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I'm gonna spend a little bit more time, you know, in in 1 Peter in chapter 2, just reinforcing um, you know, the things that we discussed, that we talked about. And how many of you know that repetition really enforces skill? Repetition enforces knowledge, right? Um repetition, it helps us get better at what what what we do, who we are, what we're becoming, who we are becoming, you know. Um and so, yeah, let's take take a little bit of a little bit of time, and uh I'm gonna go ahead and and um and read this passage, and and we'll launch out from there. So in chapter 2, 1 Peter, and verse 1, wherefore laying aside all malice, all guile, hypocrisies, envies, all evil speakings, as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby. If so be that you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. To whom coming is unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious. You also, as li as living stones, are built upon a spiritual house, your holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect and precious, and he that believes on him shall not be confounded, shall not be ashamed. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious, but unto them which are disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, they rejected, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed. But you're a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that you should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, which in time past you were not a people, but are now the people of God, which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts that war against the soul, having your conversation honest among the Gentiles, that whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. Amen. So so we we we were talking about um, you know, the the the things that that are that are being discussed here is is really the progression of growth that we had that we as believers go through, right? Um and and and from from um uh you know Isaiah said here, little, there, little, precept upon precept, line upon line, there's a progression, right, to growth. And and so, you know, that's that's what we follow. And in that progression, it's for the purpose of bringing us through and maturing us to where our life is now a living epistle, right? And and that's that's what he's dealing with here. Um in chapter one, as we we looked at, he's he's dealing with you know the new birth and and what happens, that that coming to faith, right? And then through adversities, through trials, we begin to see the things that need to be removed from us. Isn't that one of the amazing things about uh about a trial, right? Um, you know, uh uh something comes along, a difficulty, we're faced with it, and our response to it really begins to show us what's in us. Right? Um we get to see good things, and we give God thanks and glory for the work that He did, and and we get to recognize the maturity that has taken place, and then we also get to see that part of us that still needs to grow, you know, that got frustrated, that got angry, that had some colorful adjectives to throw into a conversation, right? And and we get to see where we're falling short. And and we need to be careful, right? Because if we are believers, if we are born again, the Bible says there's therefore now no condemnation, right? And and and we can walk confidently in that and not allow the devil, whose desire is to condemn us. That's what he is looking to do, okay? We do a good enough job on our own, don't let the devil do it too, okay? And and so, you know, it comes that through this process of maturing, as we talked about, we come to where we start recognizing and understanding and believing our identity as the word says it, as God says it. We are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. I don't I don't begin to understand it. The Bible says it. That you and I, we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. I know me. I smell my breath in the morning. I see my face. And I can't say my hair all tussled up, but my beard's all mangled. Kind of this way and that way. We see it. We know who we are, right? We like to convince ourselves or try to convince ourselves that we're not that bad, but come on. You know, we can't, we're we're not fooling ourselves, right? Definitely not fooling those that are smelling our breath, seeing the tussled hair, right? They see who we are. But in spite it, in spite of that, coming to the point as we're growing, realizing that what God's word says is reality, not what I see, not what I believe, naturally speaking, right? Not what I'm trying to convince myself, the Bible says that that we're to live by faith, right? Faith, the Bible also says, comes by hearing, and hearing by the word in Romans. So you with me? We we might see these things, we might experience things, we we might hear, you know, the venom that proceeds out of our mouth at times, the nastiness, you know, recognizing, you know, inside of us what's going on. And amazingly, God says we are his righteousness. The righteousness of God. That's we are walking in the righteousness that God walks in. That kind of, that, as God sees us, we're we're righteous, just like, just like Jesus. And and righteousness, simply put, if we're going to render it into a simple understanding, is right standing. We have the right to stand before God. He welcomes us in, into his presence. That veil has been ripped, torn asunder. And now that the place that was only permissible for the priest once a year to enter in, we can enter into that place at any time. Anytime. Now, do we avail ourselves of that? See, that's that's the thing we got to start challenging ourselves with, you know, taking a look at it. Am I living in that understanding, that awareness that I can live fully in God's presence at all times? That God dwells in me, his spirit dwells in me at all times. There is no separation. There is no, you know, I don't need somebody, you know, to go in and make sacrifice for me. Jesus did it, it's done. The priest would make sacrifice, so God's wrath was removed and people were accepted for another year. We're accepted year upon year. And we don't need Christ to be crucified again. It's done, right? And so that as we mature, we come to where we know and are confident in what God says about us and we we see our identity, we