Peter Exhorts the Persecuted Believers Volume 22

 We Believers are to Abstain from Fleshly Lust

1 Peter 2:11-12 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which 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. KJV Note: NKJV=New King James Version

The Apostle Peter reminded those early Jewish converts to Christ back then as he (with these same words) reminds all of we converts to Christ today and of every era and generation that since we are now the people of God's own possession that we have a responsibility to show Him our love and gratitude so he exhorts us to mortify our flesh with these words, "Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;" (1 Peter 2:11) (KJV). The grace which we have been given comes to us without any merit or in other words without any of us deserving it at all, but this same grace also comes to us with the power or dunimus of our Father in Heaven equipping, energizing, and empowering us to excercise restraint and to refrain from those fleshly appetites that were common ways for us to behave before we were made the people of God (1 Peter 2:10). When the Apostle Peter here (in verse 11) calls us strangers and pilgrims, he is reminding us that we still live in our tent/house/body which is not our permanent home, for it is corruption now and will eventually go back to the dust of the earth from which it was made, but will become incorruption when we are resurrected by our God and Father as the Apostle Paul writes to the Corithian believers with these words, "So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body." (1 Corinthians 15:42-44) (NKJV). Since, we are still alive on the earth 🌎 as strangers and pilgrims we must be vigilant while still in our natural body to yield to God the Holy Spirit and the powerful grace that we receive from our Lord Jesus Christ sitting now on His Throne of Grace ready always to dispense as much as we need to do as the Apostle Paul declared with these words to the Roman believers and to the Colossian believers, "And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God." (Romans 6:13) (NKJV) and these words, "Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry." (Colossians 3:5) (NKJV). This is not and cannot ever be done by us in our strength or power (for we have none, if we did we never would have needed our Lord Jesus Christ), but by the power of grace from the Throne of Grace our lives can and will be free of these fleshly appetites that kept us from Christ and that continuously wage war against our souls, that is, our minds or mindset. We must contend against carnal inclinations by the grace of God and fight as a spiritual soldier in the supernatural power of grace just as a human soldier of war fights in the natural with human weapons. Here is what John Wesley said of 1 Peter 2:11, "Here begins the exhortation drawn from the second motive. Sojourners: pilgrims - The first word properly means, those who are in a strange house; the second, those who are in a strange country. You sojourn in the body; you are pilgrims in this world. Abstain from desires of anything in this house, or in this country."

Next the Apostle Peter tells us that his exhortation and imploring of us to abstain from these many fleshly lust that war against us is not only for our spiritual well being, but it is also that we may walk among all those who still are spiritually dead in this newness of life completely contrary to the way we lived before the day of our salvation, as he declares with these words, "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." (1 Peter 2:12) (KJV). Since, God having saved us, that is, snatching us out of the clutches of the evil one 1⃣ as the Apostle Paul declared He has done with these words to the Colossians we should walk or live worthy of our high calling 'in Christ', "For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins." (Colossians 1:9-14) (NKJV). When we live under control of our 'old man', by not putting him off and putting on the new man 👨 (Ephesians 4:22-24), we do this as Paul declared with these words written to the believers in Rome, "For 'the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles/unbelievers because of you,' as it is written." (Romans 2:24) (NKJV). As followers of our Lord Jesus Christ we must repent of our sins and design, desire, and determine to walk or live out our daily lives to please Christ because we love Him and not begrudgingly as if it is only our duty, remember what Paul the Apostle wrote to the Galatians, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage." (Galatians 5:1) (NKJV) and also these words, "I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law." (Galatians 5:16-18) (NKJV). Here is what John Wesley said of 1 Peter 2:12, "Honest - Not barely unblamable, but virtuous in every respect. But our language sinks under the force, beauty, and copiousness of the original expressions. That they by your good works which they shall behold - See with their own eyes. May glorify God - By owning His grace in you, and following your example. In the day of visitation - The time when He shall give them fresh offers of His mercy."

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.


Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…

Peter Exhorts the Persecuted Believers Volume 21

 We are a Peculiar People/New Creations of God by His Mercy

1 Peter 2:9-10 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. KJV Note: NKJV=New King James Version

The Apostle Peter just finished telling or reminding us of how many of those Jews of old rejected Christ as being their Messiah and instead believed that the true Messiah had not come yet. Like those Jews of old, many Jews and Gentiles today continue to reject, refuse, or resist Christ as the only way to Heaven/God. However, the Apostle Peter wants those of us today and of every era and generation who have come to Christ in genuine repentance and faith and been born again by Him of incorruptible seed to know who we are in Him at all times and in any place, so the Apostle Peter declares to us who we are 'in Christ' and how He sees us whom He has redeemed with these next words, "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy." (1 Peter 2:9-10) (KJV). First, the Apostle Peter calls us a chosen generation and this English word 'chosen' is translated by the Greek word eklektos meaning select; by implication favorite: - chosen, elect. The English word 'generation' is translated by the Greek word meaning figuratively countryman, offspring, kindred, nation. This does not mean that we were and are the good sinners that Jesus Christ looked upon and said, 'They are worthy of My salvation', of course not God forbid, but it simply means we are the chosen of God because we came to Him the one and only way He says sinners must approach Him and that is by repenting and believing the Gospel of Grace which is that Jesus Christ died for our sins in our place and resurrected from death proving that He alone is God and He alone can forgive sin. Second, the Apostle Peter calls us a royal priesthood and the English word 'royal' is translated by the Greek word basileios (used this one time only in the New Testament) meaning kingly (in nature). The English word 'priesthood' is translated by the Greek word hierateuma meaning the priestly fraternity, that is, a sacerdotal order (figuratively): - priesthood. The design, desire, and determination of the Apostle Peter to us is that we would see ourselves the way God sees us now, for the Lord Jesus is King 👑 and He was crucified because it was declared that He was 'King of the Jews' (Matthew 27:37) & (Mark 15:2). We are in union with Christ, in fellowship with Christ, in relationship with Christ, therefore, we are Kings and Priest unto Him just as the Apostle John wrote here, "To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen." (Revelation 1:5-6) (NKJV). Third, the Apostle Peter calls us collectively a holy nation and the English word 'holy' is translated by the Greek word hagios meaning sacred (physically pure, morally blameless or religious, ceremonially consecrated): - saint. The English word 'nation' is translated by the Greek word ethnos meaning a race (as of the same habit), that is, a tribe; nation, people. The design for those of us who have been redeemed, regenerated, and resurrected by God the Holy Spirit is to conform us into the image of Christ (Romans 8:29) and Christ is Holy, therefore, we are always and at all times commanded to be holy as Peter has already reminded us of with these words earlier in this letter/epistle, "Because it is written, 'Be holy, for I am holy.'" (1 Peter 1:16) (NKJV) and it is from the words written by Moses in the Old Testament with which the Apostle Peter quotes, such as here, "For I am the LORD who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy." (Leviticus 11:45) (NKJV). The professing Christians who make light of the holiness of God and walking and living in holiness as believers are a stench (a distinctive odor that is offensively unpleasant) in the Nostrils of God. Fourth, the Apostle Peter calls us a peculiar people and the English word 'peculiar' is translated by the Greek word peripoiēsis meaning a people of His own possession or a purchased people of His. In other words, we belong to God as His very own adopted sons and daughters having been born again by the incorruptible seed of His very own Word. In so becoming His very own purchased people (by way of the Blood of Jesus Christ) we now are enabled, energized, and empowered by Him to bring forth or shew forth, that is, to published or to put out to Him praises that are honoring to Him and bring Glory to Him alone for the change and transformation He has done and is continuing to do in us and through us to the Glory of God for all the world to see and behold. When a crack addict drops their rocks and are empowered by God to never defile their physical bodies with that substance again or when a heroine addict drops her needles and no longer desires to shoot that poison into her veins or when a pedophile is delivered from his desire to have sex with children 🧒 and is enabled by God to turn completely away from that demeaning, destructive, and damning lifestyle by the Power of the Holy Spirit all praise and honor and glory belongs to our Great God and Savior alone Jesus Christ. For all we sinners were once far off from God because of our sin, but now we are close to God because of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and we are now the people of God made by Him into new creatures, as it is written, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17) (NKJV). Mercy was shown to us, when we did not deserve it at all. Amen!!!

Here is what John Wesley had to say of 1 Peter 2:9-10, "But ye - Who believe in Christ Are - In a higher sense than ever the Jews were. A chosen or elect race, a royal priesthood - 'Kings and priests unto God, Rev. 1:6. As princes, ye have power with God, and victory over sin, the world, and the devil: as priests, ye are consecrated to God, for offering spiritual sacrifices. Ye Christians are as one holy nation, under Christ your King. A purchased people - Who are His peculiar property. That ye may show forth - By your whole behaviour, to all mankind. The virtues - The excellent glory, the mercy, wisdom, and power of Him, Christ, who hath called you out of the darkness of ignorance, error, sin, and misery. Who in time past were not a people - Much less the people of God; but scattered individuals of many nations. The former part of the verse particularly respects the Gentiles; the latter, the Jews." Here is what Matthew Henry had to say of 1 Peter 2:9-10, "Learn, [1.] All true Christians are a chosen generation; they all make one family, a sort and species of people distinct from the common world, of another spirit, principle, and practice, which they could never be if they were not chosen in Christ to be such, and sanctified by His Spirit. [2.] All the true servants of Christ are a royal priesthood. They are royal in their relation to God and Christ, in their power with God, and over themselves and all their spiritual enemies; they are princely in the improvements and the excellency of their own spirits, and in their hopes and expectations; they are a royal priesthood, separated from sin and sinners, consecrated to God, and offering to God spiritual services and oblations, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. [3.] All Christians, wheresoever they be, compose one holy nation. They are one nation, collected under one head, agreeing in the same manners and customs, and governed by the same laws; and they are a holy nation, because consecrated and devoted to God, renewed and sanctified by His Holy Spirit. [4.] It is the honour of the servants of Christ that they are God's peculiar people. They are the people of His acquisition, choice, care, and delight. These four dignities of all genuine Christians are not natural to them; for their first state is a state of horrid darkness, but they are effectually called out of darkness into a state of marvellous light, joy, pleasure, and prosperity, with this intent and view, that they should show forth, by words and actions, the virtues and praises of Him who hath called them. (2.) To make this people content, and thankful for the great mercies and dignities brought unto them by the Gospel, the Apostle advises them to compare their former and their present state. Time was when they were not a people, nor had they obtained mercy, but they were solemnly disclaimed and divorced (Jeremiah 3:8; Hosea 1:6, Hosea 1:9); but now they are taken in again to be the people of God, and have obtained mercy. Learn, [1.] The best people ought frequently to look back upon what they were in time past. [2.] The people of God are the most valuable people in the world; all the rest are not a people, good for little. [3.] To be brought into the number of the people of God is a very great mercy, and it may be obtained."

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.


Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…

Peter Exhorts the Persecuted Believers Volume 20

 Christ is Precious to True Believers but He is an Offence to Unbelievers

1 Peter 2:7-8 Unto you therefore which believe He is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. KJV Note: NKJV=New King James Version

Imagine if I were to go around and go about declaring myself to be perfect and the only man 👨 that knew the truth about everything and that all other men who lived in the past, who are alive in the present, or who will live in the future are all sinful and wrong. Of course people who have known me would laugh 😂 at that bold statement of mine knowing many of my sinful ways as well as my utter ineptitude or unskillfulness in many things. However, there is a man 👨 (the God Man) our Lord Jesus Christ who declares this of Himself when He said and says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6)(NKJV). In other words, Jesus Christ declares Himself equal with God and the only way to God and the only truth anywhere and that outside of Him all have no life (no physical life, no spiritual life, and no eternal life). Well, unlike the scenario of me or any other man 👨 or woman 👩 claiming such things above, our Lord Jesus Christ lived a completely sinless perfect life on the earth 🌎 and then went willingly to be executed taking on every human beings rotten sin and filth, but then He destroyed, decimated, and defeated death by rising or resurrecting from death three (3) days later and showing Himself alive from the dead to many people proving that He is the way, the truth, and the life because He is God. When we sinners come into union with Jesus Christ, He takes upon Himself all of our sins (our past sins, our present sins, and our future sins) immediately and He gives to us what we don't have nor could we ever have without Him and that being righteousness which means that we now have right standing with God, but it means even more than that while we remain alive in our bodies on the earth 🌎, for it is a new principle placed in our inner man 👨 and inner woman 👩 giving us a desire to walk or live in newness of life (Romans 6:4) by virtue of God the Holy Spirit being with us but also in us, as it is written by these words spoken directly from the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, "If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you." (John 14:15-18) (NKJV). These are some of the reasons why Christ Jesus is so precious to we true born again/begotten again sons and daughters of His. Here is what the Expositor's Bible Commentary had to say of the preciousness of Christ to true believers, "For the name of Christ was in many ways made a reproach; and only men of faith, like Moses and the heroes celebrated with him in Hebrews 11:1-40, could count that reproach greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. Other and weaker hearts needed encouragement, needed to be pointed to the privileges and glories which are the inheritance of the followers of Jesus. And in this spirit he applies the prophetic words, 'For you therefore which believe is the preciousness.' Faith makes real all the offers of the Gospel. It opens heaven, as to the vision of St. Stephen, so that while they are still here believers behold the glory of God to which Christ has been exalted, are assured of the victory which has been won for them, and that in His strength they may conquer also. Thus they receive continually the earnest of those precious and exceeding great promises (2 Peter 1:4) whereby they become partakers of the Divine Nature."

So, we now have the Apostle Peter marking out for us the stark contrast between those early Jewish converts back then who came to Christ as the living stone, the chief cornerstone (just as we true believers today and of every era and generation after them) vs those Jews back then and all unbelieving people since them who remained or remain  unreformable, unrepentant, and unregenerate not wanting to yield themselves to Christ alone for salvation because they see many other ways to be spiritual or religious or simply not believing in God at all. The Apostle Peter makes known the contrast with these words, "Unto you therefore which believe He is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed." (1 Peter 2:7-8) (KJV). To the remaining unbelieving men and women the Name Jesus Christ is nothing more than words or a name to be used in blasphemous 😤 frustration or 🤦‍♂️ exasperation and even more blasphemous as a word or name used in profanity. The unbelieving heart sees no beauty in Christ nor can he or she, for as it is written, "But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:14) (NKJV). The devil 😈 is going about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8) that he may keep sinners from hearing and obeying the Gospel of Christ, as it is written by the Apostle Paul in his second letter to the Corinthian Church ⛪, "Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the Word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. But even if our Gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age (the devil 👿) has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the Gospel of the Glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." (2 Corinthians 4:1-6) (NKJV). When the Apostle Peter uses the phrase 'a stone of stumbling', that little English word 'stumbling' is translated by the Greek word proskomma meaning a stub, that is, (figuratively) occasion of apostasy: - offence, stumbling block. Peter also uses this little phrase 'a rock of offence' and the little English word 'offence' is translated by the Greek word skandalon meaning a 'scandal'; a trap stick (bent sapling), that is, snare (figuratively cause of displeasure or sin): - occasion to fall, thing that offends, stumbling-block. The Lord Jesus Christ is a barrier or a brick wall or a building between the unbelieving sinner and their sin and the love 😍 of their sin, which makes Him an offence to them a displeasure to them because everything they still love 😍, Jesus hates and therefore, He is a stumbling block and a cause for the false, fraudulent, and fake believers apostasy, that is, the state of having rejected your affiliation, religious or political beliefs, or principles (often in favor of opposing beliefs or causes).

