Matthew 4:1-4 “Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, he was afterward an hungered. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”
Jesus repeats himself in verse 7, “Jesus said unto him It is written.” and again in verse 10, “Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written.”
The devil comes to Jesus when He’s at his weakest moment. He had fasted for 40 days. He was in the wilderness. He was away from his friends and alone, and he tempts Him. But Jesus doesn’t respond in the flesh. Jesus doesn’t respond with something that He heard from His preacher. He doesn’t respond with something that He heard from a Christian School or a youth conference. He responds the only way that we can respond and be successful in spiritual warfare. He responds with Scripture. And I believe that the majority of us are losing in our battle because we don’t know how to defend ourselves. We so often attempt to live on bread alone instead of “As it is Written“.
There are many people that hear preaching regularly but they’ve never been told where things are in the Scriptures. Or they may have questions as to why we do what we do, and maybe they’ve heard an explanation of, “Well, that’s just the way the preacher always does it,” or “That’s just what the preacher believes,” or “Well, that’s just what Mom and Dad said or Grandma said.” And while that may solve the problem when we’re six, that really doesn’t solve the problem when we’re 16 and it poses a real big problem when were 26. That’s why some younger fundamentalists have a rebellious heart, because, we’ve lived by bread alone, and we’ve never learned that “it is written“.
The devil attacks Jesus in the three ways he attacks us: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life; and Jesus responds with Scripture. There are two ways to live our lives: By bread alone, or As it is Written.
There is a generation that does what they do because their parents tell them what to do. While there is nothing wrong with that for seven year olds, young adults who make mindless, heartless, scriptureless decisions are often lead astray. These decisions are made by bread alone, because many of them have no idea what Scripture says. I don’t mean they do not know any of the Bible. Many have just not been taught what is bread and what is said.
I didn’t start reading the Bible until I was 17. I wasn’t privileged like a lot of people to have a good Christian Home or to attend a Christian School. I rode a bus, and I got to go to Sunday School some, but not every week. When I did start reading the Bible, I wanted to know what the Bible said about everything. When a preacher said something against something that I liked, I wanted to know where it said it in the Bible. That it really just wasn’t him saying it, but it was in the Bible. I wasn’t basing my whole life on just what that guy said. Then, I realized Jesus had said to live this way. He said you can’t live by a temporary bread alone, but by an eternal word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. I couldn’t base my beliefs on a man. This has really helped me as I have watched men fall, and have watched men change over the years. When men who were saying one thing are now saying another thing, I began to realize it’s a good thing I didn’t base what I believed on those men, but rather on what was written in the Word of God.
I. By Bread Alone
Bread is man-made. It satisfies only temporarily. It fulfills fleshly needs, is not necessarily sinful, but it’s also not a spiritual or an eternal fix. You can’t live by bread alone. Living by Bread is a picture of living to satisfy men. “Bread” here is man making life decisions from self-rising, selfishness. It is adding the yeast of feelings and baking in the pan of personal opinion. Bread is sometimes living to please parents, a pastor, pals or a group of people. It is getting approval and self worth from them. Many live by bread alone.
The Bible talks about a young king named Jehoshaphat that when he was a young man, he followed his father and his God. But, when he became an older man, he made the God of his father, his God. The problem is, a lot of us in this generation…we’re older, and we’ve never made the God of our father, our God. We’ve made our father our god. We’ve pleased them. Then, when we have a conflict with one, we throw the other out the window. We leave God and our parents, and we run. Why? Because, they were trying to please the Pastor, or Youth Pastor, not God. They were living by bread alone. They were living off the sermons on Wednesday. They were living off the sermons on Sunday, but they never read that Book for themselves.
We can’t live by bread alone. We must live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God, and when you live by bread alone, you worry about man’s opinion. We worry about temporary satisfaction. “What’s good for me now? What’s good for me in 11th grade? What’s good for me in college? What’s good for my current job?” That’s why we date who we date. That’s why we wear what we wear. That’s why we do what we do, because all we care about is us and the right now. We have no fear or no worry about later on, because it’s temporary. It’s bread alone. We live for the moment and the moment’s people and popularity. We make decisions on what WE believe, on man’s opinion, on our flesh, and on that temporary satisfaction rather than on the Word of God and on surrender to God’s will and on what’s right. That is Living By Bread Alone.
II. As it is Written
Now, the other way to live your life is, “As It is written.” That means it is written down, and when Jesus makes this statement, He’s quoting the Old Testament, and He’s saying, “Somewhere in the Old Testament, what I am about to say, is written down. This is in the Bible. I am making this statement, Devil, and I live my life, Devil, based on the Bible which is God’s Word.” I didn’t make this up. This is not for me. I didn’t choose it. God did. What does the Bible say? “It is written.” It doesn’t matter what somebody else says, what a church says, what a college says, what a camp says, what a Youth Pastor says, what a Christian school says, what a teacher says, what my friends say. It is Written!