understand who God has made us to become. We are becoming what God has made us to become from the beginning. And so, you know, and from there, what happens? Along the way, as we develop and we grow and we change in pursuit of God's word and the transformation that takes place in us, we then become that epistle that Paul said is known and read of all men. We become that example. We're that, as as as the in the Beatitudes in Matthew, Jesus on the mount said, that we're to be that candle that's placed on a mantle and not hidden under a shade. That we're to be the salt of the earth, you know, making a difference and seasoning. You know, that's the the nice I like salt. We like salt. We like salt. I like salt. Salt is good. Salt is good. No? You like salt? No? You don't like salt, Shane? You like salt. Good. Good. Shane likes salt. Everything's good in the world. You know, and and and where to be that. By being salt, he's telling us to be that impact, right? You put salt as you're cooking something, it ch it it really enhances the flavor, doesn't it? It really does. You know? Um, and and that's what God calls us to, to be, to, to be that spice, to be that seasoning, you know, having that kind of impact, making things better. Salt makes things good. I like I'm gonna sit here and talk about the virtues of salt for a few minutes. I like salt. It makes it does make things better, right? It does. It adds a good flavor to it. Kathy, you agree with me? You agree with me? Good. Shane and Kathy are in agreement. Book ends. In agreement. It makes it makes a good it it's it it has a good effect on on a recipe. And and that's what we are to be. We're to we're to have a good positive effect and and really seasoning and savoring, or causing the you know, things that the the word of God to really have that impact in the world. Right? So he he begins by saying, you know, that that we're to uh put away, you know, that that malice, that envy, that hypocrisy, evil speaking, and so forth. And he says, as newborn babes desiring, you know, that that milk of the world, word. And and milk represents God's truth that sustains life, right? And we talked about that on Sunday, right? You got a baby, a newborn infant. And and and there's there's only a couple things that they're capable of doing, can't do a whole lot more. They can't, you know, uh other than their cuteness, they're not adding a whole lot to the environment they're in. Right? They really aren't. They're not changing the oil in the car and saving your back, Dad. They're not vacuuming the the living room and saving time for you, mom. They are just sitting there cooing and pooing. Pretty much it. But man, are they so cute, right? And you love them. And and and the the the milk that they need, you know, every couple hours. They're starving, crying. And they want it, and and they they desire it, right? They're they're they're going after it. That's what they need. And and what does it do for them? It strengthens them, and and by the day, they grow bigger and bigger and stronger and stronger and smarter and smarter. And before you know it, they're 18 years old, eating you out of house and home. And now, yeah, they're they're they're changing the oil for you, Dad. They're vacuuming the the living room for you, mom. They grow and they develop and they become who they were initially made to be, and they continue becoming who they're to be, right? As they grow and they develop. So we're to desire the milk of God's word, that which we need to grow from where we started to where God intends us to be. And and uh it's uh underst understand though, desiring is is it's is the desire is the issue because that's what drives the pursuit. Okay? And and it's not just, and and what I mean by that, you know, we're we're blessed, we're fortunate. This is this is this is the place where God's word is preached, where lives are challenged and and conformed to the image of God, where accountability comes, hey, you know, this is the word, what are you gonna do with it? We are blessed to be in a place like that. We really are. I'm not trying to imply that we're the only ones, we're not, okay? But we are blessed that God put us in a place like that. Okay, and so, you know, on a given Sunday, we're gonna hear a good word. We're gonna hear a provoking message and a challenge on any given Sunday. On a Wednesday, we're gonna come together, we're gonna hear God's word. We're gonna fellowship with each other, we're gonna be challenged, iron sharpening iron, right? But with all that that we're sitting there and hearing and taking in, it's not enough. We have to desire it, we have to pursue it. What are we doing to grow in our knowledge and understanding of God's word and the application of it? What kind of time are we spending with the Lord one-on-one? Taking the things that we're hearing and digging into them deeper. Paul called the Bereans out. Everybody familiar with that passage? He called them noble because they they dug into the things that he said. They looked to see if it was so themselves. Just because somebody stands up here and they've got a title before their name, don't buy everything, hook, line, and sinker. You're gonna stand before God and be accountable for everything that's in here. Not only what you heard, but really, I shouldn't say not only, you're not gonna be accountable for what you heard, but what you did. It's the doer of the word that's righteous. It's not just, it's not just hearing it. We've got to grow beyond that. And so I I challenge you, ask yourself, take a look. What am I doing with this? Am I digging into this myself? Am I digging a foundation to which Christ is the cornerstone in my life? Am I doing that? Because you know you're getting it. You come here on a service, you know you're getting that foundation, you know you're getting that that that that that that precious cornerstone, are we doing it ourselves? Are we building it ourselves? Right? Um, so let me let me ask you, if if our spiritual appetite honestly respect reflects um our priorities, what would it reveal about the current walk that we have with God? Take take a minute. Um you don't need to raise your hands, you don't need to ask that. Something for you to reflect on. If my desire, my personal pursuit reflects my relationship with God, and I know I'm looking at you, I'm not looking at you intently like that. I'm just