness Badness in quality and evil.

And, you know, really, I don't know anybody in this

congregation that, that fits There's going to be some things

that pertain to you perhaps some things that don't pertain to

you. But notice what he's saying is

this is a hundred percent of all of you is what he's saying.

Once you obey the gospel, you have to lay aside once and for

all time wickedness, Badness and quality and Evil.

It's called Mouse. What else?

The idea of mouse to is to have the disposition to injure.

Someone and that also is with retaliation.

Number two, deceit. Now, what do you think about,

deceit? Obviously, we think about things

like things that are crafting, or Sly, or underhanded.

We get that, right? I got a slip, something else in

there too, though. I got a slip, something else in

because in our society, this is what we say, we say saying a

lie. Okay, to do something.

Underhanded towards someone else is wrong.

As a terrible thing. That's dishonest.

But little white lies are, okay. Have you ever heard the term or

ever heard somebody say everybody lies.

I have everybody lies people sometimes make it a habit, make

it a way of living, make it a way of life in the words of my

dear father-in-law. I love when he's used to say

he'd say. So and so would lie if the truth

bit better. Somebody sometimes just does

that you're going to do once. And for all time action, lay

aside, malice lay aside to seek to be an honest person, get rid

of that. What else live an aboveboard

life? Got to get rid of this one too.

And, you know, over the years, you know, me very well.

Over the years, you've heard me preach on this.

You've heard me mention hypocrisy and you've heard me

say what hypocrisy is not. Okay, give me a minute.

I got to do it again, but I'm going to give you something else

today. I'm going to give you an example

that I gave in Oklahoma City last month.

I'm gonna give you an example specific example.

If you want to know, if someone is hypocritical or living a

hypocritical life, I'm going to give you a specific example,

okay? But let me talk about what it is

not It is not this, it is not that brother so-and-so or sister

such-and-such is trying to do that which is right.

But they made a mistake, they fell.

They became weak and they sinned.

That is not a hypocrite. You know what people do though?

I hate this. I just hate this.

It is the most overused and abused word in the world.

And what it is is it's used often times as an accusation to

justify their own lack of behavior.

Have you ever heard somebody say?

Oh, I don't want to go to church.

There's Hypocrites over there. Least I can stay out here.

I don't want to go, I don't want to worship with Hypocrites,

overused. I don't know, anyone in fact,

there has not been any one ever that lived?

Besides Jesus, that was perfect. So guess what?

We're all going to sin. And, you know what, I'm so

thankful because the Bible says John says we have an advocate

with the father. Jesus Christ the righteous.

All right, we're going to send so committing a sin is not a

hypocrite. What is it?

As defined? It is one answering for another

according to Yui Vine. That's what it means.

It is a play actor. That's pretending to be

something they never intended to be, that's what that means.

Now here's the example, this is what I used.

So a kid goes away to school, goes away to college.

And during the week. He's doing things that he

shouldn't do. Saturday night rolls around goes

to Big frat party. Okay, does things he shouldn't

do gets bombed out of his mind. Sunday morning, he drives to

church. He walks in bleary-eyed from the

night before I'm brother, greets him at the door and says, Hey

Brother so-and-so. How about taking the third song?

Sure. And he gets up there

bleary-eyed. And he leaves that song and he

sits down. He spends a few hours with his

Christian Brothers and Sisters in Christ.

And then he goes back to his other life in school.

That's a hypocrite. That is someone that's

pretending to be a Christian when they know they really

didn't intend to be that's the difference.

And may I say this to, you've heard me say this statement, but

I've added to it since then, I've added to it.

But I really do believe that who you really are.

Is better determined, by the way that you behave in places where

you are not known. That's number one, that's really

you. Number two, I got to add to it

though, or in places where you are the most comfortable.

That's you. That's me.

That's us. All right.

Now we understand what it is. That's just not do.

That sounds good to me. Let's lay it.

Aside. No more hypocrisy.

No problem. What about this?

What about Envy now? What is Envy me is in Via bad

thing. By definition, it is.

But let me tell you what Envy is not, okay?

Chris is sitting up front. So I'm using him as an example.

He's right there. I like Chris's truck.

I love that truck. Nice truck.

What if I said man? Chris, I sure like to have that

truck That Envy. Nope.

What if I said this man that's a great truck.