It doesn’t matter who changes, doesn’t matter who stays the same, doesn’t matter who leans left, doesn’t matter who leans right. It is Written! It doesn’t matter who used to be this way but now is this way. It doesn’t matter who used to say this but now says that. It is Written! It doesn’t matter about my feelings, doesn’t matter about my personality, doesn’t matter about my preference, doesn’t matter if I “feel convicted”, doesn’t matter whether it is tough or easy. It is Written! The Word of God is settled in Heaven; therefore, I can’t change it.
One day, as a Christian, you will face the tempter. If you give him that bread garbage, you will become a casualty. “Oh yeah, devil, let me tell you something. My dad said…” And the devil says, “Yea, hath your dad said? Did he really say that? Is that really what your dad meant? Here have some fruit.” And Down you go…
Or, you can say, “Hey, Devil, let me tell you something. This is why I don’t do this, because the Bible says…” It is Written!
The Bible has the answers. The problem is, we don’t live “As it is Written,” we live by “bread.” We live by bread alone rather than “As it is Written.” If the devil came to you today, and he tempted you like he tempted Jesus, would you stand? How would you answer?
Have you ever had a preacher say, “Now listen, this is in the Bible. If you want to know, you come and see me after church, and I’ll show you.” The preacher said that one time, and I went to him after church. I asked, “Can you show me where that’s at in the Bible?” I wanted to know. I wasn’t about to give up something I really like unless it’s really wrong. Show me. Guess what? When he showed me, I changed it. I didn’t always like it. Sometimes when he showed me, I didn’t even really understand. I was like, “Look, that doesn’t say it’s wrong.” and my preacher would show me Bible Principles and say, “Hmm, but the way it looks is wrong.” and he would give me an illustration, and I would say, “Yeah, I see that.” I didn’t want to see it, but I saw it.
It is Written- What the Bible Says About:
Salvation
Luke 13:5, John 1.12, John 3.16, John 12:46, John 20:31, Acts 4:12, Rom 5:8, Rom 10.9-13, II Cor 5:21, II Cor 6:2, Eph 2.8-9, I Thess 5:9, Titus 3:5-8, I Pet 2:24, II Pet 3:9
Scripture
Josh 1:8, Isa 34:16, Psalm 119:11, 89, 105, 160, Mark 13:31, John 10:35, II Tim 3.15-16, I Pet 1:25, II Pet 3:18, , II Pet 1:19-21, Heb 4:12,
Soul Winning
Ezek 3:18, Psalm 126:6, Matt 9:36, Matt 28.19-20, Mark 16.15, Luke 14:23, John 20:21, Acts 1.8, Rom 1:16, II Cor 5.20
Baptism
Matt 28.19-20, Matt 3.13, Mark 1:9-10, Mark 16:16, John 3:22-23, Acts 2:38, 8:12-13, 8:38, 18.8, Rom 6:3-4, Gal 3:27, Col 2:12,
Church
Deut 31:12-13, Psalm 27:4, 122:1, Psalm 133:1, Matt 16.18, Mark 16:15, Acts 2, Acts 20:17-20, Eph 1:22-23, I Tim 3, Titus 1, Heb 10:25, I Pet 2:5
Service for God
Josh 24:15, John 15:8, I Cor 3:9, I Cor 15:58, Col 1:10, Col 3:23, Titus 2.14, Titus 3:8, Jam 1:22
Purity, Dating, Relationships,
Acts 15:20, Rom 6:12-13, I Cor 6.18, I Cor 7, Eph 5:3, I Tim 5:22, Heb 13:4
Family, Christian Home
Gen 18:19, II Chron 26:3-4, Psalm 127:3-5, Prov 1:8, Prov 13:24, Prov 22:6, Ecc 12:1, Matt 19:4-6, Eph 5, Eph 6:2-4, Col 3:20-21, I Tim 5:4-8, II Tim 1:5, Titus 2:3-5, I Peter 3:1-2
Relationship With God
Josh 1:8, Jer 31:3, Psalm 1:1-5, Psalm 119:105, 133, Prov 3:5-6, Micah 6:8, Matt 6:6-13, John 4:24, 15:1-6, Romans 10:17, I Cor 10:31, II Cor 5:7, Eph 3:17-21, Phil 3:10, Heb 6:1, 11:6, James 4:8, I Pet 2:21, I John 1:6-7, 2:6, 4:8, Jude 1:21