An apostate was always a fake believer or better put make believer, he or she was never born again by our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ, for they never heard His voice they heard the voice of seducing spirits, that is, doctrines of demons as written for us with these words by the Apostle Paul to brother Timothy, "Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth." (1 Timothy 4:1-3) (NKJV). Here is what the Expositors Bible Commentary has to say of the disbelieving or unbelieving, "But all men have not faith. The Bible tells us this on every page. God knows what is in man, and in His revelation He has set forth not only invitations and blessings, but warnings and penalties. Life and good, death and evil-these have been continually proclaimed as linked together by God’s law, but ever with the exhortation, 'Choose life.' Of such warning messages St. Peter gives examples from prophecy and psalm: 'But for such as disbelieve, the stone which the builders rejected, the same was made the head of the corner,' (Psalm 118:22) 'and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense'; (Isaiah 8:14) 'for they stumble at the word, being disobedient.' Here the Apostle touches the root of the evil. The test of faith is obedience. It was so in Eden; it must be ever so. But now, as then, the tempter comes with his insidious questionings, 'Hath God said?' and sowing doubts, he goes his way, leaving them to work; and work they do. Now it is the truth, now the wisdom, of the command, that men stumble at. But in each case they disobey. Those leave it unobserved; these despise and set it at naught. And the penalty is sure. For mark the twofold aspect of God’s dealing which is set forth in the passages chosen by St. Peter to enforce his lesson. Spite of man’s disobedience, God’s purpose is not thwarted. The stone which He laid in Zion has been made the head of the corner. Though rejected by some builders it has lost none of its preciousness, none of its strength. Those who draw near unto it find life thereby; are made fit for their places in the Divine building, in the kingdom of the Lord’s house which He will most surely establish as the latter days draw on. But they who disobey are overthrown. The despised stone, which is the sure word of God, rises up in men’s self-chosen path, and makes them fall, and at the last, if they persist in despising it, will appear for their condemnation. 'Whereunto also they were appointed.' The Apostle has in mind the words of Isaiah, how the Prophet, in that place from which he has just quoted, declares that many shall stumble and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken. This is the lot of the disobedient. These penalties dog that sin. It is the unvarying law of God. The Bible teaches this from first to last, by precepts as well as by examples. The disobedient must stumble. But the Bible does not teach that any were appointed unto disobedience. Such fatalist lessons are alien to God’s infinite love. The two ways are set before all men. God tries us thus because He has gifted us above the rest of creation, that we may render Him a willing service. But neither prophet nor Apostle teaches that to stumble is to be finally cast away. Both picture God’s mercy in as large terms as those in which St. Paul speaks of the Jews: 'Did God cast off His people? God forbid…They, if they continue not in their unbelief, shall be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.' (Romans 11:1-36)"

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.


Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…

Peter Exhorts the Persecuted Believers Volume 19

 Christ is Precious to True Believers and we are Never Ashamed to Put all our Trust in Him Alone

1 Peter 2:6 Wherefore also it is contained in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on Him shall not be confounded. KJV Note: NKJV=New King James Version

One of the most horrible things that can happen in the life of a young kid or teenager is to be shamed or feel shame at any time or place. Many of them will go to or do some extreme things to avoid ever feeling this human emotion. It is also present in the life of grown adults as well, however, most are able to cope with the negetive results of feeling shame as they get older. Our English dictionary defines shame in this way; A painful emotion resulting from an awareness of inadequacy or guilt; disgrace or dishonor. There is another shaming that has occured and continues to occur to this very day being instigated by the devil 👿 against true followers or disciples of our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ. One of the chief tools used by this enemy of God/Jesus and true believers is the prodding or egging on of unbelievers to mock and laugh 😂 at true Christians for being weak by needing to make up a fairytale God in the sky to lean on or use as a crutch in life. I say all of this because the Apostle Peter reminds us of the words spoken by the Prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 28:16) when he writes to us with these words, "Wherefore also it is contained in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on Him shall not be confounded." (1 Peter 2:6) (KJV). As we learned from the last study/commentary, we born again or begotten again sons and daughters of God are being built up into a spiritual house. Christ is the 'chief corner stone' of each individual spiritual house and He is the 'chief corner stone' of the collective building of all true believers (scattered all over the earth 🌎) that make up His Bride the Church ⛪. The Apostle Paul put it this way to the Ephesian believers, "Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit." (Ephesians 2:19-22) (NKJV). The Apostle Peter above says that to us Christ is 'precious' and this English word is translated by the Greek word entimos meaning valued (figuratively): - dear, more honourable, precious, in reputation. The Apostle Peter also says above that those of us who truly believe on Him shall not be 'confounded' and this English word is translated by the Greek word kataischunō meaning to shame down, that is, disgrace or (by implication) put to the blush: - confound, dishonour,  make ashamed. In other words, unlike a child or teenager fearing that something precious to them will bring them shame from their peers, we who have the firstfruits of the Spirit (Romans 8:23) through regeneration and the new birth have truly tasted and seen that our Lord Jesus Christ is good and nothing or no one will cause us to be put to shame or shamed down or feel disgrace because we have put our whole weight on Christ or our whole trust in Him only and alone to manage and control all aspects of our lives, for without Him we can do nothing (John 15:5) (not even tie our shoes), as the Psalmist King David wrote with these words we cling to them, "Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!" (Psalms 34:8) (NKJV).

