Spiritual Food

It is well known that as regards material food we need a balanced diet. Eating one thing such as, for instance, chicken will not be enough to keep us in good health. Chicken is good for you but it is not adequate on its own for an adult, and this applies to other foods. Milk is usually adequate for little babies but not for adults. Bread is also necessary (Psalm 104:15). Blood tests often show that someone is not having an adequate diet by the fact that they have a lack of iron or electrolytes. (Electrolytes are a solution that conducts electricity and the proper amount and distribution of them in the body is essential to good health)

If we turn to Scripture we find that from the beginning we have variety: “fruit trees yielding fruit after their kind” (Genesis 1:11). It is clear that Adam and Eve were free to eat of every tree except the one prohibited (Genesis 1:29 and 2:16). However, it is not until Genesis 18:6-8 that we get the idea of a meal introduced. The meal consisted of calf meat, cakes and milk. It was not one thing on its own. By way of contrast Lot’s repast for his visitors apparently only consisted of unleavened cakes (Genesis 19:3). If we just have one thing, however good it may be, we shall be damaged physically and the same applies in spiritual things. Lot was a righteous man (2 Peter 2:6-10) but he did not have the faith that Abraham had; in that way he was lacking.

In going through Scripture we find that one kind of food is not adequate. Thus the Passover lamb was to be eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs (Exodus 12:8). Even the Lord’s supper does not just consist of bread, but of wine as well. Both elements are necessary. When Christ fed the five thousand and the four thousand He did not just give them bread, but bread and fishes (Mark 6:41; 8:6/7). John the Baptist did not eat luxurious food but he ate more than one thing: “Locusts and wild honey” (Matthew 3:4) In quite a number of places Scripture speaks of “a land flowing with milk and honey” (e.g. Exodus 3:8). Not just milk or not just honey !

When we come to spiritual things we find that we are not just fed one thing. The Bible contains vast variety and all of it is profitable (2 Timothy 3:16/17). If we just feed on one subject, whether that be creation, prophecy, gospel or whatever, we shall be defective. Saints may well become sick of ministry that keeps harping on one subject, however important it may be in itself. Books like the Koran do not contain the variety that we have in the Holy Scriptures. To eat honey is good as it says in Proverbs 24:13, but we should not have too much of it (Proverbs 25:16 and 27). The verses quoted make this clear.

Paul taught both faith and truth (1 Timothy 2:7). It may be necessary to stress one subject at times, that is, where it has been lacking. At the time of the Reformation justification by faith was stressed, but Luther overstressed it so that he rejected the book of James which also speaks of works. We may also need to give small doses of some things where the Lord’s people have infirmities (see 1 Timothy 5:23). This may be physical food or drink, but it may be spiritual food or drink (1 Corinthians 10:3/4). Christ Himself spoke of eating the flesh of the Son of man and drinking his blood in John 6:53 and 55. We need both. Further we need food in season as Christ said (Matthew 24:45). Some years ago I was told by a gardener that he preferred to eat garden produce at the time when it was ripe as he said, in effect, no doubt God made a plant to fruit in the season when it was most needed to nourish mankind and animals. In Revelation 22:2 we have twelve fruits spoken of; each month yielding its fruit. It was not just one fruit all the year round.

It is clear as regards material food that we can have it put in front of us on a plate, but for it to do us any good we must appropriate it, that is, eat it. The same is true of spiritual food, we must appropriate it if it is to do us any good. This applies whether we are reading the Scriptures or listening to or reading ministry. Those who are feeding the Lord’s people by ministering to them should be balanced in their presentation of it. They should see that their word is always with grace, seasoned with salt (Colossians 4:6). “The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious” (Ecclesiastes 10:12). However, gracious words on their own may degenerate into flattery; the salt is also needed. On the other hand salt on its own tastes dreadful. Christ when here so spake in the synagogue that “all... wondered at the words of grace which were coming out of his mouth.” (Luke 4:22). However there was salt with what he said so that before long the people in the synagogue were filled with rage and would have killed him (Luke 4:28-32). In the passage in Colossians referred to above Paul goes on to say: “[so as] to know how ye ought to answer each one.” Paul did not write in the same way to the Galatians as he did to the Philippians because their state was different. It is all a matter of wisdom as the same verse says.

Defective or one sided ministry will lead to defective or one sided practice. In Hebrews it is said: “Pursue peace with all, and holiness, without which no one shall see the Lord” (chapter 10:14). It is not peace at any price. On the other hand we are not to so pursue holiness that we forget the pursuit of peace with all, Christians and unbelievers alike. The path, as is often said, is a narrow one. We don’t want to fall overboard either on the right or left hand side of the ship ! See also Romans 14:19-23.

As Paul says to Timothy, we need to be “nourished with the words of the faith and of the good teaching” (1 Timothy 4:6). This covers a good deal and not just a few texts such as 2 Timothy 2:19 which might well lead us to become unbalanced. The Lord’s people need to be built up as Jude says in verse 20 of his epistle and as Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:11. We also need to grow in grace as Peter says (2 Peter 3:18). We are not to be stunted Christians so that Peter exhorts his readers to use diligence to have in their faith virtue, etc.(2 Peter 1:5-11). See also 1 Peter 2:2. Paul says similarly (Colossians 1:6 and 10).

One object of a varied diet is that it would lead us to be marked by the things spoken of in 1 Timothy 1:5-7. If we do not see that these things are the end of what is enjoined we are likely to fall into a legal state (law teaching) as Paul says in verse 7.

Finally, Paul says to Timothy: “Give heed to thyself and to the teaching; continue in them; for, doing this, thou shalt save both thyself and those that hear thee” (1 Timothy 4:16).

March 2010