Spiritual Food and Exercise: August 2017
Table of Contents
Spiritual Food and Exercise
Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth ... and that night they caught nothing. [Spritiual food gathering and exercise without the Lord is a waste of time and energy and produces nothing.] But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. [When we leave the Lord out of our lives, we quickly lose sight of Him.] Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No. [Be honest with the Lord; He knows that your efforts without Him have produced nothing.] And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast ... were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. [Need food? Get it by doing as the Lord says.] As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. [Accept His invitation. Eat the food He has prepared for you.] Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise. [Never, ever eat food that you cannot eat with the Lord.] So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter ... Feed my lambs. [You cannot feed others unless you have first eaten the Lord’s food and are enjoying fellowship with Him.] (John 21).
Appetite, Food and Exercise
Some aspects of diet and exercise seem to be on the cover of almost every magazine today! People are very concerned about their health and their natural well-being. With the large variety of foods available in Western countries today, many are turning to unusual and sometimes bizarre diets, thinking that they are the secret to good health. Exercise too has an increasing place in the lives of many, whether it is jogging on a treadmill every day or something more serious like major body-building or running marathons.
However, we read in 1 Timothy that “bodily exercise profiteth for a little [time], but piety is profitable for everything, having promise of life, of the present one, and of that to come” (1 Tim. 4:8 JND). It is important to look after our natural bodies, but even more important to keep ourselves in good spiritual health.
Appetite
An individual in good natural health has an appetite for food, and this is especially true of someone who exercises regularly. A healthy body has a healthy appetite, and the same is true spiritually. A healthy believer has a good spiritual appetite as well. According to Peter, the believer in Christ desires “the sincere milk of the word” (1 Peter 2:2), just as a healthy baby wants natural milk. We need food to grow naturally, and we need spiritual food to grow spiritually. But there is one major difference between natural eating and spiritual eating. In natural things, eating satisfies; in spiritual things, the more you eat, the more you want!
There are three reasons why an individual may not have an appetite for spiritual food. First of all, he may not be a true believer at all. An unbeliever may masquerade as a believer for a long time and may even read the Word of God intellectually, but there is no real interest in it. “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14). There can be no growth if there is no new life.
Second, a believer may lack an appetite for good spiritual food because he is spiritually sick. He may have gotten away from the Lord and indulged in something that destroys his appetite. In this case, he needs medicine, and this is found in the Word of God, just as our food is found there. But he may need someone to administer it to him, as he may not realize just what he needs. As a well-trained doctor may administer medicine to one who is sick in the natural sense, so one with a pastor’s gift may administer spiritual medicine to a believer who needs it. Medicine does not nourish or produce growth, but it restores to health, so that he who receives it may be able to take in food.
Third, a believer may be filled with bad spiritual food, and thus have no appetite for good food. Indulging in light reading or in that which promotes either bad practice or bad doctrine or both are examples of bad food. Sad to say, many believers today are satiated with bad food, and thus have no appetite for good food. “No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better” (Luke 5:39).
Food
We have already spoken of the Word of God as our food, and also about good and bad food. We might also mention, however, that while our food is found through the Word of God, it is really Christ Himself who is our food. Our Lord could speak of Himself as the bread of life in connection with salvation, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35), but He also spoke of Himself as the believers’ food in his life down here. “As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me” (John 6:57). It is the constant feeding on Christ that nourishes our new life and that is absolutely essential for spiritual growth.
We feed on Christ in more than one way in our lives, and this is typified by the Israelites in their journey from Egypt to Canaan. They fed on Christ as the roast lamb in Egypt, in connection with their salvation. Then they fed on Him in the wilderness as the manna, speaking of His perfect manhood, and thus He is our perfect food for the wilderness. Finally, they fed on Him as the “old corn of the land” when they entered the land of Canaan. We might term this the food for conflict, for in order to enjoy the land, they must engage in warfare. So we, if we would enjoy our heavenly blessings, must be prepared for spiritual conflict by feeding on a risen and glorified Christ.
Proper Ways to Eat
Just as there are proper ways to eat naturally, so there are proper ways to eat spiritually. First of all, it must be done regularly, in reasonable amounts, and not hurriedly. We must also meditate on what we eat, like the animals termed ruminants, who chew the cud.
Second, it is good to eat collectively, and not always alone. Others can provide help and food for us, and the enjoyment of Christ together not only increases our appreciation of Him, but also increases our spiritual growth.
Third, prayer is most important, for it brings us into the presence of God and, among other things, enables us to enjoy the spiritual food that we have eaten. It also gives us the strength to put into practical use what we have taken in, and this brings us to our final section.
