Man Shall Not Live By Bread Alone

Man’s basic spiritual problem is that he does not believe in the integrity and accuracy of the Word of God. Very few people believe that the Word of God is accurate, that it means what it says and that it says what it means. Thus man is in a constant dilemma in his quest for truth; he has no touchstone for truth because he will not go to the Word and study its integrity and accuracy.

Explaining more clearly the title of this teaching, this man who does not believe in the Word of God can never achieve a balance between the Word of God and the world. This is because he only relies on the bread of this world to function in his life. In this teaching, our dealings with the world is referred to as ‘bread’. So how can he have a balance between God’s Word and the things of the world that he needs? He, by his own free will, does not give God any of his time.

But he [Jesus Christ] answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that [which] proceedeth out of the mouth of God. - Matthew 4: 4

Notice the words "out of the mouth of God." God has been attributed a human characteristic, but God does not have a mouth. Again the figure of speech is condescensio, the Holy Spirit's marking for emphasis. I went over this in detail in my last teaching. If you really want to truly understand the Word of God, you must understand at least some of the basics regarding figures of speech used in the Bible.

Man cannot sustain himself solely on a diet of physical food; he needs his food supplemented by every word that comes from God. Man cannot live by words that come from men, from different writers, from different theologians or from different church groups, but by words that come from God.

Man does need physical food for the maintenance of his physical body. But a man has more than just his physical body to care for. A man's soul needs nourishment also. Man's soul cannot be sustained by mashed potatoes, gravy and steak. Matthew 4: 4 declares that man shall live not only by bread "but by every word [which] proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” He needs not just a word here and a word there; not one verse here and another verse there; "but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." The Word of God is that food required by man so that he may renew his mind and thereby manifest the more abundant life.

Spiritual weakness and spiritual inability can be due only to an improper diet, that is, the neglect of the Word of God. For the most part, spiritual anemia caused by the neglect of the Word of God may today be attributed to the fact that the Bible is not understood when read. The Bible is not understood because we have never been taught how to understand it. Who has taught us figures of speech? Who has taught us what revelation is? Who has shown us the accuracy of The Word? That is why we have stories about the dust-covered Bible. One cannot really blame people for this. The blame should lay with those of us who have been preachers and teachers because we have not communicated the Word to today's man. I have done my best to communicate the Word with you. After that, you could do with it what you please – you have your own free will to accept it or to reject it. But it is my job to teach it to you and on this website, there are about 260 teachings that are available for you and it’s for free. I paid to take biblical classes; I drove thousands of miles to take a three-week class. And I hand it to you on a platter for no charge at all. I do it for God first – that way I do not get hurt.

But what about the people whose Bibles are not dust covered and neglected, and yet they are still spiritually weak? Their spiritual malady must be caused by the wrong usage of God's Word. The improper usage means that the Word of God is not being rightly divided. Some of us have been instructed to read the Bible at least once a day; but when we are through reading our daily Scripture, what do we know? We have not learned anything because we have not understood it. What happens when people fail to understand the Word? They succumb to all the doctrines and theories of man -- too much bread. These spiritually-hungry people are blown around from pillar to post with each new philosopher or new idea. The fleeting shadows of a few great names rather than the Word of God hold people spellbound. Far too many people believe what they have received from man and then endeavor to have their beliefs corroborated by going to the Bible and selecting Scriptures to substantiate their ideas. You see, I may have said this many times but it has been a long time since I told you this. It goes like this: Henry built the Ford – the Ford did not build Henry. Got it? God Almighty is the creator of life. Don’t you think he knows how to live it to its fullest?

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. -- Ecclesiastes 12: 13, 14

We were designed to live by what the Word of God says. The above word that says ‘Fear’ is old English and it means to respect God. Obviously to respect Him, we must keep His commandments which is again obviously His Word. This is the only way that we will stand approved before God. Think about this. How can I get to know you? There is really only one way and that is by your words. So, we can only get to know God by His Words. Is that so difficult to understand? If you are a dedicated Christian, you will study God’s Word.

