Be Concerned - The Word is Food

In one day in the United States of America, Americans will eat 47 million hot dogs. They will eat 1.3 million TV dinners and consume 12.5 million pounds of cheese. And they'll also eat 95 tons of sardines. They will drink three million gallons of orange juice and 23 million gallons of soft drinks. And when the day is over, Americans will have consumed 815 billion calories of food.

Well, some people eat to live, and some people live to eat. But let's face it, we rejoice that God has given to us taste buds and digestion and the ability to prepare and enjoy food. These are among the things that God gives to us richly to enjoy. We must be careful, and we must be grateful. But you know, God has given to us spiritual food as well, and I wonder if we are as anxious for the spiritual food as we are for the physical food. Jesus said in Matthew 4:4, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God."

I want us to think about the Word of God as food. I want us to think about what it means to feed the inner person. I'm going to make four statements that relate to this subject. Now listen closely. Number one: God's people possess life. Number two: Life demands nourishment. Number three: Nourishment leads to growth. Number four: Growth glorifies God.

Let's start with that first statement: God's people possess life. Now the unsaved person, the unbeliever, is dead spiritually; alive physically, but dead spiritually. And if that person is not born again through faith in Jesus Christ, that person will be dead eternally because hell is the second death; the lake of fire is the second death.

Ephesians 2 spells this out: "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others."

Here we have the world, the flesh, and the devil: bondage, death, disobedience. And that's what Jesus saved us from. Now the unsaved person is spiritually dead. That means that the inner person has no spiritual life whatsoever. The inner person is dead. There's no vision; the inner person cannot see. Jesus said in John 3:3, "Except a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." And you open the Bible to an unsaved person, and he cannot see. He's blind to spiritual things. Satan has blinded his mind, lest he see the face of Jesus Christ.

The unsaved person is unable to hear. Jesus had to say a lot about this in the Gospel of John. He said, "Now you don't hear My word. Why don't you believe? Because you can't hear My word. My sheep hear My voice." Unsaved people can hear words, they can hear a sermon, but they can't hear the voice of God in the Word of God. They have no spiritual appetite. A corpse has no appetite. You can take all kinds of succulent food into the mortuary and present it to the corpse; there'll be no response.

Now, salvation means that God gives us spiritual life. Oh, this is so important. So many people have the false idea that joining a church gives you life. It does not. It may give you some good friends, but it won't give you life. Going through some religious ritual will give me life? No, it will not.

Life comes through faith in Jesus Christ. Listen to John 5:24. The Lord Jesus said, "He who hears My word and believes on Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life." That's a resurrection, isn't it? You has He made alive through faith in Jesus Christ.

Now, have you put your faith in Christ? Oh, it's so important to know the difference between mere religion and resurrection. Ah, eternal life is a gift. It's not a reward for being good. It's not a payment for obedience. No, no. God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Oh, if you want eternal life, you have to have His Son. "He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life."

God's people possess life. I don't know about you, but when I trusted Christ as my Savior, and God raised me from the dead on the inside, I was given an appetite for the Word of God. I wanted to read it, I wanted to study it, and by the grace of God, I have devoted these last years, many of them, over 40 years, to the study and the preaching of the Word of God. There is in my heart an appetite for the Word of God. This is a part of being raised from the dead. God's people possess life, and where there's life, there has to be an appetite.

I fear that our churches are filled with people who are nothing but walking corpses. They have no appetite for the Word of God. The minute the sermon starts, they look at their watch, turn around, look at the church clock. They put the clock on the back wall so the preacher can see it, and he pays no attention to it. They should put it on the front wall because the congregation looks at the clock more than the preacher does.

These people do not have an appetite for the Word of God. They just endure the service; let's get this over as fast as we can so we can go home and watch the football game. But when you've been raised from the dead, my friend, you have an appetite for the Word of God. The inner person is alive toward God.

Now our second statement: Life demands nourishment. The way you care for the outer person, the body, must also be the way you care for the inner person, the soul, the spirit. The outer person obviously needs exercise. Without exercise, you're going to just get flabby and fall apart and die.

Well, we're supposed to exercise ourselves unto godliness. 1 Timothy 4:8: "For bodily exercise profits a little," that means for a little time. It's good, nothing wrong with it. "But godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come." That's why in verse seven, Paul wrote to Timothy, "Exercise yourself rather to godliness."