Finally, we must remember that effort is involved in getting good spiritual food. We enjoy more what has taken some effort to obtain. To have good food, we need discipline and diligence, just as the Israelites needed these things to obtain manna. We may enjoy what someone else has gathered, just as it is nice to partake of someone else’s cooking in natural things. But to do this continually is not right in either natural or spiritual things; we should all seek to gather food. The clergy developed partly because believers were too lazy to find their own food; they would rather pay someone else to do it.
Exercise
We all know that, in natural things, growth is the result of a good diet and exercise. However, we must remember that in spiritual things, growth will be seen more in what we are, rather than what we do. If our life is in order, then our service will follow. But in order to be healthy, both naturally and spiritually, exercise is necessary. Speaking in a spiritual sense, we must not only digest what we eat, but we must walk in it. Then only is it truly our own. If we do not walk in what we have learned, we will lose it, for God will not allow us to have the theory of the truth in our heads without the practice of it in our walk.
Spiritual exercise is not seen so much in big things, but rather is seen in the everyday decisions and actions of life. Much of our Christianity will be lived out in our everyday walk, but it is here that we are prepared for major conflicts. We see this in David, who first had to learn to fight the lion and the bear out of the public eye before he could take on Goliath. If our daily walk is in communion with the Lord, then we will be in good spiritual shape for the occasional conflict that may come about. But even if, at any particular time, we are not facing direct conflict, yet we will find that “by reason of use” we will have our “senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Heb. 5:14). We must also remember that it takes just as much spiritual strength—and perhaps more—to suffer for Christ than, perhaps, to do great things for Him.
Finally, just as our intake of food must be regular, so must our exercise. We are all familiar with those who, in natural things, become upset because of their flabby physical condition and undertake a vigorous exercise program for a while. But they soon tire of the discipline needed to maintain it and fall back into an indolent way of life. In spiritual things, just as in natural things, it is easier to watch others engaging in exercise, rather than doing it ourselves. An athlete who wishes to excel in his field subordinates everything else in his life to that goal; the believer must do the same who wishes to “run with patience [endurance] the race that is set before us” (Heb. 12:1). In a world of sin and with “sin which doth so easily beset us” (Heb. 12:1), we need self-control in every area of our lives.
Our Lord Jesus Christ has marked out the path for us, and just as His path ended in glory, so we are destined for eternal glory. The effort is worth it!
W. J. Prost
Spiritual Growth
Nothing tries the heart of a true servant of Christ more than to see young saints making no spiritual progress. It is delightful to find them getting a good start, and not less so to behold them growing and becoming strong men in Christ. To see them stunted and dwarfed is a vexation too deep for words. The true evangelist loves to hear of his converts flourishing. He must feel it deeply when it is not the case.
If there is no growth, take care that there is not decline. Sometimes declension sets in before we are aware of it. Of Ephraim of old it was said, “Gray hairs are here and there upon him, and he knoweth it not” (Hos. 7:9 JND). To be declining without being conscious of it is the worst state of all. It is like a man in business who is nearing a state of bankruptcy and yet knows not how he stands. He is afraid to take stock or look into his books. Who would not cry out against such a foolish course?
There are three things necessary to spiritual growth. First, proper nourishment. Second, healthy exercise. Third, a pure atmosphere.
The Proper Food
Now we all know that what would nourish and sustain a man would in all probability ruin a babe. On the other hand, what would strengthen and help the growth of a babe would not enable a man to do a hard day’s work. Babes in Christ must have the milk of the gospel and be well established before they are prepared to enter into the deep things of God. From our own personal knowledge, many are far from being established in the simple truth of what it is to be “in Christ,” where there is no condemnation. Their joy greatly fluctuates, and as for settled peace and solid rest of heart in God’s presence, they are for the most part strangers to it.
Those who love and care for souls should, in our judgment, pay heed to the sort of food they place before others. Meat in due season is the thing. Paul said to the Corinthians, who were but babes having need of milk, “Howbeit we speak wisdom among them which are perfect,” which means full-grown in contrast to babes. The same thing is seen in the blessed Lord, when He said to His disciples, “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.” Divine wisdom is most considerate and is shown by meeting souls where they are. The Lord Himself and Paul, who was filled with his Master’s spirit, are examples of it.
The same sort of food does not always suit those who might not be exactly termed babes. We sat at the table of a friend who was ordered to live principally on unleavened bread, while he himself had to dish out to others what was much more palatable. In this way he was kept in good health.
Exercise
Likewise, if we are to be maintained in the enjoyment of spiritual health, we must often refrain from what might be most tempting. For instance, there are books of a kind in which there might not be much harm. Great care and wise discrimination are needed here. Many a young saint has been ensnared in this direction. His soul in consequence has been starved. As the result, he has become “as weak as other men” and been led into grave peril. So we earnestly say, Beware!