Here is what Matthew Henry had to say of Christ being the 'chief cornerstone' of His Spiritual House the Church ⛪, "All sincere Christians have in them a principle of spiritual life communicated to them from Christ their head: therefore, as He is called a living stone, so they are called lively, or living stones; not dead in trespasses and sins, but alive to God by regeneration and the working of the Divine Spirit. (2.) The Church of God is a spiritual house. The foundation is Christ. It is a house for its strength, beauty, variety of parts, and usefulness of the whole. It is spiritual foundation, Christ Jesus, - in the materials of it, spiritual persons, - in its furniture, the graces of the Spirit, - in its connection, being held together by the Spirit of God and by one common faith, - and in its use, which is spiritual work, to offer up spiritual sacrifices. This house is daily built up, every part of it improving, and the whole supplied in every age by the addition of new particular members. (3.) All good Christians are a holy priesthood. The Apostle speaks here of the generality of Christians, and tells them they are a holy priesthood; they are all select persons, sacred to God, serviceable to others, well endowed with heavenly gifts and graces, and well employed. (4.) This holy priesthood must and will offer up spiritual sacrifices to God. The spiritual sacrifices which Christians are to offer are their bodies, souls, affections, prayers, praises, alms, and other duties. (5.) The most spiritual sacrifices of the best men are not acceptable to God, but through Jesus Christ; He is the only great High Priest, through whom we and our services can be accepted; therefore bring all your oblations to Him, and by Him present them to God. The matter of the quotation is this, Behold, I lay in Zion. Learn, 1. In the weighty matters of religion we must depend entirely upon Scripture - proof; Christ and His Apostles appealed to Moses, David, and the ancient Prophets. The Word of God is the only rule God hath given us. It is a perfect and sufficient rule. 2. The accounts that God hath given us in scripture concerning His Son Jesus Christ are what require our strictest attention. Behold, I lay, etc. John calls for the like attention, John 1:29. These demands of attention to Christ show us the excellency of the matter, the importance of it, and our stupidity and dulness. 3. The constituting of Christ Jesus Head of the Church is an eminent work of God: I lay in Zion. The setting up of the pope for the head of the church is a human contrivance and an arrogant presumption; Christ only is the foundation and Head of the Church of God. 4. Jesus Christ is the chief corner-stone that God hath laid in His spiritual building. The corner-stone stays inseparably with the building, supports it, unites it, and adorns it. So does Christ by His Holy Church, His spiritual house. 5. Jesus Christ is the corner-stone for the support and salvation of none but such as are His sincere people: none but Zion, and such as are of Zion; not for Babylon, not for His enemies. 6. True faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to prevent a man's utter confusion. Three things put a man into great confusion, and faith prevents them all - disappointment, sin, and judgment. Faith has a remedy for each."

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.


Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…

Peter Exhorts the Persecuted Believers Volume 18

 We are a Holy People and a Spiritual House to our Father God

1 Peter 2:4-5 To whom coming, as unto a Living Stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. KJV Note: NKJV=New King James Version

In the previous three verses of Scripture, we learned that our only way to have the 'life of Christ' rule and reign within us is by our devouring His Word like a baby does his or her Mother's milk. Now the Apostle tells us why it is so important for us to feast on the Word of God, because it is Christ and Him alone who lived the only accpetable human life in the sight of God the Father that none of the rest of we sinful human beings could ever live, then He took upon Himself our sinful lives dying on the Cross ➕ paying our enormous sin debt that we could never pay off by any so called good works or good deeds of our own and then He resurrected (bodily) from the dead. Paul wrote these words to the Colossian Church ⛪, "And He is the head of the Body, the Church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence." (Colossians 1:18 (NKJV). Having said all of this as our introduction if you will, the Apostle Peter (just like Paul) wants us to know that our Lord Jesus Christ is everything or as Paul declared above preeminent, so Peter writes, "To whom coming, as unto a Living Stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 2:4-5) (KJV). Our Lord Jesus Christ was the first human being to come back alive from the dead. Even though He is God, He is man or human just like us, therefore, He is the Living Stone rejected, refused, and resisted by many, but those of us who receive Him receive from Him all of the resurrection life within our inner man 👨 and inner woman 👩 that He has and that He is, as it is written, "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?'" (John 11:25-26) (NKJV). All human beings come from Adam and are united with Adam by the sinful nature he passed down to each and every human being that has ever lived, that is living now, and that will live in the future, however, not all human beings from the past, present, or future will be united with Jesus Christ except they repent and receive Him as their personal Lord and Savior. Here is what the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian Church ⛪, "And so it is written, 'The first man Adam became a living being.' The last Adam (Jesus Christ) became a life-giving spirit." (1 Corinthians 15:45) (NKJV). Here is what John Wesley had to say of 1 Peter 2:4, "To whom coming - By faith. As unto a living stone - Living from eternity; alive from the dead. There is a wonderful beauty and energy in these expressions, which describe Christ as a spiritual foundation, solid, firm, durable; and believers as a building erected upon it, in preference to that temple which the Jews accounted their highest glory. And St. Peter speaking of Him thus, shows he did not judge himself, but Christ, to be the rock on which the Church was built. Rejected indeed by men - Even at this day, not only by Jews, Turks, heathens, infidels; but by all Christians, so called, who live in sin, or who hope to be saved by their own works. But chosen of God - From all eternity, to be the foundation of His Church. And precious - In Himself, in the sight of God, and in the eyes of all believers."