I'd sure like to have one one day.

That and me. Nope, nothing wrong with that

either. It's not a matter of, I just

would like what somebody else has one day.

That is not what that means. And sometimes people say that an

envious person is someone that looks forward to having

something. That somebody else has that's

wrong. You got to be content in

whatever state you're in, which is true spiritually.

But from a standpoint of what you might want to have, that's

not a sin that the girl was wanting that you might even say.

A one-day. I really like to have one like

that, like, to afford that one. Again, not a sin.

Here's the sin. I'm displeased with Chris

because he has prosperity and I don't get to have one.

Now, I'm guilty and me. You see what that no-good Chris

got. He got that truck.

I've been working my own self for 20 years.

I can't afford to truck like that and then be.

Yeah, that's Envy. Envy is I'm angry that he has

prospered and I have not, that's Envy.

That's what you got to get out. That's what you got to get rid

of, sole aside malice, deceit hypocrisy, envy and then here's

this one. Oh, this one.

Evil speaking. You know, this word here means

speaking down to or about another Now, I got to tell you.

The word In this passage is also found in 2nd Corinthians, 12 and

20 and it's translated as backbiting.

It Paul said, for I fear, lest when I come, I shall not find

you, such as I wish and that I shall be found by you.

Such as you do not wish, lest you be there, be contentions and

jealousies outbursts of Wrath selfish, Ambitions, back

bitings, whisperings can seats and two moles.

So the word for back bitings is the Greek word that's found in

this text, and it's only found in these two places.

It means speaking down to another person.

And you know what really is scary about that.

We've all done it. Speaking words to tear down.

I want to understand something with you today.

We are in a spiritual battle everyday.

If you're a Christian, you are in a spiritual battle every day.

You are an individual Soldier fighting in this battle.

Collectively together in the body of Christ.

We are the Army and we're fighting a war and a battle.

You know what the war is? We're fighting a battle against

the devil every day. Who wants our souls?

And you know what else? We're fighting a battle against.

The world who opposes us. Now, I'm going to tell you what,

we got the devil against us and often times, we have the world

against us. Let's not be guilty of Friendly.

Fire me. Tell you something out,

Friendly, Fire. One of the saddest things to

ever hear is when a soldier, an American Soldier goes into

battle and loses his life. It's bad enough when they lose

their life, but when they lose their life because of Friendly

Fire, that's so much worse. number of years ago, you

remember Pat, Tillman Pat Tillman was a Outstanding

football player. He had a multi-million dollar

contract to the University of well first he went to the

Arizona State University, then he went on to the Arizona

Cardinals and FL Right after 9/11, he decided I'm going to

give up my football career and I'm going to enlist.

I'm going to go into the military.

I'm going to fight for my country.

He said, And he was fully willing to die for his country.

Shortly after he was in the military.

I don't know how long it was when he was in war, shortly

thereafter. We all found out that he died.

He was killed. That he died in battle.

We all thought, But then the report came out later that he

died. From Friendly Fire.

One of his own accidentally took his life.

All I'm saying is this, we're in a battle every day, we fight

against the devil, we're fighting against the world.

Let's not do that to each other. Let's build each other up a

strengthen one. Another, let's be diligent in

doing that. So he says ladies decide once

and for all time these things that's the negative side.

Now let's talk about the positive stuff.

Here's some positive things that we can do.

First Peter, chapter 2 and verse number 2.

1 Peter 2 · chapter mention

First of all, he says, as newborn babes in other words,

what this means is this is talking about at your earliest

infancy. It is new or recent.

So it means right from the start, right?

When you obey the gospel as newborn babes, you have a

responsibility from coming from the Waters of baptism at your

earliest infancy to do certain things.

What does God? Expect from a young Christian,

the same thing he expects from an old Christian and the same

thing he expects from a new Christian, it happens to be old

and years, here it is as newborn babes, we have to desire, a

burning desire and have a desire for the word of God. you know,

when a baby is born, I think this is emphatic in the sentence

here, when a baby is born and brought into this world The

first thing that they do is they bring the infant to its mother.

because you come in this world hungry, And that's what he's

saying. You enter into this world from a

spiritual perspective, you're doing so hungry you're doing so

with a burning desire, for the word of God, it's an intense

driving desire to know more about the word of God than you

know. Now the suggestion in our

passage is very clear that until we make a clean break with the

sins in our life, we are not going to have the desire for the

word of God that we need to. Have we will be full of the

world and not full of the word. I'm going to tell you if you

have sinful things in your life, if I have sinful things in my

life, you know, when I'm wanting to do those simple things in my

life, the last thing I want to hear is a sermon If I'm making a

choice to have sinful Pleasures in my life, that day.