An unexercised saint is one who has gone to sleep. Sleep is not death, but it denotes spiritual stupor. Such was the state of Peter before he denied his Lord and Master. He had been fast asleep when his Master was in an agony. This did not show a lack of love for his Master, but that his love was not active. “Simon ... couldest not thou watch one hour?” How deeply touching this appeal! Had Peter been divinely exercised, it must have pierced his soul like a sword.
Watching is the very reverse. The watcher is wide awake. All his spiritual faculties are in exercise. This is most needful, because the enemy of our souls is always on the alert to entrap us in a snare of some kind. Often we are taken unawares because we are not watching unto prayer.
We lose much that we may never regain by not being exercised and ready to respond to the Lord when He speaks to us. Like the bride in the Song of Solomon 5: “I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?” What indifference this denotes! He had knocked, saying, “Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.” She was the loser. To her cost she found that His love was so jealous as not to brook indifference. She was made to feel her apathy. He does not like His love slighted. It is not that the Lord’s love ever changes toward His own, but He may see fit to change His manner so as to produce exercise of heart and lead them to judge all that would hinder His being everything to them.
Sometimes He has to allow us to pass through affliction and deep sorrow of some kind when He sees that nothing else will do. Afflicted saints are generally the brightest. We shall never know how much we have been helped in our Christian course by things that naturally we dislike until we retrace our several histories in the light of His blessed presence in glory.
The Lord save us from being unexercised and from soul-declension above all things!
The Atmosphere of Love
If we seek to live habitually in the pure atmosphere of God’s love, it will have a most healthful and bracing effect upon our souls. Everything about it is invigorating. The enjoyment of God’s presence lifts our souls above all that is in the world. “Thy favor is better than life.” That is, the enjoyment of God’s love is better than the greatest earthly blessing. “Blessed is the man whose strength is in Thee.” And no wonder, for he finds all his resource in God and is strengthened and made happy. “In Thy presence is fullness of joy.” Fullness of joy is perfect satisfaction, and so we are saved from desiring what is unsatisfying. “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.” He delights to make Himself known to the seeking soul. He never disappoints any whose desire is real. “He satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.”
The atmosphere of love is found in the company of the saints. If we love God and delight in His presence, we shall love those who are born of Him. If we love them, we shall choose their companionship in preference to the most agreeable worldly society. All this gives us strength and promotes growth according to God.
If we found saints who had not much desire for the company and fellowship of God’s people, we should certainly say it was a bad sign. If they preferred the society of those who, however pleasant and refined, were of the world, we should have no hesitation in saying that there must be inward declension.
It is often said that people are known by the company they keep, and there is much truth in it. The truly earnest, godly soul will always cultivate the acquaintance of those more spiritual than himself. Let us, then, seek to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.
P. Wilson (adapted)
Grace With Spiritual Exercise
With regard to our spiritual state before God, if we find we are dry and out of communion, we should seriously consider it, and not go on in a joyless condition. If we were threatened with a serious illness, would we put off using the needed remedies? Then why not call a halt when our souls are out of order and have matters set right before any severe spiritual disease overtakes us? Deliverance from an unspiritual state of soul can be remedied only by the Holy Spirit giving fresh working in the soul and fresh unfoldings of Jesus in His attractiveness to the heart. Also, when communion gets interrupted, there must be confession, and under the gracious action of the heavenly advocacy of Christ, it will be restored. The chief thing is to relinquish trying to get it ourselves. Confess the evil state and lacking need of joy in the Lord, and lay ourselves down before Him in all our unhappiness, but in the acknowledged recognition and confession of our real condition, and leave Him to deal with us as He sees best. If all is cast on God in the confidence of faith and real dependence, He will graciously give us clearance and fill us with the light and joy of His own presence.
The Answers
If led to act thus of God, the change may be instantaneous. The Lord may be working to bring us to our knees, because He means to give us fresh blessing in the Spirit. But this may go on for a time before the blessing of the Lord is imparted. But even if there is delay, let us wait entirely upon God; the blessing will come in due time. We have a notable example of delay in the case of Daniel, for we read that “I Daniel was mourning three full weeks” (Dan. 10:2). But when the answer came, we read, “Fear not, Daniel; for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words” (Dan. 10:12). The exercise went on for “three whole weeks,” but now he is told his words were heard “from the first day.” I have referred to this remarkable experience of Daniel to show that our “words” may be heard “from the first day,” and yet the exercise of soul that crushes us to the ground and takes away every bit of strength from us may go on, and the answer may come only after some time.
