Man Shall Not Live by Bread Alone

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website, morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. If you would, please turn to the gospel of Matthew, chapter 4. Matthew, chapter 4, and the title of this message is The Centrality of Scripture.

The centrality of scripture. If I were to say to you that the Bible is the most important book ever written, I think that would be an understatement. And the reason I'm doing this message, I figure this is the perfect time to preach on the subject of the Bible, scripture, because the beginning of a new year is perhaps the best time in preaching a message like this, because it's when people are most likely to take on a Bible reading plan.

It's when people are most likely to start that journey of reading through the scripture cover to cover. So if you've never done that, whether you've never had a Bible reading plan day by day, or you've never read through the Bible cover to cover, let this year be the year you do it.

Why? Just because you're supposed to? Well, maybe, but there are actually a lot of reasons why we should do this that are beneficial to you. And we're going to go through many of those reasons. I can tell you when you purpose in your heart to read the scripture, if you do it with an open mind or an open heart, it can, and I believe it will change your life.

It can do that because the word of God is powerful. Amen. Is the word of God powerful? Yes, it is. So if you seek the Lord by turning to his word, he will begin to work in your life in new and unexpected ways.

So you could take my word for it, maybe, but let's see what Jesus said about the scriptures, because we can take his word for it. Amen. Matthew 4, 1 through 4. Then Jesus was led up by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

And when he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights afterward, he was hungry. Now, when the tempter came to him, he said, if you are the son of God, command that these stones become bread. But he answered and said, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

Let's pray. Our father, I ask that you would speak to our hearts this morning through your word. And may we have the attitude that Jesus had, that we would live by the scripture. So Lord, encourage your people, teach us through your word and spirit, I pray.

Forgive us when we fall short and empower us to endure, to do better and to do thy work. I ask all this in Christ's name. Amen. All right. So Matthew chapter 4, verse 4, we see this statement by Jesus himself.

He says, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. And we know the view of Jesus about the scripture. This is God's word. This book is the word of God. Jesus says we should live by every word that comes from God's mouth.

So this is the way Jesus viewed the scripture. So as his followers, this is the way we view the scripture. You could say that the Bible is the instruction manual for life. Jesus said we should live by it.

Now let's turn to Matthew 5. See what else Jesus said about the scripture. Because in Matthew 5, he says and comments how the scripture is authoritative. The scripture is dependable. In Matthew 5, verse 18, look at it.

Jesus said, for assuredly I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. The term law there is a reference to the Old Testament, which was the only scripture that existed when Jesus made this statement.

So he's saying not one jot or one tittle. That's like the dotting of an I, the crossing of a T. Not one part of the scripture will fail. Not one part of the scripture will pass away. And then in John 10, verse 35, Jesus said that the scripture cannot be broken.

So man shall live by every word of it. It cannot be broken. It will never pass away. Does that give you an idea of how Jesus viewed the Bible? I think so. So as Christians, this is where, this is why we believe what we believe.

As followers of Christ, our view of the Bible is the same view that Jesus held. So we should agree with all of that stuff. So the disciples, obviously Jesus, his apostles went on to say more about the subject.

For example, in 2 Timothy chapter 3, verse 16, we are told that all scripture is given by inspiration of God. That is, all scripture is God breathed. Who's the source of scripture?

Man?

No, God is the source of scripture. But even before this, before Jesus came, before Jesus and Paul and Peter made any of these statements, what do we have? In the Old Testament, it was always very clear God was the source of the Bible.

The first time God's word was written down, let's see if you know this. What was the first time God's word was written down? Who is the man who wrote it down?

Moses.

Right.

The first time the word of God was ever written was during the ministry of Moses. And before Moses wrote Genesis through Deuteronomy, what the Jews called the Torah, God himself first wrote it down. Actually, God was the first one to write it down.

Remember that?

The finger of God. Deuteronomy chapter 9, verse 10, tells us that the Ten Commandments were written by the finger of God. And the fact that God wrote it in stone, I mean, that kind of tells you something, doesn't it?

That the commandments are forever true. What you have today in the modern church is you have all these people out there searching for God's will. Matter of fact, when Q &As are given, this is the most common question people ask.

What is God's will? Or how can I find God's will for my life? The fact that it's the most common question people ask tells you that they don't understand the most basic thing, that God's will is revealed in Scripture.