The last thing I'm thinking about is picking up the word of

God and reading it, don't you see the idea is what's implied.

His you got to get rid of a sinful things.

Immediately right now, I did say that growth is Progressive, but

you have to get rid of the sinful things immediately and

just as a baby comes into this world.

If you want to be successful, have a burning desire for the

word of God. An intense hunger for the word

of God. You know, in Luke chapter 15.

Luke 15 · chapter mention

You know, we we've taught we know this story.

And I'm not going to get into the story of The Prodigal.

I want you to fast forward to the story when he's with the

pigs, okay? A terrible job for a Jewish boy,

I want you to fast forward the entire story and let's focus on

the where he was with the pigs. The Bible says that he would

have eaten the husks. That were fed to the pigs.

You know what the husks do I read?

The husks kill the appetite. And number two, it perverts the

taste. Now, he said I would have eaten

that. But they wouldn't even give me

that. Stay with me on this.

We're talking about feeding on something spiritually.

That's good for you as opposed to something that is bad for

you. A husk destroys the appetite.

It also perverts. The Taste.

What I'm getting at is this, if you fill your mind with garbage,

okay, I don't care who you are. If you fill your mind with

garbage, it's going to destroy your appetite for the word of

God. And it's going to pervert.

The Taste and confuse you. I'm going to give you Bible for

that. I'm just come up with them and

give you a Bible. Notice with me a couple things

about that. What about the first Timothy

chapter? 1 verse 4, the King James calls

it myths and endless genealogies.

The new King James has rights rights it like this.

Listen, neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies,

which minister questions rather than Godly edifying which is in

faith. In other words, instead of Godly

edifying to the word of God don't feed on that garbage.

I'm going to tell you something right now.

People sometimes get confused. Because they divert their

attention from that, which is wholesome, and that which is

right, and that which is good and that which comes from God.

And they do all of their investigating in other avenues,

with other books, with other authors with other others.

And they're so confused. They're so confused.

And you know what they start doing?

They start saying this. Well I just can't see how a

loving God would do this or I just can't see that.

It really does matter. You know why?

Because they heard somebody say that.

How important is it when you come from?

The Waters of baptism, have a burning desire for the word of

God. I'm going to give you some more

Paul is saying that we must avoid the things that corrupt

our clear minds and assault and attack biblical truth in first.

Timothy 6 and 20, listen to this Timothy guard.

What was committed to your trust.

Avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of

what is falsely called knowledge.

In other words stay away from them you know the phrase their

Vain babblings is from the King. James actually means something

outside, the sacred Temple. It is contradictions of what is

falsely called, knowledge. So a practical way that I might

say that, don't let your mind be corrupted, don't do that.

Don't let your mind be corrupted.

Don't focus on those kind of things.

I'll say this too. There's going to come a time in

your life. when you obey the gospel and perhaps you were

raised in the church, And maybe your entire life you were

brought to the church. And you worshipped in the Church

of Christ, all your life. And you were brought up that way

and you were baptized for the remission of your sins and and

all of that. And I do believe that there does

come a time in a person's life when they have to own their

faith. In other words, their faith has

to become their own. That's true, no problem.

No problem yet. And then there comes time when

there are questions that people have and sometimes people start

questioning things again so far. No problem, how do we know that?

Because Paul prays those in Berea, why they heard even the

great Apostle Paul preached, and they didn't take his word for

it. They searched the Scriptures

Daily to see if those things were so So the question we know

from the Bible is not wrong. Here's the problem.

What's the source of the answer? If you have a question okay have

it pick up the Bible and find the answer?

Don't pick up some books, somewhere that some man wrote?

Don't ask your friends at no less about the Bible than you

do. Don't do that.

Seriously, pick up the word of God.

If you don't understand something, go to someone that

can help teach you the word of God.

But keep your mind free and rid your mind of all the garbage

that exist in the world today. So notice what it is.