Tithing / Giving
Gen 28:22, Lev 27:30, Num 18:26, Prov 3:9-10, Prov 11:24, Mal 3:8-10, Luke 6:38, I Cor 16:2, II Cor 9:6-7,
Separation
Prov 4:14-15, Prov 13:20, Prov 28:7, Amos 3:3, Rom 12:1-2, I Cor 6.14-18, II Cor 5:9, Col 2:6, II Tim 2:19, I Pet 2:9, I John 2:15-17
Surrender
Rom 6:13, Rom 12:1-2, I Cor 6:19-20,
The Will of God
Prov 3:5-6, Prov 23:26, Jer 10:23, Mark 3:35, Rom 12:1-2, Eph 1:11, Eph 5:17, Phil 2:13
The Assurance of Salvation
John 3:36, John 5:24, John 10:27-30, Rom 8:35-39, Eph 4:30, II Tim 1:12, Heb 10:22, I Pet 1:5, II Pet 3:9, I John 5:12-13
Creation
Gen 1:1, Exodus 20:11, Job 26:7, Psalm 33:6-9, Psalm 90:2, Isa 42:5, John 1:1-3, Col 1:16-17, Heb 1:10, Heb 11:3
Heaven / Hell
Dan 7:10, Isa 33:14, Matt 6:20, Matt 13:42, Mark 9:41, Luke 10:20, Luke 16, John 14:2-3, Rev 4:10, Rev 21:22-24, Rev 20:15, Rev 19:20
The Virgin Birth
Isa 7:14, Matt 1:18-20, Luke 1:30-35, Luke 2:7, John 1:14, John 3:16
The Deity of Christ
Matt 26:63-66, Mark 12:6, John 10:30, John 5:18, John 5:22-23, 105, John 1:1, John 10:30, John 14:9, John 20:28, Rom 9:5, Heb 1:8
Holy Spirit
Isa 11:2, John 14:26, John 16:7-15, Acts 1:8, Acts 2:4, Rom 5:3-4, Rom 8:26, I Cor 2:13, I Cor 3:16, I Cor 6:19, I Cor 14:33, II Cor 1:22, Eph 1:13, Eph 4:30, Titus 3:5,
The Godhead (Trinity)
Gen 1:26, Matt 3:16-17, Matt 28:19, John 10:30, John 14:16-17, John 14:26, Acts 5:1-3, Rom 1:17, I Cor 8:6, Col 2:9, Heb 1:8, I John 5:7-8
The Resurrection of Christ
Matt 12:40, Luke 24:1-7, John 20:1, Rom 4:25, I Cor 15:12-28, I Pet 1:3-4, Heb 9:24
The Return of Christ
Matt 24:42, Matt 25:31-34, John 14:3, Acts 1:11, I Cor 15:51-52, I Thess 5:2, I Thess 4:16-18, Rev 19:11, Rev 20:15
The Lords Supper/ Communion
Matt 5:32, Matt 26:17-30, Mark 14:12-26, Luke 22:7-20, John 6:53-59, I Cor 6:14, I Cor 10:14-22, I Cor 11:17-34
Marriage / Divorce
Gen 2:24, Prov 18:22, Matt 19:3, I Cor 7, Eph 5, Titus 2:4, Heb 13:4,
Homosexuality
Lev 18:22-23, 20:13,Mark 10:6-9, I Cor 6:9-10, Rom 1:26-28, I Tim 1:10, James 1:14-15, Jude 1:7,
Abortion
Gen 25:21-23, Ex 20:13, Ex 23:7, Psalm 127:3, Psalm 139:13-14, Ecc 11:5, Isa 44:2, Jer 1:5,
Alcohol
Lev 10:9, Prov 20:1, Prov 23:20-21, Prov 23:29-35, Prov 31:6, Isa 5:11, 22, Hosea 4:11, Hab 2:15, Luke 21:34, Rom 13:13, Rom 14:21, I Cor 6:10, Eph 5:18-19, Gal 5:19-21
These last few are some things that are being discussed in our day. Many in the church do not even know why these things are wrong? They’re not wrong because politicians say their wrong. If you think they’re wrong, because politicians said they’re wrong, then when the politicians change, you’ll change. Or when you go to state university, you’ll change. Or when you get around those at work, you’ll change, ’cause you don’t know the Book. “Well, Bro. Davis, I know a gay guy, and he’s really nice.” The Bible doesn’t say that homosexuality is wrong unless they’re really nice, or unless they’re really funny. It’s still wrong. I didn’t say I hate those people. I hope they get saved. But their sin is wrong. Just like murderers are sinners. Just like liars are sinners. Just like I am a sinner. It is Written.
Yet there are churches today that will go to bars and drink with people to invite them to church. I saw it advertised recently in the newspaper. This is outrageous! Alcohol is wrong. The first drink you take makes you somewhat drunk and inebriates you. You can have your own opinion and have it swayed depending on who says what and who does and doesn’t do something… but “It is Written”!