What is true of our Lord Jesus Christ, that is, of His humanity is also true of us His adopted sons and daughters, for at the very moment of our salvation we became His workmanship, as written by the Apostle Paul with these words, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk/live in them." (Ephesians 2:8-10) (NKJV). So we can furthermore understand why the Apostle Peter uses the English word 'lively' stones in 1 Peter 2:5 to describe each one of us and this word is translated by the Greek word zaō a primary verb; meaning to live (literally or figuratively): - life, lively, quicken. It is the same word used above in verse 4 describing our Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, just as Christ was resurrected bodily from the grave or physical death, so are we true believers resurrected from spiritual death that is, separation from God when we are born again or begotten again by the hearing of the Gospel and the quickening Power of the Holy Spirit. We are at that very moment then 'are built up' and this little English phrase is translated by the Greek word oikodomeō meaning to be a house builder, that is, construct or (figuratively) confirm: - build up, edify, embolden. What sort of house is being constructed? A 'spiritual' house and this English word is translated by the Greek word pneumatikos meaning non-carnal, that is, (humanly) ethereal (as opposed to gross), or (divinely) supernatural, regenerate, religious: - spiritual. The English word 'acceptable' is translated by the Greek word euprosdektos meaning well received, that is, approved, favorable: - accepted. We born again sons and daughters of our Father in Heaven are being built into a new house/body (having been regenerated to newness of life) capable of offering up to Him worship that is true, well received, approved, and honoring Him by and because of our union with The Living Stone Jesus Christ, just as the Apostle Paul reminds us what type of living sacrifices we as sons & daughters of God should be and should live in our houses/tents/bodies, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." (Romans 12:1-2) (NKJV). Here is what Alexander MacLaren had to say of 1 Peter 2:5, "‘I beseech you, by the mercies of God, that ye present’—which is a technical word for a priest’s action—’your bodies a living sacrifice,’ in contrast with the slaying, which was the presentation of the animal victim. Now, that ‘body’ there is not equivalent to self is distinctly seen when we notice that Paul goes on, in the very next clause, to say, ‘and be transformed by the renewing of your mind.’ So that he is speaking, not of the self, but of the corporeal organ and instrument of the self, when he says ‘present your bodies a living sacrifice.’ Of course, the central idea of sacrifice is surrender to God; and, of course, the place where that surrender is made is the inmost self. The will is the man, and when the will bows, dethroning self and enthroning God, submitting to His appointments, and delighting to execute His commandments, then the sacrifice is begun. But, inasmuch as the body is the organ of the man’s activity, the sacrifice of the will and of self must needs come out into visibility and actuality in the aggregate of deeds, of which the body is the organ and instrument. But there must first of all be the surrender of my inmost self, and only then, and as the token and outcome of that, will any external acts, however religious they may seem to be, come into the category of sacrifice when they express a conscious surrender of myself to God. ‘The flesh profiteth nothing,’ and yet the flesh profiteth much. But here is the order that another of the Apostles lays down: ‘Yield yourselves to God,’ and then, ‘your members as instruments of righteousness to Him.’ To speak of the sacrifice of the body as a living sacrifice suggests that it is not the slaying of any bodily appetite or activity that is the true sacrifice and worship, but the hallowing of these. It is a great deal easier, and it is sometimes necessary, to cut off the offending right hand, to pluck out the offending right eye, or, putting away the metaphor, to abstain rigidly from forms of activity which are perfectly legitimate in themselves, and may be innocuous to other people, if we find that they hurt us. But that is second best, and though it is better in the judgment of common sense to go into life maimed than complete to be cast into hell-fire, it is better still to go into life symmetrical and entire, with no maiming in hand or organ. So you do not offer the living sacrifice of the body when you annihilate, but when you suppress, and direct, and hallow its needs, its appetites, and its activities. The meaning of this sacrifice is that the whole active life should be based upon, and be the outcome of, the inward surrender of self unto God. ‘On the bells of the horses shall be written, Holiness to the Lord, and every pot and vessel in Jerusalem shall be holy as the bowls upon the altar’—in such picturesque and yet profound fashion did an ancient prophet set forth the same truth that lies in this declaration of our Apostle, that the body, the instrument of our activities, should be a living sacrifice to God. Link all its actions with Him; let there be conscious reference to Him in all that I do. Let foot and hand and eye and brain work for Him, and by Him, and in constant consciousness of His presence; suppress where necessary, direct always, appetites and passions, and make the body the instrument of the surrendered spirit. And then, in the measure in which we can do so, the greatest cleft and discord in human life will be filled, and body, soul, and spirit will harmonise and make one music of praise to God."

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.


Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…

The Wanderer

 Proverbs 27:8 Like a bird that wanders from her nest, so is a man who strays from his home.

We could see this verse of scripture from a practical point of view as we travail down here upon this earth, but I think the Lord Jesus Christ is giving us a very important spiritual lesson. I personally have observed on quite a few occasions a bird not yet full grown and ready and capable of surviving on its own out of its nest.  

The site is very distressing and tears at your heart strings. The tiny bird out of its nest is confused, helpless, and in extreme peril. It chirps and chirps calling for its mother not knowing or understanding where he is or what has happened to his surroundings.  

Everything is strange and unfamiliar to his sight, sound, and touch. Anxiety quickens his tiny heart rate to a fever pitch as if it were going to leap out of his small chest. Danger lurks on every side of the little creature.

It does not matter how he got in the situation, but that the situation now has become desperate. His nest was a place of safety and security. Now he is wandering about lost not being able to fly yet and therefore, not knowing how to get back to his nest (the place of safety and security).  

Such is every man or woman in Christ who wanders from the sure safety and security of His love and obedience to His Word.  

John 14:15 If you [really] love Me, you will keep (obey) My commands. (Quick Amplified Bible)  

This does not refer only to the ten commandments, but to every word that God the Holy Spirit spoke through each pen of the holy Apostles in the entire New Testament. Christ has come and called all of His followers to a far higher plain or level of living than just the Old Testament Law. Christ Law of love must produce a heart in love with doing His will.  

It is not a changed heart that obeys out of some perceived forced obligation, but on the contrary, a heart filled with love for Him and His words penned by the Apostles. Remember when our Lord responded to one who came to Him with news that His earthly Mother, Brother, and Sisters wanted to see Him.  