Paul’s Experience
Let us not say this is Jewish experience, for we read of the Apostle Paul’s passing through a similar exercise and experiencing similar delay. “He was caught up into paradise and heard unspeakable words” (2 Cor. 12:4). Yet he tells us, “Lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me” (2 Cor. 12:7-8). The word “thrice” tells of continuance of supplication and delay as to the answer. And when it came, it was not the removal of the thorn, but sufficient grace to bear it. “He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9).
Paul received a much better thing than what he had asked. The heightening of the power of Christ to bear the thorn and to be strong in Christ’s power were surely higher blessings than the removal of the source of his weakness. The thorn led him to pray to the Lord about it; the delay gave spiritual exercise of soul and necessitated repeated prayer. But when the Lord’s voice is heard, it conveys such assurance that Paul glories in his weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon him. But whether it is “Daniel the prophet” or “Paul the apostle,” the lesson is the same — that we are cast entirely upon the Lord as to divine dealing, spiritual exercise and spiritual deliverance. We ourselves must be reduced to nothing; we should have “the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead” (2 Cor.1:9). This is stated in a more detailed way farther on in the same epistle: “We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassingness of the power may be of God and not from us: every way afflicted, but not straitened; seeing no apparent issue, but our way not entirely shut up; persecuted, but not abandoned; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be made manifested in our body; for we who live are always delivered unto death on account of Jesus that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh; so that death works in us” (2 Cor. 4:7-12 JND). This was the experience of the Apostle in connection with the gospel of the glory of Christ and the ministry of the same. The “vessel” containing the treasure of a glorified Christ was broken in pieces that the light might shine out.
The Life of Jesus
The more weight and pressure on the outward man, the more the life of Jesus was manifested. The more the vessel was broken, the more the testimony of Christ shone out, and the more the weakness of man was felt, the more the power of God was experienced. All free spiritual living is the consequence of the sentence of death in ourselves and trust in God, for it is in proportion as we bear about in our body the dying of Jesus that the life of Jesus is manifested in our body. The Christian life was, with Paul, a very serious thing: “For me to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21). The Christian life with him was Christ — he was living a life of faith and communion, and he expressed the traits of Christ in his daily life. Our life, motive, power, object and end is Christ. We have Christ before us as our Object and our Prize, and our joy is in Him. “Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice” (Phil. 4:4), and the man who said so was at that time in prison! He showed such superiority to circumstances, in the divine energy which actuated him, that the prison was nothing to him. His desire was to reach the goal in glory and have Him there as gain.
Bible Herald (adapted)
Tasting That the Lord Is Gracious
Having “tasted that the Lord is gracious,” we come to His Word and receive from Him that which we need to comfort, nourish and refresh our souls. The Word always comes with savor from Himself. It is known as “the Word of His grace.” I may study the Word again and again, but unless I get into communion with Him by it, it will profit me nothing, at least at the time.
God does not reveal His things “to the wise and prudent,” but unto “babes.” It is not the strength of man’s mind judging about “the things of God” that gets the blessing from Him; it is by the spirit of the babe desiring the “sincere milk of the word.” He says, “Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it” (Psa. 81:10). The strongest mind must come to the Word of God as the “newborn babe.”
And so too in speaking of God’s truth: Whenever we cannot speak “as the oracles of God,” through the power of communion, it is our business to be silent. We should be cautious not to trifle with truth about which we are uncertain; nothing hinders growth more than this, for we are then tempted to act as teachers and not as learners. Our position as regards the truth of God must be ever that of newborn babes desiring “the sincere milk of the word,” that we may “grow thereby.”
But there is nothing so hard for our hearts as to be humble, nothing so easy for them as to get out of this place of lowliness. It is not by precepts merely that we are either brought into this state or preserved there; it is by tasting “that the Lord is gracious” (1 Peter 2:3). It is quite true that God is a God of judgment; He will exercise vengeance on His enemies, but that is not the way in which He stands toward the Christian. He is made known unto us as “the God of all grace,” and the position in which we are set is that of tasting “that He is gracious.”
The Natural Heart
How hard it is for us to believe this — that the Lord is gracious! The natural feeling of our hearts is, “I know that thou art an austere man.” If our wills are thwarted, we tend to quarrel with God’s ways and are angry because we cannot have our own way. It may be perhaps that this feeling is not manifested, but still at any rate there is the lack and need in all of us naturally of the understanding of the grace of God — the inability to apprehend it. See the case of the poor prodigal in the Gospel; the thought of the fullness of his father’s grace never entered into his mind when he set out on his return, and therefore he only reckoned on being received as a “hired servant.” But what does the father say? What are the feelings of his heart? “Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it... for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found” (Luke 15:22-24). This is grace — free grace.
