Prerequisites for Brotherly Love

Driving home: And he does not address this fundamental Christian duty in isolation. He sandwiches it between the reality of their experience of the purifying of their soul and the reality of their experience of the new birth.

Martin likens Peter's structure to a sandwich, with the command 'love one another fervently' as the 'nutrition' in the middle, and the 'slices' of purification of the soul and new birth as the prerequisites on either side. This helps listeners visualize the relationship between the command and its foundations.

But this morning we'll have time only to address ourselves to what I'm calling the prerequisites for exercising brotherly love. As Peter contemplates his desire as a pastor, as a shepherd in Christ flock to give direction to these these struggling believers who are living in a hostile climate, he now desires to lay upon them this central Christian duty of mutual love. But he does not lay that duty upon them in isolation from the realities of their spiritual experience. And so I'm describing those things as the prerequisites for exercising brotherly love. The way in which Peter sets it out, it'...

11:08 - 12:10 Read in full sermon

Driving home: And he does not address this fundamental Christian duty in isolation. He sandwiches it between the reality of their experience of the purifying of their soul and the reality of their experience of the new birth.

He uses the example of English Literature 102 requiring English Literature 101 as a prerequisite to explain that 'prerequisite' means something required beforehand, making the concept clear for younger listeners.

Before long, some of you will be enrolling in various courses in college. And you may see a certain course offered, English Literature 102, and it will say, prerequisite, English Literature 101. If you don't take English Literature 101, they won't enroll you in English Literature 102. That's a prerequisite, something required beforehand.

13:37 - 14:09 Read in full sermon

Driving home: God purifies the soul of a host of poisonous and noxious, evil, damnable things. But Peter focuses upon the purification of the soul of those things that make genuine brotherly affection impossible.

He notes that the Greek word for brotherly affection (philadelphia) is the root of the city name Philadelphia, connecting the biblical term to a familiar concept.

He's saying this purification is unto this end that you might experience non-hypocritical, real, genuine, brotherly affection. And here he uses the word from which he says, which we get the name of that city a hundred miles south of us, Philadelphia.

23:34 - 23:54 Read in full sermon

The point: You will never know the purification of your soul until you own your native pollution and defilement and uncleanness.

Martin recounts the story of Jesus dining with 'sinners' at Matthew's banquet, offending the Pharisees. Jesus' response, 'I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance,' illustrates that those who don't acknowledge their native pollution will not appreciate Christ's saving work, connecting to the necessity of soul purification.

Remember what Jesus said? They that are healthy, they have no need of a doctor. Those who are what?

30:27 - 30:34 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin introduces the second prerequisite: 'having been begotten again,' emphasizing that this is God's monergistic activity behind the believer's conscious purification. He…

He uses the simple analogy of picking up a handkerchief to explain active vs. passive verbs, clarifying that 'having been begotten again' implies an external agent (God) performing the action, not self-begetting.

And when you have a passive verb, you've got to ask who did it? When I take my handkerchief and say, I pick up the handkerchief, I am the subject, actively I pick it up. If I say, my handkerchief was picked up, that's passive. Now you've got to ask, who done the picking?

44:20 - 44:39 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin explains that divine begetting is effected 'not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible through the word of God which lives and abides.' He elaborates on the 'living' and…

Martin quotes Dr. Clowney's commentary on 1 Peter, comparing the life-giving power of God's word to human procreation, emphasizing its creative and Spirit-empowered nature in begetting new life.

Dr. Clowney in his helpful commentary on 1 Peter writes, Peter compares the life-giving power of the word of God to human procreation. It is the seed of life sown in our hearts to create new life. God's word is creative.

55:23 - 55:40 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin explains that divine begetting is effected 'not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible through the word of God which lives and abides.' He elaborates on the 'living' and…

He uses the examples of Sarah laughing at God's promise of a child at 90, and Mary marveling at the promise of Jesus' birth, to illustrate that God's word of promise is 'self-fulfilling' and 'void of power,' connecting it to how believers are born anew by God's word.

It communicates and converts. Both Abraham and Sarah laughed at God's impossible word of promise. Will Sarah bear a child at the age of 90? God replied, is there anything too difficult for me?

56:14 - 56:29 Read in full sermon