Matthew 12:48-50 But He replied to the man who told Him, Who is My mother, and who are My brothers? And stretching out His hand toward [not only the twelve disciples but all] His adherents, He said, Here are My mother and My brothers. For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother! (Quick Amplified Bible)  

This probably (at that time) seemed to be very harsh, uncaring, and unloving words spoken by our Lord to everyone present, but He was emphasizing the steadfastness and single minded resolve it takes to be a true follower of His.  

This type of heart and mind is what we need to keep us from falling into a position to allow ourselves to wander. The Apostle Peter warned us to be wary of this happening in our hearts and lives also.  

2 Peter 3:17 Let me warn you therefore, beloved, that knowing these things beforehand, you should be on your guard, lest you be carried away by the error of lawless and wicked [persons and] fall from your own [present] firm condition [your own steadfastness of mind]. (Quick Amplified Bible)  

You see this is a real danger that we must all recognize and guard our hearts and minds continually from the constant temptation from the enemy (the devil, working through evil people) to wander away from the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. We are going to have tribulation, trouble, test, as long as we are in this evil world, but in the Lord Jesus Christ we have overcome the world, our flesh, and the devil.  

This world system, our fallen nature, and the devil and his wicked spiritual host are continually pulling and tugging at the followers of Christ saying “Come on over here its much better, a lot more fun”, but it is our responsibility to resist (fight, strive, and battle) in Christ strength of course. We must acknowledge our utter helplessness and weakness without Him. His strength works best in weakness. That's what Christ told the Apostle Paul when he (Paul) was given a thorn in his flesh.  

2 Corinthians 12:9 But He said to me, My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness. Therefore, I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest (yes, may pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me! (Quick Amplified Bible)  

Paul was a man that I don't believe anyone (from reading the words given to him in Scripture) could say that he strayed or wandered from the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. He wrote in Romans 8 that nothing could separate him or any of us from the love of God that is found in Christ Jesus.  

However, the Lord Jesus Christ knowing what is in man and that includes everyman (even the Apostle Paul) allows us to receive thorns or attacks from the enemy (the devil) so as to keep us humble before Him (totally dependent on Him) and for us not to be exalted above measure. The Lord Jesus Christ is not going to make our daily choice of activities (what we watch or listen to) for us, but He wants to guide us into all truth.  

Not by force, of course, but by our willingness to be obedient. For example, a young boy is at an amusement park and there are many different rides for him to choose from and he has choices that he alone must make as to which ones he will ride. Now he can listen to the suggestion of some of his friends, but ultimately the decision is his and his alone.  

This is the way of every true follower of the Lord Jesus Christ daily. The Lord Jesus gives us a guide or (if you please to bring it up to today’s vernacular) a GPS system through His Word, but it is up to us to listen and heed what we read.  

What is outside of being obedient to the Word of God? Well, of course, it never means a loss of our salvation, but it does mean broken fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. We grieve the Holy Spirit and cause Him to be silent or distant from our hearts. He never leaves, but He just withdraws His close presence.  

Now when this happens the Lord Jesus Christ will chasten His children and scourge everyone of His sons and daughters. When you examine the Old Testament in detail, you find that the children of Israel were constantly going through this cycle of rebellion which brought on chastening by the Lord. However, the Lord always sent a prophet to the children of Israel warning them to repent or else judgment would be handed down. They in most all of the occasions rejected the prophet and his words from the Lord because they had gotten so far away from Him and obedience to His Word. God does not take pleasure in judging , but He must because of  His nature. Judgment is God's strange work that He must perform because of His holiness.  

Isaiah 28:21 For the Lord will rise up as on Mount Perazim, He will be wrathful as in the Valley of Gibeon, that He may do His work, His strange work, and bring to pass His act, His strange act. (Quick Amplified Bible)  

He desires to bless His children and not to punish them. But as a responsible earthly father whips his children when they do wrong, even more so does our Heavenly Father whip His children in order that they may partake in His holiness. The Lord Jesus Christ pleaded through His profits to the children of Israel over and over and over and yet on so many occasions they would not heed and His judgment was the only recourse left. When the Lord Jesus Christ descended from the Mount of Olives down into the city of Jerusalem just prior to His crucifixion, He lamented over the city.  

Matthew 23:37-38 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, murdering the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children together as a mother fowl gathers her brood under her wings, and you refused! Behold, your house is forsaken and desolate (abandoned and left destitute of God's help). (Quick Amplified Bible)  

Even as He was facing the most horrific thing imaginable (the cross) Christ was not concerned for Himself, but instead He wept over the city of Jerusalem knowing what was going to befall them (another judgment; His strange work) only 40 short years in the future. Likewise today and throughout the centuries the Lord Jesus laments when He has to chasten any of His children because He prefers to give grace rather than discipline.  

What have we discovered? 1) When we wander from the love of God in Christ Jesus we open ourselves to the enemy (the devil) and we are vulnerable to his attacks. 2) We force the Lord's chastening hand to be administered to us. This also ties in with number one, because the Lord Jesus will allow the enemy (the devil) to attack His children as a form of discipline. 3) We are utterly helpless and weak when we are away from the Lord's protection. 4) Without totally being obedient to the Lord Jesus and His Word we can do nothing.  

Finally, What must we do? 1) No matter what the reason for our wandering, we must repent and come back to the safety of abiding totally in the Lord Jesus Christ. 2) Absolutely cling to the Lord Jesus moment by moment daily and feast upon His Word like a starving man would physical food. 3) Be totally transparent with the Lord Jesus Christ in our prayers, because He already knows all the truth. We might as well confess what He already knows about each of us.  Proverbs 28:13 He who covers his transgressions will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes his sins will obtain mercy. (Quick Amplified Bible) 4) We must just simply love the Lord Jesus with all our hearts. When this is true there will never be a desire to wander from the complete safety which is only found in Him and His love.  