trying to formulate thoughts, and I'm right there. Um if if that reflects my relationship with God, what would it say? We've got to ask ourselves that every day. Now, at this point, Peter takes a little shift, you know, um, as he's here in verses 4 to 10, and he now goes to um the identity that that we have, who we are growing into. Um and he's he starts off with Christ being the cornerstone. And and understand that our alignment with Jesus determines everything that's built in our lives. Our alignment with the truths of God's word, our connection with Him, our pursuit of Him, our adherence to the Word all establishes how we're being built, how strong we are, how healthy we are, right? And and so a healthy believer has that that good, healthy appetite for God, and upon that, our foundation is made solid. Okay? We continue to grow well. And and understand, and and Mike could probably speak to this for us really well, being a builder, right? If if that cornerstone wasn't set true and plum, what what was the issue with the rest of the building? Yeah, it was it was out of whack, wasn't it? Right? And then and then the other aspect of why that cornerstone, and I know technologies are a little different today, right? Right, but but back in in days gone by, that cornerstone was much larger, right? Several times the size of other stones that were used in the building, because the the two sides would meet at that point, and and that cornerstone had to support a lot of weight. Everybody get that? Everybody understand that? It would have to because it would it could shift, even if it was placed correctly, you know, it could over time shift, provided that what? The foundation, if the foundation isn't set right, right, Mike, and you place that cornerstone, things can get out of whack. There's a lot of weight there. So there's so much that goes into consideration when we're talking, when when this uh this analogy is being used, this picture is being painted for us. Christ is that cornerstone and the foundation that we're built on. And Luke, how it talks about the man building his house on a foundation, solid, not on sand that shifts, right? Put all these things together and we begin to understand what's being said here. So we desiring God's word, hungering and pursuing that word and looking to spend time with God and realize the application in our lives so we can come face to face with God's word and be challenged. Because no man, James says, looking into the perfect law of liberty can walk away and not be changed. Right? And and so that's that's imperative. We've got to ask ourselves, am I that hungry for God's word? And and if I am, and and this foundation's being built, then my cornerstone, Christ, my life, my cornerstone that's that that is Christ, and me being a living cornerstone in the building that He's making me is good and solid. Does that make sense? We get yeah? Okay, good. So we are those living living stones. Um, and we're being built together into that spiritual house and a holy priesthood. In that, understand, no one's unnecessary. There isn't one person in the body of Christ that isn't essential, and and no one is meant to live disconnected. And we all have different personalities, right? And and I've shared it before. Me and my natural personality, I am perfectly content if you leave me naturally speaking. Leave me in a corner with a book or my guitar or my music, and I am good. That's not good. No man lives to himself, no man dies to himself, right? We're all members in particular. God has placed us as he desires in the body, 1 Corinthians says. Right? We all have a very we all have a very significant part to play in that. No matter how new we are or how how you know how how uh young we are in our walk or how old we are in our walk. We all have a critical part to play. And that's where he says, you know, the the the eye can't say to the hand, I don't need you. And the eye, the hand can't say, say to the eye, I don't need you. If you don't have your eye, it's kind of hard to find what you're gonna grab, right? The eye can't say I don't need you, because the eye can't grab anything. And the hand can't say I don't need you, because without the eye, it can't see what it needs to grab. There's an interdependency. We gotta understand that. And that's where the scripture talks that if one of us is suffering, we all suffer. Now, maybe, maybe, you know, we're not walking away with the same emotional pull that's going on in that individual's life, but it has an impact on us. Because if they're suffering, it has an effect. It has an effect on the whole. We're all dependent on each other. We all need each other. Because that's part of how God begins to work in our lives to mold us, to change us. Because we can't, you know, we're we're we might be able to see, you know, the imperfections that are in us at times, but we also have that natural tendency to downplay them. We need somebody to look and say, you know, what you said, what you did, what do you think about that? And to challenge us on it. What do you think about it? And it causes us to really, you know, begin to come face to face with what it is that's in us that needs to change. Um, Peter declares, you know, that we are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and God's special possession. So, you know, why does he call that out? You know, why does he make that a point to tell us that? That we are a peculiar people, a chosen generation. What why does he do that? He spends, he spends a lot of time in this this whole thing where where he's giving us the practical application of the things that he he mentioned in the first chapter of the trials and the things that challenge us and provoke us to grow, right? Why does he do that? Just to make us feel good about ourselves? You know, to give us confidence? Well, there is some of that. Not necessarily to feel good about ourselves, but to give us the confidence of this is what God says. This is how dear you are to him, right? Um the identity that we're learning here, who we are, really precedes our our actions. In the sense that we're we're only gonna. I didn't write it on here. Um there's something that Tozer said, A. W. Tozer. And and he said, our you know, along this line here, he he said, we become what we love and what we think about. Think about that for a minute. We become what we love and think