So too in the case of the woman of Samaria who was ignorant of the character of Him who spoke with her. The Lord says to her, “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water” (John 4:10). If you had only understood what grace is, you would have asked, and I would have given.
Christian Truth (adapted)
Junk Food
All of us today are familiar with so-called “junk food.” Although the term is probably older, its widespread use began about 1972, and it is usually attributed to Michael Jacobson of the U.S.A., who was director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Junk food refers to food that has little nutritional value, but often has high amounts of fat, sugar, salt and calories. The mass production of such food appeared about the middle of the twentieth century as a result of mechanization, when manufacturers started making processed food with cheaper ingredients and less nutritional value. The methods used to prepare such food further lessened its nutritional value.
Needless to say, such food is easy to obtain, easy to prepare, and reasonably satisfying, even if only for a while. But it is also somewhat addicting, of poor nutritional value, and usually loaded with calories. The result has been almost an epidemic of obesity, coupled with poor nourishment, and an increase in related disorders such as diabetes, gall bladder disease and hypertension.
Spiritual “Junk Food”
I would suggest that there is a spiritual counterpart to all this — what we might call “spiritual junk food.” Just as we need a balanced natural diet, so we need a balanced spiritual diet. We need that which ministers Christ to our souls and occupies our hearts with Him. We may have a diet of spiritual food that fills us up for the moment, perhaps is addicting, and tastes good as well, and yet may not nourish our souls in the right way. What then is “spiritual junk food”? I would suggest that it is a diet that constantly occupies us with ourselves — our lifestyle, our problems, our relationships; in short, it is a line of things that focuses on us, instead of on Christ. Christ may be brought into such ministry, but He is portrayed mainly as a philanthropist who is there to guide us, provide for our needs, help us deal with crises, and get us out of trouble.
To be sure, our Lord Jesus Christ is there to help us with our needs and to guide us in the difficulties of life. He wants us to come to Him with problems, for He has said, “Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me” (Psa. 50:15). But if we go to Him only when we have a need, then we miss one of the main blessings of Christianity. Scripture tells us that we are one with Christ, in that we are now “in Christ” as to our eternal security. We are His body, for we are “members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones” (Eph. 5:30). We are also His bride, for Paul could say, “I have espoused you ... as a chaste virgin to Christ” (2 Cor. 11:2). God has picked us up to make us a gift to His Son, and as such, it is our company that He desires first of all.
God’s Purposes
More than this, God’s purposes are all centered in His beloved Son, and it is He that must have the first place. If we see everything only from our own point of view, our thoughts can never rise above ourselves — our needs, our desires and our problems. But when we are led by the Spirit to see everything from God’s side, what a vista opens up before us! We see His purposes in Christ and how He is destined to be Head over all things, both in heaven and on earth. We see God glorified in Christ’s work, not merely for our sake, but in forever removing sin from the entire universe. (This has not happened yet, but the work has been done so that it can happen.) We long, not only for Christ’s coming for us, but also for His appearing, when He will have His rightful place. All this does not take away from our spiritual nourishment, but rather enhances it. A balanced spiritual diet always occupies us with Christ. The one who is occupied with himself is never happy.
To be sure, it is not always wrong to be occupied with ourselves, just as things like donuts and French fries are fine to eat once in a while. In the midst of trouble or when we have sinned, it is needful to be occupied with the problem in our life and to go to the Lord about it. But even in all this, the honor and glory of Christ should be before us, and not merely our own need. What we learn in the midst of a trial is more important than the trial itself.
Blessings and Mercies
Also, since we are “blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1:3), it is not wrong to be occupied with those blessings. But note that these are blessings, not mercies, and are in heavenly places, or perhaps more accurately, “in the heavenlies.” As such, they are connected with a risen Christ in glory, and their enjoyment brings us into a sphere where He is exalted. The enjoyment of those blessings never occupies us with ourselves or our problems and difficulties; rather, it lifts us above them.
Those good things that are connected with life down here are termed “mercies” in Scripture, not “blessings,” because mercies are temporary. They are, of course, given of God, for He is called the “Father of mercies” (2 Cor. 1:3), and we thank Him for them. Once again, however, we must remind ourselves that constant occupation with temporal mercies does not feed our souls or minister Christ to us. They are surely another aspect of the Lord’s care for us, but these mercies are given to us “by the way” as a help and encouragement. Our real occupation is to have Christ before us and to learn more of Him.