Things are not always written as “Thou Shalt Not” but the Bible Principles that are written in God’s Word can be used to govern our lives if we will choose to live by the Bible and not by the Bread of man’s opinion.
Work
Ezra 7:23, Prov 6:6, 10:4, 12:11, 13:4, 14:23, 21:25, 22:29, 28:20, Ecc 9:10, Rom 12:11, I Cor 4:2, I Cor 10:31, Eph 4:28, Col 3:23, I Thess 4:11, II Thess 3:10, I Tim 5:8,
Language
Ex 20:7, Prov 12:22, Prov 19:5, Matt 5:34-37, Matt 12:36, Rom 12:14, Phil 4:8, Col 3:9-10, 4:6, Eph 4:25-29, 5:4, II Tim 2:16, Titus 2:12, Jam 3:10, Jam 5:12, Rev 21:8
Unhealthy Habits – (Smoking, Chewing, Over Eating)
Psa 141:4, Prov 4:14, I Cor 3:17, I Cor 6:19-20, Col 3:17, II Peter 2:19,
Dancing
Ex 32:1-29, Matt 14:1-12, I Cor 6:19-24, I Cor 7, Eph 5:11, Col 3:23, I Thess 5:22
Entertainment – (Movies, TV, Internet, Video Games)
Psalm 1:1-2, Psalm 101:3, Jer. 10:2, I Cor 6:12, I Cor 6:20, I Cor 9:27, I Cor 10:31, Gal 5:24-25, Gal 6:7-8, Eph 4:30, Eph 5:11, Col 3:1-2, I John 2:15-17
Music
Psalm 40:3, Psalm 100:2, Psalm 101:1, Psalm 13:5-6, Ecc 7:5, Rom 12:1-2, Col 3:16-17, I John 2:15,
Dress
Deut 22:5, Rom 12:2, I Cor 11:1-16, I Cor 6:19-20, I Tim 2:9-10, I Thess 2:12, I Peter 3:3-5
So What Do We Do? Having seen all of these Bible verses and read the truths from the Scriptures concerning some of these areas of life, what is next? You can live by Bread – and just ignore them…or You can Live As it Is Written .
Choosing to Live by Bread is to decide that you don’t agree or that you don’t want to do what God says. You choose this temporal, earthly life and the “bread” that can never satisfy over the eternal truths of God’s Word.
Choosing to Live “As It is Written” is accept these truths and principles and begin to mold not toward a pal, a pastor or a popular person; but rather the principles for God’s Word. Live your life As it Written:
Read the Bible
Do you know where I got all those verses? This sermon wasn’t already wrote. I didn’t download it. I had to find all of those Scriptures. Those verses are in your Bible too. Do you care? Do you care that God wants you to live by this Book. You can’t live by it, if you don’t read it. When’s the last time you honestly read your Bible? Not for school, but you and God for you to get to know Him. Do you know this is Jesus. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was…” So, if I get to know the Word, I am getting to know God…
Believe the Bible
Some of us read the Word, but then we say, “Ya know, I just really don’t”… “I think that that is outdated”…”that’s the Old Testament”. You begin to doubt the Word, because you believe the bread. You’ve heard somebody say that. You heard somebody say, “Well, that’s Old Testament. It doesn’t apply to us.” When you read your Bible, let God speak to you. How about you so hunger for God to speak to you that you forget the bread, and you live “as it is written”. Just take it word for word and believe it.
Apply the Bible
I understand this book was written a long time ago, and there’s not a “thou shalt not” for everything. There’s not a “thou shalt not post bad things on Facebook”, but I think there’s some principles in the Bible that help us to know better than to share, post and like certain things on social media. Put the Bible into your life and watch it work.
Never Forsake the Bible
Here comes the devil. You’re down. You are in your lowest spot. He’s gonna tempt you. He’s going to offer you bread in exchange for the Bible. Are you gonna stand? Wait a second. What are you going to stand on? Bread? Or the Word of God?
Only two choices. Some of you are reading this and you are sick and tired of living right. You want to satisfy your flesh. You want to follow your pals and the popularity and what’s temporal. You want Bread. You want what will satisfy and magnify now…
What about it is written? What about trusting in the Word of God. It’s eternal; that means forever. It’s immutable. It’s inerrant; that means there’s no error. When you read or hear a truth for the first time, check the Bible. Find Scripture. Maybe you have wondered about some of that stuff you noticed and heard in your church. You wondered why things were what they were. You’ve heard some of that said, and you wondered why it had been said. Your Preacher is not a right wing bigot, he is not crazy,cultish or even old fashioned… He is just preaching the Bible. It is written. It is written. It’s in the Bible. We base everything we do and say and believe on the Bible and God gave you have a copy to live by.
As It is Written –
William Davis | Youth Pastor
Clays Mill Baptist Church | Lexington, KY