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. – II Timothy 2: 15

I am not afraid to say to you that you will find more of the rightly divided word of truth on this website than any other website that exists.

Many people said to me that they appreciated my sharing of God’s Word because it agreed with what they believed. This was when I used to teach fellowships in homes. At times, I would teach at a certain believer’s home and at other times I would teach at a different home. This changed according to need. But suppose the teachings had been the Word and that it had disagreed with what many people thought. Would their beliefs have changed the Word of God? No. Whether or not we believe, it is still God's Word.

Many years ago I got my girlfriend in a foundational and extremely important Bible class. There were 12 sessions in this class and a total of 36 hours. Her parents, who were devout Catholics and did not understand one single thing about the rightly divided Word of God, got involved in what she was studying and misinterpreted and misunderstood everything about the ministry that taught me God’s Word. The situation became so serious that at the 10th session of the class, she quit - forced out by her parents who threatened to take her out of college unless she kept away from the teachings that you are now reading. She said she was forced to do so by her parents which was partly true. This girl was about 20 years old and she was able to make up her own mind. Let me just say that when you teach God’s Word, there is a surprise around every corner. This girl and I cared more for each other than I ever experienced in my life and had to part our ways or her parents were going to take her out of college. Can you imagine such a situation? And if she did not continue her involvement with me, they promised to buy her a car. They thought I was trying to pull her away from her religion. However, prior to this, she went to her parents and told them that I had made her the happiest girl she ever was in all of her life. She had good believing and I led her into speaking in tongues before she even took this Bible class. But she did not have what it takes to stand on God’s Word in this day and time.

As long as everything that this girl was learning agreed with what her mother thought was true, everything was just fine. But when her mother had to unlearn some of her religious beliefs, she refused to budge. She chose to believe man’s word and not God’s. So she had to find someone to blame and she blamed me. This is some of the tribulation that you will put up with when you stand strong on God’s Word. In actuality, it will make you stronger and it has made me very strong and very sharp spiritually.

This girlfriend of mine did not finish the class because she was afraid to stand on her own two feet and tell her parents that she was going to finish that class.

Before I tell you about the last thing that I told her, I want you to understand something and learn to apply it even though it may seem extremely difficult. I want to go to the book of Ephesians and show you what the Word says pertaining to God- rejecters. People who reject the Word are people who walk in darkness. If you are walking with the true God, you are walking in the light of His Word. Light will always make manifest darkness.

And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. -- Ephesians 4: 11

My girl, who was so precious to me needed to be reproved and told the truth about what she had done, which was very serious to say the least. Our relationship was also destroyed because she was afraid to stand up on her own and go against what her parents had told her to do.

Possibly, you are not satisfied with the above explanation, so I will go to another church epistle and repeat this principle regarding fellowship with darkness in a more detailed manner. Remember, this is God’s Word and not mine.

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? - II Corinthians 6: 14

I could no longer communicate with my old girlfriend. Something drastically changed. She was walking in darkness and there is no communion of light with darkness. It was a frightening thing to see the changes in her. She had said some terrible things to me that were designed to hurt me. Her own father said to leave the Bible alone. He also said that there was no devil. This is what you get from secular religions. And he had a very high up position in law enforcement. This is the type of intellect you will always deal with with people who know nothing about God’s Word. They are idiots. Now, I will tell you what was some of the last words that I had to say to my old girlfriend. I did what Ephesians 4: 11 said that I must do. Take a look up at that verse again and especially at the last part. I was required by God to reprove this girl and to let her know what a serious mistake she had made.

I know this may sound difficult to understand and it may sound like it could have been avoided, but it could not. God had laid it on my shoulders to reprove her and to hold nothing back. Basically, I told her one thing and I got up and walked away.