In much of Christendom today, spiritual junk food abounds in the form of various self-help books, videos, light reading, Internet sites, music, and the like. Again, we emphasize that there is food value in them, and they may be of some help. Sometimes a quick donut and a cup of coffee is a good pick-me-up! But as a regular diet, it is not good for us. As Scripture reminds us, we need to “take care therefore” how we hear (Luke 8:18) and to eat a balanced spiritual diet. Only then will there be true growth in our spiritual lives.
W. J. Prost
Spiritual Slothfulness
Perhaps one of the earliest outward marks of inward decline in a Christian is the readiness to excuse oneself from devotedness and diligence in the Lord’s service. The human mind can easily imagine or invent obstacles to unselfish and God-honoring service, and when this is yielded to, instead of abiding in the truth at all costs, a place of ease is readily found. When we lose the authority of the Word on our conscience, that “unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake” (Phil. 1:29), we can easily think of our personal ease and become weak and helpless as to divine things. In such a condition we have not only left our first love, but have turned away from those who stand for God’s truth at all costs. Yet, strange to say, with all this declension and indifference to the honor of the Lord, “the sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason” (Prov. 26:16).
Marks of Slothfulness
Another mark of a slothful man is that he roasts not that which he took in hunting (Prov. 12:27). He may associate with God’s saints, hear the Word ministered with freshness and power, and may even be struck with its blessedness and suitability to himself, but when he retires, he is so absorbed with earthly things that he takes no further interest in it. Like the hunter’s prize, it is of no real benefit to him, because he is too indolent to occupy himself with it by meditating on the truth for his present profit. To read or to hear the Word is one thing, but to “meditate on it day and night” for our soul’s profit is another thing.
We are also told that “the way of the slothful man is as an hedge of thorns” (Prov. 15:1). While a spiritual and earnest Christian may endeavor to approach a fellow believer in this condition, he may eventually conclude that only God can break through the “hedge of thorns.” How truly too it is said, “He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster” (Prov. 18:9). Opportunities of honoring the Lord are missed, and the means entrusted to our stewardship are wrongly used; time is misspent, and health and strength wasted in the routine or amusements of this present evil age. What is the harm of this or that? says the slothful man, little thinking that one who is practically alive unto God and seeking His glory would never ask such a question.
Enjoyment of Love
When we fail to enjoy the love of God and when Christ Himself is no longer the object and hope of our hearts, we begin to be slothful Christians. If so, how solemn and searching is the warning admonishing us to watch and pray lest we enter into temptation. The thought of some is, “I know I am saved,” but do we consider that if the Spirit of God is grieved or quenched by our life and walk, we may lose the comfort and enjoyment of such precious truths, and even forget that we are saved?
The scriptures we have been looking at have mostly an individual application, but God’s assembly is made up of individuals; it is impossible to be right with God in a corporate sense unless we are so individually. An assembly gathered to the Lord’s name will always manifest the moral qualities of those who comprise it individually. Here again Scripture reminds us that “by much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through” (Eccl. 10:18). Where there is earnestness in our Lord’s service and faithful walk by those who look for His coming, there is generally found comfort and blessing collectively. But where head knowledge of Scripture is the first thing, combined with a lack of earnest and united prayer, there will be little spiritual care for Christ’s members manifested, and the life and power of the assembly will be gone.
Spiritual Slothfulness
Again, we are admonished as to this by the wise man. He says, “I went by the field of the slothful... and, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down” (Prov. 24:30-31). Here we see “thorns,” the emblem of God’s displeasure, instead of the trees of His own planting; “nettles” instead of fruitful branches; and the “stone wall” of separation, once solid, but now “broken down,” so that evil associations are easily found within and evil intruders not excluded. All this is traced to spiritual indolence.
But we may well look up and encourage our hearts in God, while we commend one another “to God, and to the word of His grace” (Acts 20:32), His fatherly love has not abated. The Lord is still with us, and all His resources are open to faith. So we may exhort one another to be “steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Cor. 15:58).
H. H. Snell (adapted)
Suited Ministry: Milk or Meat
What is the suited ministry for believers generally at the present time? A scripture often cited in answer to this question is in 1 Peter 2:2: “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.” It is contended by many that this means that “milk” is the suited food for the young believer. However, the point in the scripture is simply that just as newborn babes desire milk, the believer should long for the Word of God.
The Corinthian State
If we now turn to another passage, we shall obtain further light upon our subject. The apostle Paul writing to the Corinthians says, “I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as [according to] men?” (1 Cor. 3:2-3). It is clear in this case that Paul fed these believers with “milk” because of their bad condition, and if they had been responding more fully to God’s grace, he would have fed them with “meat.” To assume, therefore, that the saints need only “milk” is to assume that they are in a Corinthian state. We learn, moreover, that the ministry suited to one assembly in one state may be entirely unsuited to another in a different state. The question may well be raised whether there has been the sufficient exercise of spiritual discernment, as to the state of souls, as a guide to their ministry. Nothing is plainer than that it would be an utter mistake to deal out Ephesian truth to a Corinthian assembly, or Corinthian truth to an Ephesian assembly.
