Luke 4:4 “But Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, 'man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.'”
In a previous section we saw that the spirit of the born-again believer can and should grow. And so in this section we want to discuss what we are required to do to ensure that our spirits do in fact grow, so that we can reach full maturity in Christ. As we will see in this section, in order for our spirits to grow stronger they need to be nourished regularly by the word of God. In the passage of scripture quoted above our Lord Jesus taught us that just as we need physical food i.e. bread, so we also need spiritual food i.e. the word of God. The physical food we need is obviously for the nourishment of our physical bodies, while the spiritual food we need is for the nourishment of our spirits. So why do our spirits require the word of God in order to be nourished? We can understand the concept by looking at our physical bodies. Because our physical bodies are made from dust, they can therefore only be sustained by dust. So what do I mean by that statement? God formed Adam’s body from the dust of the ground, and so ultimately all of our bodies originate from the soil of the earth. Because God created all plant and animal life from the dust of the ground, ultimately all the food we eat to sustain our physical bodies also originates from the soil of the earth, whether it is meat, fruit, grain or vegetables. And so we see therefore that dust requires dust in order to be sustained. That same principle applies to our spirits. Because our spirits are born from the word of God they can therefore only be sustained by the word of God (1 Pet 1:23). In other words spirit requires spirit in order to be sustained, for Jesus said that His words are spirit and they are life (John 6:63).
1 Peter 1:23 “having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever.”
The truth that our spirits are born again of the word of God is confirmed to us in Peter’s epistle quoted above. Because our spirits are born of the word of God, the word of God is therefore the DNA, if you will, of our spirits. We have already established that our spirits are nourished by the word of God. In the natural, the longer you starve your physical body of nourishment, the weaker it will become. In the spirit it is no different. The longer you starve your spirit of spiritual nourishment, the weaker it too will become. In the natural, we feed our physical bodies on average three times a day. A believer, who does not feed their spirits at least daily, will never grow strong in their spirits. When our Lord Jesus taught us to ask our heavenly Father for our daily bread, He was not only talking about the physical bread that our bodies need, but He was also talking about the spiritual bread of God’s word which our spirits need (Luke 11:3). And so we see that we need to feed on God’s word daily, for our Lord taught us to pray for our “daily” bread. In the natural, if you choose not to eat on any given day you will find yourself feeling substantially weaker by the end of the day, especially if you live an active lifestyle. The reason for that is because our bodies convert food into stored energy. Throughout the day our bodies draw on the stored energy to be able to conduct our daily activities. With no replacement food intake our bodies no longer have any stored energy to draw on, and consequently we begin to weaken. And so the longer people abstain from eating, the weaker their bodies become, until they no longer have any energy to perform even their normal daily living activities. The exact same principle applies in the spirit. Those who choose not to feed their spirits with God’s word every day will become weakened spiritually over time, eventually incurring all of the problems that go along with a weakened spiritual condition.
1 Corinthians 3:1-3 “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. (2) I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; (3) for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?”
In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Paul reveals a number of spiritual truths to us. He speaks about the milk of God’s word and the solid food of God’s word. We have already discussed the fact that baby believers can only partake of the milk of God’s word, while mature believers are able to partake of both i.e. the milk and solid food of God’s word. In the natural it is impossible to grow physically strong on a diet of milk alone. A dietary mix of both milk and solid foods are essential if one is to become strong physically. In the spirit the principle is exactly the same. A believer can never grow strong spiritually on a diet of the milk of God’s word alone. Solid foods must eventually be added to the believer’s diet in order for them to grow strong in spirit. Another important truth that Paul reveals to us in this passage is that he was the one who fed the church in Corinth. The Lord Jesus has placed the ministry gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher in the church, in order to build His church (Ephesians 4:12). In other words it is through the teaching of the ministry gifts that the church grows spiritually. And so we see that it is through the teaching provided by the ministry gifts that believers are able to partake of the solid food of God’s word, for Paul stated that once they were ready to receive it, he was the one who would feed the church at Corinth with solid food. Clearly we can see that without the teaching provided by the ministry gifts, believers are limited to only partaking of the milk of God’s word. Therefore believers who do not avail themselves to receiving spiritual food through the teaching of the Lord’s ministry gifts will never grow strong spiritually. One final truth that Paul reveals to us in this passage is the role that believers play in receiving the solid food of God’s word. To that end, I want you to notice just who placed constraints on Paul with regards to him being able to feed the church at Corinth with solid food. It was the believers in Corinth themselves. In order for them to grow strong in spirit, Paul was ready and able to feed them with the solid food of God’s word. But they were doing something that prevented Paul from giving them the food necessary for their spirits to grow strong. So what was it? They were not acting on the word that they had already received, which was evidenced by their carnal behaviour. And so we see that because of their lack of obedience in applying that which they had already learned, the Lord would not allow Paul to impart any further revelation to them i.e. the solid food of His word.
Mark 4:24-25 “Then He said to them, "Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given. (25) For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture our Lord Jesus supports Paul’s comment to the church at Corinth, when He teaches us the principle that more is given to those who hear, while those who do not hear are in danger of losing even that which they have received. The Lord is not referring to physical hearing in this passage, but rather He is referring to putting into practice that which is heard. In other words those who hear and apply what they hear will be given more, while those who hear and do nothing will receive no further revelation. The apostle James put it this way, “be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (Jas 1:22). Obviously the church at Corinth were not valuing what they had already received by acting on that word, and so the Lord would not allow any more to be given to them and even what they had received they were in danger of losing. Clearly saints that choose not to put into practice that which they are taught in God’s word will never be fed with the solid food of God’s word, and thus never grow strong spiritually. And so we see from this section that if we are going to grow strong in spirit then we must spend quality time in God’s word daily. We must also avail ourselves to regular teaching through the Lord’s ministry gifts and we must apply to our lives that which we have learnt in His word.
Michael E.B. Maher
Comments