I looked her straight in the eye and I told her that the god of this world was never going to let her go because she knew too much of the actual truth of the Word of God. I had often questioned whether I should have said that, but I believe God wanted her to know. It was only lately that I saw a picture of the man she did marry. He was the opposite of her personality and appearance. He had a very prosperous business and I am sorry to say that I think she married him for the money.

These are terrible things that can happen but either you stand for God or be a coward. The enemy can’t touch you when you stand on the Word. That’s what people do not realize and never understand. I have been in more situations then you can shake a stick at and God pulled me out of all of them as a winner and I watched him crush the devil in front of my very eyes.

When two parts of hydrogen and one part of oxygen are sparked together, water is going to result. I do not care whether you pray or do not pray, whether you are Christian or non-Christian, whether you believe or you do not believe; it does not make any difference because the law is that two parts of hydrogen and one part of oxygen equals water. God's Word is as infallible as that. This is why we should honestly come to the point that we allow the Word of God to take pre-eminence in our lives no matter what ideas, no matter what theories, no matter what opinions we may have held. We must come to the Word, let The Word speak, and then adjust our thinking according to the integrity and the accuracy of the Word. After we have let the Word speak, we must accordingly harmonize our beliefs, our actions and our living.

According as [he by] his [God's] divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to [his own] glory and virtue. - II Peter 1: 3

God by His divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness. If we want the things that pertain to life and godliness, we have to go to God's Word. If one plays football, he must go by the rules of the game of football. So logically, if we want to know God's Will, where do we go? To the commentary, to the theologians, to the encyclopedia, or to last Sunday's sermon? No. We go to the Word of God.

For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe. - I Thessalonians 2: 13

These believers received the Word of God which they heard of Paul. People could have said, "That is just Paul talking," but they did not. Paul says that the Thessalonians "received the Word of God which ye have heard of us ... not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe."

To understand what the Word declares of itself, let’s turn to Psalms.

The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. – Psalm 12: 6

If the Bible has the words of the Lord, then these words must be undefiled and absolutely pure. They are "... as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times."

I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil. - Psalm 119: 162

Do you rejoice at the Word as one who finds great spoil? Would you rejoice at the Word as much as you would if you found a thousand dollars?

I Corinthians contains another testimony from the Word of God regarding the integrity of God's Word.

Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but [words] which the Holy Ghost [Spirit] teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. - I Corinthians 2: 13

If these are words which the Holy Spirit teaches, then we ought to wash out our ears, get the cobwebs out of our minds, and begin to study the Word for its inherent accuracy.

Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word [the Word, not what people said about it or some theologian wrote about it] was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts. - Jeremiah 15: 16

This does not mean that they found the Bible or the Word and chewed it or physically ate it. When the Word was found, they digested it; they lived on it; it was their life, their heartbeat.

The Word is almost unbelievable because it is so true. Too many ministers like to talk around the Word by taking one verse of Scripture, reading that verse as the text for the day, giving illustrations from. Shakespeare and Newsweek, coming back and quoting the verse of Scripture, pronouncing the benediction and going home. How much of the Word then has the congregation learned? None! When the people ate the Word as recorded in Jeremiah, they ate the pure Word. We must preach the pure Word.

All of God's creation is marvelous; but of all of God's works, the greatest of His works is His Word.

I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou has magnified thy word above all thy name. – Psalm 138: 2 [emphasis added]

God has magnified His Word above His Name. It does not say that about the stars or the planets. He set His Word above His name for He underwrote it; He put His name underneath it, He guaranteed it. It is just like a check. When I write a check for a thousand dollars, I put my name underneath it. The check is only as good as the signature. How good is the Word? The Word of God declares that it is as good as God for God signed His Name to it. The Word is as much God as God is God. What God said was, was; what God has said is, is; what God says will be, will be. Do you see why we must come back to the integrity and accuracy of God's wonderful Word? We cannot trust man's word because man blows about being here today and gone tomorrow.

Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. – I Peter 1: 23 [emphasis added]

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