Let's talk a little bit more about the word of God.

So it says, as newborn, babes are earliest infancy, have a

burning desire for the word of God.

The new King James says, pure and the old King James says

sincere, and the word sincere is from the word.

That means, guileless or unadulterated, it is the word.

That's often times in its Origins referred to as without

wax, okay. Now.

Couple painters in here. Remember what we used to say, I

was a painting contractor for 24 years.

We always said this a painter's putty and paint make a

carpenter. What he ain't or a carpenter

Works in strives to do his best in the painter.

Comes in Cox the wrist. Right.

You know what this word means hear this phrase without wax.

It was referred to a sculpture or a carpenter.

And when the carpenter would build something and it would

have imperfections and flaws in it, they'd had wax when a

sculptor would sculpt something out and it would have an

imperfection or a flowing it, you know, they do it, put it in

a little wax. But if the man actually

performed great work and turned out a mess, your piece and it

didn't have flaws in it. You know what they called it.

They called it without wax. That is the word sincere.

It is without wax. That's what the word of God is.

Against all the garbage in the world.

The word of God is pure. It's without wax.

You don't need anything else. It is straightforward.

Christian's can feed upon it. Notice verse 3, verse 3 now.

And what this is this is a summation of what he just said.

In other words going to give a reason why do you do it.

Why do you cast aside all those simple things.

Why do you have a burning desire for the word of God?

God, because in this verse, it says, if indeed, and if indeed

literally means since So he's sewing it up.

He says, since you have tasted what that the Lord is gracious,

you've perceived the flavor, you've enjoyed the Lord is

gracious, Hebrews, 6 and 5, same idea and have tasted the good

word of God and the powers of the age to come.

The Lord is gracious. The word gracious means kind and

benevolent. Here's the point.

Why do it since you received at the Lord is gracious and you've

tasted the beauty of that cast aside, the sinful things in your

life and have a burning desire for the word of God to grow.

That's what that means. That's what that means in

conclusion, and I'm finished. We've learned the following.

In 1st Peter 2 and verse 1, through 3.

We lay aside. Malice deceit hypocrisy Envy

evil speaking and we're going to be as newborn babes are, and

we're gonna have a burning desire for the Pure or sincere

milk of the word. Why?

That we may grow, that we may grow one final passage in my

conclusion, get this. I have an entire sermon, by the

way, on this passes. I'm going to show you.

So I'm not going to preach the whole sermon now, but I'm just

going to show you something here.

Okay, I love practical stuff. In First Peter 1 beginning in

verse 13 13, you want to be successful in living the

Christian Life. You got to understand, I'm in a

battle him in a fight, okay? So what I'm going to do, I'm

going to gird their loins of my mind.

I'm going to get my mind, right, I'm going to get prepared for

Action, that's what I'm going to do.

That's what I'm going to do. I'm not going to let these

peripheral issues derail me. I'm going to get my mind, right?

I'm going to be focused on that. What else am I going to do?

I'm going to be sober, simply meaning this, I'm going to be

serious minded about my Christianity.

That's all that. It's what else am I going to do?

I'm going to get my mind fixed. I'm going to get my mind fixed

on when Jesus is going to come back and I'll make decisions

based on how is this going to affect?

When the Lord comes back? In my relationship with him as

obedient children, I'm not going to conform myself to the former

lust, as in my ignorance. I'm not gonna do that.

I'm not going to fall back. But I'm going to live a holy

life. I'm going to live a Godly life.

In all my conduct. And may I say this?

Just because we know, we're not perfect, and we know we're going

to stumble and sin. Doesn't mean that we cannot make

the affirmation that I am not going to be anything other than

a faithful Christian for the rest of my life.

You mess up. All right, get back.

Get right straighten up. That's okay.

Let's go get back in there. But you have to make the

determine resolve in your mind. I'm not going to be anything but

a faithful Christian for the rest of my life.

If you're thinking in the back of your mind well we'll see how

it goes. Yeah.

We'll see how it goes. It's kind of like getting

married you stand there with that person.

You're making the choice. I'm going to be with you for the

rest of my life. It's a choice.

It's a choice in advance, make that in your life.

And serve God all the days of your life.

I'm finished this morning. Thank you so much for your kind

listening. We thank you for listening to

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