As New-Born Babes I T'S NO S1XRI:'I' that people try to whitewash their own sills and, at the same time, call other people lypocrites. And it's no secret that this is not limited to people outside the Church. A lot of the \~lorlcl's troubles arc caused hr hypocrisy. And we have trouble with this in the Ch~irch too. ~ven the persoil reading this is guiltv of hypocris!. Peter savs so in the second chapter of his first Epistle: "Lay aside all malice, and all guile, and hq~ocrisies, and cnvies, and all evil-speakings." \\'hcrever the \\7~rd is read until the end of time, the reader \sill hc told that he is guiltt. of Zi\7pocrisr and should lay it aside. 'The word "guile" mcans what the word "phoniness" means today. The Christian lino~v~ that the heart of man is exceedingly deceitful and trcacherous. Even Christians arc careful with each other for the\- 1;noiv the human heart. They fear that what looks like the kiss of thc fathcr in the 11arable of the Prodigal Son may turn out to be the kiss of Judas. Aid the\ kno\v too that their own kisses might be just as untrustworthy. A~ld so Pcter tells them to be like nclv-born babies. 'The Chris- tian is to desirc the sincere milk of the Il'ord. In the original the words for "sincere" and "guiie" 11a.e the same root. \Ye'vc trans- lated the nwrd "guile" wit11 "phoniness". Likewise we translate the word "si~~cer~" ~vitll the rldjectivc "un~~l~on!~". The reader of the II'ord \\rho is g~~ilt~ of P~~OII~IICSS is told to desire thc "unphony" milk of the \ITord. And he is to desirc it as a new-born babv desires milk. There's nothing quite so zestful as thc nursing of a new-born babv. It nurses as if it lincl clone so for ten years. Other little children are fascinated with the desire of the new-born bahv. Obviously the Christian should meditate on this analogy. He can't imagine a bahy refusing to nurse because it fears thnt the milk is contaminated or because the bab\: cannot comprehend the chemical content of the milk. ~idiculous, you say. But therc are people, even in the visiblc church todav, \iho have thrown doubt 011 the spiritual mill< of the I\'ord. The\- - sav . that it is contaminated and not genuine. For example, they argue about whether thc trans- latio~ls or the origi~~al monographs arc ~nspired. How can you CX- plain that to the uneducated la~nlan? Surelv this passage reminds us thnt it is man, not the spiritual fwd, that is deceitful. Peter says elscnlhcre that the \\'ord is incorruptible seed which caused our rebirth. He savs that we ivill fade as do flowcrs but thc IVord of the 1-ord will endure forcver and that this is the IVord which brings us the good news. And then there are those people in the visible church who tell us that the Lord loves us hut that His \\Tord cannot be trusted. 1 Can you imagine n nlother saying to her baby: "Baby I love vou, but my milk, well, tllat's son~etlling else." This does actuall!. hap- 13~11 of course. 'There are illothers wlio cannot nurse their .babies because their 111ilk is not gosd for the babies. But that's not part of this analogy. Peter says that III~II is g~~iltv of guilt hut the i~lillc of the IVord is gcnuine. Or who \\~oulcl ini~ite sonlcoile to clinner ancl say to the guest as he sits don11 at the table: "I lo\.e you but the food you're getting is not the best." But that is exactlj. ~vhat goes on at tii~lcs in the Church today. God loves us, we are told, but His \I;ord is coiltaminated and is not to bc trusted. Another observatioil : Christians 11711o truly desire the sincere inilk of tlle tVord are sometimes accused of a sin, Bibliolati-! , n~ak- ing an idol of the giblc. Do vou tllii~k a nc~v-hor~ bab! ~vould \\lOl.i! if, because of its zest, it'\vould bc accusctl of "milliolatr\"? Stop, stop, jou'll say. How ridiculous can you get7 Exactl!. And just that ridiculous, diabolical and dangerous is the charge of Bib- liolatr! . The analogy concludes bv stating the 13urpose for t11c clesire. Babies tlcsire inilk so that the). inight gi-~n-: ?'he desire for mill< is a G:itl-given desire for the baby's good. iiilci it is verv difficult to .jibtract the babv from its nursing for thc baby somcho~v knows what is g(x)d for it: It inust RrouJ. And without the millt it will not grnn-. But wit11 the n~ilk the baby \\?ill esperiencc pheilo~l~enal gr:nvtli. Likewise with Christians. The Hol17 Spirit gi17es the child of GoJ the desire for the sincere mill< of the IVord. "111 his la117 dot11 he meditate day ai~d night". But therc are Satanic forces at work todav, cve11 in 'the Church, which are tr\ ing \.err hard to distract Christians fro111 the \Vord. For example,' Satail can ~l~isuse textual criticism so that the theological student, pastor or professor is given thc impression that the \\Jord is contanlinated. Or, the multiplicity of tr.~nslations call be a burdcll for us all. It might give us the im- lx?ssi(m that Scripture errs and that n7e need many translations to rid oursclvcs of contamination. But this kind of thinking lcads to lack of clesirc and that leads to starvation. No danger today in tllc Church is quite so great as the suspicion which has been cast on the \I7ord, not 111. infidels but bv .elf-styled authorities 117110 have the cffronter! to .tell the Lord tllat the milk of the \\lord is no longer sincere. The passase in Peter continues: "If so be re llase tasted that tllc 1-ord is qrac~ous." This vcrse causes the readr to examine him- self. Have I learned by my own blessed experience that the Lord Jesus is full of grace and truth FOR ATE? If I have, I nlust admit that T know Him only through the sii~ccre i-rrilk of the Word. That Word is b\r 110 means phonv, contaminated or untrustworthv for it cen- ters 'in thc Saviour and about Him Peter continues thus: 'To whom coming, as unto a Iivinfi stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Where- fore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cor~lcr-stone, clect precious: and he that believeth on hhn shall not be co~lfounded. Unto you therefore which be- lieve lle is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the s'me is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling at the word, being disobedient." The ~ncailiilg is SO clear. The passage hardly needs further comment. "He who believes on him slzall not be confounded." And ? that is true because the milk of the Word is sincere.