about. Okay? And and so Peter's telling us, he's he's giving us an understanding of what God says, his perspective of us is, that we're that chosen race, that royal priesthood, and his special possession, the love that he has for us. Because we don't live holy to become God's people. We're we're we live holy because God has made us his people, and we're his people because we're separate. When we talk about being holy, we're talking about being separate from the world, but it doesn't end there. Okay, the definition for holiness is to be separate from the world and given to God, right? We're separated from the world, but belong to God. You you got you got to finish it with that, right? So so we're not, what we don't do, we don't try and be holy so we can be God's people. He has made us his people, so therefore our lives need to be separate. You with me? And and and it's it's understanding, you know, that that we're we're we're not to identify with with the world. And then he he brings us into you know what what this witnesses in our lives, how we're you know, the how we're living, because because that's what we're now getting to, right? He's not taking us to how we should be living, separate from the world, not doing what the world does, not allowing you know what our society says is right and what our society says is acceptable. We're not sold into that. We're calling it what it is, we're living separated from that. You know, we understand the the sin that it is, and we give ourselves to God. And we see we call we call the things that are good good. That, you know, we call the things that are holy holy. We don't mix it and say, well, you know, okay, if if if people are gonna do, it's a it's okay for now. I I I remember when I was when I was young, um, it was and and some of you here are old enough, right? Um when when there was, you know, like a family that was having problems, and and you know, divorce was like hushed, hushed, right? You didn't hear much about it. You might have even had a friend that that their parents were divorced. Nobody really talked about it because it was a shame, right? Or or if a man and woman outside of wedlock moved in together. It was kind of hush-hush. People didn't really talk about it. It wasn't, you know, it wasn't talked about in the family when you got together for dinner. You didn't talk about, you know, your your your aunt and whoever that that cohabitate outside of wedlock. It wasn't brought out, you know. There was in in our in in my family, there was there there was a homosexual. Nobody really talked about it, but everybody knew it. Why? It was just a shame, right? People understood it was wrong. But now in our culture today, it's fully accepted, isn't it? You know, and and so you know, we need we need to understand that and live separate from that. And and um that that the life that we live doing that, honoring God with with you know the way we live our lives, and honoring God that way, is now that example that that sets us apart. Okay? And and the world has to, they that's what begins to bring the conviction. Like Jesus said, they hate me because of my life. And I'm paraphrasing, right? He he said, because I live my life like I am, they have no excuse for their sin. And they hate me for that. And that's why they look to kill them. Okay? And honestly, that's why they look to kill Christians. You understand? There are more Christians being persecuted and killed today than there were back in the days of Nero. Interestingly enough, you know, there are Christians dying every day in persecution, and mainstream media is not saying anything about it. You don't see it on the news. It's not, it's it's not being reported on. Why? Because the world hates Jesus, and they hate us. But we have to live our lives separate, right? Um, so yeah, so it it's it's imperative that we understand that that it's through God's word that we grow and mature, and in that maturation process, we begin to learn who we are in Jesus. And as we learn who we are in Jesus and we're walking in that, then it's it's an example before the world and a challenge to the world, and our lives become that you know that that witness. And we share the truth because of that distinction, and we begin to share it with people. Right? Amen. Um so again, just just leaving with um just a thought. If if somebody were to evaluate our faith by how we live, what would they conclude about God? If somebody were to take a look at how we live on the daily, when we don't even know anybody's watching us, what would their conclusion be about God? Because that, in many cases, that's the only revelation of who God is to the world, to some. But how we honor God and how we separate Him in our lives and how we pursue after Him is really what the world will begin to see and understand about who God is. Right? We that's that's a very important thing to understand. And the responsibility we have before God, you know, and how the scripture says that everything we said, everything we did is all going to be brought up and valued and evaluated, you know. And as a believer, we don't need to fear, you know, that that's you know, somehow gonna cause us to lose salvation. No. No, but everything that we've said, everything that we did will be brought to account and it will be evaluated, and then what was done corruptly, what was done out of the flesh, what was you know done not in accordance with the word, didn't have, you know, the the um, didn't hold the word precious, didn't hold God in that honor, is the Bible says it's gonna burn up. It's gonna burn up, you know? And so how many things in our lives are gonna be that wood, hay, and stubble? And how many things are gonna be that gold? And I I can't answer it for anybody. I can't, in many cases, I can't even answer it for me. But I do know that if his word is precious to me, and I desire his word more than, like Job said, more than my necessary meat, and I have that desire, and I I associate myself with believers with that desire that I'm in a good place. I'm in a good place to grow. I'm in a good place that hopefully I've got more good and precious and solid gold things in my life to bring before God than the wood, hay, and stubble. Right? So, yeah, if somebody evaluated your faith by how you live, what would they conclude about our God? Who's got some needs? Some needs, some prayer needs, some prayer requests.