Sincerely in Christ,

Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Peter Exhorts the Persecuted Believers Volume 17

 Consume the Word of God as Food for Your Soul

1 Peter 2:1-3 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. KJV Note: NKJV=New King James Version

The Apostle Peter now tells them and us that because we have been born again or begotten again by the incorruptible seed of the Word of God, then we are to respond by devouring the Word of God as food for our inner man 👨 and inner woman 👩, as it is written, "Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious." (1 Peter 2:1-3) (KJV). In so doing, we should be as Peter puts it 'laying aside' things that are so common, callous, and cunning in our old nature. This English phrase 'laying aside' is translated by the Greek word apotithēmi meaning to put away (literally or figuratively): - cast off, lay apart (aside, down), put away (off). We have no ability to do this in our own strength, but we can be strengthened with the mighty power of our Father in Heaven just as the Apostle Paul prayed for the Ephesian believers with these words, "For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:14-19) (NKJV). The only way we can be filled with all the fullness of God is to feast on His Word just as Peter says above that we may grow thereby. When a new born baby enters into the world through his or her Mother's womb, that baby has no side agenda, only that he or she desires their Mother's milk as their number one priority, likewise as newly born again spiritual babies 🤱in the family 👪 of God the Father so must every son and daughter of God desire the consumption of His Word daily in big doses that just as the human baby grows up into a strong child 🧒, so will the born again son or daughter grow up spiritually by the Word of God.

The Apostle Peter tells us of five (5) things that need to be put away or cast away from us that can so regularly come from our old man 👨 or old woman 👩. The first is 'malice' and this English word is translated by the Greek word kakia meaning badness, that is, (subjectively) depravity, or (actively) malignity, or (passively) trouble: - evil, naughtiness, wickedness. This is common in every human heart and cannot be subdued except by the Power of God. It is why there have been numerous wars over the centuries and many violent acts perpetrated by humans on other humans from the first murder commited by Cain against his own brother (Genesis 4:8) and this badness, malignity, and depravity continues in the same manner right up to this very day of May 5, 2024 just check the news at the end of this day. The second is 'guile' and this English word is translated by the Greek word dolos meaning to decoy; a trick (bait), that is, (figuratively) wile: - craft, deceit, guile, subtilty. If we are true regenerate brothers and sisters 'in Christ' there should never be a cause or reason for us to trick or deceive our brother or sister 'in Christ' which is completely against the nature and character of our Lord Jesus Christ as the Apostle Peter will say later on in this very same Chapter verse 22. The Psalmist (King David) writes these words that should be the desire of every man 👨 and woman 👩 belonging to our Lord Jesus Christ, "Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit." (Psalms 32:2) (NKJV). The third is 'hypocrisies' and this English word is translated by the Greek word hupokrisis meaning acting under a feigned part; that is, (figuratively) deceit: - condemnation, dissimulation, hypocrisy. Here is what Matthew Henry had to say of hypocrisies, "The word being plural comprehends all sorts of hypocrisies. In matters of religion hypocrisy is counterfeit piety. In civil conversation hypocrisy is counterfeit friendship, which is much practised by those who give high compliments, which they do not believe, make promises which they never intend to perform, or pretend friendship when mischief lies in their hearts." The fourth is 'envies' which is translated by the Greek word phthonos meaning ill will (as detraction), that is, jealousy (spite): - envy. The Proverbs says this about envy, "A sound heart is life to the body, But envy is rottenness to the bones." Proverbs 14:30 (NKJV). Envy is one of those self harming sins that come from the old nature and destroys the person from the inside out. Here is what Matthew Henry had to say of envy, "Every thing that may be called envy, which is a grieving at the good and welfare of another, at their abilities, prosperity, fame, or successful labours."

The fifth is 'evil speakings' which is translated by the Greek word katalalia meaning defamation: - backbiting, evil speaking. This definition explains itself, wherein, it is when any person wants to besmirch the character of another amongst others in order to make them appear bad, when in actuality they are not. It  is done to ruin a persons character and good name. Since all true believers have tasted the goodness of our God in the soul, we should not allow ourselves to yield ourselves back to our old nature for any reasons, but instead we must feed upon the Word of God that the life of Christ may be dominant within us as He said we must do with these words, "Then Jesus said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.'" (John 6:53-58) (NKJV). Our Lord Jesus Christ was not speaking here of His literal flesh and blood, but symbolically of His Word, as He is the Word of God made manifest or visible in the flesh (John 1:14), therefore, He is telling us that we must feast upon Him by devouring His Word daily and in so doing we will abide in Him and He in us. Amen! Here is what the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary has to say of inner man 👨 or inward man 👨, "Component of human personality responsive tothe requirements of the law. According to Paul's understanding (Rom. 7:22-23), human personality has three components: (1) the inmost self where the law dwells; Paul equated this with reason (nous, vs. 23); the inmost self approximates the rabbinic yetser hatov (inclination to good); (2) the members or the flesh that is responsive to desire; the flesh approximates the rabbinic yetser hara' (inclination to evil); and (3) the conscious 'I' which is aware of both reason and desire. In rabbinic thought, the law served to tip the balance in favor of the good inclination. Paul, however, rejected this optimistic view of the law. Only the Spirit dwelling in the inner self can free the individual from the power of sin (Romans 8:2; Ephesians 3:16)."

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.


Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…