The outer man needs exercise; the inner person needs exercise. The outer person needs cleansing. We take showers or baths; we wash our hands frequently during the day. We keep ourselves clean. Why? Because dirt leads to disease and infection and trouble, sickness.

Well, the inner person needs cleansing. "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my thoughts; see if there be any wicked way in me." We need to come to the Lord for cleansing of the inner person.

Now, the inner person needs to be clothed, just as the outer person needs to be clothed. We wouldn't think of going out in public without clothing. Well, the inner person needs to be dressed up as well.

Colossians 3, Paul describes the garments of God's grace that need to be worn on the soul, on the inner spirit. He tells us to put off the dirty things, you know, "Put to death... fornication and uncleanness." Put these things off. Put off the old man, put on the new man. And he talks about that new man in Colossians 3:12: "Put on tender mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another." Oh, that's the kind of garments of God's grace that need to be on your soul.

Within you, just as the outer person has to be fed, so the inner person has to be fed. If you don't nourish the inner man, the inner person, you're going to have weakness and sickness, and this is not good in the Christian life. Now, what is the food for the inner person? Well, it's the Word of God. The Word of God is bread. Matthew 4:4: "Man shall not live by bread alone," said our Lord Jesus, "but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God."

The Word of God is milk. 1 Peter 2, Peter writes about this and he says in verse two, "As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby." The Word of God is the milk that helps us to grow. 1 Corinthians 3, the Word of God is meat.

Notice what he says in 1 Corinthians 3:2: "I fed you with milk and not with solid food or meat; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal." And he goes on to describe their carnality: envy and strife and divisions and so forth. But the Word of God is solid food; it is meat. So the Word of God is bread and milk and meat; it's even honey. Psalm 119:103: "How sweet are Your words to my taste, yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!"

Now, my friend, if you can't make a meal out of bread and milk and meat and honey, there's something wrong with your spiritual appetite. The Word of God comes to us as life-sustaining bread. Bread was a staple of the diet back in Bible days. It comes to us as milk so that even the youngest Christian can receive it. Ah, but you can't stay on a milk diet; you have to move up to a solid food diet. You have to grow some spiritual teeth to be able to grow in the things of the Lord. God's people possess life. Life demands nourishment.

We are looking together at four statements that relate to the Word of God as food. Statement number one: God's people possess life. Statement number two: Life demands nourishment. Number three: Nourishment leads to growth. And number four: Growth glorifies God.

The Word of God, we discovered, is the nourishment. It's bread, Matthew 4:4. It's milk, 1 Peter 2:1-3. It's meat, 1 Corinthians 3 and Hebrews 5. And it's honey, Psalm 119:103. And I'm sure you know that Psalm 19:10 says the same thing: "More to be desired are they," meaning the judgments of God, "than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb."

The sweetest thing the Jews knew, of course, was honey. You know, in the Bible, people express this hunger for spiritual food and this satisfaction with God's Word. I think of Job. Job 23:12: "I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food." I like that. More than my necessary food; not the luxuries, not the desserts, but the bread and the milk and the meat and the honey of the Word of God.

Jeremiah said the same thing in Jeremiah 15:16: "Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts." He fed on the Word of God. You know, those of us who preach and teach the Word of God, we have to eat it first before we can give it to other people.

I think too often people are teaching the Word of God and preaching, they've never digested the word of truth. They just take something from this book and something from that book and sort of put it together, throw together a tossed salad and give it to their people, instead of really feeding on the Word of God, digesting it, letting it become a real part of their spiritual being.

Luke 10, Mary and Martha were entertaining the Lord Jesus. Verse 39 says that Mary sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. Ah, but Martha was distracted with much serving. She was preparing a meal for them. Nothing wrong with that. I thank God for the Marthas in our churches who can prepare meals for people.

But her priorities were confused, and that's why Jesus said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her." She fed on the Word of God.

Now, you and I must beware of a carnal appetite. This is what was so often the trouble with the Jewish people, a carnal appetite. They did not really understand how to feed on the word of the living God. Back in Exodus 16, they were crying out for the fleshpots of Egypt. They wanted to go back to their worldly diet in Egypt, and God sent them manna. And this manna was pure and holy and fresh and refreshing; it was sweet to their taste. It was like a wafer. And every day God gave them this manna, but down in their hearts, they wanted to go back to Egypt and the leeks and the onions and the garlic and the fleshpots of Egypt.

