How Can You Be Nourished with the Words of the Faith in 1 Timothy 4:6?

  You don’t have to be a starving Christian.  Especially if you consider the Bible as spiritual food. The Lord said in John 6 that He was the bread of life (v. 35), and if we eat Him, we shall live because of Him (v. 57).  

   From this chapter in John you can see that those words stumbled a lot of people back then; they just couldn’t figure out what Jesus was talking about.  Towards the end of that chapter in verse 63 Jesus pointed out specifically what He was referring to: “…the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and  are life." 

Last week I read Chapter 8 in the Life-Study of 1 Timothy, and it was also on the word being food to us:  Laying these things before the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, being nourished with the words of the faith and of the good teaching which you have closely followed.   1 Timothy 4:6

I like the clear exposition Witness Lee gave on this verse:

"By 'these things' Paul means all that he has covered thus far in this Epistle.  Just as a steward lays different courses of food before guests at a dinner, so a good minister of Christ should lay 'these things' before the believers. Furthermore, Paul’s use of the term 'being nourished' indicates that his concept is that of supplying life to others.  It is significant that here Paul does not say 'being taught' but 'being nourished' with the words of the faith….Being nourished with Christ, we shall have Christ as food, as life supply, to minister to others….We all need to be good ministers of Christ, serving others with His supply.  Let us first be nourished ourselves and then minister this nourishment to all the people of God" (Lee, Witness. Life-Study of 1 Timothy. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry. 1980, Print).

     In this chapter Witness Lee also uses the illustration of mothers knowing how to feed their children nutritious food because they have learned the importance of eating properly.  Every day it matters that we spend time with the Lord in His word so that we can each receive a life supply, a living word from the Lord.  I’ve found out that the word I enjoy in the morning really strengthens and encourages me, and it really becomes spiritual food for both myself and others.  And even brother Lee said that his burden with giving the Life-Study of the Bible was to give spiritual groceries to God's people. I know this is true because every time I read one of these Life-Studies, I get spiritually fed! 

You can  also listen to live excerpts from these messages on 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon on The Life-Study of the Bible with Witness Lee.  You will enjoy listening to both  the excerpts  from these spoken messages and the helpful and enlightening commentary of the radio hosts.

List of Other Life-Studies on 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, & Philemon:

What is Paul's First Exhortation in 1 Timothy 2:1?
How Can You Be Nourished With the Words of the Faith in 1 Timothy 4:6?
Looking at the Church's Decline in 2 Timothy
From the Life-Study of 2 Timothy - How Did Paul Inoculate the Church Against Decline?
Why is the Word Healthy Used So Much in the Epistle to Titus?
Why  Should You Avoid Questionings in Titus 3:9?
What Does the Account of Onesimus Show Us in the Book of Philemon?