The State of the Hebrews
Another scripture may be mentioned. Commencing to speak of Melchizedek, Paul turns aside to add, “Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection” (Heb. 5:11-14; 6:1).
There are several points here which need very earnest attention. The apostle mourns over the saints’ inability to receive the truth he had to communicate. They were unskillful in the use of the Word and had become dwarfed in their growth. They were babes still, and hence the fervent exhortation with which chapter 6 opens. What teacher could calmly accept their state and go on feeding them with milk, as if nothing more were necessary? We need Christ in every character, aspect and office in which He is presented, and if we fail to recognize this, we shall become as dwarfed as were these Hebrew believers.
The Thessalonians
It will certainly be replied, But remember how many newly converted souls there are. These are truly babes, and would you not feed them with “milk”? The Word of God is our only guide, and we have two instances at least of the way in which the Spirit of God ministers to such. The epistles to the Thessalonians were written soon after the church there had been formed — both probably within a year after the saints had been “turned to God from idols.” And what do we find? In the first epistle we have the return of our blessed Lord presented in every variety of aspect, and this too, distinguished from His coming to the world, besides a great deal of practical instruction for the building up of these saints on their most holy faith. In the second epistle the apostle goes still further, teaching the full character of the appearing of Christ, the truth of the man of sin, and the blessed fact that the church must be caught away from this scene before this son of perdition is revealed. Now these can scarcely be termed elementary subjects, but they were intended for the instruction and comfort of these “babes,” and were indeed necessary to them for the understanding of Christianity.
The Family of God
We have another example in John’s first epistle. Dividing the whole family of God into fathers, young men and babes, in what manner does he address this last class, the youngest of God’s children? “Little children,” he commences, “it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come ... ” (1 John 2:18). He then proceeds to point out the danger arising from antichrists having already appeared. He puts them on their guard by giving the marks of the Antichrist, and he leads them to the source of their safety in their having the unction of the Holy One and the Word of God. It is, in fact, a remarkable correspondence with the teaching of Paul in 2 Thessalonians.
Here then we have divine wisdom to guide us in teaching “babes.” They must be nourished with the Word of God, they must be fortified against danger by the revelations and warnings which it provides, and they must have a whole Christ in all that He is in Himself, in all that He is to God, and in all that He is to them, unfolded that they may grow thereby. It may be added that the maintenance of simplicity in the manner of instruction is entirely consistent with leading souls on in the knowledge of their portion in Christ, as well as of the dangers of the path. But the divine treasures should not be forever withheld from the saints. Are we to surrender, even for the babes, the truth of death and resurrection with Christ? If so, the foundations of Christianity are gone, and we shall easily fall back to Jewish ground and to a Jewish experience.
May the Lord make us all, whatever our stage of growth, increasingly desirous of following after Him, so as to apprehend that for which also we have been apprehended of Christ Jesus!
E. Dennett (adapted)
Improper Growth - Dwarfism, Second Childhood, and Deformity
Growth is the natural advancement of the children of God from the state of babes to become “young men and fathers” in Christ — see 1 John 2:12-14. But this growth may be hindered, regressive, or unnatural, and the spiritual state consequently may become all wrong. Thus there are three deficient states of soul, or deformed stages of growth, in the children of God, to be found in Scripture, and discernible too among Christians in our own day. All three are evil, because they all arise from an arrested or unnatural growth. First, the dwarf state — remaining in the condition of babes; second, the state of second childhood, or returning to that condition; and third, the result of both the others — deformity.
Babes
The first is illustrated by the Corinthians, who were still remaining in the condition of babes when the apostle addressed his first epistle to them. “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able” (1 Cor. 3:1-2). The word “hitherto” shows that they had never yet been in any other condition; they had remained in the condition of babes. Christians in this state are generally perfectly satisfied with themselves, and with what they know; they are never found running in Paul’s company, as in 1 Corinthians 8:2
Second Childhood
Second, there is the state of second childhood; this we see was the condition of the Hebrews. When the apostle addressed them, they were somewhat similar to the Corinthians, but with this difference; the Hebrews had advanced, but had afterward returned to the state of babes. “For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe” (Heb. 5:12-13). “Ye are become such” shows that they had gone back to it.