Can you imagine that? All we have is heavenly bread, and what we really want is worldly food. Does that sound like some folks you know? Perhaps it sounds like each one of us. Beware of a carnal appetite.

In Psalm 119, he talks about meditating on the Word. You remember it says in Psalm 1:2, "But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night." If you delight in something, you meditate on it. If you delight in your grandchildren, you think about them. If you delight in your husband, your wife, you think about that person.

If you delight in the Word of God, if you enjoy the Word of God, you'll meditate on it. And during the day or at night when you're lying in bed and your mind can go wherever it wants to go, if you delight in the Word of God, your mind is going to go to the Word of God, and you're going to meditate on what you've read and what you've memorized.

Look at Psalm 119 and notice that wherever you find delight, you find meditation, and wherever you find meditation, you find delight. Psalm 119:15: "I will meditate on Your precepts and contemplate Your ways." Now look at verse 16: "I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word." When you delight, you meditate. Psalm 119:23: "Princes also sit and speak against me, but Your servant meditates on Your statutes. Your testimonies also are my delight." You see, when you delight in the Word of God, you meditate on the Word of God.

If you love something, you think about it. You love your mate, you think about your mate. You love your children, you think about your children. You love the Word of God, you think about the Word of God. In fact, he really puts it together in verse 97: "Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day." Not just on Sunday mornings; all the day.

Now nourishment leads to growth. The new birth is only the beginning. A baby is born to grow. Now keep in mind, when you were born again through faith in Jesus Christ, you were born complete. In fact, Paul wrote that in Colossians 2:9-10: "For in Him," Jesus, "dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." Now the Lord doesn't need any help from anybody. "And you are complete in Him." Not complete in yourself, not complete because of the church you belong to; complete in Him.

We are born complete. All a baby has to do is grow, and the baby grows from nourishment. God's people possess life; they've been born again. Life demands nourishment. Nourishment leads to growth.

A church grows by nutrition, not by addition. And you can buy three or four more translations, you can add 10 books to your library, you can join four more Christian groups, you can attend a number of Bible studies; these things need not bring you growth. There's nothing automatic. It's only when that nourishment gets on the inside we grow from within.

Now, why don't Christians grow? Well, in 1 Corinthians 3, Paul tells us Christians don't grow because they follow human leaders. He says, "You people are carnal. One says, 'I'm for Paul'; another one says, 'Well, I'm for Apollos'; and somebody else says, 'Well, I like Cephas.'" Oh, we have so much of that today, even in the media. If you are depending upon some media preacher to help you grow, and you're not feeding yourself, then you're carnal. Now I'm sorry, that's what the Word of God says in 1 Corinthians 3.

In Hebrews 5, the writer says, "For the time that you've been saved, you ought to be teaching other people." That's a mark of maturity, to be able to teach other people the Word of God. "Instead, you've lapsed into a second childhood, and we've got to teach you again the ABCs of the Word of God. I want to give you some meat, but I can't give you the meat; I have to give you the milk."

What's the difference between milk and meat? Well, according to the book of Hebrews, it's this: the milk is the teaching about what Jesus did on earth. Hebrews is about what Jesus is doing now in heaven.

A primary child can be taught about the life of Jesus on earth. But try to talk to a primary child about Melchizedek, or the priesthood of Jesus, or the heavenly sanctuary. You see, Hebrews is saying the meat of the Word is what Jesus is doing in heaven right now.

That's why we have to study the epistles. It's good to study Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; oh, they are so precious and wonderful. But let's add to that also Romans and Corinthians and Galatians and Hebrews. Let's get into the meat of the Word of God and find out what Jesus is doing in heaven for us today. A lot of saints don't know.

God's people possess life, and life demands nourishment, and nourishment leads to growth. Are you following some human leader? Is your whole Christian life dependent on somebody else? Our fourth statement: Growth glorifies God. Oh, as a child matures and grows, we rejoice. When they can feed themselves and clothe themselves and cleanse themselves, when they can walk and talk, when they have discernment.

In Ephesians 4, Paul points out that the Christian who is a child in the faith has no discernment. Verse 14: "That we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness by which they lie in wait to deceive." Some Christians are fooled by everything and everybody because they need to grow up. Growth glorifies God because the more we grow, the more we become like the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, food nourishes us not when you look at it or admire it, but when you eat it and digest it.