You know what God's will is for you? Well, the New Testament, Thessalonians, Paul says, it's your sanctification. But God's will is not a mystery. God's will in the Ten Commandments is revealed to His people.

What is God's will for your life? That you honor and worship God? That's God's will for your life. That we keep a day of worship holy and set apart unto Him. That we love our neighbor as our self and we do no harm to them?

That's God's will. How do we know all this? Because it was written down. Have no other gods before me. Do not make any graven image. Do not use the name of God in vain. Keep the Sabbath holy. Honor your father and mother.

Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. And do not covet. This is the will of God for you. All right, now let's turn to 2 Peter 1. And we know all of this because it's written down in what?

In the Bible.

In the Scripture. God wrote first, then Moses. And then the Bible is now a collection of over 66 books written by over 40 different authors over the course of about 1 ,500 years. So you're turning to 2 Peter 1.

It was God who gave Moses the information to write the book of Genesis. You think about it, it was Jesus who gave the apostle John the information to write the book of Revelation. And it was God, the Holy Spirit, who inspired every book in between.

Look at 2 Peter 1, 20 and 21. The apostle says, knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation. How this is often interpreted is that, you know, the Bible can't mean one thing to you and mean something else to this person and something.

Else to that guy.

That's actually not what, even though that's true, that's not what Peter is saying. When he says that the Scripture is not of any private interpretation, what's he saying? Well, look at the next verse.

For prophecy never came by the will of man. Man is not the source of the Bible. God is the source of the Bible. He says, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. So they spoke and then they wrote it down.

So who is the author of Scripture? God is the author of Scripture. So everything, here's the point, everything that God wants you to know is right here. It's within these two covers. Everything God wants you to know is in there.

It's just a matter of you having the faith to believe that. So do you believe that this morning? There might be a couple listening that you're not quite sure. This message is to convince you. That everything we need for life and godliness is in this book.

That's the reason we should read the Scripture. So you see, here's the thing about faith. We talk about faith and faith is to us like the most important thing. Well, faith isn't really about believing that God exists.

Faith is believing what God has said. We need to see what God has said and then believe it. And then trust in it. So this, we're going to make a statement. This book, this is the foundation of our faith.

This book is the foundation of our faith. You say, well, isn't Jesus the foundation? Well, yes. And what does the Scripture say about Jesus? John 1 verse 14, that Jesus is the word made flesh. In a very real sense, this is Christ.

This is Christ. How do you know anything about Jesus if not for this book? I tell people this. They want to argue about who Jesus is and what he came to do. Tell me something about Jesus that didn't come from this book.

You can't. Everything we know about Christ came from his word. Therefore, the Scripture alone, if you take notes, write this down. Therefore, based on all of this, God being the source, it's authoritative, it cannot fail.

Jesus is the word made flesh. Therefore, the Scripture alone is our final authority. I'll repeat it again. The Scripture alone is our final authority for faith and practice. That's because Jesus is our authority.

So you can never separate the Lord from his word. And you can never separate the word from the Spirit who inspired it. Okay, so that's all kind of the basic information about Scripture. Based on that, I think you should read it.

So now we can just close our Bibles and just go home, right?

Well, we could.

I have a few more things to say, though. You probably guessed that. So that all may be true. It may be doctrinally correct. But in order to encourage people in the right direction, I think it would be helpful for me to give you some of maybe the practical reasons why you should read the Bible.

If a preacher gets up and says, well, you should read the Bible because that's just the right thing to do. Well, that's true, but, you know, that doesn't exactly work. Well, you should do it because then people feel guilty and then they're not really encouraged or inspired to read it.

So there are some real practical reasons for your sake of why it would be good for you to read the Scripture. It's good for us.

Why?

So I have a list of reasons to consider. And, of course, as your pastor, I want you to know this. I care about your spiritual health. I care about, obviously, your physical health, but I'm not your doctor.

But I am your pastor. So I care about your spiritual health. This is one way to work towards God's best. I want God's best for you. This is one way, an easy way, one of the easiest ways you can work towards God's best in your life by diligently seeking the Lord.

And how do we do that? We start out by doing it by reading his word. So the first reason to reading the Bible. Why should we do it? The practical reason it helps us to live a better life. Thanks for listening.

I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornick Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, morriscornickchurch .com. And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett.

Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.