II. THE MILK OF THE WORD
"As new-born babes, long for the
spiritual milk that is without guile, that ye may grow thereby unto salvation"
-- 1 Peter 2:2
Beloved young Christians, hear what your Father
has to say in this word. You have just recently given yourselves to the Lord,
and have believed that He has received you. You have thus received the new
life from God. you are now as new-born infants: He would teach you in this
word what is necessary that you may grow and wax strong.
The first point is: you must know that you
are God's children. Hear how distinctly Peter says this to those just
converted: (1 Pet. 1:23; 2:2,10,25) `You have been born again,' `you are
new-born infants,' `you are now converted,' `you are now the people of God.' A
Christian, however young and weak he is, must know that he is God's child.
Then only can he have the courage to believe that he shall make progress, and
the boldness to use the food of the children provided in the word. All
Scripture teaches us that we must know and can know that we are children of
God. (Rom 8:16; 1 Cor. 3:1,16; Gal. 4:6,7; 1 John 3:2,14,24; 4:13, 5:10,13)
The assurance of faith is indispensable to a healthy powerful growth in the
Lord. (Eph. 5:8; Col. 2:6; 1 Pet. 1:14,19)
The second point which this word teaches you is:
you are still very weak, weak as new-bon children. The joy and the love
which a young convert sometimes experiences do indeed make him think that he is
very strong. He runs the risk of exalting himself, and of trusting in what he
experiences. He must nevertheless learn much of how he must become strong in
his Lord Jesus. Endeavour to feel deeply that you are still young and weak. (1
Cor. 3:1,13; Heb. 5:13,14) Out of this sense of weakness comes the humility
which has nothing (Matt. 5:3; Rom 12:3,10; Eph. 4:2; Phil. 2:3,4; Col. 3:
12) in itself, and therefore expects all from its Lord. (Matt. 8:8,15,27,28)
The third lesson is: the young Christian must
not remain weak; he must grow and increase in grace; he must make progress
and become strong. God lays it upon us as a command. His word gives us
concerning this point the most glorious promises. It lies in the nature of the
thing: a child of God must and can make progress. The new life is a life that
is healthy and strong: when a disciple surrenders himself to it, the growth
certainly comes. (Judg. 5:31; Ps. 84:8, 92:13,14; Prov. 4:18; Isa. 40:31;
Eph. 4:14; 1 Thess. 4:1; 2 Pet. 3:18)
The fourth and principal lesson, the lesson
which young disciples of Christ have most need of is: it is through the milk
of the word that God's new-born infants can grow. The new life from the
Spirit of God can be sustained only by the word from the mouth of God. Your
life, my young brother, will largely depend on whether you learn to deal wisely
and well with God's word, or whether you learn to use the word from the
beginning as your milk. (Ps. 19:8,11; 119:97,100; Isa. 55: 2,3; 1 Cor.
12:11)
See what a charming parable the Lord has given
us here in the mother's milk. Out of her own life does the mother yield food
and life to her child. The feeding of the child is the work of the tenderest
love, in which the child is pressed to the breast, and is held in the closest
fellowship with the mother. And the milk is just what the weak child requires,
food gentle and yet strong.
Even so is there in the word of God the very
life and power of God. (John 6:63; 1 Thess. 2:13; Heb. 4:12) His tender love
will through the word receive us into the gentlest and most intimate fellowship
with Himself. (John 10:4) His love will give us out of the word what is, like
warm soft milk, just fitted for our weakness. Let no one suppose that the word
is too high or too hard for him. For the disciple who receives the word, and
trustfully relies on Jesus to teach him by the Spirit, the word of God shall
practically prove to be gentle sweet milk for new-born infants. (Ps 119:18;
John 14:26; Eph. 1:17-18)
Dear young Christian, would you continue
standing, would you become strong, would you always live for the Lord? Then
hear this day the voice of your Father: `As new-born babes, long for the
spiritual milk that is without guile.' Receive this word into your heart and
hold it fast as the voice of your Father: on your use of the word of God will
your spiritual life depend. Let the word of God be precious to you above
everything. (Ps 19:14,47,48,111,127)
Above all, forget not this: the word is the
milk; the sucking or drinking on the part of the little child is the inner,
living, blessed fellowship with the mother's love. Through the Holy Spirit
your use of the milk of the word can become warm, living fellowship with the
Living Love of your God. O long then very eagerly for the milk. Do not take
the word as something that is hard and troublesome to understand: in that way
you lose all delight in it. Receive it with trust in the love of the living
God. With a tender motherly love will the Spirit of God teach and help you in
your weakness. Believe always that the Spirit will make the word in you life
and joy, a blessed fellowship with your God.
Precious Saviour, Thou hast taught me to believe Thy word, and Thou
hast made me by that faith a child of God. Through that word, as the milk of
the new-born babes, wilt Thou also feed me. Lord, for this milk shall I be
very eager: every day will I long after it. Teach me, through the Holy Spirit
and the word, to walk and hold converse every day in living fellowship with the
love of the Father. Teach me always to believe that the Spirit has been given
me with the word. Amen.
1. What texts do you consider
the best for proving that the Scriptures teach us that we must know we are
children of God?
2. What are the three points in which the
sucking child is to us a type of the young child in Christ in his dealing with
the word?
3. What must a young Christian do when he has
little blessing in the reading of God's word? He must set himself through
faith in fellowship with Jesus Himself: he must reckon that Jesus will teach
him through the Spirit and so trustfully continue in the reading.
4. One verse chosen to meet our needs, read ten
times and then laid up in the heart, is better than ten verses read once. Only
so much of the word as I actually receive and inwardly appropriate for myself,
is food for my soul.
5. Choose out for yourselves what you consider
one of the most glorious promises about making progress and becoming strong;
learn it by heart, and repeat it continually as the language of your positive
expectation.
6. Have you learned well to understand what the
great means for growth in grace is?