In this state you have unnatural growth; the internal has not kept pace with the external. It is more difficult to detect, for there is all the outward appearance of wisdom and manhood, but with the understanding and the power wanting. What can be more touching than to see impotency and helplessness in the hoary head — the head that should have curbed the impetuosity of youth by its prudent counsel, or encouraged the feeble steps of the tottering babe?
Deformity
I pass on to notice now the third state — deformity, in which state something is repulsive to the spiritual eye. I take as examples of those in this condition the saints addressed in 1 Corinthians and in Galatians. It is clear that in natural things deformity may be either mental or physical; that of the mind which is internal, or that of the body which is external and more visible. This is also true in the things of God, and both are illustrated in these two epistles. Doctrine was wrong with the Galatians, practice with the Corinthians; the one internal, and far more serious and solemn than the other. With all the dreadful moral evil existing at Corinth, Paul does not address such solemn warnings as he addresses to the Galatians. Having begun in the Spirit, they had gone back, and were now hindered. Legal works had been adopted, and they were no longer “obeying the truth” (Gal. 3:1).
It needed no great spiritual discernment to detect the deformity at Corinth. That which was allowed among them was a “common scandal,” and such as was “not so much as named,” even among the Gentiles (1 Cor. 5).
Recovery
It is a matter of comfort that souls in the three states we have been considering are not beyond recovery through the application of the Word in the power of the Spirit of God, for we have all three of them addressed in the passages we have had before us. Nothing but divine wisdom can help such souls now, but others have both the duty and privilege of helping them to recovery.
True growth always manifests itself in increased occupation of the soul with the person of Christ. When John writes of the “fathers,” he says that he has written to them because they have “known Him that is from the beginning.” This is all he has to say of them; he adds no further counsel to them, gives them no further occupation. But the omission is full of instruction, for the few words he does say of them are in effect, “You have already begun the occupation of heaven and eternity, and I know of nothing beyond it.” Thus true growth was manifested. There is no growth but by the Word. If at first it gave me life, it must effectually work now in me if I am to grow.
Adapted from H. C. Anstey
Piety
Outward exercise profits physically, or as Paul says strictly, “bodily exercise is useful for a little.” Piety is spiritual exercise and demands as much constant vigilance as holy self-restraint, as complete subjection to the revealed will of God, as training for the games calls for habitual abstinence from every relaxing habit and daily practice toward the end in view. How little there is of the exercise of piety, compared to bodily exercise!
Piety is profitable for all things, having promise of life that is now and of that to come. Christianity can allow no reserve, though all is of grace, and from its very nature must have the entire man, dead to sin and alive unto God, right through the present life into eternity. And this practical scope of godliness is pre-eminent in the pastoral epistles; not so much heavenly privilege or dispensational peculiarity, but rather a sound and devoted life according to godliness. This the apostle presses on Timothy, as Timothy was bound to press it on others.
Adapted from W. Kelly
Living by the Word
In proportion as we desire the sincere milk of the Word, we grow thereby.
There needs the constant drawing from the source of life — the blessed fountain of God’s truth. We shall find in it our daily food, or the cordial, the balm, and the medicine suited to our need. Its power on the heart brings forth the expression in the life.
Until the Word has its proper place in the believer’s heart, there is no stability; we are led by feelings, and when these fail, dearth and barrenness come in because we have failed thus to cultivate our strength, drinking in the sincere milk of God’s Word. Truth does not keep us; only dependence on Him who is the author of it can keep our souls alive today. It is a trying day for God’s people, so little energy and zeal, and worst of all, too much neglect of the study of His precious Word. It only is life and marrow to the soul, a lamp to guide, milk to nurse and meat to strengthen.
Christian Truth
Growth
If we are “to grow by the sincere milk of the word”... we need the teaching of the Holy Spirit, and in order to this there must be the exercising of ourselves unto godliness — the “laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,” so that the Holy Spirit be not grieved. Has the Christian allowed envy, guile, hypocrisies, to work in his heart? There can be no growth in the true knowledge of the things of God.
The great secret of growth is looking up to the Lord as gracious.
J. N. Darby
Come and Dine
John 21:12
The meal was spread upon the shore that morning;
The night-worn toilers heard the call divine;
’Twas fish they sought — and fish indeed were granted;
But more than this — there was His “Come and dine.”
What made that meal so wondrous in its spreading?
What spake it then? What says it still today?
What lesson deep was taught to them that morning?
What would He through it unto us convey?
He spread the meal! ’Twas clear that He was caring!
Not their own skill or will that breakfast spread:
Anxious, but failing, on the lake they lingered —
While on the shore there waited fish and bread.
And if forsaking, at His call or bidding,
Fishing or toiling, tasks once yours or mine —
Will He forget, forsake or ever fail us?
Or will He bid us daily, “Come and dine”?
J. D. Smith